Bonnecka, Henry: 1895
Henry Bonnecka was murdered in a robbery in April 7, 1895. He was noted as being ‘old,’ and met his end between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. on what was an early Sunday morning. His killer partially strangled him with a white handkerchief tightly bound over his mouth, and tied a shirt tightly over his face. His death was caused by a blow from a blunt instrument on the left side of the head, on the partial bone causing a fracture of the skull.
Frank Wilson was convicted, along with James Farrell. Farrell, however, was apparently not convicted of murder, but of robbery only. (Check on this). Wilson had Ohio connections, where he was known as George Koons. The Massillon Herald noted that he protested his innocence, and that he could have been saved if his friends had come forward. The case against him was said to have been circumstantial. Judge Jan Michael Bell presided, and a man named Schaeffer testified for the Commonwealth. (ADD: Murder in the First Degree.
The eleven-day’s trial of the Frank Wilson homicide case ended at Hollidaysburg on Friday night. On that morning Hon. George G. Spang made the final plea for the defense, and Thomas H. Greevy closed with a strong argument for the Commonwealth. Judge Martin Bell delivered an elaborate charge, and the Jury retired at 7 o’clock p.m.
Quite a sensation was created at the morning session. Judge Bell rebuked the defendant’s lawyers for indulging in their addresses to the jury in vituperation and abuse of the detectives who were concerned in the prosecution. His Honor held that the detectives, like any other class of witnesses are entitled to fair treatment and an impartial hearing in the courts, and the defendant’s lawyers in their tirade against the detective profession had exceeded the privilege of connsel (sic).
At midnight the jury came into court and asked instruction on the point whether it might add a recommendation to the verdict.
The Court held that only one sentence could be imposed for murder in the first degree, and any recommendation must be made to the Pardon Board of the State.
The jurors retired again, arrived at a decision at 12:20, and filed into court again at 12:30. The verdict was: “Guilty of murder in the first degree.” Before separating the jurors signed the following paper:
Hollidaysburg, Pa., Jan. 31, 1896
Honorable Board of Pardons.
We, the undersigned jurors in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Frank Wilson, having found him guilty of murder in the first degree, do respectfully request your honorable body to commit the extreme penalty to imprisonment.) Source: Hasting Tribune 1896
A curious twist happened in August of 1896 when Hildebrand, a prisoner in the Maryland State Penitentiary, confessed to the crime prior to committing suicide. Authorities believed that Hildebrand did so in attempt to clear Wilson and James Farrell, who had both been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Hildebrand’s partner, Williams, told authorities they had buried $11,000 near Altoona. Authorities did not believe his story either, deciding that he was merely seeking an opportunity to escape if they allowed him to lead them to the cache. On the morning of April 7, 1895, Hildebrand and Williams were under arrest in Pittsburgh. Blair County’s District Attorney Hammond did travel to Baltimore to satisfy himself that the tale was indeed false. There was no way the two men could have committed the murder of Mr. Bonnecka. There was speculation that Hildebrand and Williams may have been referring to another murder in Altoona, but D.A. Hammond stated there were no another unaccounted crimes.
Farrell remained in Altoona. In the Altoona Mirror of September 21, 1899, it is noted that he had gone to Pittsburgh to look for work. He and his wife were living in Green Alley, between Tenth and Eleventh Streets. Farrell apparently had some fear of vigilantism; on his way out, he told his wife that he didn’t know if he would be killed or not, but that he was going nonetheless. She told him that he might not get killed, but that he should look out. Farrell hopped a freight train at Twenty-fourth Street and rode it to Derry, where he got off and back on. At Hillside, he fell off the train, and the wheels ran over both his feet. The left foot was amputated at Greensburg Hospital. His brother, Max, traveled to Greensburg to see about having him transferred to Pittsburgh.
In 1903, the Altoona Mirror reported that workmen finally demolished the shanty on Sixteenth street where the murder had taken place. A large, curious crowd observed the demolition, then searched the debris for the now legendary treasure the old man was supposed to have hidden there. Only a few pieces of silver were found.
