Thomas Jennings had just been released from prison six weeks prior in Joliet, Illinois, when he broke into the Hiller house on September 19, 1910, at about 2 a.m. Inside were Clarence Hiller, his wife, and their children, who were all asleep in bed. As reported by Illinois Courts, Jennings entered the eldest daughter Clarice’s bedroom but she woke up and started screaming. Clarence was awakened by Clarice’s shouts and immediately rushed to her daughter’s room and confronted the intruder.
Read Related Also: Cocaine Cassie Sainsbury said she was introduced to Columbian cocaine smuggling in a Sydney brothel
During the tussle, the two men tumbled down the staircase, and Clarice said she heard three gunshots. The intruder fled, and Clarence was left bleeding to death by the front door of his home. According to Smithsonian Magazine, neighbors were quick to call the police. They apprehended Jennings less than a mile away from the Hiller house. His clothes were bloody and torn, and he had a revolver with him. When authorities inspected the scene of the crime, they discovered that Jennings left his fingerprint on a railing that had just recently been painted. He reportedly held on to it as he pushed himself up to a window. Authorities took photographs of the fingerprint and cut off the railing to preserve it as evidence.
