Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.
The
Prowler March
19th, 1929
Harry Seeback arrived at Hurley
hospital shortly before three in the morning with a gunshot wound in his back.
The doctors told Harry that he needed surgery and the outcome might not be
good.
Harry’s explanation for the
gunshot wound was that he had went downtown to get he and his wife a sandwich when
he was robbed and shot by two men on Avenue A.
After an unsuccessful surgery
Harry was told he might not make it through the day. Just before he died, he
gave a statement to the police saying that he went to Paul Gonsler’s house to
take back whiskey that the Gonsler brothers hi-jacked from him a few months
back. He had discovered that it was stashed in their garage. He parked on the
street and left the car running while he crept into the garage.
When he saw the light in the
house turn on, he started running for the car. The door opened and shots were
fired. He made it to the car and started driving before realizing he was hit.
He stopped at the first house he came across. It was Mr. West’s house. He took
Harry to the hospital and called the police.
After Harry’s confession the
police picked up Paul Gonsler and his brother and brought them down for
questioning. During Paul’s interview, he admitted to hearing someone in the
yard and said he grabbed his shotgun and called out for the intruder to show
themselves. He then saw the person running from his garage and thought it was a
prowler trying to steal his car. He yelled for the intruder to show themselves
but they kept running so he fired his gun. He claimed he did not know he hit
the person. He was only firing to scare him off and let them know he meant
business. Gonsler denied knowing Seeback or anything to do with the high
jacking of his liquor.
The police kept Paul detained
while they went to the address of Harry Seeback to inform his wife of his
death. When they knocked on the door they were met by a teenage boy. He said he
did not know a Harry Seebeck and had never heard of him.
The police asked to speak to the
boy’s parents, the boy got his father who told them the same thing. They had
lived there for years, and have never heard of a Harry Seeback.
The officer then went back to the
station to check all the records for a Harry Seeback and found none, no police
record, birth certificate, nothing.
Paul Gonsler was convicted of
murder and spent ten years in prison for killing a mystery man.
It was never determined if Harry
Seeback was the man’s real name or if any of his tale was true.
No comments:
Post a Comment