Age: 35
Served:  7 years
March 18, 1891 to January 10, 1898

During the holidays of 1897, bandits entered Wiedeman Jewelry Store at 1602 Freeman Avenue, bound and gagged the clerk, and made off with property.  On January 9, 1898, word reached Police headquarters that Herman Diehm, alias Ed Meyers, 1308 Bremen Street, the suspected ring leader of the gang, was at Jack Dougherty’s house at 547 E. 8th Street with others of the gang and possibly some of the loot.  The officers were warned that Diehm would resist arrest until death.  Though off duty at the time, Detective Moran, 1488 State Street, went to the house with Detectives James Dwyer, Lou Becker, and Phil Roach, Sergeant Sinkking, and Officers Miller, Parr, and Gheogan.  Sergeant Sinkking and the officers went to the rear while Detectives Becker and Roach went to cover the side entrance.  At 8 p.m., Detective Moran told Detective Dwyer to “step aside” and then ordered those inside to open the door.  The door was opened and, as Detective Moran walked in, Diehm fired at the detective and escaped out the side of the house amid a shower of bullets.  Detective Moran, shot through the torso, said to Detective Dwyer, “My God, Jim, I’m shot!  Send me to the hospital!”  Patrol 2 took Detective Moran to Cincinnati General Hospital.

After Diehm escaped, those in the gang left in the house were arrested: John Hattersly, 26, of 6 Perin Street; Buck Wainright, 26, of 932 Kenyon Avenue; and Johnny Needham, 25, of 825 West Liberty Street.  Needham made a statement that he saw Diehm fire some shots, but did not see who he shot.  They were charged with Murder.  Within days,   the charge against Wainright was dropped. 

At the hospital, Doctors Dandridge and Shields removed a .41 caliber bullet which had pierced both lungs.  He rested easily to 7 a.m. the next day, January 10, 1898, but then took a turn for the worst.  Mrs. Moran, though several months pregnant, came to the hospital where she cared for Detective Moran’s every need.  Deputy Clerk of Police Court, Edward McHugh, took a dying statement in the presence of Lieutenant Krumpe and Dr. J. M. French.  He made another in the presence of J.B. Menke, Al Wuest, and Peter J. O’Hara.  Each time he identified Diehm as the shooter.  Reverend James Donohue of St. Edwards Church administered the sacrament of Extreme Unction.  Detective Moran died at 1:10 p.m.

Based on a flier distributed to area law enforcement agencies by Chief Dietsch, Covington Officers discovered Diehm in their city.  Covington Lieutenant Schleuter and Officers Kiely and Brenkamp followed him to the Central Hotel on Pike Street near Russell Street and at 1 a.m. on January 12 arrested Diehm in bed.  He was had a .38 caliber British Bulldog revolver under his pillow.  Diehm’s admitted to them that he had fired, but claimed it was only in self-defense. 

Detective Moran left his pregnant wife, Anna, and four children; Edward G., Robert, Elmer and Florence.  Detective Moran was laid out in his home at 1488 State Street.  Father F. X. Dutton presided over the funeral, a high mass at the Blessed Sacrament Church on Wilder Avenue near Gest Street.  He was buried in Section 1, Lot 17, Division C, St. Joseph New Cemetery.  Lieutenant Krumpe, Sergeant Keidel, Detectives Phillip J. Roach, and James Dwyer, and Officers John H. Martin, James O’Neill, and Michael Batters acted as pallbearers.  On March 9, 1898, Anna gave birth to Detective Moran’s fifth child, a boy she named Emmit, but he joined is father only nine months later in December 1898.  Anna joined them both in November 1940.

Diehm was indicted for Murder of the 1st Degree.  On April 25, 1898, Diehm went on trial in front of Judge Samuel Smith.  He was the first in Ohio to go on trial for murder in the first degree since the new law was passed making death or life imprisonment optional.  Diehm’s attorneys argued that Diehm had fired, but that he had missed Detective Moran and that it was actually Detective Dwyer who shot him.  On May 14, 1898, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty. 

Detective Moran’s great grandson, William M. Gustavson, would later become an Assistant Solicitor and Safety Director for the City of Cincinnati. 

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.