Jimmy Logue

Early life

Jimmy Logue was born in Philadelphia in 1837 and began stealing when he was a teenager. According to him, it came naturally to him and he told his physician on his death bed that "It was born in me. I couldn't help it."

His real name was alternately claimed to be James E. Logue, William Casey, and Henry Greyson, the latter of which he can be found recorded as on the 1880 census in the Eastern State Penitentiary.

It was said that Logue's mother, Mary Logue, owned a large piece of property later in life but she claimed that while pregnant with Jimmy, his father was spending all their money on alcohol and not providing for their family and so she had to steal money from his pocket while he slept. She believed this was the reason thievery seemed inherent in Jimmy. Logue later attempted to use this as a defense in court.

Criminal Life

1852 was Logue's first conviction for larceny when he was about 15 years old. He served his time in the House of Refuge.

In 1871, Logue was captured by police along with James Hanley and John Jenkins while committing a theft on Girard Ave during a parade in Philadelphia. Later, while being taken to be identified by witnesses, he broke free of his guards but was recaptured. He was also accused of stealing jewelry worth $50 from the residence of William H. Furman on N. 12th Street during the parade and of being involved in a theft in December of the previous year during which $6,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from a store on N. 5th Street owned by Henry Gerlach. He was initially committed to jail for 90 days and then his bail was set for a total of $5,000. He was later sentenced to 7 years in prison and a few months later, while serving his time in Eastern State Penitentiary, his friends petitioned for his pardon, which failed. Logue was not released until 1877. During his arrest, the police attempted to have his photograph taken for the Rogues Gallery but Logue refused and made it so difficult for them that they eventually gave up. When asked why they didn't force Logue to sit still by holding him by the ears, an officer responded, "It's as much as a man's life is worth to meddle with Logue. He may be out in a month, and I didn't want a bullet in my back."

After his release in 1877, Logue was again captured on November 2, 1879 during a burgarly of a safe in a "segar" (cigar) store on Chestnut Street with another man claiming to be Richard Osbourn, later identified as John Irving. A police officer by the name of Entriken spotted them in mid-robbery and after recruiting Officer Keenan, they blocked the front and back exits of the shop and Entriken confronted them as they attempted to leave by the front entrance, unaware that anyone had noticed their robbery in progress. Osbourn/Irving was apprehended by Entriken but Logue fled by the rear entrance and climbed a fence to reach Broad Street through an alley, where Keenan spotted him and gave chase, firing his revolver at Logue but missing. When Logue turned onto Drury Street, he was captured after a fight with Keenan in which the officer hit Logue on the head with his club several times. Several burglary tools were found in the cigar shop, which had been used to break open the rear door and the safe. The shop owner, Mr. Portuondo, claimed there was about $1,000 in notes missing from his safe but the money was never found. It was assumed that an accomplice had gotten away with it before the officers had come upon the store but Logue claimed he had dropped it in the store when surprised by Entriken. It was believed that Logue was also responsible for a number of other robberies which had taken place recently in Philadelphia, including that of a pawn shop two weeks prior. During the bail hearing, Logue was named as Henry Greyson, it being believed that Jimmy Logue was an alias. His bail was set at $3,000 and his accomplice's was set at $3,800, the additional $800 for being caught carrying a concealed deadly weapon. At the same hearing, an attempt was made by unknown persons to free Logue from the court house but their effort was thwarted by an officer. On November 10, Logue and Irving were both sentenced to 3 years and 9 months after they pleaded guilty.

Prior to his recapture in November, Logue had committed a robbery in February in Boston, during the time his third wife disappeared. He was also involved in the Dexter Bank robbery in Maine during February 1878 and was connected to robberies of the Corn Exchange National Bank, the Norristown Bank, the Catholic Beneficial Savings fund in which $3,000 was stolen, and of many other crimes New York and Massachusetts, in addition to Pennsylvania. He was also thought to have been involved in the attempted robbery of the United States sub-treasury in Philadelphia.

