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THE
ULTIMATE SACRIFICE |
Timothy Kelleher
Pennsylvania State Police
Troop "C" |
1878-1907 |
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Incident Details
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Timothy Kelleher was born March 18, 1878, in
County Cork, Ireland.
Before enlisting with the Constabulary, Kelleher fought with the Boers during their
war with England. In the United States, he served as Trooper and Corporal with Troop M,
2nd U.S. Cavalry, from January 24, 1899, to January 23, 1902, and saw action in the
Philippines.
Before enlisting in the Constabulary on December 15, 1905, he was an egg inspector
in Pittsburgh. He had resided at 531 Second Avenue in Pittsburgh, but was assigned to
Troop C, Reading. He was 27 years old and 5' 6" tall.
En route to the Reading Barracks to report for duty on September 14, 1907, he heard
a woman's screams. He saw two men beating a young woman and went to her rescue. During the
struggle one of the men plunged a knife into Kelleher's side. The assailants carried his
body and tossed him over a railroad embankment into a dump. His body was discovered the
following morning by J. Oscar Seidel, of Reading, a Pennsylvania Railroad employee. The
examining physician stated Kelleher died within minutes from severe lacerations.
The woman, Bertha Bernhart, was located and stated that Kelleher had saved her life
because the two assailants had threatened to kill her. One, Salvatore Guto, was arrested
at Warwick, New York, and the other, Stefano Pucella, was apprehended at Graycourt, New
York. Lieutenant J. L. Reese, Trooper J. B. Cady of Troop C, and Detective George F. Kemp
of the Reading Police Department were the arresting officers.
The trial was brief, as Bernhart faced her assailants in court and identified them
as the killers. On October 29, 1908, Guto was hanged at the Berks County Prison. Pucella
was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in the Eastern Penitentiary.
Kelleher was survived by his father, Mr. Timothy X. Kelleher of County Cork,
Ireland, and two brothers in Pittsburgh. Kelleher's body was released to his brothers.
He was buried through the courtesy of American Veteran's Foreign Service Post #3 in
Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh. Kelleher had completed one year and nine months of
Constabulary service. He was 29.
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