"Appo has but one eye, the other having been shot out by the two North Carolinians, Curran and Hogshead."

George Appo had a mug made for a mug shot, and his actions didn’t belie his vicious visage. The grainy but great photo above, which was taken in 1894, shows the prolific pickpocket looking a little worse for the wear–and there was plenty of wear. Born into a crime family, Appo was arrested frequently for an assortment of misdemeanors and felonies. Even when he tried to go straight, things ended up crooked. An excerpt from an 1899 New York Times article about the rogue’s life:

“Appo’s career of crime began when he was sixteen years old, at which time he was sent to prison for two years and six months for picking pockets. Nine months after his release he was sent back for the same term for a like offense. After serving two other terms for theft, making four in all, he went into the ‘green goods‘ business with John McNally, known as the ‘Green Goods King.’ His story of how this business was conducted was one of their most dramatic features of the Lexow investigation and put him on record as one of the country’s most picturesque criminals.

In September, 1884, Appo had his throat cut under circumstances which pointed to an assault on him by agents of the police. This charge was made by Counsel Goff of the Lexow committee.

Appo, on April 8, 1895, attempted to stab Policeman Reiman at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street. He escaped, but was caught in Buffalo, brought back, tried, convicted, and sent to prison for six months.

After his release Appo claimed that he was hounded because of his connection with the Lexow inquiry, and that, in spite of desire to reform, he was denied honorable employment. He tried to lecture on crime and criminals in Buffalo, but was refused a permit.

On July 10, 1896, while in a drunken frenzy, Appo stabbed John Atwood, a reporter, at the corner of Mott Street and Chatham Square, mistaking him for another man. He was tried before Justice McMahon, and, being adjudged insane, was sentenced to the Matteawan Hospital.

Appo has but one eye, the other having been shot out by the two North Carolinians, Curran and Hogshead, whom he lured to Poughkeepsie by a ‘green-goods’ bait.”