Oklahoma, L-O, 1933-1998, Undated

Online content

s¢foallagied him oy
becoret Pb Casivetay ound one
i y pean ee we wae ,

fie Nae —DPusnet un Into
back and ordercd SM to raise

hands,” Kilborn told officers.
fe was then forced to He on the
yy behind the counter while the

idits searched his clothes for
ney.
thorn went to the nearest

phone and called local officers,
seareh started immediately
ich resulted in the suspects’
‘sts by Patrolman Fred Kin-
nth during the night.

iilborn deseribed one of the
idits as 23 or 25 years old, five

(See page 2, No. 5) :

LLEGED IRREGULAR

ACTION IS CHARGED
AGAINST BANKERS

SHAWNEE, Okla., March 23.—

a state banking department to-
- ymoved vigorously in its pro-

ution of alleged irregular
nsactions in connection with

failure “of alleged irregular
nsactions in connection with

. failure of the Douglas chain

central Oklahoma banks.
Tounty Attorney Tankersley,
ing on information supplied by

-. banking department, filed six

irges of irregularities in dis-
et court here against H. T.
uglas, former president of the
sed McLoud state bank. Three
1ers were named in the com-
ints here. Se

IDIAN GIRL DIES
THURSDAY MORNING

Maud Otipoby, well known Co-
meche Indian girl, 24, . died
aursday at 8:30 a. m. of tuber-
‘osis.

She resided with her parents,

i been in ill health about three
Mrs.

ibusides her parents she is sur-
wed by two sisters, Ellen and
rice, and by fuur brothers, Jesse,

tITE Sy. Leonard and Hugh, ana

her. relatives.
will be held

Funeral
rly at 2 pom. at tae Camunene

aervices

m, tio rattles anorth of the
with Rev. Roubert Chaat, the
“ conduct ng the services.
<i Wiiicue made in Otipuby
as Pitter’

miles north of the city, and.

sun Cearte. bin ty bo

wR"APrLAR -@ Re ne

: } Deas Ray gk ty i
‘aoe hs ate a | &

Phi) fad Ck.

Congressional Leaders In
Yarley Today With
Roosevelt = e

WASHINGTON, March 23. —-
(UP)—A_ delegation of congres-
sional leaders, including the chair-
man of both houses and_ senate
agriculture committees called on
President Roosevelt to discuss his
farm relief’ program now pending
before congress.

It was reported unofficially that
an attempt was made in the con-
ference to include in the farm
measure the president’s proposal
for farm mortgage and small
home mortgage relief.

Mr. Roosevelt earlier had indi-
cated that plans calling for easing
the mortgage burden through 4
reduction of interest rates and
the extension of time would be
taken care of separately in a mes-
sage and a bill. Senator Thomas
Gore, Democrat, Oklahoma, was
included in the party that called
at the White House.

GAS RATE REDUCTION
HALTED FOR APPEAL

“OKLAHOMA CITY, March 23.
(UP)—Orders of the corporation
commission reducing Lone Star
Gas company rates in 26 Okla-

homa cities and towns were halt- .
ed today until the supreme court}

passes on the entire rate case.
Chairman Paul Walker and
Commissioner Jack Walton sign-
ed a bond allowing the Lone Star
eompany to post a bond of $120)-
00C to’hold in abeyance the com,
mission’s order reducing the rates.
Under the bond, the gas com-
pany now can take the full time
alfowance until the
file an appeal with the supreme
court from the rate reducing or-
cer. In the meantime,
sumers must pay the old rate.

Motor To)
OkIahoma City
Barl Statk, pastor of the

Rex,
Central Baptist: church, «and: Mrs,
Stark. left Thursday for Oblas

City its aiteml a stiute

ynvention,

yioma

”
‘

nee a lA ce tlt A OA A PA I PS ON ER TO IN AE ON DN Ae Ott at

| cotd Description OF Kecent t/est

statutes to;

the con-.

Iilled is wife, \@ggme Lui-
UiHeN, :
Dee. 15, 1921—Arrested

by police.
Jan, 6, 1932-Arraigned
and pleaded not guilty im

justice oy — peace Court.
Placed in jail without

bond.

June 6, 1932—Case weit
to trial before Lawton dis-
trict court jury.

June 7, 1932—Jury ve-
turned verdict of guilty
and fixed penalty at death
in the electric: chair.

June 9, 1932— Death
warrant issued. .

June 17,.19382—Date of
execution set at Sept. 7;
1932, after passing of for-
mal sentence by district
judge.

June 25, 19382—Filed be-
fore criminal court of ap-
peals. Date of execution
extended until ruling of
higher court.

Jan. 20, 1938—Criminal

“court of appeals issues
mandate affirming Lati-
mer’s sentence, and set
date of execution as March
24, 1933.

FORMER LAWTONIAN
SUFFERS BROKEN LEG

S. Ave Tinkle, formerly of Law-
ton, is in the McBride Reconstruc-
tion hospital, Oklahoma City, suf-
fering with a broken leg.

Mr. Tinkle was injured when a
beam fell upon him, it was said.
He is employed by the Capite!

Hill Steel works,

cy NER PEIRCE OL aoe ata ARO MRE EN RO mg
ae if Pe tbbs (ke ga ties :
t

é «

bi.

i ‘.

kloyd Northrop anixine plist
ing... Charles: Hankine standing
on the city hall steps “talkin”
with his hands J... TL Fo Gaftord

int Ba

1? LCP STS TPS Pen Ol ATE) fe
; ,

t 4 , Ros fa 7 y ee
uchieu bo 5 oe ee 214
o ‘s.

H. W. Pentacost Dies Arter
Being Injured In
Auto Wreck

OKLAHOMA CITY, Maren 23.
(CP)—H. W. Pentacost, oil man
and canitalist, died today from in-
juries received earlier in the Weer
in an auto collision.

The 60-year-old pioneer he
served as a member of the hon-
orary military staff of virtually
every governor since statehood.

He also was on the staff of ev-
ery territorial governor since 1899.
Hig only lapse in honorary ap-
pointment was during the Henry
Johnston administration. He was
the only general on Gov. W. H.
Murray’s staff.

Pentacost came to Oklahoma
Territory with his parents from
Indiana in 1889. They settled at
Guthrie where Pentacost was ac-
tive in the banking business.
Twenty years ago he moved to
Oklahoma City and organized tne
State Exchange bank which he la-
ter sold. :

CITY WOMAN SUFFERS
INJURY EARLY TODAY

Cebit vine' ac inten vb Rain ata He

| Miss Grace Jones, employe of
ithe J. C. Jones store, is confined
‘to her room, 502 B avenue, sutter-
‘ing with an injury to her right
thip..
: Miss Jones suffered the injury
when she started to work Tuesday
morning.

}
4
'

vanquished in

ry wisned tn
ine ° my
ViONs 2 Witla
t tha

3. GetTmaeny

foreign nas

model
Meads,

McCLINTIC WILL HEAD
STEERING COMMITTEE

io WASHINGION, Slarchoso. =~
(CP)—Rep. Jim MeChnt

an Democrat, today headed
powerful 12th zone steerns
mittee in the nou

ittee
taticveaz FE “a2 6
tatives. He was €

ocrats] Trom
Nebrazka ¢
W
homa, was aud
nittee formed to expediate 1

latinn

Advis

ay
f the grou
:

RE OE

Ge RHE JOE HEE SAT MRTOTES AURA AER DEBE TOR i le eS ek
eS nec anncrmmen meanerceiaemrire ea
LESS THAN 400
j Russia, books

itten on how. to beat
ife with technique and

Lio Pars

to trade where you are certain

}fe i pate tee
ao whoa he 4 ery : ae pes aq et by Foxe
oR ee te : teed feta tb i awe a GER ee
wien diflivulties iesisted: Gay on
Condition. thahaain © agreemen> Oe;
. tet ‘ Polat ete ge ak
YEacRed Enaing stinetinn ooe-

to have your car serviced ina
therough manner.
Mrs.. Stalford and Mrs. Dyson Seog
were visitors here Thursday from
Walters.
oes
: : jag BO on ores
Ls “a i o
ae = ‘e & Ss) oS
NEW CLEANING PRICES! “ a wn eee id *
Suits, cleaned & pressed 25¢ J} » aie a Bh kde me
Dresses, cleaned & pressed 50e COI Oy KS
HP AAEDRICAN CLEANING S et. /
DYE WORKS Pie :
i ye ‘ rt) y sows pass aig sens
{ es Er AVe. Pirone aud oo oe ec
a fro dae dar
l¢ +
wees sa a 4
a e omy “4 4 4. a9: on
Ti hoe been falsely voreulsted. a. i. : :
niayor of the city of Lawcc that [4 i wi :
of water meters,

S of <news ps re RNISHED Apts. 612 Park. | tie.
SA ek LE feet 3-2-1mop ;

an = oe | Cpr

setts Qe OTE SET peeconet | ‘ “as { 4

huproved eattan sevd ROOMS ies OE By BS

ok Gran Co, Bet | Pere er MNase ee ; elt
: 5 Asan tubs cman aera FURNISHED room, 619 Tf, 3-15-tt RI RC TY ke daa |e: Sak NS idem 5) sock she sche 4 } iain |

i i a 4 v > a Bra eee a) ee ee Ce ee OE eT Le ee a a Se RM SNP AM atten SOT eR Gradte to. a | iyi
iss Pare bred Iniag- | SOOMS : ceri v10M% D ‘

a rN aVpts. close nm « 0 42 . eae OY 3 ‘ i fae.

oF horns, 2oe per sete] ROK Beers: 3-5-Lmop| Que of the thrilling; scenes fron Warner Bros’ actionfal mystery 220

7 a NV. a-2e-Lime “Girl Missing.” Ben Lyon and Mary Brian chown above are nrom- | ant

ii : ‘ ‘jnently case--aty the Lawten today taroueh Suturdny. : ne
e 1p ron roomingy | wv N cy ber i y y a Saeed 1
2 RTD Fs uml SEE 7 — oO

pe Myths Ds cltatou ‘ONTINURD FROM PAGE ONE ' is ited Ruth) Ketels Sunday aft. | 94:

t Pd & ‘ De A?) afd 4 : 4 . oor | Hui!
‘ “CHICKS, 6e ito the death chair where the leg, Mr. and: Mrs. V.. 1. Croas of] 4

. Ao 4 sai "¢ = 50 farm, and head will be strapped to Maude spent the week-end in the | ot

i PEARCE 9 8 Ops ‘the chair. PL oh. Traughber home. : i

| f roertrart shag: % * May Eat Anything f Mr end Mrs. J. M. Prestidge ! air

a ™ HATCHER | ‘The executioner will pull — the of Duncan svent Sunday in’ the. a

ror Phane 69 |' switch and in only a few seconds home of C. I. Prestidve, eit! or

tse ae Aaa a \ see Tatimer will be dead, His body ayes Risa OES. Sao: etephens ; at

Pt SUM OR <8 a ERAGE TD will be removed from the chamber, ; spent Sunday in the J. M. [low eed | ae

| Soe land burial will be made probably home. aed ee Lee

ty cistom. hatching. !in “Peckerwood Hill’ — cemetery, ; Albert Nease and family spent: '"?

noA Tew i more! where all men who die in the pen-

7 ’ . ye pd <7
Sunday with his parents, Mr. and | ‘U!
nyes, Harris UHatch-) itentiary~ are laid to rest unless

< .
. —
~

; Mrs. Z. D. Nease. ¥
; ‘ i their families elai ; : ‘ - ee p ps ts family, of Of 1”
sevettit 12-1mp/ their families claim the body. Last times tonight at the Dome |). poe peas sf ecioht ree wat epi wa
a 3 Thursda Latimer may order Oa ace ee Gee | dahoma: City, spent Suntayein the .°
sUnne tel: hgmisatstet ian Aestwnaaedtis theater of “Infernal Machine,” to AON Cuneecveshame Pet
ML) ESS UND anything to eat he desires. S| wether with a fine short program. | 7.20 SOP an ee ae 1k

lust meal may include whatever}

% Miss Isxbcl HLowerd of Lawton} ">
ia took furfeeat by | food he wants.

Friday and Saturday, Ken May-

—_—
=
-

r 4 Paarer fs spent Sunday with her ~ cousin
' on basco re “1 pe | Hard and ‘Tarzen will star in “De- 49 wrdihesee elf a "T tow
/ at S$ dunee at Coun-+~ Jjuring the day his head will bey joan Fighting Men.” Magdalene Telford. ces a;
4 oo plintte 64) Lawtou.. chaved. He wears a pair of “slit- |” rb eee Ciyde Liledge, from the: Eureka |

" Batt ‘ : Seer
; S-22-2tp! ted” trousers for the execution. district, spent Saturday night with |

: , : . i tink

Bias ieee id - spe- ; 47 Henry Jarvis.
: ee cage ea fo witness the execution, spe A el ¢ R OQ Vj imc ene .? ner

Weer OMAN TEED cial permits through the warden ; S A Mek i, Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Nease spent

{
. ae | for
~Aiieeit i or Gov. W.’H. Murray must be ob- Sunday in the T. J. Shipman home. |

; 3 : ‘ : : a ce at
wantat-Must have! toined. Eleven Lawtonians plan to The seventh and eighth grades Miss Bessie Roach spent Sunday

t e + oral . . . . vi : wen my, art ak . tin
PLanUcrier, cvemnsre attend the execution. _ | are reviewing and making prepa- vith Miss Gladys Drumgoole. BT ra
Ni: 3-22-2tp | Te Latimer dies in the electric! yations for the county exams to} Miss ‘Thelma Newman of Oil City nes
cos chair he will be the first man con-, pe held May 4. spent Thursday in the home of her Ae
to Sypner 5 'vieted from Comanche county to The Oklahoma History class has parents, Mr. and Mrs. G.°E. be doh
, ERE RR “ONE Ibe electrocuted. completed some very interesting | tidge. Cua eae }
Cee ee cayam |. Four others have been convicted | pooklets on “The Disappearance of | Chester Smith is spending a few) 5.
. ( Been rive Eten but their sentences were commut-| the Indians,” while the third grade days with his uncle, A. D. Cos-| 75
; Biter ihhy Pits ie bed English class used the topie, “Ja-| grove. HE OT to
{ individua 4.€ panese Children” for ade booklet Hirley Jarvis ea hs bia
” f ara 4 for the month of Merch. with his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
: . debate eaptain, | i vd Dat cane oe ; ee , te.
hae aye: s The pupils have recently dis- | IH. Jarvis. wey a
» Moss, Cam- N TRY 3 The pupils. , : ; i ani
: ia i: Site ‘guy fe CEA Ger played their interest in the at- Mr. and<Mrs. C.D. Drumgoole | ski
ty i ath ¥ me BY habs CONTINUED ROM PAGE oF sis tractiveness of our school by mak- } spent Sunday in the Oscar Steph-j )4)
“ie Dwcntl Pege ee alone. His mother and oe ing several large flower beds and | ens home. : | Boe
ee | Wail cou snalhbeaed eereenced him about two weeks |) ntine many varictics of flowers. | Mrs. Addie Jackson and daugh-i
a, i pat iy andinge déah nee In addition to this, several varie- |ters Alice and Ruth, Mrs, Maud ca
oe ree by wee ties of house plants have been i Swafford and daughter Kathleen, | |.
“ i. aa intvedueed LAWTONIANS TO CUTION brought which add to the appear- , ‘spent Sunday in the home of Mrs. ha.
Buipinesl vi Revd WITS ESS pees ne harli Lati- ance of our school room. Mary Payne. tu:
: MAN ght CHER OG epee vie ae ‘for | . Lhe upper grades have been} Lee and Marvin Pittman left on];
; New ber ryis beaet es eee es eat Al tor, | Playing basketball during the past | Monday for Oklahoma City where op
« WS ve el ie rysy sorgde ] y “ S oT * . . ” . oa - 4 “we, © ? é -
(epee White Chatdle Mhursday HATERS ei is Stale week and find it a source of much] they will attend the fat stock show. he
Chlenan and Mar will inglude, 20 men ee | pleasure. The basketball court has] They were aceompanied by -their) \.
rt Pet ES et aot 7 Wye j a £ : be & . ‘ : 5s Not > wh +} = ye) SAY.
eee pita sse 10 men has just recently been completed, sister Frances, who will spend SEV-] eo
ain dt” the tens Not one ts asd Cran salad: The following visited school last] eral days visiting friends. és The
Pal fice Teh hectare: Betas heen Msp tobe hole . week: Marion Howard, Donald I, Dayton .and son Gordon, of we
ys? f the Soutien Poca son betore. awe | Dodson, Alma MecCaig, and Fran- | Lawten, spent Sunday in the G. E./ >)
oe pate < Raph te e ieee With Live: -DASSENB CYS | Dittman: He8 Dayton home. ; at
4 Fie heat “1 left Lawton early Phursday morn- Community News Ve th
H LUT aye ini ~ © etic oft
} : 1RuLE ; ay one a Rohs man eee ta Pa Git Yathy ;
ly. * cAnnel program r Misses Elva Woodson and Betty STATES STUDY NEW to
a he Pivingestan sf No Clemency iJo Traughber spent the week-end STAT . a hove ea
2 i : c ' ‘ : '. Ne t
: | piedires, Gnler- T° eleventh hour clemency ?) with their grandmother, Mrs. FISH REGULATIONS me
inisstourl oR ill save Charlie Latimer ¢| Rhodes. ( Sapenarae see th
mritesivul Nun Wi Save v Y r
i from the electric chair Thurs- Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Prestidgr and WAS INGTON : (UE) as th
' Soba HM outay nivht, Gov. W. H. Murray family, of Shamrock, ‘Pexas, and} teen states are considering enact
hp aber rent, ta OV, < 3 a y; ‘ : Bice j SOO Ln Seem
re Poisoned i$ said today Mr. and Mrs. M. W. Prestidge of } ment of additional black bass reg-}
eS : : : sala, dy. wi he * yeaah oa . Re 3 . ey aes 2 2 ‘tue
DS CY) —Poi- | His announcement was made Comanche spent the week-end im ulations to aaa ot and “perpe tu th
ye acedh ain othe if to ©. 8, MeCuistion, assistant the home vf G. Ks. Prestidse, ate is cous ean ae SaTveys I
agg, tec troy families ef if Comanche county attorney, in Leonard ‘Telford spent Phursday 4 nt waeeeue: epee Nay Mox.'t 2
fie smallif Oklahoma City shortly after jl with his friend, Lee Moyne Kickles | show ret rich gece. - ty North | ¥
: f Site Boe. r . arvian Arkansas,e ul :
doco rapicls )) noon Thursday. of Lawton. T. J. Clarl a at t a ae elaven eae Mlor: St
Aaa ries shred ci Gn RSs COO Mr. and Mrs. od. Jd. Clark ane WROT, MESSE pS Ce :
iy 3 eee se Tages ‘ ay afternoon | ida, South Dakets, “Tennessee, | ;
' lity of trees eG pe. other left-at 8 o'clock in| daughter spent. Mondiy aflernoon ee ae ih A 1 sdintnateeeewwent |?!
eames te afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. N. A. Crossnoe. a aa ete Tt bbabemieis 3: Saini Bi
‘ Liver aeece ti, f P +t K ep Oe Pere umis : Tt. ie 2!
eS . i ia a od nce ba letine 1} ee ; ‘ Ae iss. anelle Sehneeberger. ¥IS rerrthisl, OMe buat
Officers in Party ci. Miss Juancle Sen PS ane Ses: Sor aaeae Bid
itches nyo ly reer tind a Saat 2 rN: ¢ ros ere eet _—— Se ahaa 2 Gg RE ER Ot AERIS . was ae
Amony the 10 ure two officers, nr ‘rp vee SRIENDS
Be Ne Twa former. officers, two nO ee FREC CLES AID RIS FRIENE 5. ah
Le a gee ar 4c ne %, 2 Bae ae Re Coarse ’ rrodiee RA tie ee 5 a ©: stegt ee a v
SS Po SS a - jit ripen, Okie ay r, one I 9 ise oy i | me gE Sry iY EG T
. a. Pee pperator tence filing station ean 7 (aWA's STRANGE o: = eee ONE,
M Pe , ! ltoves feeb ak bahoren : HOBOLY ANOWEKS Ne pepe ae ge
“| ; Pe eee ieee JeCaistion, — assistant WE AROSE :, Wo ONT BE. Ags i.
i POE ELON SoM ho. teed. aE risa SMuOUTED AT SF ages et jh Oy Batis hagpees é .
ici Tiare ape art PARES Ose iit | THE TOR ORS <r me UN Riera) .
i 25 | a ee nh, Whe spidecad ian | ee 3a he: Per . ) ie be “ HO Chick: C
i Bree Wire spe LP RESO shortly ocatte: thre 4\ SE: od) eS vik Mt Ye Mit Ng ewe!

“COMPLETE POLICE CASES
OTTO AUSTIN L

DESCRIPTION
Age 44, born October 28, 1910, Waverly,
: Ohio: Height, 5°10"; Weight, 160
wm, pounds; Build, medium; Hair, brown;
eyes, brown; Complexion, medium: Race,

white; Nationality, American; Occupa- |

tions, molder, foundry worker, mariner,

farmer, machinist's helper; Scars and

marks, Y2" scar right thigh, |" scar right

knee, two scars left forearm, tattoos on

: both forearms; Remarks, has false teeth

which he seldom wears making cheeks appear sunken, reportedly

drinks alcoholic beverages to excess, frequently wears western-

type clothing, reportedly speaks Chinese and frequents Chinese
restaurants, has hobby of gunsmithing.

UNLAWFUL FLIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION (MURDER)

os CAUTION
LOEL IS PROBABLY ARMED AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. HE REPORTEDLY ALWAYS CAR-
RIES A GUN ON HIS PERSON AND IS AN EXCELLENT
MARKSMAN WITH ANY TYPE GUN.

10 M 9% R OOO I5

Fingerprint Classification:

| FBI ROGUES GALLERY

MC KINLEY NORFLEET

with aliases: Frank Norfleet, Frank Wil-

liams, "Mac"

DESCRIPTION

Age 56, born April 12, 1898, Newbern,
Alabama (not verified); Height, 5'Il";
Weight, 165 pounds; Eyes brown; Hair,
black; Complexion, dark brown; Build,
slender; Race, Negro; Nationality, Amer-
ican; Occupation, laborer; Scars and
marks, scar on back of head; Remarks,
gold front teeth, has worn a mustache, reportedly appears to
be grinning at all times.

UNLAWFUL FLIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION (MURDER)
®

CAUTION
NORFLEET MAY BE ARMED AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. HE IS DESCRIBED AS HAVING A
VICIOUS TEMPER.

