In 1924 Harry Hoffman, Staten Island cinema projectionist, was convicted of the murder of Maude Bauer. His fellow citizens, dubbed Hoffman lucky, for the jury had been strangely merciful finding him guilty only of second-degree murder which carried a sentence of life imprisonment rather than death in the electric chair. Only Hoffman protested that another man, someone who closely resembled him, had committed the crime. It was a case of mistaken identity. He demanded a new trial. His attorney warned Hoffman of the terrible danger he faced: he could still be convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. But Hoffman refused to accept his sentence.

Hoffman had been convicted on apparently overwhelming evidence; his guilt seemed to be established beyond all reasonable doubt.

On 25 March 1924 Mrs. Bauer had driven into the country. Turning off South Avenue, in Staten Island in the State of New York, into Morrell Avenue, the car skidded off the road and its wheels became bogged in mud. Mrs. Bauer left the car to get help. She hailed a passing motorist, a man driving a Ford Sedan. Several children playing near this spot saw Mrs. Bauer get into the car, which drove away, and one of them, thirteen-year-old Barbara Fahs, later described the driver as dark-complexioned with brown hair, wearing tortoiseshell spectacles and a brown coat and hat.