Look Back: Young attorney had one week to defend murderer in 1928

Jun. 12—Less than one hour after his admission to the Luzerne County Bar on Sept. 10, 1928, Attorney William Swan McLean III, 25, was appointed to the defense team of Richard Gaughan.

Gaughan, 74, was a patient at the former Retreat Mental Hospital in Newport Township where he fatally shot Edward Murray, 78, and wounded the almshouse superintendent Dennis A. Mackin, 60, on June 11, 1928.

Mackin would succumbed to his injuries three weeks later at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre.

When the young attorney McLean was appointed to assist in Gaughan's defense, he had one week to get up to speed as Gaughan's trial would begin Sept. 18 before his uncle, Luzerne County Judge William S. McLean Jr.

The young McLean was the son of George McLean, who was the judge's brother but shared the same name.

Gaughan reportedly confessed to killing Murray and shooting Mackin.

"In his confession, Gaughan told state police that he had the revolver for the last three years and that he had succeeded in keeping it from the attention of almshouse attendants by concealing it in his room or carrying it about on his person," the Wilkes-Barre Record reported June 12, 1928.

The Record reported Gaughan first shot Mackin as he emerged from his office and ran up stairs and down a corridor. Gaughan descended another set of stairs and shot Murray.

Plymouth Chief of Police Dominick Mangan was first to arrive at the mental hospital taking Gaughan into custody. Gaughan had been a patient at the mental hospital for eight years, the Record reported.

In preparation for Gaughan's trial, his first attorney, James T. Brennan, requested a second lawyer to help and in response, Luzerne County Judge Benjamin Jones appointed the younger McLean and a third attorney, Rudolph Magagna, to the defense team. The young McLean became Gaughan's lead defense attorney.

Prosecutors first brought Gaughan to trial for the killing of Murray before Judge McLean.

"Attorney William S. McLean 3rd opened the case for the defense in a brief statement in which he said they were prepared to prove that Gaughan was not responsible for his acts and should be acquitted of the murder charge on grounds of insanity," the Record reported Sept. 20, 1928.

An alsmshouse watchman and an orderly testified Gaughan was a patient for a number of years and was known to be quiet and harmless.

Gaughan testified in his own defense and likely his own worse witness.

The Record reported Gaughan had a remarkable memory but suffered from hallucinations, believing Mackin intended to put him away in solitary confinement or get rid of him altogether spurred by lies from Murray. His testimony, prosecutors argued, showed intent to kill Mackin and Murray.

The jury deliberated for only four hours finding Gaughan guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced by Judge McLean to life in prison.

Gaughan was not brought to trial for the murder of Mackin as Assistant District Attorney Leon Schwartz felt Gaughan was too old and received a life prison sentence for the Murray murder conviction, the Record reported.

Gaughan was transferred to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia on Oct. 13, 1928. Eventually, Gaughan was transferred to Farview State Hospital for the criminally insane in Wayne County where he died of chronic myocarditis on Sept. 15, 1930.

At 42, McLean III would be drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a commissioned officer with the 109th Field Artillery stationed at Indiantown Gap during World War II. After the war, he served with a military security force in Germany before being discharged. He died at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital from a head injury on June 19, 1963, and buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Hanover Township.