6
-Fingerprint Classification:
ae 17. U O10

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aat

ital
ally
yeen

stody
by @
aarg-
‘ty in
welry
5 cur-

»
D. Reward
inning hairs
mplexion-

£0" Bureatt

OTTO AUSTIN LOEL, Charge: Murder: T. D. Reward $100.

_ Age, 43; height, 510”; weight, 160; brown hair; brown eyes;

medium complexion. If located, notify Director J. Edgar
Hoover, FBI., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C.

THE mutilated body of an attractive woman was found on
January 10th, 1954, in a motel at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
An autopsy disclosed that the victim had been repeatedly

slashed with a knife. Through investigation the Police were °

able to identify her as a 31-year-old resident of Compton,
California. She had left that city three days before after
a business arrangement had been made for her to travel
from California’ to Ohio on an expense-sharing basis in the
car of a man alleged to be Otto Austin Loel.

When the body of the unfortunate woman was discovered,
Loel could not be located. His automobile was found aban-
doned in Dallas, Texas. It was subsequently determined
that he had hitchhiked to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he
realized some money through pawning personal possessions.
On January 14th a complaint was filed before a U. S.
Commissioner at Oklahoma City charging Loel with unlawful
flight to avoid prosecution for the crime of murder.

The name of Otto Austin Loel now appears on the FBI
“Ten Most Wanted” list. This fugitive has previously been
employed as a molder, mariner, foundry worker, farmer,
machinist’s helper, and has a hobby of gunsmithing. He is
said to speak Chinese and frequents Oriental restaurants.
Loel is probably armed and is reportedly an excellent marks-
man with any type of gun. '

ETT oA AOHOMHKNHHMNHMMNKNUNHANNHNNNNNEM

$400 REWARDS IN THIS ISSUE—SEPTEMBER 1954—210 CAPTURES TO DATE
$20,900 Rewards Paid By True Detective —$20,070 Paid By Authorities |
Total Rewards Paid To True Detective Readers— $40,970

aay

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thentic information apt ay, fugitive pictured in our
Line-Up are urgently requested to FIR '—Communicate with
their local police or the police in the a A where the fugitive
.may be located. SECO: Advise us I }
identification of supers through the Line-Up. Where authori-

TH LER

‘ Person who first identifies the py elie prior to his arrest, from

MEDIATELY upon -

ANTIOCO PIMENTEL SOLORIO. Charge: Murder. T. D. Re-
ward $100. Age, 25; height, 5’6”; weight, 140; black hair;
brown eyes; dark complexion. If located, notify Director J.
Edgar Hoover, FBI., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C.

ON October 19th, 1952, a discussion started between two
brothers and another man in‘*a small neighborhood tavern
in Modesto, California. As tempers frayed, it turned into a
rather violent argument, which terminated in the three men
stepping outside to settle their differences. In the street
outside the tavern, one of the brothers and the other man,
alleged to be Antioco Pimentel Solorio, began to scuffle.
Suddenly a knife flashed and the brother fell, mortally
wounded. As the other brother tried to come to the latter’s
aid, he also was stabbed to death. Their assailant quickly
fled from the scene. On the following day, local authorities
charged Solorio with the double murder.

About a month later, when it was learned that he had -

left the State of California, the assistance of the FBI was
requested in locating Solorio. A complaint charging him
with unlawful interstate flight to avoid prosecution for
murder was filed before a U. S. Commissoner at Modesto,
California, on November 20th, 1952.

Antioco Pimentel Solorio is a Mexican national who has
reportedly entered the United States illegally on several oc-
casions. It is possible that he may now have returned to
Mexico. This fugitive has been employed previously as a

laborer. He may be further identified by a blotch scar on

his left forearm. .

through the Line-Up. (Police officers who effect the capture of
ugitives wanted by their own departments are nat eligible for
NE-UP rewards.)

True Detective reward offers are effective u to six months
after the publication of photo and the reward is payable to the

e photograph of the wanted subject appearing in the Line-Up
and gives the tip which leads to his capture. :

TRUE Detecrive reserves the right of final decision in determin-
ing whether or not the evidence submitted by the claimant to
the reward is sufficiently clear and conclusivey

Currently, True Detective iene and the Mutual Broad-

ties are notified by letter or wire, send copy of same to Line-Up — System are offering a $1,000 fugitive-reward every Sun- 2g
Epitor. Application for reward must be postmarked within 24 day afternoon over the Mutual network. Tune in and get the FI
hours after the hour the fugitive has been positively identified details. * 3
2 Identity of Readers Who Furnish Information Leading to Captures Will Be Held Confidential Upon Request /
2 ; More Than 1,500,000 Persons Will Read This Issue HM
* NRANNRAEaMeen

* THE ARM of the law had been long, its
tentacles reaching out, seeking him in every
direction ... he had eluded it for nearly two
years. Now he sat in the courtroom in Okla-
homa City, while his lawyers questioned pro-

LOEL, Otto A., white, electroduted Oklahoma SP (Oklahoma County) on January 11, 1957.

He sat at a table, inconspicuously attired, a
drab, tired-looking man in his forties, an unpre-
possessing figure who paid little attention to the
wrangling of the opposing lawyers, but spent his
time in long study of his shoes or in absently
watching the motes aswirl in the yellow stream-

ers of light. :
The questions droned on interminably, their :
monotony broken by sharp interjection of ob- j

jection and argument. e|

“Have you formed an unchangeable opinion ; 4

as to the guilt or innocence of this defendant?

“Are you opposed to the death penalty?” “|

These were questions the State insisted must ¥|

: _ be answered by each acceptable juror in the a
negative. Assistant County Attorneys Joe T. Mar- of

{

tin and Max Lawrence had made it plain that tT
et

if
they were demanding the death sentence for the ae
dreadful butchery in the motel. a
The story, now rapidly nearing its end in mid- Pa
October of 1955, had begun far away in Cali- ef
fornia 22 months earlier, in the first week in cal

January, 1954.
Somebody put a hex on the

spective jurors who would determine his fate.

It had its beginning in a bar in Compton, a

? . western suburb of Los Angeles, when a man in aia

pretty redhead along with thirteen stab wounds 2 bright orange sports shirt announced that he Oy

: was driving East to visit relatives in Ohio and

in Syracuse, N. Y. .

r 3 : : “Ohio, gee!” murmured the pretty redhead 7
Elizabeth Henderson wanted to see her mother back in Ohio. a couple of stools down the sualigeans, “Tp’s qf

been four years since I saw my mother there. ee

| If I only had the money to go.” os
| (Continued on page 60) a
by Neil S. Wythe Si
Otto Loel was driving to Ohio and New York. ay

ne OF
+ oe
i
Se

VPsbs

POLICE DRAGNET

he newspaper,

ight in. A lot
n their papers
se even higher.
al punishment
sislature with-
in. There were
| the existence
-d as a power-
v, in this sav-
’ had proof in
1. Even people
igainst capital
ley comimitted
vledge that he
he was caught.
e hanged, per-
ccome a killer.
nittee meeting

.oon of May 5,
irger meeting.

nost of them /
’ yard behind
ot an ordinary ~

ne of the most
wyers, profes-
ven a minister

didressed by a F: a

ass here.
‘inciple to
»” he said.
ions when

». We'll correct

Sheriff Wilkie
mblage. Wilkie
vorld ever de-
But the sheriff

and he aimed .

for trial in a
-puties Charles

ching,” he said

» Daley safe .~

he isn’t worth
our fastest car
ate prison.”

led out of his
ting car. Mus-
The warden of
ired and would
headed for the
paved road to

when a crowd ... |

rmed, came up
n front of the

m to us!”
ront steps, un-
. “When I was

% 3
s

aid, “I swore I ~ 4

im to stand by
sets a fair trial.
isperse and go

opointed chair-

mittee stepped ~~
‘ yours, sheriff,” _ ; a

. are technically
ve won’t stop-at
ta have that

gured that
uuuutes more,
1at moment th

matter was suddenly taken out of his
hands. A prisoner in the second-floor tier
of cells stuck his face against the grilled
window.

“They took the skunk: ‘away—just a few
minutes ago!” he yelled. “They took him to
the prison at Florence!”; «

The citizens went into. speedy action.
They ran to their cars and headed out of
town. There were two roads to Florence,
some 50 miles to the southwest. Several
dozen cars took each of them, just to be
sure. One of the citizens, more thoughtful
than the rest, took the precaution to wire
ahead to a friend in the prison town.

Meanwhile, Deputies Warren and Mus-

grove were speeding along the pavement
with their prisoner, with Warren at the
wheel and his partner: keeping a sharp
lookout to the rear. Daley sat in the rear
seat with Musgrove. The facts about his
plight had not yet dawned on the ex-cow-
boy.

“What's the hurry?” he eenundel “Why
we goin’ so fast?”

Musgrove let him have ‘it straight, and
with unconcealed relish...

“We're going so fast, young fellow,” he
spat, “because several hundred good citi-
zens are after us, aiming to put your neck
in a noose. Personally I don’t think you’re
worth it, but we’re Conte our best to save
you.”

Daley paled. “You mean they want to
string me up?”

Musgrove grinned back at him. “Exactly.

the west to be on the lookout for the

Buick.

Next day, however, the hunt shifted to
Shreveport, La. A pawnbroker there was
examining a variety of items recently
pawned and he came across a pair of ex-
pensive sunglasses with a name stamped
inside the leather case. The name was
Otto Loel.

Having read about the ‘murder, he called

the police. He. said a thin, sunken-cheeked °

man had pawned them :on Wednesday,
January 13 (the day the murder was dis-
covered). -Other witnesses, located after
an intensive investigation, recalled seeing
the thin man on Thursday. He was then
trying to hitch a ride a on Highway
171.

Meanwhile, Oklehomil. City police~ lo-
cated the third hitchhiker of the quartet
that had ridden with Loel. He had no
new information to give, having left the
car soon after Loel pulled up at the West-
ern Union office in Oklahoma City.

On January 26 Loel’s Buick finally was
found. It was standing in a parking lot

_in Dallas, Tex., and had: been there ten

days before it was spotted. This turned
out to be the last trace of the killer picked
up. Where had he gone from Dallas? Back
to the West Coast? Or had he headed up
to the populous centers of. the Northeast?
When months passed without a new de-
velopment, the investigators feared he had
slipped out of the country.

You got the idea. It seems they feel you
haven’t been a good boy. They would like
to take personal charge of your punish-
ment.” -

The kid’s .cockiness was gone now. He
leaned forward and shouted to Warren
over the roar of the motor. “Step on it!
For .God’s sake, I don’t want a rope neck-
tie!”

Warren was stepping on it, as fast as he
dared. By the time they were halfway to
Florence, with no sign of pursuit behind
them, they began to feel reasonably secure.
Still they did not slacken their speed. It
was almost 8 o’clock and pitch dark. There
were no headlights visible behind.

"THEY FELT SAFE—until they ap-
proached the railroad underpass a few
miles out of Florence. The road there was
blocked by a couple of cars turned cross-
wise. Several dozen men were standing
there, waving lantern and flashlights. War-
ren jammed his foot on the brake hard,
and rubber squealed against concrete.

“Don’t let them take me!” Star Daley .

screamed. “Don’t let them!”

The moment the car stopped it was sur-
rounded by men. They overpowered and
disarmed the two helpless deputies in a
matter of moments. They took hold of
Daley far less gently. They dragged him
out of the car and thrust him into an-
other. The killer, formerly so tough, was
crying like a baby.

He was held incommunicado during the

THE WANDERING ZOMBIE

(Continued from page 39)

In May of 1954 the FBI put Otto Loel
on its list of ten most wanted men.

When he left Dallas, Loel drifted to
Florida and picked up work on farms and
factories, seasonal jobs. He was working
for a vegetable packing company when he

_was sent to Colorado for. six weeks. He

was just one of a large gang of farm
laborers and thus not likely to draw at-
tention to himself. By now he’d become
quite cautious. He used the name Jack
McCoy, took it easy on the liquor, was
careful not to show the scars on his legs
or talk about his adventures, and wore
plain clothes. The days of fancy cowboy
outfits were over.

When the stint in Colorado ended, he
drifted back to Florida, to the towns of
Homestead, Belleview, and finally to San-
ford where a machine company took him
on as a handyman. This job looked perma-
nent to Loel, so he took a room at a local
hotel. The job plus the fact that he had
outsmarted the FBI for many months
caused him to drop -his guard. ‘He began
to drink again.

He lost his job, got kicked out of the
hotel and was on the bum again. He
temporarily halted the skid when he was
taken on as a handyman at a bar, but
once again his heavy drinking proved his
undoing. By the middle of January, 1955,
.a year after the murder, he was reduced
to living in a squalid lean-to in a swamp.
He stole vegetables from farms in order

hours of night. With the first gray streaks
of dawn, he was put in a car again. As part
of a cavalcade of more than 100 machines,
he was driven over the highways to Mesa,
then up the unpaved road to Buchanan’s
Wells. There they stopped, within sight of
the place where Daley had shot Jim Gib-
son.

The sun was coming over the peaks.
There was a very convenient telegraph
pole there, and a rope was tossed over
the crossbar. The crowd was dignified and
orderly. The prisoner, white with terror,
had to-be literally carried to the impro-
vised gibbet, his manacles still on him. One
citizen came forward and offered a prayer
for the soul of the doomed young cow-
puncher.

Then the rope was adjusted and Star
Daley, alias Vane Ashmore, was hanged
as the throng watched grimly. _.

His body swung there like a pendulum
for a long time before officers finally ar-
rived to cut him down. Truthfully, nobody
felt very sorry about what had happened
even though the law had done its best.
Down in Tucson, Mrs. Gibson was told the
news. Her reaction is not recorded, but it
would be surprising if she grieved.

At the next session of the state legis-
lature, the representatives of the people
gave considerable thought to the killing of
Jim Gibson and the hanging of Daley. All
in all, they decided it might be a good idea
to restore the hanging penalty. They got
busy and did just that.

to eat, and sold junk and scrap iron in.
order to get liquor. money.

mw ON JANUARY 8 he found himself in a
tavern in Sanford. He was drinking with
another sot and after awhile they got
into an argument. Finally the barkeep
got tired of the noise and tossed them
both out on the sidewalk, right at the feet
of a passing patrolman.

Loel might have got out of this scrape
without trouble. But his companion turned
belligerent and tried to get rough with the
cop. The result was that both he and
Loel wound up in the pokey. The charge
was common drunkenness.

When’ he was booked, Loel gave this
information: “Jack McCoy, born in Ore-

gon in 1906. Occupation—machine shop.

molder.”

Bail was $17 and Loel had to borrow
two dollars from his friend to make it.
But his neck was in the noose. Five days
later a routine fingerprint check disclosed
his true identity. FBI agents hurried from
Orlando and Miami. Five days ‘was
enough time for Loel to have got out of
the state, but the Federal men pressed
the local hunt nevertheless.

They learned that on January 11. Loel
had traveled four miles west to Lake
Monroe to borrow $2 from a friend. On
January 13 the wanted man approached a
mechanic in a junk yard and tried to get
the loan of a car. He was turned down.

V4 ec

Loel was still in the area, but where?
It was at this point that Constable J. Q.
(Slim) Gallaway became the: most im-
portant investigator in the case. Working
around the clock, the local officer kept an
eye on junk yards, bars and other places
where Loel might turn up. On Monday,
January 17,.Slim got a tip that Loel was
at a certain yard trying to sell scrap
metal. With three other officers, Galloway
hurried there and arrested Loel without
a fight. —

“Tm the man you anit he said. “I’m
Loel and I’m glad it’s over.”

At first Loel was reluctant to talk about
the crime, but finally he made a statement.
He told about leaving Compton with
Elizabeth Henderson, claiming she was
tired of her husband and wanted to live
with him (Loel). He told about picking
up the hitchhikers and driving to Okla-
homa.

“Ina bar someone picked my pocket of
$100—my money and what her husband
had given her,” he said. “She had a cold
and was nervous. She ran out of the cold
‘medicine she was taking, and by the time
we got to Oklahoma City she was almost
hysterical.

“In the-motel she said I was planning
to run off and leave her stranded there.
She said she was going to kill me,-and I
looked up to see her coming at me with
my hunting knife. We .fell to the floor
and fought but I don’t remember if I
stabbed her, I didn’t know for sure she
was dead until _later, when I read about
it in the paper.”

Loel was returned to Oklahoma and
‘placed in a state mental hospital for 90
days. Psychiatrists studied him and in-
terviewed him at length. Following are
some of their observations and conclusions.

About his childhood, the doctors said:
“He was a very severe disciplinary prob-
lem in.the orphanage and was almost con-
stantly engaged in some anti-social ac-
tivity, apparently the result of extreme
hostility feelings which his supposed re-
jection by his mother and other persons
seems to have engendered in him.”

Concerning his relations with women it
was noted that Loel admitted having little
interest in them until he was in his early
twenties. _

“Probably: the failure of (his) many
marriages,” the doctors reported, “has
largely been due'to his unwillingness to
take on the responsibilities and settle
down so that he could be depended on by
at least some of his wives. On the other
hand, some of his wives have obviously
been unstable personalities so that the

. outstanding feature of the pattern of mar-

72°

riages would be the impulsiveness >and
lack of adjustment and judgment which
Otto has demonstrated in entering into
the marriages,” ;

His preference for Oriental women was
noted. “He seemed to have developed a
particular fondness for Chinese girls and
goes into great lengths. discussing their
superior qualities as compared to Amer-
ican women.”

About his drinking: “He drinks almost
every chance he gets, and frequently con-
sumes large quantities of alcohol .

examiner does not believe that Loel suffers
any great personality changes under the

’

. This-

influence of alcohol, but rather the pic-
ture seems to be “more of a simple ac-
centuation of personality traits and char-
acteristics which are already discernible
within his particular personality makeup.
That is to say, he may become more anti-
social, more hostile, and less responsible
for himself.”

Loel, according to the psysicians, acted
cooperative in the questioning but ap-
peared to be holding back some details.

“He doesn’t deny killing her,” the report

‘said, “but offers the excuse only that he

was drinking a great deal. He says that
the knife with which he stabbed her was
from his own tool kit which he’d taken
into the motel room.”

On October 17, 1955, Loel was given a
sanity hearing before a jury of five men
and seven women, Dr. Coyne Campbell
testified that Otto Loel was not normal
but a man without a conscience, a man
who did not belong in society, The only
way to handle him was to put him in an
institution.

Loel’s attorney ‘asked if Loel would be
able to defend himself in a murder trial
and Dr. Campbell answered, “I think he
will do everything he can to defend him-
self. He will’ do anything to escape
punishment.” ~

Dr. Charles Obermann, who also had

examined Loel during his 90-day stay at

the state hospital, testified that Loel did
not believe that he, himself, was insane.

“But he said if he ‘was someone else,
looking at himself, he wouldn’t trust him-
self because he was unpredictable,” the
doctor stated.

m THE JURY decided that Loel was sane
and could stand trial. The proceedings
began on October 19, The first witness for
the state was Cameron Henderson, the
dead woman’s husband.

“Elizabeth Jeanne and I had been mar- -

ried four and a half years,” he said. “We
have one son. Elizabeth wanted to visit
her parents in Ohio, but we: didn’t have
the money. When I got home from work
on January 7, 1954, she told me, ‘Honey,
I’ve got a chance to go back east. All I
have to do is share expenses,’ She said
there’d be four persons in the car. I said,
‘I don’t know how we can do it because
we're broke.’ But I said I’d see if I could
borrow some money.”

Henderson told of meeting Loel and
asking him for more details about the trip.
“He told me he was going back east to see
his wife and would pass within 40 miles of
my wife’s home in-Ohio. He said he was
retired from the Navy, and was supposed
to have been a chief of police in some
town in Oregon. The fact that he’d been a
law officer made me decide it was all
right.”

The next day Loel took the stand. He
changed the story he had told the FBI
agents in Florida about Elizabeth running
away with him so they could live together.
He said he had happened to come into a
bar for a last drink before driving east
and had mentioned to the bartender that
he would cut through Ohio.

“She said,” he. went on, “ ‘How about me
going along?’ I said, ‘If you want to go,
you can go,’ I wasn’t serious and I didn’t
think she was.”

. }

Later, Loel testified, she brought her
husband to the bar and he said it would
be all right for his wife to make the trip.
They left that same night.

Loel also changed his story concerning
the murder. Now he claimed that he and
the woman had fallen asleep in the Okla-
homa City motel and that he woke up
about 6 p.m, when she started making ad-
vances. They were of a perverted sort, he
claimed, and he was shocked.

“I.slapped her, pushed her, and choked
her to get her away from me. I reached

_ over by the side of the bed and grabbed —

something from the night stand and
started beating her with it. I guess I went
haywire. We rolled on the floor and I
kept beating her.” ~~

The defense attorney asked, “Did you
learn later that you had a knife in your
hand?”

“Yes. I'd taken the lesen knife. out of
my case earlier in the day to cut a rope
tied around a pasteboard box. I wanted to

get some cold tablets out of the box to.

give to Mrs. Henderson. I left the knife on
the night stand before going to sleep. It’s
hard to explain how you feel when you
learn you have killed somebody.

“When I saw she’ was dead, I was
scared. I had to get out of there, go any-
where. I was bloody.” I washed my hands
and changed clothes,’ I put a pillow under
her head and pushed the bed over her.”

The lawyer asked why he had told the
FBI agents a different story when he was

“I didn’t want to tell anybody what
happened,” Loel replied. “The girl is
dead, and I didn’t want to bring all this
up., A jailer in Florida told me I’d better
give the FBI a statement, ‘. . . or when
they get you back in. Oklahoma they’ll
beat it out of you.’ One of the FBI men
told me the same thing.”

The prosecuting ~ attorneys
Loel’s new explanation of the murder.

“The history of perverts shows they will
kill when thwarted,” one of the prosecu-
tors told the jury. “It would be more
logical to assume ‘that he attempted the
perversion and killed her in a rage when
she resisted. If his story were true, he
could have produced/ witnesses to show
her record of perversion. There was no
evidence that this woman had any such
tendencies, That accusation was made by
Loel in an attempt to’ save his own life.
The only reason he:concocted this fan-
tastic story was that he knew we had no
way of disproving its

Later on two of the FBI sivciathe who
arrested Loel testified“that they had not
threatened or beaten Loel in order to ob-
tain a confession. “Ifyou believe Loel’s
story of perversion,” said the . prosecutor
to the jury, “then you must believe that
these two federal. officers committed per-
jury in this courtroom,”

The jury was out for eight hours before
returning with a verdict. Loel was guilty
of murder in the first degree. On Novem-
ber 1, 1955, Judge Van Meter pronounced
sentence—death in the electric chair.

The sunken-faced defendant blinked, a
twisted smile on his lips. But it vanished,

_as though Loel suddenly realized that his

days of drinking and ‘aimless wandering

‘were over.

attacked °

~ mountain: lane.

