In 1921, O'Connor was on death row in the Cook County jail, sentenced to hang for killing a police officer
In 1921, O'Connor was on death row in the Cook County jail, sentenced to hang for killing a police officer. Four days before the scheduled execution, he escaped by getting ahold of a pistol and threatening a guard. He stole a car (the fourth one he commandeered, after abandoning the first three for some reason) and was never seen again. According to The Washington Post, there were plenty of theories about what happened to O'Connor, including he "returned to his native Ireland to fight the British, fled to Mexico or became a Trappist monk." But there's a grave in Illinois reputed to be his, that claims he died in 1951. O'Connor's disappearance was a problem for Chicago. Cook County "discontinued hanging" and moved on to the electric chair in 1927. But Terrible Tommy's sentence specified he was to be hanged. That meant if he ever turned back up, they couldn't legally kill him any other way. So, just in case, the gallows gathered dust in a b...