"ANOTHER SHOCKING MURDER
ON THE WEST SIDE"

An axe, a flask of whiskey, a shovel, and the blugeoned body of 26 year-old Rosa O'Malia found in a blood spattered shanty on Cleveland's west side known as Irishtown on December 15, 1859 set the stage for intrigue . The players in this real life drama include a jealous wife and a husband bound for revenge. Was the wife drunk? Was there a second axe involved? What does the purchase of cabbages have to do with Rosa O'Malia's murder? These questions turn up conflicting testimony, discrepancies, hearsay and collaboration. During the six days in which Rosa O'Malia's head injuries caused her brain to fill with blood leading to her ultimate death on December 21, the testimony of family and neighbors' as well as experts was gathered and the murder drew the attentions of newspaper reporters. Charles A. Hartmann, Coroner for the Cuyahoga County filed his medical report and verdict within three days of O'Malia's death. Hartmann fingered two individuals whose trials end in a Jury's Decision with which you may or may not agree. Follow your instincts and reflect on the insight provided by interpretations written by Rebecca Laird, Jennifer Vincenty and Deborah Sutherland. Essays by Robert Wheeler, Judith Cetina and Eric Meany help to set the scene and explore the documents you can read yourself.

This site is a part of the Social History and the City Project of the Department of History, Cleveland State University , Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
It was designed by Dr. Donald Ramos. Comments should be directed to site webmaster at history.webmaster@csuohio.edu
Copyright 1999 Cleveland State University