Who Hanged the Night Watchman?

One of Montgomery County's most perplexing unsolved mysteries is the 1932 death of Samuel Forti, whose battered body was found hanging in the washroom of the Werner Foundry in Lansdale, where he worked as a night watchman. At various times, authorities believed that Forti's death was the result of suicide, an attack by a burglar, revenge by a jealous lover, and-- perhaps strangest of all-- a shadowy religious cult.

It was February 18 of 1932 when Forti, a 45-year-old father of ten, was found hanging from an improvised gallows in the foundry washroom. He had been bound hand and foot, suspended from a plank sitting across two lockers. Strips of rags, cut from the lining of a man's coat, were used to tie his hands behind his back, while a leather belt had been used to bind the feet. Based upon the victim's injuries, it appeared that Forti had been struck viciously and repeatedly about the face and body while he gasped in the throes of strangulation.

After making his preliminary investigation, Chief of Police Samuel Woffindin proposed a most unusual theory-- that Samuel Forti was a member of a secret religious cult and had been murdered because he wished to resign from its ranks.

According to Woffindin, the dead watchman, along with five other men and one woman, belonged to a secret cult which held services every Sunday morning and twice during the week. Woffindin believed that Forti wanted to leave the cult and that the remaining members, fearing exposure, had slain Forti in order to protect their own identities. Woffindin based his opinion largely on the fact that a Bible, written in Italian, was missing from Forti's locker. He believed that the inner secrets of the cult were contained in the missing book.

Josephine Forti, the dead man's widow, indicated that she knew about her husband's involvement with the secret religious order, but didn't know much about the cult itself. As far as she knew, Samuel had no known enemies.

Harry Long, foreman of the foundry, told police that Forti had appeared highly agitated in the days leading up to his death; he was afraid to set foot outside after dark and spent his breaks inside the foundry locker room. It was there, while Forti was eating a sandwich, that he had been struck over the head with a blunt instrument, trussed up, and suspended from the makeshift gallows. Long stated that nothing appeared to have been disturbed or stolen, which seemed to eliminate the possibility that the night watchman had been killed by a burglar. It was Long who had discovered the body shortly after 7:00 a.m. Coroner Ronald H. Dettre of Norristown was summoned to the scene, and an autopsy performed by Dr. John Simpson showed that the watchman's death had been caused by strangulation.

Others, however, clung to the theory that Forti had been killed during a botched robbery attempt.

William Herman, a foundry employee, stated that someone had attempted to enter the foundry three times during the previous week. Forti had thwarted the break-in attempts each time, but on the night of his death all of the foundry windows were unlocked. Herman, who had witnessed one of the break-in attempts, told police that the man who tried to gain entry was "tall, thin and middle-aged."

This man, claimed Herman, came to the foundry three times in one night. During the first attempt, the man had told Forti that his wife was sick and needed to use the telephone to call a doctor. After being turned away, the man returned a short while later and tried to convince Forti that his own wife was sick. Once again, Forti barred the stranger from entering. Later that same night, Forti reported seeing a man in "high topped shoes" prowling around the grounds with a flashlight.

Supervisors investigated the matter, and it was determined that the incident was apparently caused by Forti's recently developed habit of locking himself inside the washroom. Apparently, the other foundry employees were tired of having to ask the night watchman to unlock the door every time they wanted to use the washroom. While it may have seemed odd at the time that Forti had taken to holing himself up inside the washroom, no one had suspected that Forti might have been trying to hide from something or someone.

Meanwhile, Chief of Police Woffindin continued to explore his unusual theory that Forti had been slain by a religious cult. The detective had learned that the Bible was Forti's most prized possession-- he took it to work every day--and the fact that it was the only item in the entire foundry that was missing suggested that it may be a key piece of evidence. However, the missing Bible was eventually located by police inside the Forti home.

But if the Bible had been stolen from Forti's work locker, how did it find its way back to his house?

Woffindin also interviewed three of the suspected cult members, who confirmed the rumor that Forti wanted out of the secret society, which had been formed in Lansdale about seven years earlier. As to the practices and beliefs of the cult, none of the members were allowed to use medicine or visit doctors, and healing by faith was one of the order's principle beliefs.

