Jack and Ed Biddle
Brothers John ("Jack") and Ed Biddle (both died February 1, 1902) were condemned prisoners who in 1902 escaped from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania using tools and weapons supplied them by the warden's wife, Kate Soffel (died 1909) who fled with them. During the subsequent pursuit and capture all three were wounded, the brothers mortally.[1]
The incident is the basis of the 1984 film Mrs. Soffel.
Arrest and conviction
The Biddles were arrested[when?] at a house in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania as leaders of the "Chloroform Gang", which for more than a year had been overpowering victims with chloroform or ether before robbing them. Tried and convicted of the murder of a Mt. Washington shopkeeper[when?], they were imprisoned in Allegheny County Jail to await execution by hanging.[2]
Escape
Kate Soffel, wife of warden Peter Soffel,[3] frequently came into contact with prisoners in her efforts to rehabilitate them. She developed an infatuation with Ed Biddle, and eventually agreed to help the brothers escape by smuggling saws and guns to them.[3]
The brothers sawed openings in the bars of their cells, and at 4 am on January 29, 1902 one of them called out that that his brother ill. As a guard approached, Jack Biddle lunged through the opening in the bars and, seizing the guard by the waist, threw him over a railing to the stone floor sixteen feet below.[4][5] Ed Biddle shot and wounded a second guard.
The Biddles locked the wounded guards, and the third guard on duty, in the prison "dungeon". After changing from their prison jumpsuits into the guards' street clothes, they left the prison to rendezvous with Soffel. Only at the guard's 6 am shift-change was the escape discovered.[4]
Pursuit and recapture
The three took a trolley to West View, Pennsylvania, then walked a mile to a farm onRoute 19, where they stole a sleigh and a shotgun and started for Butler County.[2]
Meanwhile, Charles "Buck" McGovern (one of the detectives who had originally arrested the Biddles) gathered a posse, assuming the fugitives were headed for Canada[2] and would follow back roads.
McGovern stationed his men at the Graham Farm[clarification needed] and waited.[2] After some time the brothers approached, bringing the sleigh to a halt as they realized they were surrounded. One of the detectives recounted the story:
The Biddles were sitting on the right side of the cutter. Mrs. Soffel was on the left side. "Hold up your hands and surrender," Detective McGovern commanded. Ed Biddle jumped up from his seat and, raising a shotgun, fired it at McGovern. He aimed badly, and the shot scattered on the road alongside of McGovern. Detectives McGovern and Roach discharged their Winchesters at Ed Biddle. Both shots took effect. John Biddle raised from the seat, and discharged his revolver at the three officers. Detective Swineheart settled himself and fired with a revolver at the man. The ball took effect in Biddle's arm. Then all the detectives opened fire on the Biddles. The shots knocked them out of the sleigh. Ed fell sprawling on the snow, and John fell on him.[5]
However, this account conflicts with that of John Biddle:
When we saw the officers coming towards us on the road yesterday evening we knew it was all up. We did not fire a shot at the officers, but agreed to kill ourselves. I shot myself in the mouth. 'Ed' shot himself over the heart. and [Kate Soffel] shot herself in the breast. We knew we had no chance to get away, and we knew we would swing if taken back, and that is why we wanted to kill ourselves.[6]
What precisely happened during the showdown is uncertain, but the police may have opened fire on Soffel and the Biddles when they made their attempt at suicide. Reporters later described John Biddle as "riddled with buckshot",[5] mentioning that the Biddles were armed with a shotgun, but stated that the police only carried revolvers and rifles.[2]
As detectives approached the wounded brothers, Kate Soffel lay near them; she had shot herself. The detectives believed Ed Biddle to be reaching for a pistol, and so they shot him again, with McGovern firing at the brothers until his rifle's magazine became empty.
All three were taken to the jail at Butler, where the brothers were placed in adjoining cells. There Jack denied killing the Mt. Washington shopkeeper and a detective who had been shot dead during the Biddles' arrest.[2]
Death and burial of Biddle brothers
Ed had sustained seventeen gunshot wounds (two self-inflicted), and Jack three (one self-inflicted).[7] Jack died at 7:35 am on February 1;[6] and Ed, who was largely unconscious for most of the time, died at 11 pm.[6]
The brothers' bodies were returned to Pittsburgh where they were met by a large crowd: they had become local celebrities. Thousands showed up to their viewing, some believing they were innocent, some wanting to see their famously handsome faces.[2] They were buried following a quiet service in the Calvary cemetery.
Soffel's later life
After recovering from her bullet wound and possible pneumonia[6] Soffel was returned to Pittsburgh, where she confessed to aiding the Biddles' escape and received a two-year sentence at the Western Penitentiary.[8][9] Removed from his job as warden, Soffel's husband moved with the couple's children to Ohio.
Soffel briefly attempted to star in a drama, "A Desperate Chance", but the production was, according to the New York Times, "enjoined by the Fayette County Court". Soffel later took up dressmaking. She died of typhoid fever in 1909.[8]
References
- ^ IMDB entry for 1902 Edison motion picture "Capture of the Biddle Brothers"[better source needed]
- ^ a b c d e f g "Origins of the Allegheny County Police". Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Website. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ^ a b Template:Cite article
- ^ a b "CONDEMNED PRISONERS BREAK OUT OF JAIL; Biddle Brothers, Sentenced to Death, Overpower Guards. Warden's Wife Aids Escape -- Charged with Furnishing Tools for Pittsburg Jail Delivery". The New York Times. January 31, 1902.
- ^ a b c "PURSUING POSSE SHOT DOWN JAIL BREAKERS; Biddle Brothers and Mrs. Soffel Captured After Desperate Fight. One Man Who Escaped from Allegheny County Jail by Woman's Aid Fatally Wounded -- Woman Shoots Herself". The New York Times. February 1, 1902.
- ^ a b c d "JAILBREAKERS DEAD IN PRISON OF WOUNDS; John Biddle First to Expire, After Making a Confession. Ed Biddle, Riddled by Bullets of Pursuing Posse, Followed in the Night – Mrs. Soffel May Survive". The New York Times. February 2, 1902.
- ^ White, Thomas; Hassett, Michael (2012). Gangs and Outlaws of Western Pennsylvania. The History Press. ISBN 9781609495503.
- ^ a b "Died of Their Wounds – Biddle Brothers Succumb to Injuries Received in Fight – Soffel Will Recover". The Daily Star (evening ed.). Fredericksburg, Virginia. February 4, 1902.
- ^ "MRS. KATE SOFFEL DEAD.; She Won Notoriety by Releasing the Biddle Brothers from Jail". The New York Times. August 31, 1909.