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Orris Martin Smith

Death by Force
Case Description
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On a day that should have been filled with the innocent anticipation of the first day of first grade, six-year-old Orris Martin Smith sat in a barber's chair in his Camden, New Jersey neighborhood. It was September 6, 1949, a date that would be forever etched in the city's history as a day of unimaginable tragedy. While barber Clark Hoover was giving the young boy a haircut, a local World War II veteran named Howard Unruh walked into the shop. In a shocking act of violence that was part of a lar ...Read More
Links to Additional Sources (9)
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  • Howard Unruh - Wikipedia
  • Smithsonian Magazine: The Story of the First Mass Murder in U.S. History
    •     ...View 7 additional sources
    Victim Details

    Orris Martin Smith

    Male

    White / Caucasian

    Camden

    NJ

    1949-09-06

    6

    Orris

    Martin Smith

    11/20/2025

    Forum Posts (3)
    I recently came across a photograph from that tragic day in Camden, and it's hard to shake off the s... ...Read More
    07/01/2024
    I've been thinking a lot about the impact that Orris Martin Smith's tragic death had on his family a... ...Read More
    04/01/2024
    I'm really haunted by the thought of young Orris Martin Smith sitting there on that hobby horse, jus... ...Read More
    01/15/2024
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