Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.
Family Feud
December 27th, 1927
After the birth of their youngest
child, Jennie Herman left her husband Paul because of domestic problems that
had been going on throughout her pregnancy.
Jennie left Detroit, where the
couple lived, and moved her and her children into her mother’s apartment in
Flint. Jennie then filed for divorce. Her husband Paul was contesting its
merit.
Paul had recently been let go
from his factory job in Detroit, and obtained anther factory job in Pontiac.
During Christmas dinner, Jennie
and the kids were celebrating at her sister’s home on Coldwater Road in Flint,
when Paul showed up uninvited and demanded that Jennie and the kids move back
to Detroit with him. Jennie refused and the couple argued for some time until
Jennie’s brother-in-law had enough, and made him leave.
The next day, everything seemed
to be going good. Paul for the first time since the separation had made no
contact with Jennie. The following day, December 27, was to be the divorce
hearing. Jennie went to bed hoping the drama would soon be over.
Mary Malloy, Jennie’s mother had
a three bedroom apartment. Jennie slept in the small room with the baby, Mary
slept in another with two of the children, and the older children shared the
third bedroom. With hopes of a better new year, the family went to sleep.
Around three in the morning on
December 27th, Mary was woken to the sound of broken glass coming from the
front room. She rushed to the bedroom door. There she was met by her son-in-law
Paul who was holding a shotgun. He fired two shots, killing her instantly.
One of the two children was hit
in the head with a buckshot and the other rushed to her grandma’s aid. Paul
then took the butt of the gun and hit the child in the head, knocking him
unconscious. Paul then saw Jennie and fired two shots. One missed her and the other
blew off her left hand.
The neighbor who lived in the
apartment above was woken by the gun shot. She quickly ran to the window and
saw Paul get into his car and speed off. She called the police. The police
arrived and found Mary dead and Jennie and two of the children in critical
condition. The three were rushed to the hospital and treated for their
injuries. All three survived.
The police then went on a chase
for Paul. They arrived at his address on Cope Avenue in Detroit, where they
found him intoxicated and having no recollection of what had happened. In his
apartment, the police found the shotgun that matched the bullet casing found in
the apartment in Flint.
They arrested Paul and he was
charged and convicted of the murder of Mary Malloy, three counts of attempted
murder, and violation of prohibition laws. He spent the rest of his life in
prison.
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