On May 31, 1884, 40-year-old Keeper Michael Doran was working at the Eastern Penitentiary in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. For the last two weeks, he was in charge of the weaving department and was put in charge of a new group of men. One of the tasks was to allow the men a few minutes of exercise in the yard connected to their cells.
Among the men was Joseph Taylor. At the time he was in the penitentiary for murderous assault. He had attempted to kill a man by beating him and trying to throw him out of a second-floor window. He had a history of violence against people and animals.
On this morning Keeper Doran let Joseph Taylor out of his cell. Another prisoner Benjamin Sayers claimed he saw Joseph while he was doing his duties as a cook. Joseph had walked out of his cell and to the railroad track running from the kitchen, stop beside the bread car looked up and down the track, and returned to his cell yard. What happened next was not witnessed.
It's believed that Joseph hid in his cell and waited for Keeper Doran to return to lock him in. He would then attack and hit him about the head with a weavers spool. He would then continue to beat him about the head with an iron bar that keeper Doran had that was used to close the cells. He would then go back into his cell and sit and wait.
Another keeper noticed Keeper Doran's absence and went to look for him. When he was found he was said to be an unrecognizable mess and moaning. His face was so badly beaten, and parts of his brain were exposed from the beating. He would be brought to a bed and Dr. Robinson would see to him. Unfortunately, his wounds were too severe. He was still alive for a short time but did not become conscious. He would die by noon.
The murderer kept his mouth closed at first for the murder, but he would admit the reason. He was upset and believed that the physician and keeper Doran were conspiring against him. He had been administered drugs that caused nausea that was prescribed by the prison physician. Other articles stated that he believed that he was secretly being given medicine in his food and that he also asked to be given medicine when he was killing Keeper Doran. He stated he would have rather killed the physician than the keeper.
Joseph Taylor then would go to trial for the murder. There was an insanity plea, but he would be convicted and set to be executed for the murder. He would be hanged on July 16, 1885.
SOURCES:
The Times June 1, 1884
The Philidelphia Inquirer June 2, 1884
The Times October 29, 1884
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