328:, noticed seven-year-old Joey Joseph playing at his father's men's furnishing store. Later, when Joey was making mud puddles with a friend in the street near his house, Hickey motioned to them to join him. He gave Joey a few pennies to buy candy for himself and his friend. Upon Joey's return, Hickey abruptly told his friend that it was time for him to go home.
284:. Despite his later claims, Hickey never attained the rank of 32nd degree Freemason. Although his biographer Vance McLaughlin describes Hickey as having "quit the Masons in June 1895", Masonic records tell a different story. In March 1895, Hickey was arrested in Lowell for stealing 20 gallons of alcohol from his employer. In response, the
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Despite the assistance of the
Buffalo Police Department, the investigation into Joey Joseph's disappearance had almost no leads. Then, on October 30, 1911, a postcard was delivered to Lackawanna police chief Gilson. It read, "Joseph Joseph will be found in the bottom of a water closet with three
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seats, back of the saloon near Doyles, on Ridge Road. A drunk crazed brain done the deed, and remorse and sorrow for the parents is bringing results that will soon come to an end. The demon whisky will then have one more victim, making four in all. Drag the closet with the three seats."
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Hickey was charged with first degree murder, but in a verdict which surprised many, he was instead found guilty of second degree murder. Two jurors thought Hickey was insane and should not be executed. He was sentenced to life in prison, and died in prison on May 8, 1922.
316:. The coroner's inquest ruled that Michael R. Kruck met his death by being strangled "by some person or persons unknown to this jury." On December 12, 1902, Michael Kruck's body was released from the morgue and buried at Brooklyn's Washington Jewish Cemetery.
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On
September 1, 1883, 18-year-old Hickey contacted police and said that he had found 34-year-old pharmacist Edwin W. Morey dead on the floor of the McGibbon's Drugstore, where both had worked. Hickey claimed that Morey had been despondent for some time due to
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Hickey then took Joey by the hand and led him to an outhouse behind a saloon on Ridge Road. There Hickey strangled Joey into unconsciousness, sexually molested him, and then strangled him to death. Hickey then dumped the boy's body into the outhouse pit.
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On
December 10, 1902, Hickey encountered Michael R. Kruck, an eleven-year-old newspaper vendor. When Kruck offered to sell him a newspaper, Hickey responded that he would purchase all of them if the boy would follow him into
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475:"Newsboy Murdered in Central Park; Little Fellow was Strangled, Presumably with Knotted Cord. Queer Wound on Cheek Puzzles Coroner's Physician- No Clue to Perpetrator of Crime",
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at St. Patrick's Church, which was only two blocks from his parents' lodgings. After his arrest for murder in 1912, Hickey claimed to have been physically abused by his father.
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312:. When Kruck did so, Hickey strangled him and left his body with the newspaper bundle under his head. The coroner later examined the body and found no evidence of
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464:"Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free And Accepted Masons in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts"
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ruled Hickey "a liar and profane" and expelled him "from all the rights and privileges of
Freemasonry" on June 12, 1895.
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and that he had been trying to help his co-worker regain sobriety. As the doctor believed that Morey had taken poison, a
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Listing his occupation as "Secretary of the YMCA", Hickey applied for and received membership in Lowell's
William North
606:
448:
The
Postcard Killer: The True Story of America's First Profiled Serial Killer and How the Police Brought Him Down
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was brought. At midnight, Morey showed some signs of life, but died shortly after three o'clock in the morning.
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In 1896 Hickey left Lowell and would never live there again. Between then and 1902, he drifted around
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507:"Forgotten Crimes: 'Postcard Killer' taunts family of slain Lackawanna boy"
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On
October 12, 1911, Hickey, then employed as a steel plant supervisor in
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209:. Due to the postcards he mailed to the police and media, he was dubbed
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Postcards from
Murderer which Led to Discovery of Joseph Child's Body
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Church on Kirk Street. He also became an official of the Lowell
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Years later, Hickey admitted to having murdered Morey with
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Michael J. Hickey and Mary Ann
Magrath. He was baptized
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John Frank Hickey was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to
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The
Postcard Killer: The True Story of J. Frank Hickey
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232:In his early teens, Hickey joined Lowell's First
201:(October 29, 1865 – May 8, 1922) was an American
622:Prisoners who died in New York (state) detention
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612:People convicted of murder by New York (state)
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360:List of serial killers in the United States
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647:Violence against men in the United States
642:Serial killers who died in prison custody
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378:The Cornell Daily Sun. November 30, 1912
602:Child sexual abuse in the United States
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637:Serial killers from New York (state)
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280:Lodge in 1887. In 1889, he became a
304:, working various industrial jobs.
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632:Serial killers from Massachusetts
627:People from Lowell, Massachusetts
597:American people of Irish descent
536:Chronicle of 20th Century Murder
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557:. Pennsylvania: Running Press.
528:Cited works and further reading
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592:American murderers of children
538:. Wiltshire: Select Editions.
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345:Trial, imprisonment, and death
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479:, December 12, 1902. Pagw 16.
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505:Shea, Kate (June 29, 2017).
495:, November 16, 1912. Page 1.
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286:Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
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553:McLaughlin, Vance (2006).
302:Northeastern United States
131:20 years to life in prison
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607:Former Roman Catholics
466:1895, pp.121–22.
16:American serial killer
534:Lane, Brian (1995) .
452:Thunder's Mouth Press
61:Lowell, Massachusetts
493:Buffalo Evening News
389:The Postcard Killers
326:Lackawanna, New York
122:Second degree murder
446:McLaughlin, Vance.
211:The Postcard Killer
150:Span of crimes
95:The Postcard Killer
242:Christian Endeavor
564:978-1-560-25909-1
545:978-0-425-14649-1
454:, New York, 2006.
396:978-0-099-55375-5
199:John Frank Hickey
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47:John Frank Hickey
37:Mugshot of Hickey
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184:Date apprehended
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128:Criminal penalty
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92:Other names
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320:Third murder
310:Central Park
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282:Master Mason
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259:stomach pump
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248:First murder
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74:(1922-05-08)
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587:1922 deaths
582:1865 births
272:Freemasonry
72:May 8, 1922
576:Categories
516:January 9,
366:References
255:alcoholism
217:Early life
53:1865-10-29
617:Poisoners
336:Postcards
154:1883–1911
354:See also
300:and the
266:laudanum
240:and the
177:New York
168:State(s)
104:Deceased
278:Masonic
159:Country
141:Victims
136:Details
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298:Canada
86:, U.S.
63:, U.S.
398:p. 98
559:ISBN
540:ISBN
518:2022
392:ISBN
238:YMCA
205:and
188:1912
69:Died
43:Born
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509:.
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403:^
244:.
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144:3
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51:(
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