Vinyard’s mind t’
certain was a n
with the neighbo
‘have been likely
place by mere c!
-been for the coi:
‘pectors happenin
body might hav:
for weeks or eve:
In Cripple Cre:
.-an examination
performing an au
“Td say she w:
“thirties,” he said.
in height, weight
burn hair, and sh:
Maybe the post-n
‘In the meantir
couple of deputie:
pairmen in the +
more than a half
surprisingly. this
tility. High heels
parts, and no cob!
pairing one.
That night, whe
autopsy, he had s
tion for the sheriff
“It’s difficult to b :
of death,” he rep
say is that she has
days and possibly
But here’s somethi:
The woman had t
“She was a lun
“That ought to m:
simple.”
He was thinking
tariums for tuberc

- rado. Surel;

missing this

“There’s a
helpful,” Dr. Ryan
had extensive dent:
cluding. some unu
though this seems t
years earlier, the d
certainly recognize
be found.”

As to the cause c
woman had been
bludgeoned with
-There was no doul
been murdered,

Sheriff Vinyard ir
minute. description
complete even to t.
This description wa:
ficers in Colorado
Sanitarium in the st:
fidently to get quick
peal,

Just to be sure th:
ered, he made a care
victim’s clothing, T

' fiable labels on the
~ the clothing except

This bore a label, sli
corner, with the wo:
Vinyard sent a dep:
stores to see if it coi

' the= tment had hb

could hear the panting of his breathing

above the rapid thump of her heart.
She tried to scream, but sheer fright
froze the cords of her throat. And then
he was there, a terrifying figure in the
moonlight, Animal noises drooled from
his mouth and they were more horrify-
ing than menacing words. He clamped
a sweating palm over her lips and club-
bed her with a massive fist.

Happily for the young woman, the
incident had not gone unobserved. De-
tectives Hugh O’Brien, Michael Ann,
and Joe Fitzgerald of the Burglary
Squad were cruising by in a patrol car
when the two left the bus. The cops
had followed.

They jumped from their car when
the prowler closed in on his prey. He
turned to face them with threatening
fists; steel glinted in the moonlight as
he lunged at O’Brien. The officer had
his gun out and smashed the muzzle
over the head of the prowler. The latter
faltered for a second, then flung himself
forward, spewing out a stream of filthy
words, Fitzgerald caught him around
the waist and bore him to the asphalt.
The other two officers piled on and
pinned him to the ground. A second
later he was in cuffs and helpless.

His intended victim’s face Was
bruised and cut. The cuts were from a
remarkable ring worn by the attacker.
Conaining a small sharp blade, it was
identified as a twine-cutter’s tool.

At the Ralph Avenue station house
the prisoner identified himself as Leon-
ard Oliver Freeman, 17, of 150-34
116th Street, Jamaica, in Queens. He
was a candy wrapper in the daytime, a
roving rapist at night, he readily ad-
mitted.

“Folks where I live call me the Bat
Man,” he announced with a show of
pride.

“Why?” asked O’Brien.

“Because I always go out at night,”
the Bat Man replied candidly. “When I
come home from work, I sleep a few
hours. Then J get dressed and go out—
looking for women.”

For the first time the officers realized
that they had made an unusual catch.
They plied the man with questions,
playing on his vanity. He talked, de-
scribing his nocturnal excursions.

Each night, he explained, he was
compelled by a driving urge to leave his
room and prowl the streets, stalking
women. He liked women, liked to touch
them. Sometimes just touching them
was not enough. Neighbors, noting his
strange nightly jaunts, had nicknamed
him the Bat Man. They had done this in
jest, not knowing that the young man
lived up to his nickname. Like some
blood-hungry vampire bat, he would
steal from his home in a quest for
victims. :

E lived for the night, he confided

to the officers. When the hour got
late and the streets empty, he would rise
from his bed, deck himself out in his
best clothing and take to the hunt. He
stalked women as he found them, fol-
lowing them from bus stops and sub-
way Stations, after picking the one that
seemed most desirable. When his quarry
teached a suitably lonely place, the
Bat Man would plunge into the attack,
grabbing them by the throat, dragging
them into the dark solitude of an alley
or vacant lot, and there taking his
pleasure. He enjoyed beating them,

tearing off their clothes, fondling their
flesh. Sometimes outright rape was re-
quired to satisfy his lust. Then, at dawn,
he would go home, counting the min-
utes until nightfall would see him back
at his grisly game.

“I guess I must have attacked about
twenty-five women,” the Bat Man de-
clared.

At first the Bat Man denied killing
any of his victims, but in the detailing
of his sorties he described an atack
which had taken place on the night of
July 25th, in Queens.

“You strangled the woman, didn’t
you?” O’Brien asked,

“I never choked no one,” the Bat
Man maintained.

The policemen took him to the scene
and he admitted that the place was
familiar. Then he confessed to the
crime, explaining that his lusting eye
had fixed on the pretty strawberry
blonde and that he had then followed
her to Kingston Place.

“I grabbed her from behind and I
put my knees between her and she
began to struggle. We both fell on the
grass. I had my left hand on her throat.
My right hand was under her dress. She
began to scream, I grabbed her by the
neck with my right hand .. .”

He claimed that he didn’t realize the
young woman was dead when he left
her,

The Bat Man was arraigned on hom-
icide charges on September 8th. He
was indicted, tried and convicted of
first-degree manslaughter and, on June
12, 1953, was sentenced by Judge Al-
fred Hoffman in Queens County Court
to a term of ten to twenty years in
Sing Sing. *

CURSE OF GOLDEN BUDDHA
(Continued from page 8)

It wasn’t long before she made the
suggestion,

“Let me ride with you as far as
Ohio. I'll pay my share of expenses on
the trip.”

There was a complication, Thirty-
one-year-old Elizabeth Jeanne Hender-
son was married and living with her
second husband, and her son, 13, by
her first marriage.

She managed, however, to obtain her
mate’s consent to make the journey.
On Thursday night, January 7th, she
set out with her new friend, whom she
introduced as Otto A. Loel, a foundry
worker, in Loel’s blue 1947 Buick se-
dan.

IX days later, on Wednesday morn-
ing, January 13th, as he began his
day at the tourist courts, which he
owned and operated in Oklahoma City,
William Worthing remembered that
Cabin No. 4 had not been cleaned since
Sunday.

There had been a reason. The oc-
cupant, on Sunday night, had paid two
days’ rent in advance and had said to
Worthing: “You needn’t bother the
cabin, We'll be in and out, my wife and
I. We'd rather not have anything dis-
turbed.”

It was not a particularly unusual
request. But the blue sedan now was
gone—indeed, Worthing couldn’t re-
member having seen it around since
Sunday evening—and the couple, regis-
tered simply under the name of “O. A.
Loel, Los Angeles,” apparently had
moved out.

Worthing unlocked the door to No.
4 and stepped inside. He was wrong, he
told himself at a glance. They had not
moved along.

Two suitcases lay opened in the
room, and clothing was heaped on two
chairs. The motel owner was about to
leave when he saw the bed.

Great, dark, ominous blobs on the
white linen sheet.

Blood! He knew it before he took
his next rapid step forward.

He found the body on the floor
against the wall, with the bed wedged
partially over it.

Clad only in blue panties and a sheer
nightie was the bloody, slashed and
stabbed corpse of a woman. Worthing
retreated hastily, ran to the office and
called the cops.

URDER was nothing new to Hom-
icide Detectives Bob Hudson and
Don Cochrane, They went about their
chores methodically, barely pausing to
nod when Captain Ted. Baughman,
their squad chief, M. E. Higgs, the de-
partment fingerprint expert, and Detec-
tive Chief Wayne W. Harbolt came in.
The officers noted that although
there obviously had been a_ bloody
struggle in the bed, there was no sign
of battle elsewhere in the room.

There were two pint whiskey bottles
and three coke bottles, all empty, on
the dresser along with two sticky wa-
ter tumblers,

Two chairs, one holding feminine at-
tire, the other bearing several items of
male wear, stood upright. The suit-
cases, one filled with feminine frippery,
the other with men’s garb and accoutre-
ments, were undisturbed,

Cochrane followed an indistinct trail
of bloody footprints to a wastebasket

POLICE DRAGNET

eterna eee men earn eA MER RNS Nm Pm

and from it took a pair of gore-soaked
men’s slacks, an empty beer bottle and
a hunting knife with a bloodstained
six-inch blade.

Papers in a woman’s purse identified
its owner as Elizabeth Henderson of
Lynwood, California, the suburban
community next to Compton.

Other papers, these removed from
the man’s suitcase, named its owner
as Otto Loel of Compton. Among
these papers the dicks found a letter
in an unstamped envelope addressed to
a woman in Oregon. The missive
bore a December 31 date, expressed
Pique at the person to whom it was
addressed for not accepting some
Christmas presents, and erded with a
weird paragraph.

“For this,” the letter warned, “I am
putting the curse of the little golden
Buddha on you. No one can lift the
curse but I. May your days be full of
pain and your nights hurt you as much
as you hurt the one that loved and
still loves you, I and I alone can re-
move that curse. Laugh if you will,
but think back and remember. Ever
me ours, Otto.”

Bo udson took the queer letter
from his partner, read it and passed
it along to Captain Baughman.

Hudson said: “I don’t know about
his ‘curse of the little golden Buddha’
—but our boy Loel is sure lethal
enough when he puts the curse of a six-
inch knife on his babes.”

“I’m wondering. about that,” Don
Cochrane remarked.

“You’ve seen this—and you're won-
dering?”

“Why a guy would register in a mo-
tel, obviously under his right name,
kill a woman, take time to ~lean up
and change clothes, cnd then walk
out and leave behind enough identifica-
tion to cash a check in a strange town.”

“Don’s got a point there,” Captain
Baughman conceded, “If Loel had plan-
ned the killing before he and the wom-
an came here, it stands to reason he’d
have taken pains to cover up his true
identity, If the murder was in a fight,
the chances are he’d have tried every
which way to clean out all traces of his
identification.”

The captain turned to Worthing.
“He register his license number when
he checked in?”

“Sure. Come on to the office and
look at the book.”

The motel register showed that the
couple had rented Cabin No. 4 at
about 8 A.M. Sunday. Worthing said
he had seen neither of them until
around dusk, when Loel went to a
nearby café, from which he returned
at about seven o’clock to pay the cabin
rent for two days in advance.

“That’s when he told me not to
bother about cleaning up till they left.
I’ve had other folks ask the same thing.
Only I never had one leave a mess like
this behind till now.”

“We've got to assume, of course,”
Baughman said, “that Loel is our man.
But we'll not overlook another pos-
sibility, too. That he met someone,
maybe over in the café, and brought
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“USED BY STATE IN
PRESENTING CASE

(Continued from ‘page one) .

= tT
\e

‘tent, to kill. “He: “was; “not din “com-
mand of his: faculties. until ‘after
he was’ released fromthe hos-
‘pital’ here -and’ placed’ in. jail,
Mather declared that testimony.
would show.. «Morphine, *~)'given
Lovett at: the - hospital © ‘further
numbed his” senses, ‘the _ attorney
said.

* Father von alae 3

‘Lovett’s : father: was placed ‘on
‘the witness stand by.-Mether short-
ly after 3 p. a. .when The .Tri
went to press. ..
qi The - state. presented *,
“23 nesses Tuesday afternoon before
“* resting.“ They.’ were: Dr.—T.! M.
“d-Aderhold, -H.'. E... Wrinkle,» Jess
Burge, E. .L: Short and Dr. W. P.

Lawton. ernie: nif
‘Selection’ of ‘the jury was com-
pleted at 3:30 ‘o'clock Monday ‘aft-
ernoon’ and the . presentation. of
witnesses started: immediately.' F.
"H. Morris; * president’ of. the. bank
and Ed Lymann; also an eye- wit-
‘ness to the. shooting, : testified be-

“The ‘court’ room pies, crowded all

J day Monday and spectators were
«| literally hanging. out’ ot thes win-

“Asks _Death - ‘Penalty

LA. Francis | Porta, county © “at
torney, in his ‘opening statement
aes the death penalty. -:-

“The state continued its presen-
Mattia: of evidence Tuesday, mora:
ing.~ Mrs. ‘Georgia. . Cox, an eye-
A witness to the’ Shooting, Dr. P.. B.
Myers, - who ‘s “attended ..Foliart,
George Adams,( who fired at Lovett
when he was’allegedly making his
.jescape, were heard. W.. A. Hall
‘}and Tom Shacklett, forier. ‘sher-

National bank on Nov,’ O7;. told

iff, testified before the noon: re-y,

The Siatal’ Demented ravidence [
‘that Lovett. entere the “ First |!

| bank officials ot ee i 4 ,

W Ss
‘USED BY STATE
e PRESENTING G4

es sess Man Crazed i

“defense for Henry Lovett, -38, who
His. on trial in.district court for —
‘the murder of Dee Foliart during -
an attempted: hold up-of the First=
National Bank _here last Novem.

ney :) for: Lovett, - ‘in his > opening

\statement to. the :jury. told Swhat.y f

he expected the evidence to Prove \FFSh
poh State rested” its case at 2: :50. 4S

Apt

‘| the jury followed immediately. eee

4<.Mather stated’.that the, .testi-—+

‘}in * El. -Reno.
Lovett: was kicked: ‘in. the head ‘by

that’ he. was: not: normal:

Rae J. Seeking Work :

“He ‘said Lovett. was never-in‘ El.
; Rano’ before the- alleged shootins :
and did not know-the name ofa
street or a rooming house in .the’+
city. He. was: out of work~when ©
‘{}he- came here and was. seeking;
| employment, Mather said..
- Lovett met “some- people” her
“the © night. before the - attempted?
thold-up: at a cotton compress or
_| some place, “Mathe?. declared,. and:
{drank a quantity. of canned. heat
2} which ‘rendered him unconscious. |
| The accused man’ wag crazed by
the canned -heat, his attorney said, -
and’ therefore® could esiec no in

a ae
yest fOr Lovett. ~

aioe ate

A “Wt KE \ Rene Qetys
: “Wyenlou yt
St d. Dre. \o, 143%

"Henry. “Lovett, “charged with

| shooting. of Dee: Foliart, El Reno
high: “school - instructor, . during
a Lovett’s unsuccessful attempt to

: _ rue 7

murder =in connection with’ the }

=< recently, entered a plea of not
B guilty: when ‘arraigned in county
and. district’. ‘court, late Tuesday
; afternoon. - He _was ordered held
without.» ‘bond.
“}-will come ‘up in the- venery term
‘|of-court. !”

.Lovett™ walred: preliminary hear-
ing when arraigned in county
Scourt.and, after he had enter-
‘led a plea of not guilty,
bound. to district. court. Later,

sci court, and ‘again he entered..
dplea of not guilty. . a

- James: H. Matthews, ‘or wa:
homa Citys ‘appeared as. counse:

4 Foliart. was- shot ‘ana
4 wounded as he stepped into the
q bank. during the attempted hold-
up. .He died a few hours later.

3 by Jesse: Burge, assistant cashier
Sof the bank, but he has almost
¢ recovered from the wound.

“rob the. First National bank here se =| tional -

| bank? during the- attempted - rob-

: His trial likely}

was

jhe was. arraigned in the higher

"fatally f°

Lovett was shot through the body .

Be EV Rine Daly

o° 2. ae rae

ey ‘against Lovett.
| late : Friday afternoon, .
} formation was » signed - by F.- Hy.

4+ body by Jesse’ M..

| shots

| ing,
j head and neck. *:

saturday

San. Wo 271 !Aas
— te ee. wt yaa -

single-handed, --con-

is confined to. his bed -im the]
‘county © "jail, “where” “he = ‘is. “being

paueder. pe eee Aas
2-The * murder ‘charge was’ filed|
in: county ‘court
The

‘Morris,- president. of.. ‘the. First Na-
_Bank, who: “was in. the

bery - and . when - Dee Foliart, 28,
ElReno high- “school. assistant |]

i athletic coach, was shot and fatal- ||

ly: wounded -as he..enteréd ‘the

is. -accused of. shooting Foliart.
The bandit: was shot through: the
“Burge, assis-
tant. cashier of. the: bank. Two
fired by. George’ Adams,
employe of the’ Oklahoma Tire

}and Supply company, when Lo-

vett fled from the bank build-
also grazed the bandit’s

‘Sheriff T. C. Shacklett “said
that Lovett would be
‘arraigned on the murder charge
“just as soon as he is able to be

eh “= taken into court. Lovett has not

retained — an attorney yet and says
he does not want to employ one

@-antil he has conferred with his
. ‘relatives. °

His father and
' eral’ ‘prothers reside at Chickasha.

_ since: ‘Thursday. ee

a Sty it Sad

held on ‘a charge .0 first degree y

in-

Bank ‘to’ make .a’ deposit. Lovett!

A county satt™ here; He is+up: mest.

sev-}

They .bave not visited him here a

National Bank hare: last’ Werlnes-| ae
‘day > noon,
tinues to show- improvement, he]
-Fis:mot.out of danger. yet. Lovett

York. Bre. 3 \1N99
: to YLU |

“* Henry’: ‘ett, . “of “Chickasha,
who is charged with murder. ‘in’
connection’: ‘with: the: fatal Apodban
ing of. Dee. Foliart, El} Reno high’
‘school instructor,” during the at:
tempted holdup ‘of the First Na- .
tional Bank ‘by Lavett on Novem-
‘ber: 26,:
fe covering -rapidly, from the’ bullet:
; wound | ‘which: ‘he’ ‘sustained. °°”
4 - Lovett | is being: -held.- in| the.

“of ‘the time now.: ‘Sheriff. T.. C.
Shacklett said’ today, that” ‘Lovett
probably. would be -able ‘to:
brought into ‘court. and arraigned --
_on the mi deder. saa within a
few days.-ilF::

fis* ‘reported, ‘tos -be’ “res Ns

2! sihew
a

= a = oe 3 ; ; ; =f is Yar E\ \ LAS Dedy

READY FOR FLING
| AST LOVE

Wounded Bandit Repott-
_ed to Be. Improving;
_ Removed to Jail

A charge ‘of tirst ‘degree mur-
|der was to. be- ‘filed ‘in county
court this - afternoon against
‘Henry Lovett; 38, of. Chickasha, in
connection with the death of Dee
Foliart, 28,.El Reno high school
assistant coach, who was fatally
‘| wounded when shot as he entered
the First National bank? Wednes-
m ORY noon, while Lovett was _ at-
_, tempting. to rob the bank. Fred
= Wallace, county attorney, | said the
~~. Charge . would. be filed this‘ Boa
~ noon... reg’

“The murder ‘charge. will; — the
only one filed against -Lovett- at.
* present, Mr. Wallace’ * said:..A
charge- of robbery: - with » pecese:
“may be filed later... ae
Lovett Removed to-Jail- ani
iLovett,- who. ‘also: was - shat.
through the body during the..at-.
<5 tempted ~ robbery,. was . removed:
* si from. the El Reno Sanitarjum. to-
thet fourity .jalhsby.Sheriff.T-.u,.
Shacklett « .this - _afternoon.: .-The
prisoner, appears to, be recovering
rapidly: from: the . wound: An“ ex-
amination showed ‘that. -the bul-
‘let: had entered his ; left ‘side. be-
low the: heart and -passed entirely
through. his body... eqns}
‘Sheriff Shacklett © said < that
Lovett. would be. araigned in, court
on the murder charge as soon as
-he vis. able ‘to. >be asi into
court. Te a
Following:
Foliart, the Duftet- was ‘removed
from: under the skin. in the: back,
and it-Was-found that’-the bullet
1 was of the same calibre as. those

“Lovett is divorced - “from his « wife
who lives with three- children .at
Texahoma. The cldest child is°12
years .old.~ Lovett said that he

had been away from. his a
for about four years, ~ ~
May Plead Insanity’ |”
An indication that Lovett may
‘| Plead insanity was ‘seen today in
a statement which -he made*-to
| Sheriff’ Shacklett. Lovett. . is
.| quoted by the sheriff as saying
that -he fell from a windmill. a
few days ago, striking his head,
and that he. believes he is men-
tally unbalanced at times. Lovett c
admitted, Sheriff Shacklett said®
that he did not have attention
from a physician at the time.
Lovett still insists that he was
alone in the attempted holdup.”
He also says that someone in the].
bank -fired the shot that struck :
him in the left side. Jesse mM.-{*
Burge, assistant cashier,. fired the
shot. Lovett said he realized he
was becoming weak after the shot
and decided to flee from the bank.

si. Lovett: is, charged ur.
ae der: Dee: -Foliart,

Mendon Bb. AL, \43\

OR LOVE

rial May Not Get Under
Way Until Sometime |

ULLETIN fk

~“«« Selection of a jury-was com-*
. pleted. about 3:30, Jurors fol--4 +}
fow:."s John: Re! ‘Maxey, | Eu- |
-. gene - Burkhead, OMe We Ber: |
"mard,-F..E, Dickerson, F,. Ef.
Gelischmann, | J, sR, Bodine,

“Emanuel 4ron, Clarence Peter-
.- Son,” Herman . Lempke,’ E. A. =:
_ Stair, H. F., Burmier and .E.'Lo-

: Coll ey.» Coe e ‘

: Selection ‘o

trict:.court.

: Excused ; air
t 8 jurors: “nad:
been excused for “cause:* County
Attorney:.A: Francis ‘Porta ques-
‘tioned:“the prospective. jurors on
their: beliefs regarding the: elec-
tric..chair: ‘as. Punishmenz, , carry-
ing out bis former statement and
indicating that the staie’ will ask
death‘ for’ the defendant,” hs
°-With* mur

“coach .. here:
ystander> during
First

The

Red Riddle

Thomas J. Abbott, Chief of Pclice of
McAlester, Oklahoma, who tells the
inside story of the stark tragedy per-
petrated in the House home, and the
detective work which led to the slayer

Oklahoma’s Axe Atrocities 45

The news of the tragedy had spread like wild-fire and a large
crowd of morbidly curious had already gathered as we quit the
house and began a search of the grounds. Rumors flew thick and
fast but the only tale that seemed plausible was that the old mer-
chant had hidden a considerable sum of money about his residence.

Ordering the crowd to remain outside the yard, we began our
search. A moment later, Deputy Sheriff Stapp emitted an exclama-
tion of satisfaction. He had discovered a number of footprints be-
neath the small window at the side of the kitchen, pointing away
from the house in a south-westerly direction. One print was clearly
outlined in a small spot of soft earth.

On hands and knees we examined this print. Across the sole of
the shoe-print were three cross bars, the identifying mark of prison-
made shoes! Not much of a clue, it is true, but this discovery nar-
rowed our search to recently released convicts and outside trusties
from the prison.

