Peggy Norman, witness to murder of boxer Johnny Hansen
- 371N1891
- Item
- 1932-02
Head and shoulders portrait of a young woman, Peggy Norman, a witness to the murder of boxer Johnny Hansen at the LaVelle Hotel in Portland. Norman is facing front, looking toward the right, and wearing a hat and fur stole. The photograph was taken on March 2, 1932, the day of Hansen’s death. A front-page story and a related photograph, image No. 371N1892, were published in the Oregon Journal the same day. The story, headlined “Prizefight Star Shot And Killed,” reported that the suspect in Hansen’s death was another boxer, Jack Kentworth. The Journal reported: “According to the story told police, Kentworth called at the LaVelle hotel room in which were Hansen and Miss Norman, drew a gun, threatened to kill them both, and then fired the one shot into Hansen’s body.” The story also reported that Peggy Norman and Kentworth had shared a room at the hotel from September until two weeks before the day of Hansen’s murder, when they separated and she moved into a different room. Image note: The name “Peggy Norman” is written on the negative and is visible at the top of the image.