The Blue-Eyed Six
BY EMILY MARTINEZ — STAFF WRITER
An infamous case occurred in Lebanon, Pennsylvania: the Blue-Eyed Six. This all occurred about 140 years ago where a group of men killed a man for the insurance money.
Joseph Raber, the 59 year old victim, drowned in Indiantown Creek. Wise, Hummel, Brandt, and Zechman were Raber’s beneficiaries, but they couldn’t wait long until he passed to gain the money. It was common for people to take life insurance on people they were caring for back then. In this case, the men claimed they would take care of Raber until he passed. Instead, the group of men recruited two other men, Drews and Stichler, to help kill Raber.
On April 18, 1879, the trial was opened. A news reporter reported that all six men have blue eyes and called the trial “The Blue-Eyed Six”. Joseph Peters, Drews’ son-in-law, was the first to report and testified against the conspirators of what they did at the creek. Witnesses would also say that they saw the men conspire at Brandt’s Tavern. In the end, only five of the six men were found guilty and were hung. Zechman, found not guilty after a retrial, stated that he was only an investor, but he later died from natural causes.
This trial has brought worldwide attention and inspired a famous author, Arthur Conan Doyle, to write The Red Headed League.
Today, Farmer’s Market was originally the county jail where the 5 of 6 men were hung. The original building caught on fire, which is why the jail is no longer there. The Farmer’s market also has an inspired restaurant inside named after Doyle’s story, The Red Headed League, that you can go visit.
You can also visit the Moonshine Church where the victim, Joseph Raber, was laid to rest.