In 1883, Logue was again captured during a robbery of a jewelry store of 3rd and Arch streets in Philadelphia in which $1,500 worth of jewelry was stolen. Several accomplices were apprehended as well, including Samuel Terrence, Lewis Edwards, "Big Buckey" Donnelly, and Frank Starr. The group were later released due to lack of evidence against them, however, Logue was convicted later that year for a robbery in Reading, PA and served three years in Berks County.

In 1886, Logue was once again arrested, this time for the robbery a grocery store on N. 13th St. and bail was set at $2,000. After a long struggle, Logue was subdued enough to finally have his photograph taken for the Rogues Gallery, though his features were distorted presumably by motion blur. He served another six years in the Penitentiary.

Not long out of jail, Logue was arrested again in 1892 when he was charged with the burglary of several residences and held in bail for $1,000. After being acquitted of at least one of the crimes he was charged with, he was sentenced to only ten months in Moyamensing Prison.

In 1896, Logue was accused of assault and battery by his daughter-in-law Matilda Logue. Though acquitted, the judge warned him to stay away from Matilda and Logue agreed by saying, "A burnt child never plays with the fire."

Logue was a known associate of several other thieves in multiple cities, such as Jimmy Hope, Billy Porter, George Mason, and Peter Burns, who was briefly believed to have run off with Logue's third wife, though later found to have gone to Italy alone. Peter Ehrenberg, aka Peter Pretzels, was known as Logue's "bruiser", delivering beatings to anyone Logue instructed. Logue was also associated with James Martin, aka "Curly" Harris, who was accused of the murder of James Riley, aka John Davis. Logue evaded capture many times because he was allegedly in league with certain detectives, though the man who claimed this to be true, Detective Taggerty, died in an insane asylum.

It was believed that at some point before he was 40 years old, Logue had spent some time in the West where he racked up a sizable sum and invested it in a relative.

Marriages

On January 20, 1861, Jimmy married Mary Jane Andrews and lived with her for two years before they separated but never officially divorced. In an act of bigamy, he then married again, to another Mary (whose maiden name was Gahan). Mary had an illegitimate son named Alphonso Cutaiar Jr., who eventually became a barber. Jimmy set his stepson up with a barber shop and used it as a cover for his own source of criminal income.

On February 15, 1870, Jimmy's second wife Mary died. Just before the start of one of his trials in 1871, Jimmy was married to Mary's sister, Joanna, before being sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released early 1877, at which point he bought a house at 1250 North 11th Street in Philadelphia where his wife and stepson Alphonso resided with him.

An article from 1881 claimed that Logue had children who were cared for by a lawyer while Logue was in jail for three years from 1879 cigar shop burglary. One of these children was a son named Percy.

Disappearance and Discovery of Third Wife

In February 1879, Jimmy traveled to Boston to complete a job with fellow thief George Mason but when he returned to his home in Philadelphia, he found Joanna was gone. Cutaiar claimed that Joanna had declared she was leaving permanently and then rushed to the railroad station before he could escort her there. Jimmy searched across the country for her but eventually gave up and left their home in the hands of Cutaiar, who later sold it.

Fourteen years after Joanna's disappearance, the owners of 1250 North 11th Street were having the floorboards fixed when a skeleton was discovered beneath them. Personal artifacts, including an inscribed ring, found with the skeleton confirmed it to be Joanna's. Though Logue was initially suspected, proof that he had been in Boston during the time of Joanna's disappearance exonerated him. When faced with the knowledge that he was the only other person with access to the house during the time of her disappearance, Cutaiar confessed. He tried to claim her death was an accident and his improper disposal of her body done out of fear but the court did not believe him, mostly due to Joanna's missing jewelry and bonds, which Cutaiar stole.

Cutaiar was initially sentenced to death but it was later commuted and served his time in the Eastern State Penitentiary. In 1904, a pardon was attempted but a judge denied it, saying that Cutaiar was lucky to not receive the death penalty. Sometime between 1910 and 1920, Cutaiar was released from prison.

Death

Jimmy died penniless of oedema of the lungs on October 4, 1899 in the Philadelphia County almshouse, and was buried in the cemetery of Church of St. James the Less along with his beloved wife Joanna. He'd given up robbery and repented his sins, though he never forgave his stepson and nephew for Joanna's murder.