On July 23, 1901, P. J. Rooney, a white male, was murdered during a violent spree on Unimak Island in the Aleutian chain of Alaska. Rooney was one of three victims killed that day by Fred Hardy, born Frederick S. Watkyns in 1876 in Lexington, Ohio. Hardy, a former U.S. soldier who had previously killed a fellow serviceman in the Philippines in 1898, was known to use the alias 'Diamond Dick.'
The attack unfolded when Hardy ambushed a group of gold prospectors, including Rooney and the Sullivan siblings, Con and Florence. According to survivor Oscar Jackson, the group returned to their camp to find it ransacked. As they attempted to flee, Hardy opened fire. Florence was shot first; Rooney was hit in the knee and collapsed into the surf; Con was killed by a shot to the back. Jackson managed to escape and, after two harrowing weeks, was rescued by a hunter.
Hardy and an accomplice, George Aston, were later found in possession of the victims' belongings. Aston cooperated with authorities, leading to Hardy's arrest. Hardy was tried in Unalaska, found guilty of the murders, and sentenced to death. On September 19, 1902, he was executed by hanging in Nome, Alaska, marking the first legal execution in the territory under U.S. civil authority.
