Trouble in the Longyard

Upon hearing the noise of an approaching carriage, some men and boys working in a field catch sight of it as it traveled down South Longyard Road on September 11, 1908.

Focused on their work, they paid little mind to the single-horse-drawn carriage nor the two men in it except to notice that at least one man appeared quite intoxicated.

Several minutes later, the fieldworkers see the younger of the two men chasing the horse up the road. When the nearly out-of-breath man finally overtook the horse, he got in the carriage and sped away.

It was late in the day, so the fieldworkers wrapped up and headed home.

Along the way, they see a piece of torn vest hanging on a branch not far off the road and decide to take a closer look, and in doing so, they find a body in the brush between the Longyard and Southwick Ponds.

The body belonged to 77-year-old David Moran, a well-respected Southwick farmer and Civil War pensioner.

At first glance, it looked like Moran had gotten thrown from a carriage, but authorities quickly determined that his body could not have been where it was without being dragged there.

Investigators pointed to Moran's clothes as supporting evidence; they were torn and in disarray. His coat had gone missing, and someone or something had cut his vest in two.

Moran's body was removed to the undertaking rooms of Lambson Furniture Co. in Westfield while Southwick officers investigated. They continued their search for clues late into the night. When the purse Moran carried his pension money in was found empty, they knew they had a motive. They questioned residents of the Longyard, who told them that Moran's companion in the carriage was "Jack Hurley."

Hurley turned out to be John James Herlihy, a petty thief born in Boston who lived in the Hastings Hill section of Suffield, Connecticut.

Herlihy was arrested, on suspicion of murder, at his home early Saturday morning and brought back to Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, the medical examiner determined that Moran died from a fractured skull after receiving a blow to the head. Investigators thought the instrument used in the killing was the broomstick cane Moran carried, but they had no evidence supporting such a claim. Nevertheless, authorities formally charged Herlihy with first-degree murder.

At his arraignment in Westfield District Court later that afternoon, Herlihy pleaded not guilty and was held without bail in the Hampden County Jail in Springfield while awaiting trial. He continued to maintain his innocence, with his only admission of guilt being that he had relieved the Old Man of his pension money.

The district attorney, fearing his case was weak, took it before a grand jury, which indicted Herlihy on December 28 in Springfield Criminal Superior Court.

With his trial date looming, Herlihy visited the prison chapel on Sunday, May 16, 1909. Immediately following that visit, he sent for his attorneys.

On Monday morning, Herlihy ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder. And by doing so, he was automatically sentenced to life in prison to be served at the Massachusetts state facility at Charlestown, Boston. (His occupation at the prison: upholsterer.)

Herlihy may have pleaded guilty to the lesser charge because he feared being convicted of first-degree murder, which would have guaranteed him a seat in the electric chair.

On May 13, 1914, the executive council received a petition to pardon Herlihy. Some notable people signed the petition, including then-current and former state representatives, surrounding town selectmen, a pastor, and a town clerk. The council referred the petition to the pardon committee on November 18.

Following a hearing on December 8, the committee met on December 30, with all members voting against the pardon. They wrote in part: "the release of Herlihy at this time would have a bad moral effect on people criminally inclined, and his release would be a gross injustice to many more worthy life prisoners at present incarcerated in the Charlestown State Prison."

The Executive Council voted on June 16, 1920, to commute Herlihy's life sentence to 15 years, and on June 21, the parole board granted him a leave to be at liberty, and he was a free man.

Moran's Grave
(Windsor Locks, Connecticut)