The Oklahoma State Penitentiary maintains a large farm with
diversified projects, such as hatcheries and brooder houses that
require constant attention. These projects are cared for by con-
vict trusties who are allowed to sleep at the location of their work
outside the prison walls. In this group of seventy “‘sleep-outs,” or
among a few recently released feline we felt that we would find
this merciless killer!

Shackelford and Deputy Stapp left at once, following the trail
of footprints, while I stayed to assist with the removal of the
bodies and to arrange for protection of the .clearest impression
until the return of Chief Reed.

In the house I had secured a water bucket which | inverted over
the one clearly outlined impression in the soft loam. Chief Reed,
a zealous student of crime detection would wish to make a plaster
cast from the impression, I felt certain, thus securing permanent
evidence to aid in the prosecution of the murderer in the event of
his apprehension.

Following the removal of the bodies, | appointed a neighbor to
stand guard and explained to him that under no circumstances
was anyone to be allowed to molest the now protected shoeprint.

Since there was nothing more to be accomplished at the house,
I returned to Police Headquarters. Shortly after my arrival, Stapp
and Shackelford appeared.

“1 believe,” said Shackelford, “we'll find our man among the
“sleep-outs” at the prison. However, there is a remote possibility
that the killer déliberately led us toward the prison to cast sus-
picion on the trusties and away from himself.”

The evening count at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary proved all
trusties present and accounted for. I received this news with no
small amount of satisfaction. I felt we would soon have the per-
petrator of the murders.

THs matters stood until early next morning when Chief Ott

Reed returned and immediately assumed charge of the investiga-
tion. He at once summoned Shackelford and Stapp, questioned
them and prepared notes on the various phases of our investigation
of the day previous. Reed then aaared large jar of plaster of
Paris to be delivered to the station, and upon its receipt we again
drove to the scene of the murder, now thirty-six hours old.

The place was as we had left it the day before, nothing had
been disturbed and the footprint we had covered was in excellent
condition. Chief Reed mixed the solution of plaster of Paris and
carefully poured it into the impression. We watched this pro-
cedure with bated breath; perhaps the cast would reveal enough
to point an accusing finger at the murderer.

While the mixture was hardening, we again searched the house
and grounds but found nothing tangible that would serve as a
lead. The motive—robbery—was self-evident, the means of en-
trance was likewise evident and our list of suspects numbered
something under a hundred. The process of elimination would
mean many days’ hard work.

“Question the neighbors,” ordered Chief Reed. “Find out who
saw the couple last and get any other information of value.”

From house to house | made my way and three doors east of
the murder scene | found the owner of the axe! The death weapon
had been stolen some time on Sunday night from a small shed in
the rear of the residence occupied by Mrs. Clarey Woods. This
information led me to believe that our murderer was fairly familiar
with the neighborhood. Further investigation disclosed that the
elderly couple were last seen alive at 6:30 Sunday evening, by
Mrs. E. K. Riddle, a neighbor, who had visited the store at that
time.

When I returned to the House residence the cast was ready to
remove from the footprint. We gathered around Chief Reed as he
knelt and carefully scraped away particles of earth on all sides

14. Master Detective

Up the steps and’on to the porch he walked, wondering at the
stillness of the place. It was unusual for the thrifty, hard work-
ing couple to lie abed after dawn. When repeated knocking
brought no response, Meyers became alarmed. Probably the old
people were ill and needed medical attention. The shades were
drawn at the windows and nothing could be seen within the house.

Hurriedly, Meyers returned home to telephone for assistance.
It was too early to awaken neighbors, so he decided that the
city police should be notified, They would know what to do.

Desk Sergeant Henry Walton at Police Headquarters, reached
for the telephone as it began its shrill, insistent ring.

“Police station.”

A pause, as someone on the line gave a brief, hurried message.

“All right, we'll send a man at once.”

MOTORCYCLE OFFICER ERNEST AMBROSE was ordered
~"™ to the home of the elderly couple, at 34 West Kiowa Avenue.
As he stopped in front of the residence, Meyers was talking ex-
citedly with a few neighbors who had gathered in the small front
yard.

“I’m afraid that something has happened,” Meyers addressed
the officer. “We can’t arouse anyone, and there’s not a sound from
within the house. The neighbors are positive the folks are inside,
probably seriously ill. The door is locked, so you will have to
force an entrance.”

The officer stepped on to the porch and shoved a broad muscu-
lar shoulder against the door. A snap, the door flew open and
Officer Ambrose entered. In a moment he reappeared, closing the
door after him.

“Meyers,” he said, “let no one enter this house, and you had
better stay here at the door until | return.”

The more observing members of the crowd noticed that the
naturally ruddy complexion of the officer had paled. His reserve
failed to entirely conceal the telltale marks that stark tragedy
leaves on the face of its discoverer.

Hurrying to his machine at the curb, Ambrose roared away to
the nearest public telephone.

Chief Reed was out of the city on official business, so the call
Was switched to me, by the desk sergeant. | was at that time Assis-
tant Chief of Police. ‘

“Mr. and Mrs. House are dead—murdered,” Officer Ambrose
reported.

| at once put in a call to the prison for Bob Shackelford, Bertil-
lon expert.

“Hurry to 34 West Kiowa Avenue,” I told him. “There’s been a
double murder.”

“lll leave at once,” he answered.

During the fifteen-block drive to the scene of the murder, my
mind was in a turmoil. The popularity of the couple promised
many sleepless nights for all of us unless the murderer was appre-
hended. Crimes of such magnitude were new to our small city.

Shackelford must have made record time from the prison, for
We arrived simultaneously. A few seconds later came Orville Stapp,
Deputy Sheriff, now employed as prison guard, and Leon R. Calon-
key, editor of the McAlester News-Capital, a very able newspaper
man who handled the story for his paper and wire service. To-
gether we entered the house, pushed on into the bedroom and
raised the shades, to stop and stare with blanched faces at the
horrible scene of carnage in the small room.

On the bed lay the scantily clad body of Mrs. House, blood-
stained sheets covering her face. Wedged between the bed and wall
was the body of Joe House, his head, face and neck bearing nu-
merous gashes. Blood was everywhere!

The entire house was in the wildest disorder. The furniture had
been shoved about; rugs kicked aside: bureau drawers ransacked
and their contents scattered; the pictures torn from the walls and
destroyed !

The evidence fairly shrieked robbery as a motive for the mur-
ders. This was the deed of a cold, calculating killer!

Standing in the corner of an adjoining room was a large, double-
bitted axe, the blade stained with blood. Beyond a doubt, it was
the death weapon. Carefully we carried the axe to a window and
crowded breathlessly around Shackelford as he prepared to test
the. handle and blade for finger-prints. He dusted the surfaces
slowly and our hopes sank as he shook his head. There was not
the faintest sign of a print on the axe handle or blade.

Diligently we searched the house, looking for anything that
would serve as a clue. Again we were disappointed. The murderer
had gained entrance by forcing a small window in the kitchen.
An exacting examination of the window and frame failed to re-
veal a finger-print of any kind.

The unusual absence from
their grocery store (right) of
Mr. and Mrs. Joe House was

Step by step, Frank L. Watson (above)

the prosecuting attorney, presented the

evidence which the detectives had woven
around the prisoner at the bar

of the cast. When at last he lifted the
hardened plaster, we breathed a sigh of
relief. There was a perfect copy of the
shoe sole worn by the murderer!

We immediately examined the cast
under a magnifying lens and found addi-
tional cause for elation. The cross bar,
cast in the composition soles applied to
prison-made shoes, nearest the instep,
was imperfect. Instead of the usual
rounded ends this one was square and a
tack protruded an infinitesimal fraction
of an inch. On the opposite side of the
sole, between the front and center cross
bar, another tack protruded. By mak-
ing use of the defective cross bar on the
sole and a careful measurement of .the
distance between the protruding tacks,
we could now, positively, identify the
shoe worn by the killer!

With this evidence, we decided on an
immediate examination of all shoes worn
by the penitentiary “sleep-outs”.

At the State Prison we began a pains-
taking examination of the shoes of
seventy trusties. Shoe after shoe we
scrutinized with the lens and measured
with our rule. As the pile of shoes to be
examined dwindled, our hopes sank. By
late afternoon we had measured our last
shoe and had found none that closely re-
sembled the one we hoped to find.

The least dejected of the group that
returned to the administration building
of the prison, was our Chief, Ott Reed.

“We'll check up on recent releases,”
said Reed. “Perhaps we can find our
man in our own jurisdiction.
However, | have found that
released convicts dispose of
their prison-made clothing as
soon as possible. If that is the
case, we may have a hard time

’ finding the killer.”

AFTER securing a list of re-
cent releases, we returned
to our city headquarters, leav-
ing the olaster cast with Bob
Shackelford at the Bertillon
department, on the chance
that he might find our miss-
ing shoe an the answer to our
enigma, at the prison.

Until late that night, Chief
Reed and | looked up all
known ex-convicts within our
city limits, with no favorable

Master Detective

“Let no one enter

this house,’’ or-

dered Officer Ern-

est Ambrose

(shown at left) as

he stepped out on

. to the porch of the

$ | House residence.

Bystanders noticed

} that his face had
A paled

enter
or-
Ern-
ose
ft) as
ut on
of the
lence.
1oticed
e had

Riddle of

a .. \ Penitentiary, where the

“, the electric chair

results. At last we returned to our homes to spend a sleep-
less night, tossing and puzzling over our seemingly unsolv-
able problem.

Early Wednesday morning, November 28th, 1932, found
our entire force on duty.

Chief Reed, determination mirrored on his face, was
cataloguing each small item we had uncovered in our search.
To break this case and secure a conviction of the perpetra-
tor, was his sole objective.

Our telephone rang continually with calls from worried
housewives who were frightened at the thought that a mur-
derous madman might be at large in our city. A bewilder-
ing number of false tips were telephoned in by over-
imaginative laymen. Like drowning men grasping at
straws, we investigated each report received and did not
discard it until we had exhausted every possibility that
it might be of some help.

At eleven o'clock the forenoon of the twenty-eighth,
Grady Anderson, Deputy Sheriff of Pittsburg Cotinty, was
standing in front of the McAlester Union Station when he
noticed an extremely nervous negro couple pacing back
and forth on the platform. When they noticed that they
had attracted the officer’s attention, their agitation increased
twofold. Anderson decided that a thorough questioning
was in order and with this in mind he accosted the couple.

‘What seems to be the trouble?” Anderson queried.

“Nothing Boss, we’re just waiting to catch the train to
Muskogee,” the colored man replied.

“Have you a gun?” demanded the officer.

He then searched the negro thoroughly, but found noth-
ing incriminating; a few dollars in currency, tobacco and
two railroad tickets to Muskogee.

“Where is your luggage?” Anderson asked.

The Oktahoma State.

» killer met his doom in. °

Oklahoma’s Axe Atrocities 47

When questioned concerning his lug-
gage, the negro’s nervousness increased
greatly. Drops of perspiration gathered
on his forehead. The officer repeated
his query.

“We've got a trunk in the baggage
room,” the man replied.

“Come on,” the officer ordered, “we'll
see what you have in it.”

THE negro turned and started toward
the baggage room, Anderson a few
steps behind. As they neared the entrance,
the negro whirled and raced away, east-
ward along the railroad tracks. Anderson
drew his revolver, but was unable to
shoot because a number of pedestrians
had stepped into the line of fire. Pocket-
ing his gun, the officer started in pur-
suit of the fleeing man. As the negro
crossed First Street, one block east of
the station, a man stepped in his path,
clutched and held him until the arrival
of the breathless officer. Before the ne-
gro’s captor could be identified, he had
disappeared in the rapidly growing
crowd. Deputy Sheriff Anderson hand-
cuffed the captive and retraced his steps
to the railroad station. The woman was
leaning against the building, visibly
shaken.

“T want to see what this fellow has in
his trunk,” stated the officer, as he ap-
proached the baggage man. “He'll show
us which one it is.”

“That one there,’ said the negro,
pointing to an_ old-fashioned round-
topped trunk. “She has the key,” indi-
cating his companion.

Anderson took the key-ring from the
outstretched hand of the woman and
fitted it in the lock. With a snap the
lock flew open, and lifting the lid he be-
gan an inspection of the trunk’s contents.
It contained the usual assortment of
clothing and personal belongings. On
the bottom, were discharge papers from
the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Shortly before noon, Anderson ushered his two prisoners
into the office of Chief Ott Reed.

“1 don’t know what I have, but they certainly are ‘hot,’”
said the deputy, and related the happenings at the railroad
station. ;

Reed accepted the release papers proffered by the deputy
and studied them carefully. Tom Morris, the papers stated,
had been sentenced to prison to serve three years for second-
degree burglary in Pittsburg County, and released on
November 23rd, 1932. Morris had served five previous
terms for robbery and burglary.

“Lock this pair up,” ordered Chief Reed. “Place them
some distance apart and allow no one to communicate with
them.”

Reed reached for his hat and motioned for Anderson and
me to accompany him. We entered the Department car
at the curb and headed for the railroad station.

“I’m going to see what else we can find in that trunk,”
stated Reed as we drew up at the end of the station plat-
form.

Piece by piece we emptied the trunk Anderson had pre-
viously searched. Almost at the bottom, we found a pair of
prison-issue, canvas gloves, covered with brown spots that
closely resembled dried blood. Chief Reed pocketed the
gloves and locked the trunk. After ordering the baggage
man to hold the trunk, we returned to Headquarters.

Baer, Morris down,” commanded our Chief. “He has a
few explanations to make.”

As soon as Morris was ushered into the office, Reed began
his questioning.

“Morris, you were released from prison on Tuesday the
twenty-third, were you not?”

“Yes, sir,” was the reply.

San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, December 19, 1984

Oklahoma Slaying Suspects _
Separated — Suicide Pact

By Stephen Magagnini

The two men arrested in
the slaying of four people in an
Oklahoma bank robbery are
being held in separate Bay Ar-
ea jails to keep them from ful-
filling a suicide pact, officials
said yesterday.

Jay Wesley Neill, 19, is being
held in the San Francisco County
Jail at the Hall of Justice, sheriff's
officials said.

His alleged accomplice, Robert
(Robbie) Grady Johnson, 22, is incar-
cerated in a single felony cell at the
Oakland City Jail. “It’s a monitored
cell, closest to the jailers’ station,”
said Sergeant Mike Sitterud.

Several officials confirmed the
suicide pact but would not reveal
any details about it.

The two young men, apparent-
ly lovers, flew to San Francisco last
Friday and spent the weekend at
the Holiday Inn Union Square. They
spent money lavishly, allegedly us-
ing the $17,000 they stole from the
bank. They were arrested in the ho-
tel on Monday morning.

The prosecutor handling the
case in Oklahoma said yesterday he

will seek the death penalty for Neill

and possibly for Johnson.

“If we proceed under premedi-
tation, I need evidence that the
Johnson boy planned the actual kill-
ings,” said Dick Tannery, district at-
torney for Comanche County, Okla.
“If we proceed under the felony
murder statute, then we need evi-
dence only that the Johnson boy
was there and participated in the

robbery, even if he was just an ac-.

complice.”

. Either theory could result in
the death penalty, but Tannery said
he favors prosecuting the suspects
under Oklahoma’s felony murder
statute because it will make his case
easier to prove if Tannery can estab-
lish aggravating circumstances.

“If the crime was especially hei-
nous, atrocious or cruel, or if the
crime involved the risk of death to
more than one person,'those would
be aggravating circumstances,”
Tannery said. “These crimes were

Al’ Birephoto

ROBERT GRADY JOHNSON
He is in jail in Oakland

certainly brutal and atrocious.”

Tannery said he plans to charge
Neill with four counts of first-de-
gree murder in the stabbing and

shooting deaths of three female |

bank employees and a farmer in the
First National Bank of Chattanooga,
Okla., in the town of Geronimo,
Okla., last Friday.

Because one of the victims was
six months’ pregnant, “we'll proba-
bly use the fetus as an aggravating
circumstance if we get that far in
the case,” Tannery said.

Neill also will be charged with
three counts of shooting with intent
to kill and one count of assault and
battery with a deadly weapon in
connection with robbery, Tannery
said. Three other bank customers
were wounded during the rampage,
including a young couple.

Neill allegedly put his gun to
the head of the couple's 1-year-old
daughter and pulled the trigger sev-
eral times only to find the revolver
was empty, police said.

Johnson, who is believed to
have driven the getaway car and
purchased the gun, probably will

‘face the same charges, Tannery

AP B irephoto

JAY WESLEY NEILL
He is in jail in San Francisco

said.

The suspects already have been
charged by federal authorities with
robbery resulting in a death and
could receive life imprisonment if
convicted. |

Neill and Johnson are due in
US. District Court in San Francisco
December 27 for a hearing that
could result in their return to Law-
ton, Okla., to face local charges, said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles B.
Burch. If the two have not been
indicted by Oklahoma authorities
by then, they will face a prelimi-
nary hearing on the federal char-
ges, Burch said.

Tannery has suggested that
bank employees may have ridiculed
the suspects about their homosexu-
ality — taunts that may have moti-
vated the crimes.

According to Oklahoma
sources, the suspects — who were
regular customers at the bank and
shared a checking account — walk-
ed into the bank holding hands sev-
eral days before the robbery. Sever-
al employees reportedly started
laughing and giggling at their be-
havior and made unflattering re-
marks.

Dec. 1, 1998—
OKLAHOMA:

Attomeys for Tulsa County multiple killer Tuan Nguyen are asking an
appeals court to stay his Dec. 10 execution, saying he is now insane
, and can't understand the punishment.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office is expected to
formally respond on Wednesday.

Nguyen received a life sentence for the 1982 stabbing death of his
estranged wife, Donna, and 2 death sentences for killing 2 children
in her care, Amanda White, 3, and Joseph White, 6.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Scott W. Braden recently asked the
10th U.S, Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to issue a stay and set a
hearing to determine if Nguyen is insane and not eligible for execution.

Braden, in his brief to the court, says Nguyen’s mental health has
deteriorated since his 1988 incarceration.

Early on, he was actively involved in his appeals. But since 1994,
Nguyen has. not left his cell to see his attorney, Braden wrote.

During the April 1994 meeting, Nguyen saw his lawyer for less than 10
minutes, Braden said.

He sat mute for most of the time and paused for long periods of time
before answering questions with one-word responses.

"Oklahoma, as well as the due process clause of the 14th Amendment,
forbid the execution of incompetent persons,” Braden wrote. "To be
considered sane, and therefore eligible for execution, Oklahoma requires
the person to have ‘sufficient intelligence to understand the nature of

the proceedings against him, what he was tried for, the purposes of his
punishment, the impending fate which awaits him, and a sufficient
understanding to know any fact which might exist which would make his
punishment unjust or unlawful and the intelligence requisite to convey
such information to his attorneys or the court.”

On Aug. 20, Nguyen refused to leave his cell to meet with his attomey.
Braden went to the inmate's cell and tried to speak to Nguyen through
the bean hole, a food tray hole 12 inches from the bottom of the cell
door.

"The brief meeting was conducted while counsel was on all fours
speaking though the bean hole,” Braden wrote.

In addition, a psychologist who has not had a chance to fully evaluate

Nguyen but has also observed him through the bean hole, believes the
inmate may have a degenerative neurological disease with a cognitive

impairment.

After the execution date was set, Braden wrote Oklahoma State
Penitentiary Warden Gary Gibson, saying he had serious doubts that

(na LA ra i

Sunday December 4, 1996 America Online: Gaiba33 Page: 1

ig OMAN NE CR

1, after his wife had offered us a
de “This is merely ao part of our
itine questioning. But we heard
t last night .
Just a minute, ” shin sald, hold-
up his hand. “Come outside.” He
ked at his wife strangely. She re-
ned the look, with suspicion.
Jutdoors, I told Horton what we had
rd, asked for an explanation. He
led a little, said, “To be honest,
‘s, I was sort of cribbing on the
e. You see, we raise chickens. Well,
Saturday I decided to go on a
le spree. So-Saturday night I
ped out ten old hens—chickens,
\understand—and sold ’em to Uncle

. Then I waited until Sunday night, -

| really tossed one. That’s where I
the money.”
rrady and I looked at him, wonder-
at his story. “That’s the truth,” he
laimed, when he saw our dubious
ressions. “You can look on Uncle
’s books if you don’t believe me.
always wrote it down whenever I
| him chickens, I sell them to him
the time.”
7hen we had left the Horton home,
iid to the Constable, “Grady, you
er check more on that fellow. Look
Incle Joe’s records in his store and
if he recorded buying ten chickens
on Horton last Saturday night.”
hurried on back to my office where
vund Sheriff Lackey and the two
cemen waiting to see me.
Ne discovered who the ax belonged
ll right,” Sheriff Lackey said, “and
sure it will be a surprise to you.
vas to me.”
Nell?”
t belongs to Mrs. Clara Woods!”
Nho?” I couldn’t believe him.
that’s right. And it don’t make
e to me either. But here’s the
liar thing about it. She lived only
e houses from Uncle Joe and his
, you know. And she said that she
ime ax inside her house all the

Then was. the last time she saw

aturday night. She didn’t know
it got out of her home.”

{uh. That’s darned queer.”

"es, that’s what I thought.”

hile the three officers and I still
» discussing the strange discovery
Lackey and his two men had just
e, Chief Reed returned with Tom

se.
Vell,” Ott said, “Everything was
as Tom said it was. He got to
‘is’ place about eight-thirty.. Was
> the rest of the evening and night,
tding to Mrs. Morris.”

ikay, Tom, that’s all,” I said. “You
go now.”

hen he had left, I turned to the
f and said, “Ott, in the morning,
nt you to dig up everything pos-
on Tom House. Inquire at all the
ibors’ homes about him. Pump
1 hard. A lot of them don’t want
uk. And go in his room and get
is shoes. We’ll test ’em with those
‘s you made.”

id so the case rested for the day.
e next morning, I decided to try
yer angle of approach. Calling Of-
3 Joyner and Ambrose together at
1 o’clock, I said:

want you fellows to go to the
t and bus stations today and check
ut-going luggage. We'll get war-
; so that you’ll have no trouble.
look for some bloody gloves, shoes
atch the prints Ott found outside
e Joe’s kitchen window and a lot
ish in old-time bills. I’ve got. an
the killer may try to skip town
7 Things are getting too hot
ad here.”

1Y had been gone: probably 30
nutes when Constable Anderson
: in to report on Hortun.

' flung his hat down in a chair
by, with the remark, ‘Watson,
etter look up that Horton guy.”
pill it, Grady,” I exclaimed. “I’m
cker for anything this morning.”
‘orton is an ex-convict! Uncle Joe
responsible for his capture many
3 ago. Joe arrested him when he
police chief. Horton was pretty
at Joe when he got out, but Joe
to help him. Then Horton got a

little chieken farm and started doloy
all right. le and Joe seemed to get
along just swell after that. Horton sold
him ten chickens Saturday night all
right—as he said—but—” Anderson
rolled his eyes—“I’d lock up Horton.”

