Abduction or Murder - Which?
March 9, 1895
Summary
A ten year-old black girl who was brutally raped by a white man in Danville, Virginia, disappears before the trial; the man is acquitted because no witnesses were present.
Transcription
Thomas J. Penn, a rich white man of Danville, Va., enticed Lina Hanna, a ten year old colored girl into his office and brutally raped her. Her injuries were of such a fearful nature that she had to be carried from his office. For weeks her life was despaired of, and it was a surprise to the physicians that she recovered.
The crime was so revolting that the sentiment of the white people of Danville was against him, and it was plainly evident that he would be severely dealt with. When the case was called for trial upon the motion of Penn’s counsel, it was postponed until the next term.
Before that time arrived it was discovered that the entire Hanna family had disappeared just as completely as though the earth had swallowed them up. No one seemed to know when nor whither they had gone. That they did not go of their own free will and volition was plainly apparent.
It would be well to state here that Penn has been known as a bulldozer and many colored men stood in deadly fear of him and his brothers.
When the case was called in November 1894, it was the commonwealth that asked for a continuance, in order that a further search might be made for the missing witnesses. The City Council had voted $250.00 for the purpose of finding them.
The case was carried over until the February term. The trial took place, and the witnesses being absent Penn was acquitted. Where are the witnesses? Where is Lina Hanna? Where is her mother? Where is her sister?
What have the hirelings of Thomas J. Penn done with them?
It should not be forgotten that the commonwealth is not devoid of responsibility. It knew that Penn was a dangerous man. It knew that his people would spend any amount of money to save him from the penitentiary or the gallows and it should have thrown around the witnesses such protection as would have ensured their presence in court at the proper time in order that a dangerous criminal might be put out the way and the homes of the peaceful citizens protected for all future time against his ravages.
The energy it failed to exert in the beginning, it exercised at the close.
The duty of the commonwealth is not ended. True Penn has been acquitted, but there is another grave crime to be inquired into, and the perpetrators of it punished.
Who spirited away those witnesses? Who furnished money for their transportation?
It is a rule of law that when a crime has been committed, to ascertain who had a motive for its commission and who would profit as a result of it.
[The article continues for several more paragraphs]
The crime was so revolting that the sentiment of the white people of Danville was against him, and it was plainly evident that he would be severely dealt with. When the case was called for trial upon the motion of Penn’s counsel, it was postponed until the next term.
Before that time arrived it was discovered that the entire Hanna family had disappeared just as completely as though the earth had swallowed them up. No one seemed to know when nor whither they had gone. That they did not go of their own free will and volition was plainly apparent.
It would be well to state here that Penn has been known as a bulldozer and many colored men stood in deadly fear of him and his brothers.
When the case was called in November 1894, it was the commonwealth that asked for a continuance, in order that a further search might be made for the missing witnesses. The City Council had voted $250.00 for the purpose of finding them.
The case was carried over until the February term. The trial took place, and the witnesses being absent Penn was acquitted. Where are the witnesses? Where is Lina Hanna? Where is her mother? Where is her sister?
What have the hirelings of Thomas J. Penn done with them?
It should not be forgotten that the commonwealth is not devoid of responsibility. It knew that Penn was a dangerous man. It knew that his people would spend any amount of money to save him from the penitentiary or the gallows and it should have thrown around the witnesses such protection as would have ensured their presence in court at the proper time in order that a dangerous criminal might be put out the way and the homes of the peaceful citizens protected for all future time against his ravages.
The energy it failed to exert in the beginning, it exercised at the close.
The duty of the commonwealth is not ended. True Penn has been acquitted, but there is another grave crime to be inquired into, and the perpetrators of it punished.
Who spirited away those witnesses? Who furnished money for their transportation?
It is a rule of law that when a crime has been committed, to ascertain who had a motive for its commission and who would profit as a result of it.
[The article continues for several more paragraphs]
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Cord Fox
Citation
“Abduction or Murder - Which?,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 24, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1371.