Musings on Lieutenant Gerald Anthony Hanggi, Sr.
Part II – State of Minnesota v. John Musta
Defendant, John Musta, and three accomplices at approximately midnight of May 23, 1966, perpetrated a robbery of Wosika's Bar, 731 Randolph Street, St. Paul, Minnesota. Two of the men (William Schwerm and Donald Haley) were apprehended as they were about to drive away from the area where the robbery occurred. John Musta and Vernon Rollins, observing the police officers, fled the scene on foot. The police knew that the defendant's car was parked at the William Schwerm residence of 854 Burr Street in St. Paul. They stationed themselves at that location, anticipating that Musta and his companion would come there.
Defendant and Rollins did arrive at 854 Burr, a distance of approximately six miles from Wosika's Bar, on foot at about 2:30 a.m. The police officers announced their presence. They were fired upon by Musta and his companion. In an exchange of gunfire, Rollins and one of the officers, Detective Gerald Anthony Hanggi, Sr., fell wounded at the scene. Musta was hit. Fleeing, he sought help at 752 DeSoto Street in St. Paul where he was eventually placed under arrest.
The defendant, John Musta, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault as charged in the indictment. An appeal from the judgment of said conviction worked its way up to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, and on August 22, 1969, the court concluded that there had been no reversible errors in the prosecution and subsequent finding of guilt. He remained in prison.
Gerald Anthony Hanggi, Sr. was also kind enough to detail the event whereby he was involved in a shooting incident resulting in the loss of the use of his legs due to nerve damage. As a police detective, Gerald Hanggi was part of a detail attempting to arrest two of the perpetrators of an armed robbery that had taken place earlier at Wosika's Bar, 731 Randolph Street in St. Paul. The arrest attempt and shooting of Detective Hanggi took place at about 2:30 a.m. on May 24, 1966, at 854 Burr Street, also in St. Paul. The detective was behind bushes next to the house when one of the suspects (John Musta) ran at him gun blazing. Upon being shot Hanggi pulled himself, dragging his legs behind him, to find his partner Sergeant Francis G. "Fran" Whitney 2. He had heard additional shooting and was attempting to go to his partner's assistance. Hanggi made it to the curb and used his trouser material which he twisted and curled up with his hands to form a tourniquet. He was bleeding extensively and one of his legs was "bucking" around due to nerve damage. As it turned out, Sergeant Whitney was not injured and had the second suspect (Vernon Rollins) in custody.
As the first suspect confronted and shot Hanggi, the detective returned fire with his shotgun and was sure that his assailant was dead due to the location and severity of the hits. However, the wounded Musta, shot by Hanggi and/or Whitney, escaped only to be arrested shortly thereafter at 752 DeSoto Street. He lived to serve his prison time. While incarcerated Musta vowed to kill Detective Hanggi the next time they met. Even after a claimed jailhouse spiritual conversion Gerald Hanggi never forgot that threat, stating that he carried his gun everywhere and "always, even when I take out the trash, I try to be ready for him to come at me, to kill me as he'd vowed."
After many months of recovery Gerald Hanggi returned to work wearing leg braces and using two canes for support. It should be noted that after the shooting Gerry had lost control of one of his legs, and was in constant pain with both. After a few years of treatments at the U of M Hospital in Minneapolis they sent him down to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where they experimented with injecting medications, believed to be Novocain, directly to the damaged nerve and it worked fine… the first time. They decided to repeat the procedure with alcohol next and somehow something went wrong, rendering both legs useless, and he lived the rest of his life in constant pain. Prior to the shooting, Gerry had purchased a new set of golf clubs, as he decided to take up the sport with several others from the department. He was never able to use them, and they were a constant and painful memory of how that incident changed his life.
Although Saint Paul City Attorney Joseph P. "Joe" Summers (later to be Judge of District Court and original co-host of Twin Cities public television's "Almanac" program) argued for placing Hanggi on a disability pension, Hanggi and his police colleagues argued for his continued employment, and he remained with the department in staff and/or management positions for almost twenty-five additional years. It should be noted that Gerry was promoted to the rank of Police Lieutenant in 1973, competing with an unknown number of able-bodied and active Detectives and Sergeants. He never gave up.
One of Lieutenant Hanggi's later assignments was as commander of the police crime laboratory, wherein he and Sergeant Joseph K. "Joe" Corcoran 3 started a fingerprint research project that involved putting fingerprints on items and then placing them outside in inclement weather and leaving them there for several weeks. They then recovered the items and processed them for the fingerprints. They were able to 'lift' prints and make positive identification.
At that time in the world of fingerprints it was felt that if you went to a crime scene and found items the suspect may have touched such as shards of glass, and they were lying on the ground where it had rained or snowed over them, it was felt the fingerprints would disappear and it wasn't fruitful to recover those items of evidence.
Lieutenant Hanggi's research project was able to prove that theory wrong. Gerry wrote up a paper on their findings and presented it at the annual conference of the International Association for Identification (IAI) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1972. It changed the way police evidence technicians handled crimes and the evidence left by suspects. Many of the prints left on the items in the research project were those of Joe Corcoran, as Hanggi's prints were not very good due to the medicines he was taking after his shooting incident. Joseph P. "Joe" Polski 4 recalls that after Gerry's presentation at the Milwaukee IAI conference he was well recognized and regarded in the fingerprint community. He attended a number of IAI conferences over the years to share his knowledge… and to learn from his colleagues.
Gerry's lab findings were later presented along with a paper and presentation made by Sergeant Jerome P. "Jerry" Dolan 5 on Saint Paul's evidence technician experience (remember when every officer in the Patrol Division attended fingerprint classes and carried his own fingerprint kit), delivered at a forensic conference in Scotland. Invited but unable to attend, Lieutenant Hanggi received the recognition he so rightfully deserved.
Gerald Anthony Hanggi, Sr. was one of the finest and bravest men that I have ever known and I was lucky to work with him and call him a friend. As Michael and I left Gerry's house I asked if the interview was worthwhile and he responded, "It was awesome." I replied, "Good, because it was on of the greatest experiences of my life!"
Thank you Gerry Hanggi.
Submitted 2014
2 Francis G. Whitney was appointed Patrolman on January 4, 1954; was promoted to Sergeant on February 26, 1966; was promoted to Lieutenant on January 14, 1971; and retired for pension on January 21, 1991.
3 Joseph K. Corcoran was appointed Patrolman on March 2, 1964; was promoted to Sergeant on October 3, 1970; was promoted to Lieutenant on March 24, 1990; change in title to Commander on November 1, 1997; and retired to pension on March 27, 1998.
4 Joseph P. Polski was appointed Patrolman on January 16, 1967; was promoted to Sergeant on March 6, 1971; was promoted to Lieutenant on November 10, 1987; change in title to Commander on November 1, 1997; and retired to pension on December 30, 1997. Polski was a long time Executive Director of the International Association for Identification (IAI).
5 Jerome P. Dolan was appointed Temporary Patrolman on March 20, 1961; was appointed Patrolman on April 24, 1961; resigned to join the U.S. Secret Service on June 30, 1961; returned as Provisional Patrolman on March 30, 1964; was certified as Patrolman on November 2, 1964; was promoted to Sergeant on September 30, 1967; was promoted to Lieutenant on November 27, 1971; and died on August 10, 1993, while still employed by the police department.