“Tll do it myself, Grady,” .I . said,
“You go to the depot, help Ambrose
there. I want all outgoing luggage
checked, just in case the killer decides
to skip “out.”

“Good idea,” Grady said, picking up
his hat, and leaving as quickly as he
had come in.

Without losing any time, I hurried
out of the office, got into my car and
drove immediately to the Horton home.

“Tm sorry, but he’s not here,” his
wife said. Then looking at me closely,

. she asked, “What was it you started

to ask him about last night?”
“Listen,” I told her quickly, “I don’t
want to get mixed up in any family
arguments.” But, deciding to check on
Richard’s statement about how he got
the money he was spending so freely,
I asked her, “Mrs. Horton, have you
missed any of your chickens recently?”
“Oh, is that it? I wondered where
those ten old hens went. Just wait
until I get my hands on that man!”
Horton’s story was true.

GOING back to my office, I found
Chief Reed.

“Listen to this,” he said tensely.
“Someone told me that last night about
eight-thirty they saw Tom House en-
tering his father’s grocery store. An-
other neighbor said that. about one-
thirty in the morning she saw a light
in Tom’s room and a man was moving
about in it. She said she thought it
was Tom. I couldn’t find any shoes in
his room.”

“But what about Tom’s' alibi? And
why didn’t they tell us this before?”

“That’s what I asked them, and they
said that because Tom had always
been such a fine fellow they didn’t
want to say anything to get him in
trouble.”

“Well, go pick. him up, and bring
him back here at once.”. I roared.
“That is, if he hasn’t skipped town
already.”

Ott and I left at once, he to arrest
Tom House, and I to try to locate
Richard Horton and to go by the bus
station and depot to see if the officers
had picked up anything hot. At the
bus station, Officer Joyner said that he
hadn’t found anything important yet.
So I hurried on to the depot, where I
found Grady about to burst. It was the
first time I’d seen him excited in years.

“Watson,” he cried, drawing me off
to one corner of the depot, “we’ve
found it!”

“Found what?”

The constable was rubbing his hands
in nervous excitement, and his eyes
sparkled with enthusiasm.

“The trunk!” Then he grabbed me by
the hand, led me to a window in the
depot. Pointing out to one of the lug-
gage racks, he said, “See that trunk?”

I nodded.

“That has got everything in it—
the bloody gloves, the shoes, and over
$500 in cash. We’ve already searched
it.”

I felt the blood rushing through my
veins with sudden velocity. “Who does
it belong to?” I demanded, hardly able
to speak because of excitement. “Is it
Horton’s? Tom House’s?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“What?” Everything seemed to stop

suddenly.
_ “Take it easy now, Watson. There’s
something funny here. The express
agent told us that a truck driver
brought the trunk up here and left
it without saying a word. We asked
him to describe the truck. He did.
That’s where Ambrose is now—out
trying to find the driver. He should
be back pretty soon. He’s been gone
quite a time already.”

Then Ambrose hurried in, all ex-
cited.

“I found the truck driver and he
said he picked up the trunk at a room-
ing-house near here. It’s room 202.”
After he gave me the address I
told him to stand guard at the station,
and Grady and I started for the room-
ing-house.

The tiven serenmed as T prened: the
accelerator und shoved the car in
gear. Five minutes later we were at
the rooming house, We hurried in
and walked quickly to the manager's
desk. ,

“Has the party in 202 left yet?” I
asked, out of breath.

“I don’t know,” he said, eying us
closcly. “They planned to leave this
morning. Their trunk is already gone.
Why?

A re officers,” I explained. “What
were the folks’ names?

“Mr. and Mrs. Tom Morris.”

“Tom Morris.” I gasped. “Why that’s
where Tom House said he slept the
other night .

“Never mind, ” Grady cried. “Let’s
get upstairs.” He grabbed my arm,
and we hurried to the second floor.
Cautiously,; we walked to the door

‘marked, “202.” Inside we could hear

some voices, talking excitedly.
“Someone’s still in here,’ I whis-

pered. “I wonder if it’s Tom House.”
Grady knocked on the door. There

was utter silence. Quickly, I rapped

on the door again, and called, “Open
up. It’s officers.” :

Then we heard the window being
raised, There was a sculling sound,

“Quick,” I cried, “let’s get in—he’s
taking a powder through the window!”

But the door was locked and Grady
turned and ran downstairs, calling:

“Tl get him on his way out!”

I kept pounding on the door, Sud-
denly, it was opened and there stood
Mrs. Morris. The window was open
at the far side of the room and I
strode over and looked out. I saw a

‘man running down the alley with

Grady right behind shouting, “I’ll
catch you, you son-of-a-gun!”

But the man ahead of Grady wasn’t
Tom House—it was Tom Morris. House
hadn’t been there at all—House was
innocent. Morris was the killer!

I faced his wife who seemed to be
in a daze,

“What do you want with us?” she
asked.

“That’s a silly question,” I replied,
taking hold of her arm. “You already
know your husband wouldn’t be run-

“UU CRIS. WERE WHISPER:
AS ME LIE EBBEDL.

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of the flashlight, waved in my feeble grasp, stopped a motorist, who took

me to a hospital just in time. There is no doubt that I owe
my life to dependable ‘Eveready’ fresh DATED batteries! ’

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ning down an alley that way if there
wasn’t something wrong. Come along
with me.”

By the time Mrs. Morris and I were
out on the sidewalk in front of the
building, Grady had captured the
frightened Morris and was bringing
him back, handcuffed.

“I ain’t the man I used to be,” the
Constable smiled, wheezing badly.
“This danged asthma gives me fits on
occasions like this, but I can still catch
the skunk who murdered my old
friends, Uncle Joe House and his wife.”

We took Mr. and Mrs. Morris to the
courthouse and began questioning
them. We immediately were convinced
that Mrs. Morris had had no hand in
the killings, but Morris admitted hav-
ing a part in it, and tried to lay most
of the blame on the son of the victim,
Tom House. =

Police Chief Reed brought Tom in
and he was placed under arrest. We
continued our questioning of him, but
he clung to the story that he had noth-
ing to do with the crimes. Morris said
he was positive Tom had come to
see him at 8:30, but Officer Joyner

said that Tom-had talked to him until
nearly that time, thus giving young
House a perfect alibi.

The neighbor who had accused Tom
finally admitted he might have been
mistaken about House going into the
grocery store at 8:30 and the woman
who “thought” she saw him in his
room at 1:30 on Monday morning said
it was a man, but that she couldn’t tell
whether it was Tom House or not.

{7 WAS then that Tom Morris broke

and confessed the horrible crime,
saying he planned and carried out the
entire thing by himself.

“Old man House had told me,” Mor-
ris said, “that he had some money in
his home, putting it away for a rainy
day. Well, I decided to get it. I slipped
into Mrs. Clara Woods’ place on Sun-
day and got her ax. That night I
thought Uncle Joe and his wife would
be gone to church, I knew Tom House
would be coming to my place and I
could make things look bad for him.

“I got in through the screen and
went inside. After I got in there, I
heard Mrs. House praying. The place

~~. | Lost. Daughter and Husband

untenable to a man of strong character
and self-respect. The situation could
not go on.

With relief I noticed the utter dis-
couragement give way to anger. “He
shall pay, Mother. For three months I
have worked. Surely for those three
months I deserve at least $300. And I
shall have it. The plans are nothing;
I could not bring suit with them alone.
But the letters this man has written,
explaining how he wanted this, sug-
gesting a change here, another there—
those things I can hold him to. And
he will have to pay, by all the laws of
honor and right!”

Another trip was undertaken, this
time to a lawyer’s office in New York.

West Wn

tinued, and finally produced results.
Fred was given a job as bartender in
a large club. The job didn’t last long;
Fred was too well known as the father
of Charlotte Matthiesen, the girl slain
in the sensational unfulfilled suicide
pact two years before. He served
drinks to drunken customers, listened
impassively to their crude remarks and
the cruel speculations regarding our
daughter.

“I can never understand, Mother,”
he would say to me. “Charlotte was a
clean, decent girl. She was in love. It
was not her fault, nor ours, that
tragedy entered her life. Why, then,
must people who are not fit to wipe
her feet make her the subject of coarse

was dark, though, and I hadn’t
thought they were home. Uncle Joe
must have heard me. He said, ‘Who’s
that in the kitchen?’ Then I got scared
and ran into their bedroom swinging
the ax every way. I think I hit Mrs.
House first.”

Morris shifted his position as the
faces of the officers filled with rage at

the thought of the way their old friend -

and his wife had been brutally mur-
dered.

“After they were dead, I waited for
a while to see if anyone was going to
show up. Then I started looking for
the money. I got the amount in the
closet. Then left. I came back around
midnight sometime, though, to see if
I could find more. I didn’t, so I went
home.” :

“About the trunk?” I asked.

“IT sent that down ahead to see if
anyone was watching me. I saw those
two officers looking over the trunk,
so I hurried back to our room and
‘made ready to leave with just what
clothes I had here. But you caught me
before I could get away.”

After the killer’s complete confes-

sion, Tom House was released. So was
Morris’ wife.

“I’m glad you’re completely cleared
of all blame, Tom,” I said. And I meant
it. Every word of it.

Morris’ trial began on March 27,
1933, at McAlester, Judge H. L. Melton,
presiding. Two days later, he was
found guilty of murder, and the jury
assessed the death penalty.

On April 1, Judge Melton formally
sentenced Morris to die in the electric
chair at the State Penitentiary on June
3, 1933. The execution date was de-
layed once, but on November 24, 1933,
at midnight, Warden Sam Brown
came to tell the murderer that it was
time for him to go.

“I’m ready,” Morris said, and took
a cigar from his mouth, crushed it on
the floor with his foot.

No one claim 7/the dead body of
the convict—not Aven his wife. So he
was buried on “Peckerwood Hill,” the

prison coractary.
\

The name, Richard Horton used in
this story is fictiti to save embar-
rassment to an innocent person.

for Love (Continued from Page 15)

I look about me at the familiar fur-
nishings of my home. A beautiful oil
painting of my lovely girl hangs on
the wall near by. After Charlotte’s
death a famous artist requested per-
mission to paint it. :

From where I sit penning these lines,
she seems to be regarding me with
wise, pensive eyes. There is a smile

‘on her lips, as if she understands.

Other pictures surround me, scenes of
happier days forever gone, but I am
alone, terribly, irrevocably alone. My
husband’s books are on the shelf; in a
drawer of the desk at which I write
is the design over which he labored to
so little advantage. And still I am
alone. :

Have I done it? I do not know. If
only I can impress upon some mother
and some father the necessity of keep-
ing the confidence of their children, I
am content. It is not an easy thing to
do. I believe that Charlotte trusted
me implicitly. Where, oh where, did
I fail?

The sky is gray today, even as my
life. They say that time heals all.
wounds, but that is not true for me.
With every passing hour memory
grows sharper and more poignant.

My story is nearly done. My hus-
band used only a fraction of the words
I have when he addressed the nation

over the radio. And I think that thise ~~

few words contained more of advice

ee.

directed the driver west at 21st street,
where he had seen the Willys leave Rob-
inson avenue, They continued west a few
blocks. Following Campbell’s instruc-
tions, the man sped north, then back-
tracked south. But they were unable to
pick up the machine.

Campbell’s face was severely cut. Blood
had filled his eyes again and he wiped it
away to clear his vision.

Then he ordered the commandeered car
to the fire station at 16th street and
Pennsylvania avenue where he called
police headquarters.

Things had happened so fast he didn’t
have much of a description of the gunman
but he gave the dispatcher a few details
of the automobile and its occupants.

“Get it on the air immediately,” he
concluded.

Then he turned back to the man who
had brought him there. “Get me to Gen-
eral hospital,” he said quietly. For the
first time since the shooting he realized
he was badly hurt.

From headquarters Sergt. Henry
Revels and Patrolman Jack Ragland
headed for the scene while the police
radio issued orders for all cars to con-
centrate on the west side in an effort to
locate the sedan carrying the gunman.

At 23rd street and Robinson avenue,
Revels braked to a stop. A large crowd
had gathered. Only one of the youths re-
mained with the wrecked car, ’

“I’m Tom Boroughs,” he told Revels
quickly. “My brother, Gordon, flagged
down another car and took Gates to the
hospital.”

A quick survey told the officers in de-
tail what had happened. They immedi-
ately searched the wrecked blue coupe.

On the narrow shelf back of the seat
they found a .45 automatic pistol and a
sawed-off .20 gauge shotgun. The clip in
the pistol was full except for one cart-
ridge in the barrel. The hammer was
back with the safety on. The shotgun had
four shells in the magazine and one in
the barrel. Scattered over the floorboards
and left fender were a dozen pennies.

Revels noted the ignition keys were
gone, but he found the rear deck lid un-
locked. Inside, he and Ragland discovered

a sledge hammer, two pinch bars and a
small steel trunk.

An identification man. and photogra-
pher from the police department went to
work recording the scene and going over
the coupe for fingerprints. Other officers
arrived to handle the crowd and tangled
traffic.

Revels and Ragland loaded the evi-
dence into their car. Then they exam-
ined the cruiser in which Gates had been

shot.

A bullet had drilled the windshield. A
second struck the edge of the car door as
Gates flung it open to return the fire.
The bullet failed to pierce the door but it
had dented the metal and fallen to the
ground.

Gates’ shot had struck the edge of the
door near the upper hinge and split, part
of it going through the crack outside and
the other half ranging upward through
the upholstering and into the wood.

Another shot from the outlaw had ob-
viously struck Gates’ police badge and
ricocheted into space. The next one had
struck the officer’s breast.

Revels and Ragland delivered the evi-
dence to’ Detective Chief R. F. Brandon.
The radio dispatcher was still directing

BA GRR eR te)
ssccvngth Rtn’ 3s x cis

_ all cars to be on the lookout for the Willys

sedan and the fugitive.

At that moment the telephone on
Brandon’s desk jangled. A man’s voice
identified the caller as Casey, driver of the
Willys. He was calling from an auto
service station at 39th street and May
avenue. The elusive gunman had stepped
from his car a few minutes earlier.

Revels and Ragland sped to the inter-
section while the police radio ordered
other mobile units concentrated in the
area.

From the excited occupants of the
Casey car, Revels and Ragland heard the
story of a wild ride through the city at
the point of a gun. The desperado had
ordered Casey to drive generally toward
the west and south. He had talked only
to issue such gruff, terse commands as
turn right, turn left and drive straight
ahead. Through the rear glass, the gun-
man kept watching for possible police
pursuit.

His left arm was bleeding badly, the
officers were told. Occasionally he had
tried to roll up his coat sleeve high
enough to look at his wound, but most of
his glances were directed toward the road
behind and at Casey. He kept the weapon

. DARING

a AO RR ORS

trainec
Fina
street.’
outlay
ing the
“We
had the

warned
T’ll con
As tl
ordered
north. (
corner
open.
“Kee;
don’t lo
curb anc
on foot.
“T dro
turned i:
“The ba
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looked 1:
wife and
we'll kn
again.”
Revels
and sheri

DETEC?

“mugged. H. A. Thompson, bureau hea
» checked his prints’ and soon identified ~

him to the
“was fingerprinted’

Ellis as Ernest Oglesby, ex-hijacker who
had beer granted a full pardon the pre-
ceding. April while serving a 10-year
sentence tur burglary in the Texas state
prison. aes te

Oglesby, alias Ellis, still refused to

admit any part of the shooting. He said
he had no statements to make and he
closed up like a clam. :
Brandon ordered him jailed and held
incommunicado. Then the detective chief
began the job of definitely connecting the

- prisoner with the murder of Gates.

Police searched the man’s coat and

found a set of car keys. At the garage-

where the wrecked blue coupe had been
taken, detectives tried them in the door
and ignition locks. Both keys fitted per-
fectly. Then the motor number of the
coupe was checked with Sergt. W. J.
Sterrett of the stolen car division. His
files revealed that the machine was brand
new and was reported stolen from the
sales floor in the burglary of an auto firm
at Fort Cobb, Okla.

The theft had occurred the night of
Nov. 16, and the report had come from
Sheriff Elmer Finley of Caddo county the
following morning.

Brandon contacted Finley by phone.
“That’s the car, all right,” said the sheriff.

“Whoever took it pried open a door, came .

in through the work shop and took the
car out the same way.”

“What kind of entry tools were used?” ’

gueried Brandon, ;

“From the imprints left in the wood,”
replied Finley, “I would say a pinch bar!”
Meanwhile, detectives had pried open

‘found a suit of clothing, a box of .38

“and

Aes

cartridges, shaving» equipment ‘and a
freshly laundered, brown-striped shirt.

Revels examined the shirt closely. In-
side the collar was a laundry mark,
WLM. He peace it out to Brandon. The
detective chi

ief ordered the stained shirt
Oglesby was wearing brought to the
bureau immediately, ;

He and Revels examined the garment
and compared it with the one taken from
the trunk. Both shirts were the same size
and inside the collar the stained fabric
bore an identical laundry mark. °

Further evidence. was produced when
the .38 caliber bullet was taken from
Gates’ body. Reber fired a test shot from
the Colt’s pistol found under the bathroom
stove and compared it with the one re-
moved from the victim. That same gun
had fired both pellets.

N#? he took the number of the gun
and checked it against files in the
division of stolen goods. Records showed
the weapon to be the same .38 Colt’s re-
volver taken in the burglary of an auto
service station in Kiowa, Kans., the night
of Nov. 9. :

Brandon telephoned him. “Tha?’s sure
my gtin,” replied the surprised operator.

“How was entrance made?” asked
Brandon, :

“Busted in my front door,” the man

- said. “It was pried open with a bar of some

kind. The place board was pried off and
the lock. slipped out. Our safe was beat
open with a sledge hammer, the dial
knocked off and the pin punched out.
Two dollars in pennies were taken.” ,

tal ind Ragland had.
taken from ‘th Ethe coupe: They-

brought in for questioning. She admitted
+ that she and Oglesby had rented the apart-
ment the previous afternoon. They had
planned to move in that morning and be
married the following day.
She said she had met shim several
months before and knew nothing of. his
criminal activities.

She said when she left the tourist camp
early that morning, Oglesby had not been
wounded. When she arrived at the house
where police had found him, he had been
shot through the arm.

Oglesby was returned to the detective
bureau for further questioning. But the
prisoner persisted in his refusal to talk
about the murder or any other crimes.
His slate gray eyes glared around the
room at the grim-faced officers and his
lips twisted with a snarl.

He was returned to his cell and placed
under special guard for fear of possible
delivery ‘by underworld associates. The
‘woman was released. a

‘The following morning Oglesby was
transferred to the county jail where he
was placed in leg and body chains. Sep-
arated from all other prisoners, and with
the shackles giving him little chance to
move about, the killer sulked in the dark
prison cell while Oklahoma County At-
torney Lewis R. Morris drew a charge of
first degree murder. ,

On Jan. 9, 1934, Ernest Oglesby went
on trial before Judge George A. Henshaw
in the Oklahoma county district court.
He was found guilty as charged and was
sentenced to death in the electric chair.
He was executed Jan. 4, 1935.

(To protect the identity of an innocent person the
name Dorothy Kimble as used in this story is
fictitious.—The Editor.)

eauty and

the Best!

Ont good sip deserves
another...and another! And
remember, there’s plenty to
enjoy in that big, 12-ounce
bottle. Plenty of size, plenty
of flavor! Keep Pepsi-Cola
on ice and enjoy often.

% Pepsi-Cola is made on'y by Pepsi-Cola Co., Long Island Gity, N. Y. Bottled locally by Authorized Bottlers.

‘Brandon ordered the woman companion

Revels and Ragland picked up Deputy
Sheriff George Catron and Earl Gordon
along with a number of police officers and
sped to the house, sweeping up from
opposite directions.

As Revels braked to a stop in front, he
saw the black sedan he had checked to
Miss Kimble in the side drive west of the
furnished house. The woman was carrying
some bags from the car to the front porch.

Two officers stepped forward and
blocked her path. Revels and Ragland
searched the car. There was nothing there
but her personal effects.

“Moving in?” queried Gordon.

The woman nodded silently.

“Who with?” asked Revels.

“No one,” she replied. “This is my
place. I live here alone.”

Revels and Ragland headed for the
back of the house. They met another
officer coming from the opposite direction
and the three entered the rear door.

In the middle of the living room stood
a stocky man of medium height, dressed
in dark trousers, vest and white shirt. His
coat was gone. Blood stained his shirt.

Revels stepped forward and yanked up
the left sleeve. A crimson-stained hand-

Murder on the Dawn Patrol

[Continued from page 35]

kerchief was wrapped about the arm.
Revels removed the makeshift bandage.
The forearm had been drilled through by
a bullet.

“What's this all about?” the man de-
manded.

“From the looks of this, you know more
about it than we do,” snapped Revels.
“Shake him down, boys.”

The officers went through his clothing.

‘, They found a billfold containing several

bills and from another pocket took a hand-
ful of pennies. Revels studied these
curiously and remembered the coins
scattered on the floorboards of the
wrecked blue coupe. From another pocket
he brought out four exploded .38 caliber
cartridge cases.

“Okay, fellow, where’s the gun?” he
asked.

The man’s lips curled. “I don’t know
what you're talking about.”

“Search the place thoroughly,” Revels
ordered his men. They spread into every
room of the house. They pulled out
dresser drawers and removed the bed
clothes. A rayon silk bed spread was
found stained with blood and more stains
were on the floor molding next to the

In the above official photo the arrow indicates a bullet hole in the windshield of
the police cruiser in which Douglas. Gates, valiant officer, met his death.

100

bed. Blood spots had been dripped across
the rug through the bathroom door.

In the bath, the officers discovered a
small closet. They ransacked it from top
to bottom. Stuffed back in a corner on
one shelf they found a dark suit coat
folded into a bundle. They unfolded it.
The left sleeve was damp with blood.
There was a hole where a bullet obviously
had ripped through the sleeve.

The men searched under the tub and
other out-of-the-way places for the gun.
Then Officer Jack Carey’s keen eyes
noted the small, white bathroom stove.
It was not more than six inches wide and
set so close to the floor that the cylinder
of a revolver would just about have room
to slide under it.

He jerked the stove to one side. There
on the floor lay a .38 Colt’s revolver.

The barrel was filled with small par-
ticles of powder and the strong smell of
burned powder told him the gun had been
recently discharged. The cylinder con-
tained two unexploded cartridges. The
other four chambers were empty and the
shells had been removed. The four empty
cases found in the suspect’s pocket com-
pared favorably with the two in the gun.

The police also compared the coat with
the pants and vest the man wore. It
matched them in weave, cloth and pattern.

