Photo from the Feb. 2, 1911 Warren Mail The lead story in the Feb. 2, 1911 Warren Mail was the discovery of a murdered body on Tanner Hill up Liberty St.

Pinkerton guards.

Wild rumors.

A post-conviction confession.

State Supreme Court appeals.

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton The grave of Emile Amann at Oakland Cemetery.

One story that unfolded in Warren in 1911 and 1912 has all of that.

I was researching something else (honestly forget what that was) and was surprised by the headlines, the rumors, the TONS of copy dedicated to this circumstance. The more I read, the less likely it seems that these events actually happened.

The whole town was whipped into a frenzy. Dueling newspapers – the Warren Evening Mirror and the Warren Mail devoted pages, pages and more pages to coverage of the incident.

Everyone seems to have had an opinion (just wait, there’s a basis for how I can make such a sweeping statement).

And it started on a January night less than a mile from the county courthouse.

The scene of the crime is what’s referred to as the “reservoir” on Tanner Hill. That’s the hill right behind Fifth Ave. and it seems likely that the scene is probably somewhere near the existing water reserves up Fifth Ave. That’s not something I’ve yet been able to confirm, though, as multiple accounts refer to an actual reservoir on the hill.

The headline in the Warren Evening Mirror on Jan. 30 was bold – EMILE AMANN WAS MURDERED BUT THE MOTIVE IS UNKNOWN.

“That Emile Amann, whose dead body was found in a pool of blood in the field northeast of the city reservoir, near what is commonly known as the Bunker Hill road, a short distance north of this city, was the victim of one of the most cold blooded murders that has ever been committed in Warren County, is now an established fact.”

Amann was born in 1861 in Alsace, France and was 49 when he was cut down on Tanner Hill. He had worked for years at the Warren Water Company and was functioning more like a consultant when he hitched a buggy to ride up the hill and check the reservoir that night.

The editors of the Evening Mirror acknowledged that many of the rumors were “only street talk” but said that an arrest was expected within the next 24 hours of the “most sensational character.”

An “inquest” by Coroner Dr. Pierce was the first step in the investigation and it revealed multiple gunshot wounds – one through the back and one through the brain. Evidence concluded the shots to have been fired from within five or six feet. The coroner concluded both would have been fatal and caused instantaneous death.

From the Evening Mirror: “It is believed that the first bullet took effect in the head and that the second was fired after the assassin had approached and while he was standing beside the body of his victim.”

The inquest was more than what we might see today where an autopsy and police investigation would be undertaken. It included testimony from two women who purported to hear the gunshots (given the proximity to Warren, it’s not surprising people heard the shots). The incident occurred between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. and the body was found the following morning.

“The tragedy is not without its perplexing phases,” the Mirror claimed, “many of which will probably remain forever unexplained, unless the criminal is brought to justice and a confession is drawn from his lips.”

This is where the Pinkertons, the famed detective agency (which supposedly first came into real public view)for stopping an assassination attempt on the life of Abraham Lincoln) enter the picture.

They sent “two of the shrewdest Pinkerton detectives that could be secured” to come investigate the Amann killing. “They arrived here this forenoon from Buffalo and immediately lined up the case, being closeted with District Attorney Frank J. Lyons and Coroner Pierce for several hours. That the matter will be sifted to the bottom and the guilty persons brought to justice within a short time is the belief of many. While the mystery appears deep to the uninitiated there are a number of substantial clues upon which the detectives can work.”

In addition to witness testimony – which the papers published in great detail – investigators also had the .38 caliber Colt pistol which was found near the body and believed to be the weapon used in the killing.

The coroner reported a verdict in the days that followed “That he (Emile Amann) came to his death between the hours of 8:30 and 9 o’clock Friday evening, January 27, 1911, in Conewango township, Warren County, Pa., from gunshot wounds to the head, said wounds were made with murderous intent by party or parties to the jury unknown.”

The Evening Mirror commented on the reaction to this case in the community. And this is just the tip of the iceberg for the rumors, views, opinions and column inches that would flow in the next year over this case.

“Warren has been in the throes of the greatest excitement since the crime was committed and the case has been discussed pro and con on every street corner, in every business place and, in fact, wherever two persons have met, the subject of their conversation has invariably been the cold-blooded murder of one of the city’s most prominent men.

“This has resulted in hundreds of different stories, reports and rumors, nearly all of which are without any foundation whatever. Some are of a nature that are most disgusting to all who were acquainted with the victim of the tragedy, for any person who knew Mr. Amann knew that he had not an enemy in the world and that in his home and business life, his character was above reproach.”