Woffindin told reporters that arrests would soon be made, although he refused to divulge the identities of anyone associated with the religious sect. But it was soon revealed through local gossip that the head of the cult was a woman by the name of Julia Sesantis.  Purveyors of local gossip also hinted that Sesantis and Forti, who were both married, were having an affair.

"The suspects have been evasive in their answers and we are having difficulty getting at the facts," stated Woffindin. "From what they say, I believe this cult is a national organization. It is possible that somebody may have been imported to do this job."



Searching a Dead Man's Bible for Clues


Police searched the dead watchman's home on February 20 and located the supposedly stolen leatherbound Bible, which was one of two such books found inside the house. Both were printed in Italian, and an interpreter was brought onto the case. Unfortunately, the books contained few clues, other than the fact that the secret cult went by the name of "Chiesa Christiana Delle Fede Apostalica", or "Church of Christ of Faith in Apostles". It was learned that there was another branch of the sect in Philadelphia.

Forti's 18-year-old son, Joseph, scoffed at the idea that his father's church was an evil, shadowy cult. "They are just like we are. Only they don't believe in smoking and gambling and they pray a lot," Joseph told reporters. He also claimed that his father often took medicine, and had never mentioned anything about faith healing. "I believe whoever murdered dad had a grudge against him or was jealous," he declared.

Sonny Forti, the watchman's 16-year-old son, was the last family member to see Samuel Forti alive. He was with his father until 10 o'clock on the night of the murder.

"Dad wanted me to bring his lunch down to the plant," he said. "He was afraid after that man tried to get in. When I went down he was joking and laughing. He didn't appear to be nervous. I sat with him in the locker room and he ate part of his lunch with me. He saved the rest for later. Then I came home."

Could it have been Sonny Forti who took his father's Italian Bible and brought it home? This detail remains unclear. But Sonny did state that he had gone to the foundry every night of the week leading up to the murder, out of concern for his father's safety. Sonny maintained that his father knew that he was in danger. One evening, just days before his death, he came home and asked if any strangers had been lurking about. When Josephine wanted to know why, her husband told her not to worry and changed the subject.



The Man in the High Top Shoes


Based upon the statements made by Sonny Forti and foundry employee William Herman, Chief of Police Woffindin concentrated his focus on the man in the high topped shoes who had tried to persuade Samuel Forti to let him use the telephone. This man, believed Waffindin, had to have been the same tall, thin, middle-aged man who was skulking around the foundry grounds with a flashlight shortly before Forti's death.

Although the dead man's Bible failed to yield any important clues, the same could not be said for the rope that had been tied around Forti's neck. Woffindin, who believed that Forti was already dead before he was trussed and hanged, observed that the noose had been tied using a "lock knot", which is used chiefly by sailors. He wondered if the killer might have been in the Navy at one time.

He also wondered about the motive. Killing a man merely because he wanted to leave a religious sect hardly seemed motivation enough to take the risk. Woffindin began to wonder if perhaps there was another woman involved. He began to shift his focus to the love triangle theory. He soon discovered that, shortly before Forti's death, the meeting place of the cult was changed to the home of another member. This change was made because of an undercurrent of jealousy between one of the other cult members and Forti.

Woffindin also learned that Josephine Forti had not been happy that her husband was visiting the home of this cult member several times each week. Apparently, Samuel Forti's relationship to this female cult member had been the cause of several heated arguments.

On Saturday, February 20, Woffindin made a bold announcement: He knew the identity of the killer and promised that an arrest would soon be made.

This, of course, was an old ploy used by law enforcement. If the real culprit was confident that police were following the wrong trail, he might become careless and let down his guard. On the other hand, if the culprit was fearful that the long arm of the law was closing in for the kill, he might get nervous and do something reckless. Most of the time, when a detective says that he knows the identity of a killer, he's merely bluffing in an attempt to "flush out the game."
So, would Chief of Police Woffindin's gambit work?




The Widow's Plight


With ten children to look after, Josephine Forti found herself in a dire situation, and her salvation rested not upon the shoulders of Samuel Woffindin, but of a man named T. Duncan Just.
T.D. Just held the position of referee for the state compensation board. In early August he was slated to hear the case of the watchman's widow. If Forti had died by his own hand, as difficult as that may be to believe, then compensation would be denied. However, if Forti had died while in the performance of his job, she would be allowed to collect benefits. Quite simply, it would all come down to the exact manner in which Forti met his demise.