They took the suspect to the hospital.
The doctor removed the bandage from
Campbell’s right eye, then they ushered
the man into the room.

The wounded policeman squirmed
under the sheets and pressed a white cloth
against his smarting eye. He looked at
the suspect.

“That’s the killer, boys,” he gritted.
“You’ve got the man.”

At police headquarters the suspect was
brought before Tom and Gordon Bor-
oughs. They identified him as the man
who had rammed their car, shot Officer
Gates and fled. Elmer Casey and his wife
next named him as the gunman who had
forced them to drive a perilous, zig-zag
course to escape police.

Bur the prisoner denied having seen

these persons before. He said his

name was E. E. Ellis from Texas and that
he had suffered the bullet wound while

hunting near Oklahoma City the evening

before. He had shot himself through the
arm accidentally when he had tried to
insert a clip, he insisted.

“You admit then,” said Brandon, “that
you own this automatic?” He produced
the gun Revels had taken from the
wrecked coupe.

“I never saw it before,” Ellis denied.

Brandon summoned Dr. W. H. Miles,
director of the city health department.
Miles examined the bullet wound in the
gunman’s left arm and found that it was
not more than two hours old. A clot had
formed, but it was still bleeding. The
wound could not have been made the pre-
ceding evening.

Charles Reber, ballistic expert, also
made an observation. “If he had shot him-
self in the wrist with a gun, there would
have been powder burns on the skin,” he
revealed. “There are no burns here.”

But the man continued to deny the
shooting and stubbornly maintained his
name was Ellis. A search of the contents
of his pockets revealed nothing to the con-
trary. Convinced he was not telling the

the Willys

sphone on
yan’s voice
river of the
m an auto
t and May
nad stepped
arlier.

o the inter-
dio ordered
-ated in the

ants of the

nd heard the

hh the city at
ssperado had
erally towar

4 talked only
commands as
irive straight
lass, the gun-
ossible police

¢ badly, the
onally he had
t sleeve high
ad, but most of
oward the road
ept the weapon

DARING

trained at the driver’s head at all times.

Finally, he growled, “Cut north to 14th
street.” The driver complied. Then the
outlaw asked Casey if he intended report-
ing the ride to police. _

. “We're telling no one,” Mrs, Casey
had the presence of mind to gasp.

“I’m taking your license number, lady,
and I won’t forget it,” the gunman
warned. “If you report this to the cops,
T’ll come back and get you.”

As they approached May avenue, he
ordered Casey to slow down and turn
north. Casey slackened the sedan at the
corner. The gunman shoved the door
open.

“Keep driving,” he commanded, “and
don’t look back.” Then he leaped to the
curb and hurried in the opposite direction
on foot.

“T drove to the service station here and
turned in the alarm,” Casey concluded.
“The bandit was well-dressed in a dark
suit, was of medium heavy build and he
looked like a prosperous salesman, My.
wife and I had a good look at him, and
we'll know him if we ever see him
again.”

Revels faced the group of policemen
and sheriff’s deputies awaiting his orders

DETECTIVE

outside the service station. “Throw a
watch around the neighborhood of May
avenue and 14th’street,” he commanded.

“Work in from all directions and double- ‘

check any man who fits our description.
It’s a cinch he’s in. the neighborhood—he
couldn’t get far with that bleeding arm.”

As the men scattered through the area,
Revels and Ragland drove to General
hospital to see. whether Gates or Camp-
bell had recognized the gunman. They
examined the hole through Gates’ coat
and his bullet-smashed badge.

The officer lay in the emergency room.
He was motionless on the operating table
when his visitors entered. The pallor of
death had already masked his face.

The bullet had torn into the collar bone,
ranged back and slightly upward and
lodged in the base of his neck, severing
the large blood vessels, the surgeons said.

Revels hurried downstairs to the lab-
oratory to give blood for a transfusion.
A moment later the doctors called him.
Gates was dead.

Incensed by the ruthless slaying of their
fellow officer, Revels and Ragland
hurried to the bedside of Campbell. His
eyes were covered by bandages, and
although he was in deep pain he gave the

officers all details and a description of the
gunman. He had never seen the killer
before.

“Here is the license number of a Chev-
rolet sedan driven to Jim Miller’s place
by the woman who was with the gunman,”
said Campbell. “The killer’s headed for
her, probably.”

Revels and Ragland went. into action
with renewed vigor. At headquarters they
found no record of the’ woman’s license
number in the stolen car division..The

’ state registration offices were closed, but

there was no time to wait for another day.

They drove straight to the home of a
state tax commission employe who
accompanied them to the capitol and

. there checked the registration of the -
‘ license Campbell had given them.

“It’s registered,” he said, “to Dorothy
Kimble on North Fonshill street,”

Revels noted the house number and he
and Ragland sped to North Fonshill
street. They learned that Miss Kimble
had lived there but that she had come for
her things that morning and said she was
moving into a furnished apartment
“somewhere on Northwest 12th street.”

“Tf the killer asked to be let out on 14th
street,” said Revels, “my hunch is that

he was heading for that apartment on

Northwest 12th street—and that’s not far
from 14th street and May avenue.”

They drove quickly back to the vicinity.
of 14th street and May avenue. Under
the command of Revels, a small group of
searchers moved farther south to 12th
street. They instituted a systematic,
house-to-house canvass for anyone who
might have seen a man in a dark suit with
a bleeding arm. At the same time they
kept on the lookout for the black Chevro-
let sedan checked to Miss Kimble.

HAte an hour later, Revels and Rag-

land repeated their question to a milk
wagon driver returning from his rounds.

The man stopped his horse and wagon
and sat a moment thoughtfully scratching
his head. “Nope,” he said, “I never saw
anybody like that, but—say, one of my
customers told me about a man with blood
on his face coming to her house early this
morning asking her for a key.”

“Asking for a key ?”

“Yes. Seems that he and some woman
had rented an apartment next door yes-
terday evening and the landlord was to
have left the key at my customer’s place.”

“A man and woman?” Revels turned to
Ragland. “That’s probably the reason she
moved from North Fonshill street.” He
asked the milkman the address.

“Well, my customer lives just west of
the place in the 2900 block, so the apart-
ment must be on Northwest 12th street.”

[Continued on page 100]

ey RAR RARER So

Rid eR TO, Reena EA,

ating

116

change their plea from “not guilty” to
“guilty.” Bird Adkins did not change his
m, and his trial was set for the Spring
term of court. i

Judge W. G. Long, presiding, ex lained
that in a case of this type, under Oklahoma
law, the death penalty would, be manda
tory, and asked if any promises or con-
cessions had been held out to the defend-
ants in order to secure the plea of guilty.
When each defendant answered in the
negative, Judge Long reviewed the evi-
dence, and two days later sentenced
Claude and George Oliver to death in the
electric chair, at the State Penitentiary at
McAlester, Oklahoma. He set the date
of the execution to be March 10th, 1933.
Defense attorneys mmmoaiessly. filed a
motion for a new trial, in which they ar-
gued the defendants had been advised
the County was without funds, and that
they would not be tried for three years
to come on this account.’ The motion for
a new trial was denied.

N Friday, December 16th, Sheriff

Johnson and I took Claude and
George Oliver to the Oklahoma State Pen-
itentiary, at McAlester, and delivered
them to Warden Sam E. Brown, on the
execution order of Judge Long.

It looked like the case of the death of
Della Ring Oliver was solved, and all over
but the executions, when on December
23rd, Hon. Wm. H. Murray, Governor of
Oklahoma, issued a stay of execution un-
til June 30th, 1933, so that the Court of
Criminal Appeals could review the case.
George Oliver, being only cighteen years
of age, was the focal point of interest and
sympathy, as no youth of his age had
ever been executed in Oklahoma. Many
who had followed the case felt his sen-
tence too severe, and that he was under
the dominance of his uncle, Claude. The
Governor was showered with pleas for
clemency in George’s behalf, most of them

True Detective Mysteries

asking his sentence be reduced to life im-
prisonment. In about six weeks, the Court
of Criminal Appeals announced the case
would be reviewed in their Spring session,
and issued an order staying the execu-
tion of the Olivers indefinitely, pending
the determination of the appeal.

Bird Adkins, the Negro, was tried at
Sulphur, Oklahoma, in Judge Long’s Dis-
trict Court on May 8th, 1933, and ac-
quitted of being an accessory to the mur-
der. Adkins brought in character wit-
nesses, and convinced the court he was
hired to act as a lookout while the car
was wrecked, and later as a witness, but
had no knowledge that brutal, bloody
murder was to be done.

On August 3rd, 1933, the Criminal Court
of Appeals of the State of Oklahoma ren-
dered its decision. Hon. Thomas A. Ed-
wards, presiding Judge, said: “The facts
here disclosed show a heartless murder,
coldly planned and deliberately and cruel-
ly executed. The motive—a procuring
of money for the life of the victim. The
age of the defendant, George Oliver, ap-
peals to this court, as no doubt it did to
the trial court, but under the admitted
facts, if this crime is not deserving of the
death penalty, then indeed, few crimes
justify it.” he death sentence was af-
firmed, all judges concurring, and the date
of the executions set for August 25th,
1933.

In the meantime, the family of Della
Oliver had instituted a civil suit against
the insurance company, for payment on
the $5,000.00 life insurance policy issued
to the murdered girl. Attorneys for the
insurance company contended the policy
was secured by fraud, with intent to swin-
dle the insurance company. Attorneys for
the estate argued that the contract was
made in good faith by the insurance com-
pany, that it was made with Della Oliver
and not with her husband, and that the
promise to pay the sum should be carried

out on the proof of her death. A judg-
ment for the family was handed down by
Judge Long, in the same court that sen-
tenced George and Claude Oliver to death
for her murder. The case has been ap-
pealed to a higher court, and has attracted
nationwide attention among insurance
companies, with the result, insurance men
say, certain clauses in all insurance policies
~~ be changed because of this case.

hen the sultry night of August 24th
arrived, over a hundred state officials,
newsmen, police officers and others inter-
ested in the Oliver case assembled at the
gates of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary
at McAlester and presented passes is-
sued by Warden Brown. They had come
to witness the executions of Claude and
George Oliver.

Wwe last requests had been granted,
and a minister of the gospel had
taken charge of the two condemned men,
the witnesses filed silently into the death
chamber. The clock struck midnight.
Convicts lay in their iron-barred cells
awaiting a “grapevine” that George and
Claude were dead. George Oliver, the
youngest man ever to face death in that
electric chair, was led down the narrow
corridor from “death row” at exactly 12:05
A. M. on the morning of August 25th,
1933. The electrodes were quickly at-
tached and prison officials stepped back.
A man standing to the right, behind a
small screen pushed a huge switch. Three
minutes later Dr. J. A. Munn, prison phy-
sician, declared George Oliver dead.
Claude Oliver, the plotter and guiding
light in this heinous crime, was led into
the death room ten minutes later. At
12:12 the same attendants had strapped
him into the grisly chair, and the perform-
ance was repeated. At 12:15 Dr. Munn
again nodded his head to indicate that
Oklahoma’s most brutal, premeditated in-
surance murder had been avenged.

Beware the “Hype” Man!

variations, depending upon circumstances.

We will select for the principal play-
ers in this drama two men, one 4 hype
man whom we shall call Red Burke, and
the other a clerk in a chain grocery store,
whose name shall be Frank Eckershall. _

As the curtain rises, Mr. Eckershall is
discovered busying himself in the store.
Red Burke enters. The play begins.

“Give me a loaf of rye bread and some
of that snappy cheese that comes in
striped glasses,” a Red. “My wife likes
the glasses and like the cheese,” he
continues sociably, “so for once in our
lives we agree on something.” ‘

The clerk, who is a married man, grins
understandingly as he wraps up the pur-
chases.

Now Red has previously supplied him-
self with the necessary “props” for his
part in the drama, namely a twenty-dollar
bill, a ten and a one. The ten and twenty
are folded lengthwise in Red’s left-hand
trousers pocket—the twenty on the out-
side—and the one-dollar bill, folded in a
like manner, reposes in the right. All the
pills are folded alike to account for a
“natural” mistake later on.

Still talking amiably, Red takes the
twenty from_his left-hand pocket and
hands it to Mr. Eckershall.

Mr. Eckershall glances at the bill and
counts out the change—some silver, four
ones, one five and one ten. Then he puts
the twenty-dollar_ bill in the drawer.

Red looks at the change in admirably
simulated surprise.

(Continued from page 64)

“Did I give you a twenty-dollar note?”
he asks. “I meant to give you a one.
Whereupon he reaches into his right-hand
pocket and extracts the dollar bill, folded
as the twenty had been. This is to im-
press upon Mr. Eckershall’s mind the fact
that Red has a one-dollar bill he intended
to use.

At the time Red gave him the twenty
Mr. Eckershall was absolutely certain o
its denomination. Now, questioned, he
isn’t so sure. Hastily he looks in the
drawer. Yes; it was a twenty all right.

ET us gooey for a moment to count the
actual amount of money Red now has.
The reader will remember he started with
thirty-one dollars—a one-dollar bill in his
right-hand pocket, and a twenty and a
ten in the left. He gave Mr. Eckershall
the twenty, leaving him a ten in his left-
hand pocket and a dollar bill in his right.
When Mr. Eckershall counts out change
for a twenty, Red, as it will be recalled,
exhibits the dollar bill.

Now, with what Mr. Eckershall has
given him, Red has some silver, two ten-
dollar bills (his own and the one Mr. Eck-
ershall gave him) one five, the four one-
dollar bills Mr. Eckershall gave him, and
the one-dollar bill he had himself. In all
he has thirty dollars in bills and some
change. The silver and one of the tens
are in his left-hand pocket. His own one-
dollar bill he restores to the right. The
rest. of the money is in his hand. Red
adroitly covers these moves, talking, shuf-

fling through the money, arranging it.

“By the way,” he finally says to Mr.
Kckershall, “if you don’t mind, will you
give me a ten-dollar bill for these smaller
bills?”

A word of explanation here. While Red
shuffles through the money, he skilfully
poe the ten-dollar bill he still holds in
his hand, between the four one-dollar bills
Mr. Eckershall has given him. Conse-
quently, in the packet he hands Mr. Eck-
ershall, there are one ten, a five, and four
one-dollar bills.

Mr. Eckershall, glad to have the
smaller bills, reaches into the drawer for
a ten-dollar bill and hands it to Red.

Now mark this: Red does not release
his “bundle” of bills until Mr. Eckershall’s
ten is in his hands. As soon as his fingers
close on Mr. Eckershall’s ten, he thrusts
it quickly into the left-hand pocket where
the other ten already reposes, and flops
the bundle on the counter, at the, same
time suggesting that Mr. Ickershall* count
the money to make sure he has ten
dollars.

Note: A hype man never merely hands
the bundle to a victim. He invariably
“flops” it down, a gesture which never fails
to distract the eye.

Bear in mind that Red now has two
tens in his left-hand pocket, while in the
right a lone one-dollar bill reposes.

Mr. Eckershall is counting the bundle
which he supposes contains ten dollars in
bills. But to Mr. Eckershall’s surprise he

(Continued on page 118)

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Under-sheriff J. H. Samples who was
active in tracking down the criminals

“George and I were talking about get-
ting married,” he began in an even tone.
“T told him I knew how we could make
some money and not get in any trouble.
He asked me how, and I said one of us
would marry some girl, get her insured and
then kill her. That was last August when
we were picking cotton on the Martin
farm. George thought the idea was all
right, so we looked around for some girl
to marry. Then we met Della Ring and
decided one of us would marry her. George
didn’t want to get married. Neither did
I. We argued about that a long time,
and finally I said I would marry her, but
he would have to kill her, as wouldn’t
want to kill my own wife. We were
married and then got to talking about in-
surance. So I took out five thousand dol-
lars, and three hundred and ninety dollars
with another company. oe

“FUINGS rocked along until last Thurs-

day a week ago. It was November 3rd.
We had decided the best way to do away
with her would be to kill her at noon, so
we could have plenty of witnesses to a
framed-up car accident. We knew the
men hauling gravel on the road would be
off during the noon hour, but would be
good witnesses after we had turned the
car over. George was driving as we came
off the Price’s Falls Road. As we came
over the little hill, I told him to stop. The
car was about a hundred yards west of
the little bridge. I said a tire was going
down and got out and walked to the
back of the car. I could see the Negroes
yarked higher up on the hill, Then I
honed Della holler, ‘My God, George, what
are you doing?’ I could hear a thud an
wu scuffle in the car and knew George had
hit her with the file. She came out of the
car and ran to me. I had got the pump
out, and she stumbled over_ it. loo
was running down her face. She got part
way up and started to come to me again.
She said ‘Help me, Claude, George 1s
hurting me!’

“George heaved the file over the fence
into the pasture. When he saw her get
up this time, he grabbed the tire iron from
the back of the. car and hit her over the
head with it again. He knocked her down.
We thought she was dead, so we wrappe
her in that old blanket and put her back
in the car. We rolled it on down the
hill to the bridge. Then George and I
pushed it over into the ditch. We went
down, took her out, spread the blanket
on the side of the bank and laid her on
it. ‘Do you think she is dead?’ George
asked me. I said I thought so, but any-
way, George picked up a big rock and hit
her on the head with it.” That rock there
on the table. Then he went off to Brass-
field’s to telephone for the doctor. Some
people came by, but I pretended to be

True Detective Mysteries

crying. Pretty soon Marshal Ramsey came
out. The Negro I hired to act as a wit-
ness had another boy with him. They
drove by and then went on toward town.
I guess that’s all there is to tell.”

We sat silently, awed by the sheer cal-
lousness and brutality of the confession.
A clock on the County Attorney’s desk
ticked loudly. We had heard a confes-
sion from the lips of this murderer,
hatehed in his money-mad brain, that
would have been called unbelievable if
attributed to a fiction writer.

Sheriff Johnson and County Attorney
Fagan then returned George and Claude
Oliver to their cells, and sent for Bird Ad-
kins, the Negro. He told how he had
been approached by the Oliver boys with
a promise of twenty-five dollars if he
would drive out the Price’s Falls Road
and witness the wrecking of their auto-
mobile. They told him, he said, they in-
tended to wreck the car and collect in-
surance on it. He maintained nothing
was ever said of murder. He took Venyal
Erwin -with him, telling Erwin he wanted
to talk about a hog he wanted to buy. He
substantiated Claude’s story of the killing,
and said when George began beating Mrs.
Oliver, both Negroes became frightened,
but did not leave the scene until after the
car had been wrecked and the wreck dis-
covered by other witnesses. The County
Attorney decided to_ charge Bird Adkins
with murder in the first degree, and hold
Erwin as a material witness.

Paap lagi that feeling in the
community would run high as soon as
word leaked out that confessions had been
obtained, the four prisoners were rushed
to Ardmore and lodged in the mob-proof
Carter County Jail, just after dark Sun-
day night. Rumor soon had it that the
Negroes had committed the murder, as
hirelings of the Olivers, and the wisdom
of Sheriff Johnson was borne out when
they were brought back to Sulphur for
a preliminary hearing Thursday, Novem-
ber 17th.

The block on which the Murray County
Court-house and jail are located literally
seethed with humanity. Men, women an
children from all classes of society and all
parts of the country pressed close to-
gether. Some were merely curious, but
too many of that mass of peo le were in
an ugly mood, We had to pus and fight
to open a path for the risoners when we
returned them from Ardmore, and waited
much longer than necessary before spirit-
ing them back to the cars for the return
trip. The situation was packed with dyn-
amite, and most of us. wondered if we
would see the preliminary hearing com-
pleted without bloodshed, Bird Adkins,
Claude und George Oliver all entered pleas
of not guilty, and were bound over to the
district court.

Jesse H. Dunn and Jess L. Pullen, both
prominent and able attorneys, were ap-
pointed by the Court. to defend Claude
and George Oliver. Their trial was set
for December 12th. When they appeared
for trial, George and Claude, through their
attorneys, announced they wished to

Murray County Jail, the scene of a
gruesome confession

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homa City on Sunday. He offered convincing explanation.

“Early that morning,” Henderson told the officer, “my
wife phoned me. She said a pickpocket had robbed Loel
and asked me to wire them $35 so they could get back to
California. I talked with Loel, and he also told me abtut
being robbed. I sent the money. I’ve been waiting ever since
for them to return.”

Mrs. /Henderson, the officers discovered, had received and
cashed a $35 telegraphic money order on Sunday morning
in downtown Oklahoma City.

“So,” said Detective Hudson, “a guy smooth-talks his
traveling companion into sharing a motel cabin with him,
she repents and says no dice, and gets it in the neck. The
killer sets himself up for a 3-day head start and all we can
do is put out an alarm on the mug and his car, which prob-
ably is 1,000 miles from here by now, in any direction.”

“That’s the way it looks,” Captain Baughman conceded.
“But I wonder if that’s the way it actually was.”

Captain Harbolt nodded. “I see what you mean, Ted. If
it was Loel, why did he drive off and leave behind not only
his clothing, but his papers, with his name all over them?”

Baughman said, “It wouldn’t have taken him seconds
longer to grab up his topcoat and bag and toss them into the
car. And, from the bloody slacks in the wastebasket, we can
assume that the killer did not rush out in a panic. He stayed
long enough to change his clothes.”

“What’s the pitch then?” Detective Cochran asked.

“Loel came a long way across country. He might have
picked up a hitchhiker or two. Maybe got chatty with the
guy, and arranged a little party here in the motel. It could
be that a third person slipped that.knife into Otto Loel to get
at Mrs. Henderson, possibly when he and Loel were alone
in the car and she was here in the cabin. Then he came in
after her.”

“Afterwards,” Bob Hudson suggested, “he changed into
a pair of Loel’s pants, left Loel’s other belongings behind
because they would be incriminating evidence against Loel,
and toted Loel’s body off in the car, to be disposed of else-
where.”

Baughman said, “That would explain Loel’s possessions
being left in the cabin. Still, the one logical suspect is Loel.
Better slap a murder charge on him, broadcast an alarm.”

Nagy otf ¥ 4 Bee hy es

Incriminating evidence may have been deliberately planted

il a

Before the day was out, police over a very wide area were
on the lookout for the somewhat undersized man in the dark
blue Buick, bearing California license plate 1N4588. And
in Oklahoma City, Captain Baughman’s entire homicide de-
tail was feverishly at work to untangle a snarl of clues in
the case. :

Why had Loel ostensibly been headed for Syracuse, New
York, to break the news of a son’s death to an estranged
wife, when his wife was living in Oregon? And they learned,
in a call to Roseberg, he’d never had a son in the navy.

He did have a sister, believed to be living in Syracuse.
There was also a brother, somewhere in Ohio. Beyond that,
Mrs. Helen Loel could not tell the police a great deal about
the husband—she was his second wife—whom she had left
because of his drinking.

