In 1915, Lincoln was featured on the second page of the Pantagraph every day. Lincoln had its own paper, the Courier, but perhaps some people in Lincoln read the Pantagraph, and definitely people in Bloomington wanted to know the news of Lincoln when it was as interesting as the Hurley-Roller murder.
On November 13, 1915 a murder trial had just come to an end. Daniel Hurley was on trial for the murder of his sweetheart, Katherine M Roller. On April 25, 1915 Daniel (18) and Katherine (17) went for a buggy ride near her home in the evening. Daniel claimed that Katherine had asked him several times to buy her ten cents worth of strychnine and that before he went to the Roller home on the 25th they talked on the phone and she asked him if he had it. He told her he had and would bring it. When he arrived she asked for it and put it in her lap. They drove to Broadwell, where he bought candy and sandwiches for her. He claimed that after she became ill, she told him she had eaten the strychnine.
Once he returned with Katherine to the Roller home, physicians were called. They were unable to reverse the effects of the poison. An autopsy was performed and the stomach contents were sent to Chicago for analysis. A quantity of strychnine sufficient to cause death was detected in the stomach.
Daniel was arrested and held the in the jail without bond almost immediately. His story to the sheriff was not always consistent, and in fact at one point he claimed that he had purchased strychnine, but had thrown it away when he saw the poison label on it. The strychnine was purchased at the Pfau drug store in Lincoln, where Hurley told the druggist he was buying the poison for Dr. W V Nesbit, a local veterinarian.
In May the coroner's jury found that Roller had died as a result of the administration of strychnine by Hurley, with murderous intent. He was recommended to be held until trial.
Daniel's defense at the trial was that Katherine was unhappy at home because of the cruelty of her sister, Annie. The prosecution said that Daniel was jealous of Katherine and killed her for this reason.
Testimony at the trial came from the brothers of Katherine. Two brothers said that Katherine told them on her deathbed that Daniel told her she was poisoned. Daniel told the boys that it was the candy from the store in Broadwell. Another brother testified that Daniel had invited him to come with them on their ride to Broadwell. A farm hand testified that there had been a disagreement between Daniel and Katherine at a dance at the Roller home the week before. Katherine's mother said that the couple had had a very slight argument recently and that Katherine was less pleased with Daniel after he sold his wagon in the winter before. She denied that there were any circumstances at home to make her daughter unhappy. No witness testified as to any motivation on Daniel's part.
On the fourth day of the trial Daniel Hurley took the stand. He testified as to their engagement and identified love letters that were written between the two of them. Those letters were read in court, and contained statements regarding Katherine's fear of her sister, who had threatened to kill her. The defense also sought to prove that Katherine had made statements that she would not return from the buggy ride. Daniel remained on the stand the following day and was unwavering in his testimony.
The prosecution's closing was a five or six hour speech. The case then went to the jury and after 20 hours of deliberations, the jury found Daniel Hurley innocent.
Daniel Hurley married Irene Irwin sometime between 1915 and 1918 (when he registered for the draft). Between 1920 and 1930 they moved to Chicago where Daniel became a plumber and they raised two sons and then raised two foster children.
The fact that Daniel bought the poison was admitted in court. But if he did buy it at Katherine's request, why did he do so? He had to suspect that Katherine had some sort of drastic intention. As to the personality of Annie Roller (Sheets), the only indication in the Pantagraph is that at her death in 1954 she left all her property to her neighbors and left $5 to each of her brothers.