William O'Brien
William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was particularly associated with the campaigns for land reform in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as his conciliatory approach to attaining Irish Home Rule.
Tom O'Brien (swindler)
He was eventually convicted of murder on March 14, 1896, and although the prosecution called for the mandatory death sentence by guillotine, O'Brien was instead sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous French penal colony Devil's Island. His defense attorney Maftre Demange had claimed during the trial that the two men had exchanged gunfire, rather than O'Brien having killed Waddell in cold blood, and that gunfights were common in settling disputes in the United States. He also downplayed O'Brien's criminal record, claiming he was "merely a gambling cheat", and that he was in fear of his life and acting in self-defense at the time of the murder. Although there were reports that O'Brien was on his death bed in New Caledonia in December 1898, noted detective William Pinkerton publicly denied these claims and said that he heard from O'Brien through his brother who had received a letter from him two months before. According to the letter, O'Brien wrote that "he was in good health and that his punishment was not severe". He spent another six years on the island until French officials reported his death on September 29, 1904.