Otto Loel, the Oklahoma detectives discovered, would
drink anything, any time, although he was generally a beer
drinker who could soak up the brew, glass after glass, with-
out seeming to get drunk.

He was a foundry worker and a good mechanic. He had
served a hitch in the navy, in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
As a result of time spent on China station, he spoke Chinese
and was fond of eating in Chinese restaurants. He had
moved the second Mrs. Loel to Oregon early in December
and then had gone south to the Los Angeles district. She had
not heard from him since, she said.

County Attorney Granville Scanland promptly filed a
murder charge against Otto Loel and, since there seemed
no doubt that, if he was still alive, the fugitive had put many
miles between himself and Oklahoma City, U.S. Commis-
sioner Paul Showalter issued a federal warrant charging
flight to escape prosecution, thus enabling the FBI to join
in the search for the missing man.

One set of fingerprints was lifted from the bottles in the
motel cabin. An autopsy report showed Mrs. Henderson’s
death, estimated at having occurred either Sunday after-
noon or night, from stab wounds in the heart. And there was
evidence that the victim had been painfully tortured be-
fore she was slain.

Four small burns were found on the left arm, burns which
apparently had been inflicted by the glowing ends of cig-
arettes. Strangely, according to the autopsy pathologist, two

Diet of oranges irked fugitive in palmetto swamp hideout

“It had to cc

of these bur
fore death, t}
son died. T
sault.

The hunt f
who identifie
office of Dete
with the infc
ridden with
Barstow, Cal
said, was Bu
homa City t
Oklahoma.

“T saw the
this guy Loe]
afternoon in
woman with
weren’t marr
stopped and
car till we ge
meant by the

Police in
He said that 1

“T lent him
was always s'
some dough, :
to the next p
out another

Appley saic
along well on
food, fuel anc

The youth
added two ot!

ii ala a

rns on her
i few days

when an
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sedan was
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had been

to Dallas
it the city
rm on the
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mber, that
> was con-

vn U.S. 77
of January
nh he knew
las. Then
and disap-

s in Wash-
r Ten Most
. in police
a Loel to
»graph and
tional pub-

ally means
the crook
ole in every
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members—
t is only a
han a very

a much

‘or months
n him, not
been seen.
dossier on
discharged
in 1932 for
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Cleveland

2 reason he
on and ar-
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night man
tle town of

on he was
Hossner in
talk much.
ich good is
around and
s why the

BI learned.
1 matter to
riends. The
nation that

He had

And that
te was not
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P)

rried a pis-
Armed and
sbed as a
“unk.

at he might
who raided
tropping all
loot as they
cup; killing
two others.
n extraor-
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atched. But
e and shook

which had
roke up for
cat Loel had
»perating a
e had gone,

eos

no one of the carnival company had any
idea.

“We'll get him yet, someday, somewhere,”
said Detective Chief Hartbolt, back in
Oklahoma City.

“But there’ll be a fight when he’s taken,”
Captain Baughman predicted. “He carries
a rod, and what has he got to lose?”

At 12:45 on Sunday morning, January
9th, 1955, lacking one day of a year since
the slaying of Elizabeth Henderson, Officer
Herman Harriet snagged two drunks on a
street corner. This was in the heart of
the business district in Sanford, a city of
some 18,000 population in central Florida’s
citrus belt. They were mugged and
printed, held in the tank overnight and
freed the next morning in the bail of $17
each.

One of the pair, 44-year-old Jack C. Mc-
Coy, failed to appear in court and forfeited
his bail. Two days later, on January 14th,
Chief Roy G. Williams and his force in
Sanford knew why. According to the FBI,
the fingerprints of Jack McCoy were
also those of Otto Loel.

Federal agents moved into Sanford and
local officers joined them in a search for
Loel. They discovered he had been in
town about two weeks, working in a local
factory. He had been laid off on Satur-
day, and had got drunk Saturday night.
Because of his weakness for booze, the
long hunt for a murder suspect was near-
ing its end.

He had disappeared from a rooming
house where he had been staying. A check

with county officials and state cops who
watch the Florida highways for hikers,
particularly during the winter resort sea-
son, and another check with railroad
dicks, convinced the Sanford cops that
Loel was still somewhere in the vicinity.

His friends and acquaintances in the
city, most of them former fellow work-
men, were informed of his true identity
and warned to report his whereabouts if he
was seen.

The following Monday morning, January
17th, a dreary, gray, rainy day, Seminole
County Constable J. Q. “Slim” Galloway
received a phone call. When he hung up
the phone in the sheriff’s office, there was
a hard glint in his eyes behind his rimless
spectacles.

“Better check your guns, boys,” he said
to Chief Deputy M. R. McClelland and
Deputy O. G. Owens. “We’re goin’ after
a feller they say can shoot the buffalo off a
nickel and still leave the hide—Otto Loel.”

Loel had been spotted, only a few min-
utes before, trying to sell a piece of scrap
iron, salvaged off the city dump, at a junk-
yard on the northeast fringe of the city.

A radio summons brought City Officers
Arnold Williams and Ben Butler racing
toward Kessler’s junkyard behind the
county men, and in the van of the radio
team came two FBI agents.

Galloway saw their quarry instantly as
the county car slid up to the junkyard.
All three officers had their guns out before
they hit the dirt.

Otto Loel stood quietly, meekly, awaiting

their approach. “I’m your man,” he said.
“Tm Loel. I know what you want me
for. I’m glad it’s all over.”

But some hours later, he told his cap-
tors, “I would have shot your eyes out
if I’d had a gun.”

Except for a small pocket-knife, he was
unarmed when he was seized. He was
tired and thin and dirty, wearing a grimy
old baseball cap and earth-stained cover-
alls over his work clothes. He was broke
and hungry.

He led his captors, with Officers Butler‘

and Williams, the G-men and Chief Wil-
liams, to the place where he had lived
since his release from jail after the arrest
for intoxication.

It was deep in a palmetto swamp, on the
edge of the city dump, near the shore of
Lake Monroe. There was a gentle hiss of
rain on the palm fronds high above as
Loel guided the officers over the spongy
black floor of the forest to a shelter he had
made by binding palm stalks to the trunks
of trees and setting other stems upright.
He had thatched his hut with palmetto
fans.

His knowledge of woodcraft had enabled
him to hide out for a week. He had only
one complaint. ‘All there was to eat,” he
said, “were a few turnips and the oranges
I could steal. And I don’t like your Florida
oranges. Nothing but skin and water.”

He admitted he had taken to the swamp
because he figured the FBI would identify
him through the prints rolled when he was
picked up as a drunk.

“Why didn’t you try to get out of town?”
he was asked.

“Maybe I didn’t want to run any more,”
he said. “I knew the town was hot for me,
but it had to come sooner or later. I was
a policeman once. I knew that.”

When he assumed the name of Jack
McCoy, he said, “I built myself a new
past, told friends I was from Alaska, But
I carried my own birth certificate and
hunting license until about a month ago.
I was stopped five times by peace officers
who checked my identification and none of
them ever tumbled to me.”

He was given into the custody of the
FBI men, who arraigned him before U. S.
Commissioner James S. Byrd on the fugi-
tive warrant. Loel said he was willing to
talk freely about his activities after he
had left Texas in January, 1954, but that
he would answer no questions about what
happened before that.

He was held in $50,000 bond. The fol-
lowing day he said he would waive extra-
dition to Oklahoma. And in Oklahoma
City, Deputy Sheriff George Catron and
City Detective G. H. Hall made ready to
drive to Orlando, Florida, and return Otto
Loel to their jurisdiction.

The FBI agents would not reveal wheth-
er Loel made a formal confession to
them. But Loel admitted to Reporter Bill
Kettinger of the Orlando Sentinel, on the
Friday after his capture, that he had slain
Elizabeth Henderson.

“I killed the girl,” he said. “Whether it
was murder or justifiable homicide or self
defense is up to the courts. There were
extenuating circumstances. It was not de-
liberate or premeditated, and it didn’t
happen in a fit of anger and it wasn’t
from drinking.”

He said, further, that Mrs. Henderson
was not stabbed and“Beaten because she
resisted amorous advances. “We were
traveling as man and wife ever since
we left California,” he asserted.

Now he told, too, of leaving Oklahoma
City, of intending to return to the motel,
of losing his way and winding up in some
drinking place. He claimed that he next
woke up in his own car with two com-
panions he did not know. He got drunk
again, he went on, and his pals dumped

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wide area were
man in the dark
te 1N4588. And
ire homicide de-
snarl of clues in

: Syracuse, New
to an estranged
nd they learned,
n the navy.

ng in Syracuse.
io. Beyond that,
great deal about
1om she had left

scovered, would
generally a beer
ifter glass, with-

echanic. He had
s or early 1930s.
1e spoke Chinese
urants. He had
-ly in December
district. She had

romptly filed a
-e there seemed
ve had put many
7, U.S. Commis-
arrant charging
the FBI to join

re bottles in the
Irs. Henderson’s
c Sunday after-
t. And there was
\ly tortured be-

rm, burns which
ing ends of cig-
pathologist, two

swamp hideout

of these burns appeared to have been made a few days be-
fore death, the other two very shortly before Mrs. Hender-
son died. There had been no rape or attempt at sexual as-
sault.

The hunt for Loel was only a day old when a young man
who identified himself as Jimmy Cicco walked into the
office of Detective Captain Ralph Murphy in Toledo, Ohio,
with the information that he and a fellow hitchhiker had
ridden with Loel and Mrs. Henderson all the way from
Barstow, California, to Oklahoma City. His companion, he
said, was Bud Appley, who bade Cicco goodbye in Okla-
homa City to catch a bus to his home town, McAlester,
Oklahoma.

“I saw the story in the paper,” Cicco said. “I recognized
this guy Loel’s name, right off. He picked us up last Friday
afternoon in Barstow. He said he’d been married to the
woman with him for 14 years. Later she told me they
weren’t married at all. Then she said to me, once when we
stopped and Loel was in a telegraph office, ‘Don’t leave the
car till we get to Oklahoma City.’ I don’t know what she
meant by that.”

Police in McAlester located and questioned Bud Appley.
He said that Loel had been short of funds all along the way.

“T lent him two bucks, one place, to get gas,” he said. “He
was always stopping, saying he was wiring back to L.A. for
some dough, and it’d be waiting on up ahead. Then we’d get
to the next place, and there’d be no money, so he’d write
out another wire—or pretend to, anyhow.”

Appley said that Loel and Mrs. Henderson seemed to get
along well on the trip, which was made with stops only for
food, fuel and catnaps along the highway.

The youth revealed that in Amarillo, Texas, Loel had
added two other hikers to the party, one a sailor, the other

“a

Ree ¥; Vy.

“It had to come,” he said, surrendering meekly. (L. to r.) Chief Williams, Constable Galloway, Officers Williams and Butler

a civilian. They had reached Oklahoma City at about 7 a.m.
Sunday. The civilian disembarked on NW 39th Street, which
is U.S. 66 through the city, only a few blocks from the scene
of the murder.

“I got out in front of the Western Union office at Broad-
way and Northwest Third, downtown,” Appley said. “I
caught the 7:45 bus down here to McAlester.”

Appley had been in McAlester, 130 miles from Oklahoma
City, at the time of the slaying. And in Toledo, Jimmy Cicco
was able to show, by the time of his arrival there, that he
had not tarried in Oklahoma City after bidding Loel and
Mrs. Henderson goodbye.

“But,” Captain Baughman pointed out, ‘that leaves this
one hitchhiker, who got out of the car out near the motel,
unaccounted for. Loel went out to a cafe in that neighbor-
hood about four o’clock Sunday afternoon. Suppose he ran
into this fellow again, suggested a few drinks back in the
cabin, and got himself knifed to death because the hiker
remembered Loel’s red-haired companion and wanted her
for himself?”

Credibility was lent this theory when, on Friday, Police
Chief E. G. Huckabay of Shreveport, Louisiana, notified
Captain Harbolt that a hitchhiker had stopped overnight at
a motel there and, in the morning, had pawned an expensive
pair of sunglasses with the tourist camp proprietor.

“The name Otto Loel was stamped inside the case,” Chief
Huckabay said. “The fellow gave the name of Fisher at the
hotel. That was Wednesday, but nobody thought much

ye2bout it down here till we got your bulletin on Otto Loel.”

. Had there really been a double murder, with Loel’s body
carried off in his own sedan? Had it been a clever move
on the part of the killer to remove Loel’s corpse, in order
to lead the police to believe that (Continued on page 78)

i aba

The Slasher
and the Girl

(Continued from page 25)

Loel had murdered Mrs. Henderson and
fled, thus sending the cops on a wild goose
chase after a dead man, while the real
murderer went unsought? .

The puzzle of the motel slaying was even
further tangled Friday night when Deputy
Carl Lum, in Sentinel, a small town off any
main highway, about 120 miles southwest of
Oklahoma City, saw two men get out of a
dark sedan in front of a tavern. He noted
that one wore a garishly colored sports
shirt, the kind the “Wanted” flyers said
Otto Loel affected.

As Lum started toward the machine, its
occupants sprang back inside and sped out
of town. Not far up the road, they stopped
and turned off their lights. Deputy Lum
was following and, as they saw his head-
lamps, they doubled back through the town
and outdistanced the officer, speeding north
on State Route 44.

Lum had read a California license tag
on the rear of the sedan. It was 1N4588—
Otto Loel’s plate number.

A hitchhiker with Loel’s sunglasses in
Shreveport on Wednesday. A hiker who
had been with Loel and Mrs. Henderson,
last seen on NW 39th Street, near the
Moderne motel, on Sunday, the day of the
crime. And now Loel’s car, with two men
in it, in an out-of-the-way town in Western
Oklahoma. What did these things mean?
How did they tie in together?

In Tulsa, young Frank Griner volun-
teered to police that he had been the

ORE Si SOU OM ON et li

civilian whom Loel had picked up in
Amarillo. He established an unshakable
alibi, showing that he had reached Tulsa
before noon on Sunday and had not been
out of town since.

He said that the sailor, whom he had met
on the road, reached Tulsa late Sunday
afternoon and had called him on the phone.
This removed tha seaman as a possible
suspect, since Tulsa is a full 100 miles from
Oklahoma City.

When Detectives Hudson and Cochran,
in a second search of Cabin 4, at the Mod-
erne courts, came up with a hammer, a type
used in foundry work, with bloodstains on
its head, they were certain they knew
who the killer was.

The hammer was a tool which Loel, a
foundry worker, could be expected to
possess. Doubtless he would have carried
it in his suitcase. And only Otto Loel would
have thought of looking there to obtain
a murder weapon.

Shown a photograph of Loel—his was
a face on one of several snapshots of Mrs.
Henderson which had been found in her
purse—the motel proprietor in Shreveport
said the likeness “strongly resembled” the
man who had called himself Fisher and had
pawned the sunglasses. “Fisher” had re-
marked that he was headed for Pensa-
cola or Tampa, Florida, to look for work.
FBI agents and Florida authorities began
to search for Loel in those localities.

Shreveport also was on the way from
Oklahoma City to New Orleans, a major
seaport. Remembering that Loel had been
a seaman, the G-men covered the water-
front there, in the event that he had
shipped out, or would try to ship out, to
make his getaway in some foreign country.

Meanwhile, one facet of the case had been
cleared up when Cameron Henderson, re-
turning from his wife’s funeral in Ohio,
stopped off in Oklahoma City, to collect

her effects. The four small burns on her
arm, he said, she had suffered a few days
before leaving on her journey when an
electrical wire short-circuited and caused
a minor fire in the house.

On January 25th, Loel’s Buick sedan was
found by the Texas Highway Patrol on a
parking lot in Dallas, where it had been
left on January 11th or 12th.

An attendant had reported it to Dallas
city police on January 16th, but the city
authorities had received no alarm on the
machine there. It was not until the at-
tendant notified the state officers, giving
the California license plate number, that
officials had any inkling that it was con-
nected with a crime.

Obviously, Loel had fled down U.S. 77
from Oklahoma City the night of January
10th, leaving his machine, which he knew
could be traced, on a lot in Dallas. Then
he had hiked to Shreveport and disap-
peared.

Two days later, FBI chieftains in Wash-
ington, having a vacancy on their Ten Most
Wanted criminals—the Big Ten, in police
jargon—nominated Otto Austin Loel to
fill the empty spot, and his photograph and
description were given wide national pub-
licity.

A place on the Big Ten generally means
fairly short-lived freedom for the crook
who possesses it. Too many people in every
part of the United States see his picture.
A stranger appears, someone remembers—
and the chase is over. Often it is only a
matter of weeks; seldom more than a very
few months.

With Otto Loel it was to be a much
longer time.

The man simply vanished. For months
there was not even a rumble on him, not
even a false rumor that he had been seen.

The FBI patiently built up a dossier on
the fugitive. He had been discharged
without honor from the navy in 1932 for
desertion. His only criminal record was
a drunken driving conviction in Cleveland
in 1947.

The G-men discovered that one reason he
was managing to evade detection and ar-
rest was that for six months in 1947 he had
been a policeman himself, the night man
on a three-officer force in the little town of
Sandy, Oregon.

“He wasn’t much good when he was
here,” said Police Chief Walter Hossner in
Sandy. “He was quiet, didn’t talk much.
The reason I say he wasn’t much good is
because he was always chasing around and
didn’t tend to business. That’s why the
city council fired him.”

Loel didn’t talk much, the FBI learned.
He rarely confided any personal matter to
anyone, not even to his closest friends. The
G-men did ferret out the information that
he was an expert woodsman. He had
hunted and fished a great deal. And that
gunsmithing was his hobby. He was not
only handy with a knife, but a deadly
marksman with any type of gun.

Since he reportedly always carried a pis-
tol, the warning was issued: “Armed and
dangerous.” He also was tabbed as a
braggart, a liar and a chronic drunk.

The federal men suspected that he might
have led a bank robber gang who raided
a Seattle bank on March 12th, dropping all
but about $7000 of some $90,000 loot as they
shot their: way out of the stickup; killing
one policeman and wounding two others.

The gang’s leader had been extraor-
dinarily good with a gun, and his physical
description and Loel’s closely matched. But
witnesses looked at Loel’s picture and shook
their heads.

Late in the fall, as a carnival which had
toured the South all summer, broke up for
the winter, the FBI found out that Loel had
been with the carny outfit, operating a
shooting gallery. But where he had gone,

no one of 1
idea.

“We'll get
said Detec
Oklahoma |

“But ther
Captain Ba
a rod, and

At 12:45
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Loel solemnly swore that he was
awakened by an attempt by Mrs, Hen-
derson to do something very unnatural
to him.

“I slapped her,” he said. “I pushed
her away and choked her to get her
away from me. She grabbed me and
started squeezing and twisting. It was
the worst pain a man can ever experi-
ence,

“I reached over by the side of the
bed and grabbed something from a
night stand and started beating her with
it. I guess I went haywire. We rolled
on the floor and I kept beating her.”

“Did you learn later,” queried Percy
Hughes, one of the defense counsel,
“that you had a knife in your hand?”

“Ves.”

“Did you know what it was when
you grabbed it when you were going
through the pain and anguish you have
described?”

“I didn’t look. The first thing I got
my hand on I used.”

“Did you mean to kill Elizabeth
Henderson?”

“I had no intention of killing her.
I had nothing against her. I liked the
kid. She was good company.”

Loel explained the presence of the
knife by saying it had been used earlier
to open a parcel.

His testimony was spoken so low
his words were hard to hear. He said
he cleaned up and changed clothes after
the killing. “I just had an idea of get-
ting out, Of going—well, I don’t know
where.”

Both county attorneys assailed his
story as “detestable fiction” invented to
beat the electric chair.

“If you don’t sentence this man to
death,” Prosecutor Lawrence angrily
told the jury, “the whole nation will
know you can take a woman to a motel
in Oklahoma, kill her in cold blood and
go free.”

The case went to the jury on the
afternoon of October 21st. It took the
jurors six hours to reach their verdict
of “guilty!” :

Loel listened with a twisted smile. No
recommendation of mercy was made.
Death was mandatory. The killer met
his fate in the electric chair on Decem-
ber 1, 1957. *

CORPSE
(Continued from page 14)

808, although no one actually could
recall seeing him move out. One thing
was certain, he was no longer around
and had not been seen in more than a
month. The gossip was that he had
taken a job out of town.

The neighbors described Leo Loeb
for the police and the descriptions
tallied with what was known of the
murder victim. Leo Loeb was a bald-
ing man in his sixties. He was about
five ten or eleven and weighed maybe
150 or 160 pounds. These statistics
generally fitted the dead man, More-
over, the dead man had been wearing
Leo Loeb’s shirt, Loeb was believed to
have moved out of the city to take a
job, yet no one had actually seen his

belongings taken away. He had
said goodbye to any of his neighb:

“We've got to get into that ap
ment,” the lieutenant decided.

Inquiry revealed that Loeb’s land
lived next door at 806. The landk
Thomas Purbs, was at home when
officers rang his doorbell. He wa
tall, soft-spoken, pleasant-looking p
in his late fifties.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you,” he s.
“Back in early July, he told me }
been offered a job out of town and t
he expected to vacate the apartm
about July 15th.” aa

“Did he say goodbye or anythin
Kaufman asked. ‘4

The landlord shook his head. “3
went without even telling me, I 1
surprised because he’s been living h
for the past twenty years.” Sig

Questioning revealed that Loeb wa
certified public accountant, making
fair living working for stores, gara;
and small businesses. He was a tach
and had lived alone, keeping very mt
to himself. He had never mentio:
any relatives, the landlord said. |

The landlord took them next d&
and unlocked the apartment on ‘
second floor for them. Then he
them to look around.

There was very little to see. T
premises had been cleared of all fur
ture and personal belongings.

“Apparently he moved out bag a
baggage,” Eggoit said.

“Or somebody did it for him,”
lieutenant said grimly. “Anyway, wi
ever did it sure cleaned up the pla
Even the floors were washed.” |

Eggoit walked to the wall of t
living room and studied it clsely. “M:
be they didn’t clean it up enough,”
said. i
The lieutenant joined him and fh
both closely examined some small de
spots. They extended their search 2
found a few more of the suspect sp:
on the floor and even on the ceiling.

“We'll have to make lab tes
Kaufman declared grimly, “but |
ready to stick my neck out and §
those are specks of blood.” :

They noted, in their brief inspectic
that the gas in the kitchen had be
shut and that the telephone was cut ©

From his car radio, Kaufman order
a detail of technicians to hustle ov
and give the apartment a thorough g
ing over. Then he went back to
office to organize an intensive seat
into the affairs of Leo Loeb. First, ho
ever, he phoned Orange County to!
veal the new developments. He
told that Investigators Dirischka 2!
Mermell would set out immediately f
New York City to help in the probe.

