Harrison W. Noel

Harrison W. Noel (born 16 April 1906), murdered cab driver Raymond Pierce and a six-year-old child, Mary Daly, in Montclair, New Jersey in 1925.[1][2]

Early life

He was born in 1905 to Dix W. Noel.[3]

Legal process

He was found guilty and sentenced to death, in the electric chair, despite considerable defense evidence for his insanity.

William A. Wachenfeld, his lawyer, obtained a writ of error from Chancellor Walker, which stayed the execution, pending an appeal hearing. The appeal court, the Court of Errors and Appeals, found him insane.

He was committed to the Greystone Park Psychiatric Center, Morris County.

Commentary

Noel was aware of Leopold and Loeb, and said he was influenced by the case.

There was a very strong reaction at the time to insanity pleas, and, despite the public opinion blaming his father and the director of the mental institution, for having him released, it was also strongly against accepting an insanity plea.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Insanity Claimed in Noel Murder Charge. Slayer of Child and Chauffeur Said to Be Mentally Irresponsible by Alienists". Cornell Daily Sun. October 1, 1925. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  2. ↑ Gerald Tomlinson (1994). "A Crazy Rich Kid. Escaped Lunatic Kidnaps Girl, Murders Her and Taxi Driver". Murdered in Jersey. Rutgers University Press. p. 21.
  3. ↑ Gerald Tomlinson (1994). A Crazy Rich Kid. Murdered in Jersey (Rutgers University Press). pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-0-8135-2078-0.
  4. ↑ Paula S. Fass (1 March 2006). Kidnapped: Child Abduction in America. Oxford University Press. pp. 73–75. ISBN 978-0-19-531141-9.
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