"Terrible" Tommy O'Connor (1883–after 1923-died 1951{?) was a gangster who escaped from the Chicago courthouse in 1923, only three days before he was to have been executed for the murder of a policeman.

Life

Tommy O'Connor first came to prominence when he was arrested in Chicago after a shootout in which Chicago Police Detective Patrick J O'Neil was gunned down March 13, 1921. Charged with Paddy's murder, O'Connor was convicted at trial and sentenced to hang. Three days before the scheduled execution, he and his cellmate overpowered the guard, took his rifle, and escaped from the courthouse. The two men were last seen dodging through the traffic and made their escape. O'Connor's fate is unknown after that, but reported sightings of him continued into the thirties. Because there was no Cook County Sheriff's Department, O'Connor was able to make his way through miles of empty countryside and disappear completely.

After the escape

O'Connor was last seen in the 1930s, and then he seemed to vanish forever. A court order in the 1950s forced the city of Chicago to retain O'Connor's gallows and keep him on the death list until his fate was made known. The gallows were dismantled in 1977, but apparently O'Connor still remains scheduled to hang.

The gangster played by George Bancroft

George Bancroft (actor)

George Bancroft was an American Hollywood film actor of the 1920s and '30s.-Biography:Bancroft was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1882. During his early days as a sailor he staged plays on board ship. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, but left the Navy to become a "black...

 in the silent film Underworld

Underworld (1927 film)

Underworld is a 1927 silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg.-Plot:Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.-Cast:* George Bancroft as "Bull" Weed* Evelyn Brent as "Feathers"...

was modelled on O'Connor.

Further reading