| The Killing of John Sharpless: The Pursuit of Justice in Delaware County Contributor(s): Hoover, Stephanie (Author) |
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ISBN: 1540221563 ISBN-13: 9781540221568 Publisher: History Press Library Editions OUR PRICE: $28.79 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: April 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - True Crime | Murder - General - History | United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa) |
| Dewey: 364.152 |
| Physical Information: 0.38" H x 6" W x 9" (0.76 lbs) 130 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: On a stormy November evening in 1885, John Sharpless answered a knock on his door. Less than an hour later, he was found dead in his barn from a blow to the back of the head; his bloodstained hat lay next to him on the ground. A $3,000 reward for the killer sparked an overzealous bounty hunt across southeastern Pennsylvania, and numerous innocent men were arrested. Samuel Johnson--a local African American man with a criminal record--was charged. Despite the Widow Sharpless's insistence that Johnson was not the man who had come to their door, he was tried and sentenced to hang. Author Stephanie Hoover offers an in-depth investigation of the crime. From the events of that night and the mishandling of the investigation by a corrupt police force to the trial and conviction of Johnson and the efforts of the Quaker community to appeal the sentence, Hoover profiles a miscarriage of justice in Delaware County. |