John Hamnett, his wife, Agnes and two little daughters, Ida and Emma, and a boy staying with them named Robert Smith were murdered on April 29, 1874 by Ernest Ortwein (later called Michael Ortwine in some later newspapers.) He murdered them with an axe and later set fire to their house. Their story is covered in newspapers of the time, and was weirdly similar to the horrific Cawley family axe murders that would occur in nearby Homestead, PA in 1902. Here's one source of many:The Pittsburgh Commercial
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · Wednesday, May 06, 1874
John Hamnett, his wife, Agnes and two little daughters, Ida and Emma, and a boy staying with them named Robert Smith were murdered on April 29, 1874 by Ernest Ortwein (later called Michael Ortwine in some later newspapers.) He murdered them with an axe and later set fire to their house. Their story is covered in newspapers of the time, and was weirdly similar to the horrific Cawley family axe murders that would occur in nearby Homestead, PA in 1902. Here's one source of many:The Pittsburgh Commercial
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · Wednesday, May 06, 1874
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