OBITUARIES / PASSINGS / Edward V. Hanrahan

Edward V. Hanrahan, 88, a former Cook County state’s attorney in Illinois whose political career was ruined when Chicago police assigned to his office killed two members of the Black Panther Party in 1969, died Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. The cause and other circumstances of his death were not announced.

Hanrahan, a Democrat, was viewed as a potential successor to Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley or a gubernatorial candidate before the December 1969 raid on the Black Panther headquarters on the city’s West Side. Ostensibly a search for illegal weapons, the raid by 14 officers under Hanrahan’s control left leader Fred Hampton and member Mark Clark dead. Both men were unarmed.

Hanrahan claimed that police had been fired on by members of the group during the raid, pointing to bullet holes in the door. It was subsequently determined that the “bullet holes” were actually nail heads.

The controversy resulted in Hanrahan’s defeat when he sought reelection in 1972. He ended up practicing law after leaving office. Over the years, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor, Congress and Chicago’s city council.

Born in Coconut Grove, Fla., Hanrahan moved to Chicago with his family when he was a boy. He graduated from Notre Dame and earned his law degree at Harvard. He served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II.