Robert Ward Duggan (January 27, 1926 - March 5, 1974) served as Allegheny County District Attorney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a decade, from January 1964 until his death in a mysterious circumstance in March 1974. He has been investigated by US District Attorney Richard Thornburgh for corruption.
Video Robert Duggan
Early life and family
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Duggan is the son of Blanche and Frank L. Duggan. His father is president of Ice Consolidation Company and at one time was president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. He has two brothers, Frank Jr. and John.
He was educated at the Shady Side Academy, After graduating from high school in 1944, he enrolled in the Air Force and spent the rest of World War II in an aviation cadet training program. After the war, he attended the University of Pennsylvania for a bachelor's degree and earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
He married his old partner, socialite Cordelia Scaife May, a heir to Mellon's fortune, on August 23, 1973 in Las Vegas.
Maps Robert Duggan
Careers
Duggan was elected as Allegheny County District Attorney in 1964, and re-elected in 1967 and 1971. During Duggan's ten years as DA there were several prosecutions for gambling. Duggan's predecessor at DA's office was Democrat Edward "Easy Going Eddie" Boyle. Unlike its predecessor, Duggan was born to a wealthy family, with a plantation near Ligonier Town, Westmoreland County.
Indictment
In the third term Duggan as D.A., Internal Revenue Service and Richard Thornburgh, US Attorney for West Pennsylvania (and later the Governor of Pennsylvania and the US Attorney General), opened an investigation into Duggan's source of income and relations with criminal elements.
Thornburgh obtained the indictment on March 5, 1974. On the same day, Duggan was found shot dead at his family's home in Ligonier Town, the victim of a rifle explosion. The corpse was found on the estate; the rifle is seven to ten feet from the body. Duggan, authorities said, appears to have hunted before accidentally or intentionally turning on the rifle itself. The Pittsburgh Press asked, "Is the law approaching Robert W. Duggan so inevitable that his only escape route is suicide?"
After hearing the news of Duggan's death, Thornburgh told reporters, "The terrible personal tragedy overshadows every aspect of the case, and every time a man thinks he is in a position he thinks he should take his own life, it's so sad." I've known the deep tragedy my own life. I know what it is. "
Doubts arise whether Duggan has committed suicide considering the rifle distance from the corpse. "You do not shoot yourself with a rifle with your shoes," an investigator told me, pointing out that the barrel is so long, just bare toes that can fire the trigger.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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