George Strugnall, a roofer and father of eight, told police the story of how his 16-year-old daughter Mary Strugnall lost her life:
[Twenty-two-year-old Vernon] Keyser met my daughter a year ago. She was only 15 then and just out of grammar school, so my wife and I did all we could to discourage his attentions. He worked in his father's machine shop a few doors from our house and used to stop and see Mary every night. Sometimes he took her out.
A week ago my youngest boy, Raymond, 9 years old, was run over by a truck and his leg broken. Last Tuesday [January 29] my wife and I went to the People's hospital to see him, leaving Mary alone. When we returned, Mary was gone.
Unbeknownst to her parents, Keyser had taken advantage of the situation to resolve his own problem. He told police:
About three months ago Mary said she was in trouble and asked me to help her. I didn't know what to do until a few weeks ago. I met Dr. [J. A.] Harter, who said he would take care of the case for $150 if I brought Mary to his office.
On Tuesday, when her parents were away, I took Mary to Dr. Harter's home. She was frightened and began to struggle, but the doctor's brother [Irving Harter] and I held her on a table while the operation was performed. Five hours later I took her to the home of a Mrs. Irma McMullen, 7037 Clarmont avenue.
Mary's condition deteriorated, so to avert any suspicion Keyser continued to stop at the Strugnell home daily asking after Mary.
On Friday, February 1, Harter told Keyser that he couldn't do anything more for Mary and suggested that he consult with Dr. J. A. Goodhart. Goodhart immediately ordered that Mary be admitted to the county hospital.
Per Harter's instructions as to "the simplest way out of it," Keyser persuaded Mary to lie and say that she had done the abortion herself. She died on February 3.
As Mary lay dying, her brother-in-law George Gherke, went to the hospital. Whatever she said to him was evidently profound. "She just lay there trying to tell me something. I knew what it was. When she died in a few minutes I was a new man."
George, who had been a troublesome drunk for ten years, stopped drinking and started taking care of his wife and their six children. The story of George's newfound sobriety actually got more press than Mary's death and the prosecution of the abortionist.
Dr. Harter was arrested after going on the run for three weeks. Vernon Keyser, age 22, and Dr. Harter's brother Irving, a medical student, were held as accessories.
The only outcome of the case I can find is that the Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database says that Dr. Harter was acquitted.
Watch Teen's Abortion Death Sobers Up Brother-in-Law on YouTube.
Watch Teen's Abortion Death Sobers Up Brother-in-Law on Rumble.
Sources:
- "Seek Doctor on Murder Charge After Girl Dies," Chicago Tribune, February 5, 1929
- "Physician Seized in Investigation of Girl's Death," Chicago Tribune, February 27, 1929
- "Doctor Held to Grand Jury Charged with Girl's Death," Chicago Daily Tribune, March 6, 1929
- "Tragedy of Girl Lifts Blight off Family of Eight," Chicago Tribune, March 25, 1929
- "Death of Mother, 17, Brings Happiness to Her Sister's Family," The Herald-Press, March 25, 1929
- Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
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