Jack and Ed Biddle

Brothers John E. ("Jack") Biddle (1872–1902) and Edward C. ("Ed") Biddle (1876–1902) were condemned prisoners who escaped from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania using tools and weapons supplied them by the warden's wife, Kate Soffel (June 27, 1867 – August 30, 1909) who fled with them. During the subsequent pursuit and capture all three were wounded, the brothers mortally.

The incident is the basis of the 1984 film Mrs. Soffel.

Jack and Ed Biddle were born (January 8, 1872 and December 27, 1876, respectively) in Anderdon Township, Essex County, Ontario (now part of Amherstburg, Ontario) to George and Mary Ann (McQuaide) Biddle.

Soffel was born Anna Katharina Dietrich in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Biddles were arrested on April 12, 1901 at a house in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania as leaders of the "Chloroform Gang", which for more than a year had been overpowering victims with chloroform or ether before robbing them. Tried and convicted on December 12, 1901 of the murder of a Mt. Washington shopkeeper, Thomas Kahney, they were imprisoned in Allegheny County Jail to await execution by hanging.

Kate Soffel, wife of warden Peter Soffel, frequently came into contact with prisoners in her efforts to rehabilitate them. She developed an infatuation with Ed Biddle, and eventually agreed to help the brothers escape by smuggling saws and guns to them.

The brothers sawed openings in the bars of their cells, and at 4 am on January 29, 1902 one of them called out that his brother was ill. As a guard approached, Jack Biddle lunged through the opening between the bars and, seizing the guard by the waist, threw him over a railing to the stone floor sixteen feet below. Ed Biddle shot and wounded a second guard.

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