OBIT: John WIGGINS, 1880, of interest in Blair County, PA

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MURDERED IN PITTSBURGH.
A Brother of Thomas Wiggins Falls a Victim to an Assassin's Bullet.

  Last evening Thomas Wiggins, of this city, a gang boss in the 
company's machine shops, received word that his brother John, a 
policeman in Allegheny, had been murdered the previous night while in 
the discharge of his duty.  It appears from the testimony that Wiggins 
and a brother officer arrested two men for fighting and that the 
prisoner in the custody of Wiggins placed a revolver at the side of the 
officer's head and fired, killing him almost instantly.
  The officer with him, Samuel Huff, testified as follows before the 
Coroner's jury: Am on the night police force; about fifteen minutes of 
10 o'clock, met Officer Wiggins and we stopped in front of the German 
Bank; some one came up and said "you are wanted there;" I noticed two 
men scuffling in front of a saloon; Wiggins and I ran up to the spot 
and found two young men clinched who were hammering one another; they 
were leaning against the hitching posts; we parted them; my man 
scuffled with me, and I got the nippers on him; Wiggins stayed there 
until I secured my man, and we started down street with our prisoners; 
on the way down the prisoners were growling at one another as to what 
they would do; my prisoner, Frank Hack, said to the other, "I will 
attend to you before three or four days are past."  Wiggins' prisoner, 
Joseph Fuchs, said, "I wanted him to go into the alley and fight, and 
he said take it right there; that shows how smart he is."  The 
prisoners were jangling together; in front of Craig's store saw Fuchs 
raise his hand; there was a flash and Wiggins jumped up and fell down 
on his face; I halloed out that he had killed him, and took my nippers 
off my man and started after Fuchs, who ran down the street; I reached 
back and drew my revolver; Fuchs turned on me and fired and I fired at 
him; Fuchs fired two shots and I fired two; he turned on me again and I 
fired again, and he ran, pointing his revolver at me; I told him to 
drop it or I would shoot him; he dropped it and I covered him while I 
picked his up; he fussed and wanted me to put my revolver in my pocket, 
but I marched him down at the muzzle of my revolver.
  Wiggins fell on the pavement on his face.  He was carried into a 
physician's office near by, but died in a few minutes.  The bullet 
entered at the eye, passing through it and through the brain.  Fuchs, 
the murderer, is a young man, aged about 24 years, and is a horse-
collar maker by trade.  He has previously borne a good reputation, but 
latterly has been drinking considerably.

Morning Tribune, Altoona, Pa., Thursday, November 11, 1880