Peter Joseph Finley was 23 years old when he was drafted to serve in the First World War. Born in Bristol, the young man resided on Julian Street in Providence and was employed as an assembler at the General Fire Extinguisher Company. Tall and thin with blonde hair and blue eyes, he was the son of John and Nora Foley, natives of Ireland. After the war, where he served with the American Expeditionary Force in France, he would return home wounded, gassed and completely shell-shocked.

By 1925, Peter had been admitted to the State Hospital for Mental Diseases after a series of disturbing instances. On three different occasions, since returning from war, he had become obsessed with certain females to the point where he exhibited or threatened violence. On another occasion, he had tried to commit suicide. While at the hospital, he met and became a bit enthralled by a pretty young woman named Ruby — a waitress, cook and maid employed by the hospital. Ruby (Clayton) Rohrich Manning was 21 years old and a native of England. The daughter of Robert Clayton and Elizabeth Newsome, she lived at the hospital with her second husband Christian, who was also on the staff, and their young daughter. Christian was 30 years old and had served as a trumpeter in the US Cavalry. A native of New Jersey, he had worked as a jeweler for A.T. Wall of Providence before taking a position as a chauffeur at the hospital.

In Dec. of 1926, Peter was thought to be cured of his mental disturbances and was let out of the hospital on parole. On the evening of Jan. 5, 1927, Peter and Ruby met up for reasons unknown. Peter invited her to his home on Pro-spect Street in East Providence. There, at 9:30 p.m., he pulled out a revolver and shot her in the head, chest and ab-domen. Ruby was transported to the Rhode Island Hospital where she uttered one incoherent statement. It was later learned that her husband had tried to gain entrance to the Finley home in the moments prior to the shooting but had been prevented from doing so.

Peter escaped through a second-floor window of his home. At 12:45 the next morning, he was found in the woods along Warren Avenue. He was transported back to the mental hospital where doctors questioned him about the shooting. He told many different stories and stated that he had been carrying a revolver on his person throughout the previous day with the intent to commit suicide.

Ruby died of her wounds at 11:17 p.m. on Jan. 8 and was buried in Crompton. Christian and their 3-year-old daughter moved in with his parents in Providence and he left his employment with the hospital to work as a restau-rant counterman. He later returned to chauffeuring and remarried before passing away of stomach cancer, which he had suffered from for six months, on Oct. 10, 1932. His daughter was raised by her grandfather, a saloon bartender.

Peter was found not guilty of manslaughter by a jury after his fatal shooting of Ruby, due to being judged insane. Doctors testified that he was of unsound mind, was very confused and was suffering from schizophrenia. He died at the state mental hospital on April 19, 1937 of pulmonary tuberculosis, which he had battled for three years.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.