Evidently, Woffindin's gambit failed. When the killer failed to tip his hand, the coroner's jury had no alternative but to render an open verdict-- meaning that the true nature of Forti's death could not be stated with certainty.

On Thursday, February 25, the coroner's jury met at Norristown, and the proceedings resulted in a butting of heads between local officials. The county prosecutor, Stewart Nase, bashed Woffindin for his tactics, and his unusual theories about secret cults and bizarre love triangles. During the proceedings, Nase declared that he had "washed his hands" of the entire matter.

Woffindin, however, held his ground, and insisted that Forti had clearly been murdered. State Police Sergeant Earl Hans and County Detective James G. Gleason, on the other, claimed that Forti had taken his own life, though they could not explain how the victim managed to sustain his other injuries.

After ninety heated minutes, the jury rendered its decision. Samuel Forti came to his death by strangulation with a rope in a manner unknown.

For the widow Josephine, this had to have come as a devastating blow, as it did little to help her case with state compensation board.

On August 19, referee T. Duncan Just declared that it was his fervent belief that Samuel Forti had been murdered, and he called the coroner jury's decision "farcical". But this was cold comfort for Josephine, because Just could not find any evidence that Forti had been killed while actually on the job. If he had been anyplace else but in the washroom eating his lunch, Just could have awarded the widow compensation. But because Forti was off the clock at the time of his death, it could not be said that he met his demise while in the performance of his duties as night watchman.



Woffindin Goes Rogue


Even though T.D. Just's ruling dealt a harsh blow to the surviving members of the Forti family, it gave Woffindin the encouragement he needed to pursue the matter of bringing the watchman's killer to justice, even if he no longer had the support of the state police and the county prosecutor. Woffindin vowed that he would continue to run down leads, even if he had to go it alone. County officials, however, clung to their opinion that Forti had committed suicide.

By spring of the following year, Woffindin had managed to dig up precious little in the way of any new evidence. On May 3, the watchman's widow appealed the workmen's compensation board ruling, claiming that new evidence supported her claim that her husband had been murdered. According to the petition filed by the widow's attorney, H.I. Fox, one of Forti's sons had seen boxes stacked beneath a window outside the foundry on the day of the murder, which could have explained how the killer entered the plant. Christopher Torcivia, one of Forti's co-workers, claimed that he had observed an altercation between the watchman and an unknown visitor a week before his death. But, in spite of the overwhelming evidence against the suicide theory, the official record did not change.

Chief of Police Samuel Woffindin, meanwhile, was bogged down in his own problems. He had recently been re-elected to the Montgomery County Police Chiefs' Association as vice president, and was instrumental in spearheading a highly controversial campaign opposing a bill before the State Legislature mandating that police officers provide a suspect an opportunity to obtain legal counsel before being questioned.

One year later Woffindin was attacked by a violently insane man, and his life was saved when Officer Charles O'Hara fired a canister of tear gas at the assailant. Ironically, Woffindin was forced to resign three years later when the same officer who saved his life brought a charge of intimidation against him. Two of the borough's three police officers resigned in protest, leaving O'Hara as the sole policeman in Lansdale. Although the mayor reinstated Woffindin the following day, the backlog of cases resulted in the death of Samuel Forti being forever labeled an unsolved mystery.




Sources:

Wilkes-Barre Evening News, Feb. 18, 1932.
Bristol Daily Courier, Feb. 18, 1932.
Sayre Evening Times, Feb. 18, 1932.
Bradford Evening Star, Feb. 18, 1932.
Kane Republican, Feb. 19, 1932.
Wilkes-Barre Evening News, Feb. 19, 1932.
Wilkes-Barre Evening News, Feb. 20, 1932.
Bradford Evening Star, Feb. 20, 1932.
Harrisburg Sunday Courier, Feb. 21, 1932.
Mauch Chunk Times-News, Feb. 26, 1932.
Harrisburg Sunday Courier, July 24, 1932.
Shamokin News-Dispatch, Aug. 19, 1932.
Bradford Evening Star, Aug. 29, 1932.
Pottstown Mercury, May 4, 1933.
Pottstown Mercury, May 17, 1933.
Sayre Evening Times, Dec. 28, 1937.
Reading Times, Dec. 29, 1937.



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