By the time the two BCI men 2
rived late that afternoon, Kaufman 2!
his aides had amassed quite a Dit |
additional information. ; i

“We finally managed to locate
relative of Leo Loeb,” Kaufman t¢
them. “He hasn’t seen Leo Loeb f
some years, but he’s on his way
Orange County to view the body.”

las (Oklahoma) 1-11-1957.

z
—_

21L6C «Ok

|
|

SORTASE DEY FLT

o- UE

i ee

When Oklahoma detectives narrowed the field of
suspects, they discovered they were looking
for a jack of all trades including murder...

eer é

Said suspect Otto Loel, when detectives moved in to arrest him,
“You know, if I’d had a gun, | could have shot your eyes out...

Elizabeth Henderson, 31, was found stabbed to death in her mote

room bed. But the m

an who checked in wi

th her had disappeared

“LREPT
SEEING

‘LYING |
THERE

DEAD..

real.

MONG routine hazards that
Bie the life of a motel or
hotel manager are boisterous

drunks, sneak thieves, bad check artists,
con men, prostitutes and pimps, and
firebugs who get their kicks by setting
fire to the mattress before checking out.

There is nothing, however—
absolutely nothing—that will ruin his day
quicker than finding a body in one of his
rooms, and the corpse he most hates to
find is that of a murder victim. Frank Ad-
dams, whose ambition it was to run one of
the finest motels in Oklahoma City,
found himself in that position on a F'eak
Wednesday morning in January. The fact
that he'd been through it all before during
his long career in hotel management
made it no easier as he went through the
familiar motions of what had to be done,
and when the police arrived he had
pulled the registration cards for Cabin
No. 4 and was ready to tell the cops
everything he knew about the occupants,
one of whom-an attractive woman—
now lay dead on the bed. Some of his in-
formation came from the records, as
reflected on the registration cards; some
af it stemmed from his own observations
of the occupants during their brief stay.

Mr. Addams said the couple had
checked into Cabin 4 three days before—
that was Sunday, the 10th—around 11
o'clock in the morming. The registrant's
woman companion had remained outside
in the car while he signed in. The name he
wrote on the registration card was “O.
Loel, Los Angeles, Calif.”

“Shortly before dark,” the motel
manager continued, “Mr. Loel went out.
He returned around seven o'clock in the
evening, paid the rent through Tuesday,
January 12th, and asked that Cabin 4 not

by CHESTER CLARK

Special Investigator for
~ OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES

be entered or cleaned while they oc-
cupied it. That’s not an unusual request;
people do it all the time.

“I didn’t see either Mr. Loel or the
woman around again. I assumed they had
left some time on the 12th, soI entered the
cabin this morning.”

At first he hadn’t seen the body, the
motel-manager explained; the rumpled
blankets and sheets had _ partially
obscured that part of the woman's body
that was still on the bed. He didn’t move
the bed covers till he noticed the
bloodstains on the bed. It was then he dis-
covered the woman’s body, half-on, half-
off the bed on the far side next to the wall.

Homicide Captain Ted Baughman,
Detective Chief Wayne W. Harbolt, and
Homicide Detectives Bob Hudson and
Don Cochran examined the victim and

the disordered room. The body of the’

shapely, pretty brunette was clad only
in blue panties and a sheer lavender
nightie. It lay face down on a bloodied
pillow, and the investigators had no need
to wait for a medical examiner's report to
ascertain the cause of death.

When they turned the body over, they
counted 19 stab wounds—vicious,
slashing type wounds—on the woman’s
front. Mos: of the wounds were in the
woman's ample breasts, the rest lower on
her body. The worst one was the slashing
of her throat which severed her jugular.

No aitempt had been made to conceal
the murder or to prevent identification,
and the presence of the woman’s purse

and a man’s wallet, both with money in
them, immediately ruled out a possible
robbery motive.!Papers in the victim’s
purse identified her as Elizabeth Jeanne
Henderson of Lynwood, California. And
papers in the wallet named its missing
owner as Otto A. Loel, of an address in
Compton, California.

In addition to these items, two suit-
cases were found in the room, one filled
with feminine clothing, the other with a
man’s clothes. Two pairs of men’s
trousers lay on a chair. A man’s brown
jacket and tan topcoat were draped over
the foot of the bed. In a pocket the detec-
tives found a letter addressed, apparent-
ly, to the wife of the missing Otto Loel ina
small town in Oregon.

A search of the motel cabin’s
wastebasket yielded a pair of men’s
slacks, stained with blood, and a heavily
bloodstained hunting knife with a sharp
6-inch blade. In the wastebasket also they
found one empty whiskey bottle and on
the dresser were three empty soda
bottles.

After surveying the death room,
Detective Hudson theorized, “It looks as
if he smooth-talked the woman into shar-
ing a cabin with him. But then she had a
change of heart and rejected his advances
so he killed her. He paid up for a couple
of days in advance, to give himself a good
head start, and took off.”

On the surface it certainly looked that
way, Hudson’s colleagues conceded, but
if Loel was the murderer, why had he left
behind his clothing and identification? It
wouldn't have taken him more than a cou-
ple of minutes to gather up everything
and stow it in his car.

There was, of course, another

(Continued on page 51)

Investigation into murder of Betty Henderson ranged far
and wide, and ended with Otto Loel (photo |. flanked by
attorneys) in courtroom. At one point, word came in from
Capt. Fritz (above) of Dallas Homicide Division that the
suspect's car had been found in parking lot in that city

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@ 139

“He talked about going to Pensacola

or Tampa to get work,” this man said.

On January 25th, Loel’s Buick sedan
was found on a parking lot in Dallas,
where it had been left a day or two
before Mrs, Henderson’s body was
found.

By now, since obviously the quarry
had crossed several state lines in his
flight, the FBI had joined in the search
for him on the strength of a federal
warrant charging him. as a fugitive to
escape prosecution for murder,

Late in January, the FBI nominated
him to its Big Ten—the list of the na-
tion’s “ten most wanted criminals.”

Because of his known skill with knife
and gun, the “wanted” flyers on him
bore the warning : Armed and danger-
ous.

Weeks became months, but no trace
was turned up of Otto Loel. Late in
the fall the FBI learned that he had
traveled all summer with a carnival—
operating a shooting gallery!

But the carny was broken up by
then, its personnel scattered everywhere.

The anniversary of Elizabeth Hen-
derson’s murder neared.

It was at 12:45 A.M. on Sunday,
January 9th, 1955, just one day short
of a full year from the date of the
crime, when Officer Herman Harriet
arrested two drunks in the downtown
section of Sanford, Florida, a citrus
city of 18,000 inhabitants,

They were freed the next morning in
bail of $17, but one, who had given
the name of Jack G: McCoy, did not
appear in court,

On January 14th, the reason was
abundantly clear.

Both sots had been fingerprinted. The
FBI reported that “McCoy’s” prints
were those of Otto Loel.

PECIAL AGENTS Robert Purke

and Charles Robichaud of the FBI
hurried to Sanford to work with local
Officials in searching for “McCoy.”

He had been in the city for about
two weeks, working in a local foundry.
He had been laid off and paid off on
Saturday. And Saturday night he had
got drunk,

His landlady said he had vanished
from his rooming house over the week-
end.

On Monday morning, January 17th,
with a widespread hunt on for the
fugitive, Seminole County Constable
J, Q. “Slim” Galloway took a call in
the sheriff's office.

Five minutes later, Galloway, Chief
Deputy M. R. McClelland and Deputy
O. G. Owens were racing toward the
northeastern outskirts of the city.

Loel, alias McCoy, had appeared at
a junkyard there, trying to sell a piece
of scrap iron he had salvaged off a city
dump.

They spotted Loel as their car skid-
ded into the junkyard parking space.
Remembering his reputatién with a
gun, all three officers had their pistols
out as they sprang from the cruiser
and lunged at the nondescript little man
beside the junkyard office door.

He faced them quietly, and surren-

dered without protest.

“I’m your man,” he said meekly. “I
know what you want me for. I’m glad
it’s all over.”

Sometime later, however, his humble
mood changed.

“If I’'d had a gun out there,” he
said calmly, “I’d have shot your eyes
out.”

He led local officers and the FBI
men‘to his hiding place deep in a
palmetto swamp. Here, using his woods-
man’s craft, he had bound palm stalks
to the trunks of trees, set other stems
upright and had woven a roof of
fronds. He had taken to the swamp, he
confessed, because he was sure the
FBI would “make” him from the prints
the Sanford cops had rolled.

“Then why didn’t you try to get
away, out of town?” he was asked.

“What chance would J have had, on
the rods or on the roads? Besides, I
was getting tired of running. I just de-
cided, what’s the use?”

Now wearing glasses, sporting a small
mustache and with a pinched face as
the result of his having removed his
false teeth, Loel bore little resemblance
. the widely circulated photographs of

im,

He made a confession to FBI Agents
Robichaud and Parke in the slaying of
Elizabeth Henderson.

He told the federal officers that he
and Mrs. Henderson had been “drink-
ing buddies” in California, that she had
been actually unhappily married and
that finally they had made up the story
of an innocent expense-sharing journey
to run off and live together.

He said that after his pocket was
picked, Mrs. Henderson ran out of a
special medicine she needed for a cold
and became hysterical. He got $25 from
a friend, he said, and the morning they
hit Oklahoma City, she telephoned her
husband, who wired her $35 there.

In the motel, Loel went on, Mrs.
Henderson’s hysteria increased, She got
the idea that Loel was going to abandon
her there, he claimed. She snatched up
his hunting knife and came at him,

“We struggled,” he related. “We fell
to the floor together. She was stabbed.
Then the knife was in my hands. I
struck her—I don’t know how many
times.”

He said that when he left the motel
cabin, he intended to return, but got

drunk and “just didn’t go back.”

One piece of evidence flatly contra-
dicted Loel’s story.

The murderous attack had occurred,
not upon the floor, as he claimed, but
on the bed, where it was unlikely in
the extreme that it could have been in
the self-defense of the killer.

He was returned to Oklahoma,
charged with first-degree murder and
jailed to await trial. During his waiting
period he was placed for a month un-
der the observation of psychiatrists to
determine whether he was sane.

On October 17th he was arraigned
before a jury and District Judge A, P.
Van Meter in a preliminary test to de-
cide if he was sane.

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Three psychiatrists testified that al-
though he had a psychopathic personal-
ity with anti-social reactions, and that
he was a chronic alcoholic and un-
stable, he was legally sane.

The jury agreed, was dismissed and
a second panel called. This jury would

determine his innocence or guilt in Mrs.

Henderson’s murder and, if guilty, in
what degree. .

SSISTANT COUNTY attorneys

Martin and Lawrence opened their

case with the routine establishment of

the corpus delicti—that Elizabeth Hen-

derson had been found slain, with 13
stab wounds.

Detective Higgs said that fingerprints
he lifted from a water glass in the
motel cabin where the body was found
were those of Otto Loel.,

Don Cochran identified the murder
weapon and described the scene of the
slaying,

At that point in the trial, the victim’s
husband, took the stand to say that he
had believed that at least one other
couple would accompany Loel and his
wife on their cross-country journey, to
which he otherwise would not have
given his consent.

FBI Agents Parke and Robichaud
testified about the statement Loel had
given them.

Then, as the state rested its case,
Otto Loel himself took the witness
stand. Immediately he varied his story
from that he had told the FBI men. He
said he had never seen Mrs. Henderson
until the day they left on their trip.

“I went into Harry’s bar and told the
bartender I was coming in to have a
good-by drink as I was leaving for
Ohio,” he said on the stand.

“Mrs. Henderson was sitting there.
She said: ‘I am from Ohio, too, How
about me going along?’

“I said if you want to go, you can
go. I wasn’t serious, and didn’t think
she was. I told her to be in the bar
at nine that night and I would pick her
up, but I didn’t expect her to be there.”

Loel said he and Mrs, Henderson
had some drinks together, and then
parted. He said she was at the bar at
about 10 P.M. with a suitcase packed
and ready to go. He testified that noth-
ing was said about there being other
members of the party.

“But I don’t know what she told her
husband,” Loel said.

He described the journey, told of his
financial troubles and of Mrs, Hender-
son’s getting $35 the Sunday of her
death, They got some auto supplies and
two bottles of whiskey, then retired to
the motel cabin, Loel said.

He testified that although they had
shared motel accommodations all the
way from California to Oklahoma City,
theirs had been strictly a platonic rela-
tionship—until the fateful day of Jan-
uary 10th, 1954.

Back in the cabin, Loel said, he lay
on the bed and fell asleep, Then came
the allegation that shocked everyone in
the courtroom except his attorneys.

MY ised d ee OM EDTA a Canam ag:

tabRbicieiasdsheent die Gare

RPP hed ty ahve eR

OP Ae Bilemasiatitiins le pa Aue uae

_—-

irmers
st dog

grum-
ith the
eyond,
e right
nife.

ym the

3 came

ne to.”
shortly

ugged.
terday,

rgested

private

: at iw cette

Sure enough, the voice was quiet
and there were no other sounds of
violence from the darkened camp.
Reluctantly the farmer turned and
followed the others. Later, however,
after he had returned home with his
rescued dog, he found his uneasi-
ness growing. At dawn the next
morning he slipped out of bed and
drew on his clothing.

Three hours later, in Perry, Okla.,
County Attorney Paul Cress had
scarcely opened his office in the
Noble county courthouse when an
éxcited telephone call from the
alarmed farmer shook him to instant
attention. For a moment the dap-
per voung official listened to the call-
er’s tumbling, horrified words.

“A murder?” he broke in unbe-
‘lievingly. “Howling dogs don’t sig-
nify murder, man.”

“Maybe not,” the voice retorted
grimly over the wire, “but blood and

ean

The tattooed figure of a woman was
a prime clue. A shrewd deputy
guessed how the planks at right were
used in an attempt to hide a murder
yictim without leaving tracks.

three men approached the paved high-
way.

The farmer and his friends had heard
the rahe cries for mercy on the night of
July 27, 1932. Now, on the following
morning, a,thin film of drought-born dust
powdered over a patch of bare ground
near the pavement, showing two sets of
light wagon tracks.

“He came in and went out the same
way,” the farmer pointed out. “East
toward Pawnee.”

“Surely he wouldn’t lug a dead man
back toward Pawnee,” Yeager objected.
“He couldn’t even find a decent culvert
in which to hide the body in the next fif-
teen miles of flat country.”

Staring thoughtfully. down the narrow
ribbon of highway, Cress nodded agree-
ment. Two hundred yards east, how-
ever, a dirt road branched south across
the blood red earth of the Cimarron river
plains to the college town of Stillwater.

Two miles farther east stood the vil-
lage of Lela—a store, a filling station
and three or four houses. There another
road swung north into the Pawnee hill
country and wandered on northeast to
the Kansas border.

“What kind of an outfit did this trader
have?” Cress asked.

The farmer frowned. “I didn’t pay
much attention. The usual old rattle-
trap covered wagon with three or four
horses stringing along behind. That’s all
I can tell you.”

The description could have been that
of a dozen outfits traveling through that
section at the moment. The farmer had
not seen the trader nor had his compan-
ions of the previous night.

“An outfit like that, though,” Cress
speculated, “couldn’t make more than
three miles an hour. This fellow should
be easily traced once we get a line on
him. Let’s see ifthe storekeeper at Lela
noticed the man.”

The merchant, busy weighing up an

DETECTIVE

order for a customer, admitted that he
had when they entered the store with
their questioris.

“Why ?” he countered. “Want him for
something?” — . :

“We want him for murder!” Cress
snapped, deciding to go on the strongest
assumption.

The grocer dropped his scoop and
turned, open-mouthed. “Murder? That |
old Dutchman?”

“A Dutchman, eh?” Yeager pounced
go: OF first definite description they'd

ad.
“German, I reckon,” the merchant
frowned. “Talks with some kind of an
accent. If you ever see him, you can’t
mistake him. He walks with a limp. Said
he got his hip crushed riding an outlaw
horse at Waynoka years ago. What's
more, he’s got a tattoo mark. A woman’s

In the town of Lela, Okla., deputies
heard of a woman who could be
found in the nearby shack, below.

Isham wa
his deputi
cutor orde
to learn
Brown, an
“Meant
from the
sume that

- Yeager suggested. “Our man

figure in armor, one of those
German goddesses, as long as
a man’s hand, on his left fore-
arm.”

Cress’ hopes soared. The
limp and the accent would
mark the fugitive. But most
of all the tattooed figure would
be a dead giveaway.

“Tt’s only about one hundred
miles northwest to Waynoka,”

must ‘be from around in this
section somewhere.”

The merchant nodded.
“Right. This trip he said he’d
come down from Winfield,
Kansas, and across the’ Osage
nation. Stopped off in Paw-
nee for a few days.” Then, no-
ticing the officers’ puzzled stares at his
information, he hastened to explain. “The
old man was in here yesterday evening
and bought some coffee and tobacco.”

“Did he say which way he was head-
ing?” Cress asked.

“South, somewhere.”

Cress and the deputy sheriff exchanged
thoughtful glances. After murdering a
man, the trader would likely have taken
any other direction. Pressing the mer-
chant for a description, the two officials
learned that. their man was about 50,
wizened, and carried a large silver watch
with an Indian beadwork fob. The store-
keeper, however, explained that he had
not seen the woman.

“She stayed in camp, I guess,” he
added, “while old Pete came up here on
horseback.”

“Pete?” “You
mean Joe.”

“He told me his name was Pete.” The
merchant’s eyes flickered to those of his
customer, then.back again. “Most of
those fellows go by half a dozen names,
though.” ‘

That was true but Yeager had caught
the merchant’s unguarded look and de-
tected a sign of uneasiness in it.

“Just the same,” he said, “you know

Yeager questioned.

somebody named Joe who was mixed up

with this fellow.”
The merchant hesitated, then nodded

reluctantly. “I was thinking about Joe
Brown, who lives about two miles north-
east of here. He had some kind of dealing
with the old man, I heard. Some trade.”

If Brown had been the assailant, it
meant that the missing trader was the
victim, not the criminal. Then where
was the outfit? What had happened to
the woman? Why had she not slipped
away in the darkness to report?

Cress puzzled over the questions while
Yeager and the farmer drove a mile
north along the road and studied it for
tracks. Presently they returned and
shook their heads gloomily.

“No tracks up that way,” Yeager re-
ported.

Brown lived just over the line in Paw-
nee county. Without more information
it was foolish to try to question him,
however. Striding to the wall telephone,
Cress first called Waynoka and described
the missing horse trader, emphasizing
the tattoo mark. The Waynoka officer
was dubious but promised to try tracing
the man,

“Although,” he added, “he may have
just been in here for a rodeo and not re-
turned in four or five years.”

The prosecutor’s next telephone call
to the sheriff at Pawnee drew instant re-
sponse. That officer recalled having seen
a horse trader’s outfit on a back street
there two days before.

She gave them vital evidence. °

“What happened to the other man and
the little girl?” the Pawnee sheriff ques-
tioned tensely.

“Little girl?” Cress repeated blankly.

“A big black-whiskered man and a girl
of about eleven were with this fellow
and the woman when I saw them,” the
sheriff reported.

The information added an even more
puzzling note to the mystery when the
grocer was certain no child had been
with the trader and the woman at Lela.

“Then we'd better get busy, sure
enough,” the Pawnee county sheriff de-
clared ominously. “Something may have
happened to them, too, between Pawnee

and Lela. I’ll get every available deputy °

out on my side of the line and intercept
the trader if he has headed back this way.
Your boys can check Noble county.”

“Where would Joe Brown fit into that
situation?” Cress asked.

“Brown?” The Pawnee official re-
peated. “Nowhere that I know of. Why ?”

Quickly Cress sketched what he had
learned. The sheriff was silent for a
moment.

“Tt beats me,” he said at last. “He’s
hard to get along with but I can’t figure
him killing anyone, either. I’d say you’d
better get something better than that to
move against him.”

Cress knew he was right. Telephon-
ing back to Perry, he found that Sheriff

that. some
the deput

missing people do. That horse trader
and his outfit have vanished hair and
hide. And there’s nothing but a few
camp signs and a big splotch of blood to
show for them. And that’s all there was
when I got down there at six o’clock this
morning.”

The ominous sound of the words made
Cress pause. He listened intently as the
farmer described the cries of the night
before and gave the location, the edge of
an abandoned oil well pit 20 miles east
of Perry on the highway. The fight had
taken place about 10 p. m. That meant
any murderer—if there was a murder—
had an eight-hour lead on the law.

For a moment Cress fumed inwardly
at the western habit of minding one’s own
business which had kept the men from
investigating the night before. But there

SPOT nce earn

was no percentage in regrets and if a
murder had been committed, speed was
important. Sheriff H. H. Isham was out
of the county for the day but Cress made
an instant decision.

“Hold everything,” he snapped. “I’ll
be right out there with Deputy Sheriff
Fred Yeager as fast as I can make it.
Flag us down on the highway.”

Thirty minutes later he swung his car
off the road at sight of a waving figure.
He sprang from the car, closely followed

_ by the muscular, white-hatted deputy.

Together they followed the farmer a hun-
dred yards into a field at the north side
of the road to the edge of a villainously
black pond 50 feet across. Ten yards
from the scummy water and its accu-
mulation of trash the farmer pointed
to a red stain which spread for

County Attorney Paul Cress, above,
and Sheriff H. H. Isham of Noble
county, Okla., directed the investiga-
tion which netted a killer and his
weapon which the sheriff holds.

two feet across the hard-packed earth.

The man was right. It was blood
without a doubt and the amount could
spell nothing but murderous assault. In
one place the ground was still sticky with
the reddish mud. The hurried flight of
the horse trader and his outfit pointed to
the assailant. But who was the victim?
Surely not the girl, since the pleading
voice of the night before had been that
of aman. Cress puzzled as he studied the
scene and noticed that the bare camp-
site was mysteriously free from any sign
of struggle. The dead ashes of the camp-
fire were not even disturbed.

Probe Pond

(ORESS turned to Deputy Yeager. ‘All
I can make of this,” he said, “is that
someone slugged his victim when the
man wasn’t looking. The man had just
about enough strength left to let out those
cries for mercy which this witness and
the others heard.”

“You'd think he’d have thrown the
body into the pond if there was a corpse,”
the deputy puzzled. “But there’s not a
footprint near it less than two weeks
old. Do you suppose he hauled the vic-
tim off with him?”

It was a gruesome thought but Cress
could make nothing else of it. Nobody
could have approached the water with the
added weight of a corpse without leav-
ing some signs. To make sure, however,
Cress probed the slimy water with a long
pole, then rejoined his companionis.

‘Had. the victim been well enough
known in. the vicinity that his identi-
fication would point at once to the mur-
derer? If so, why had his disappearance
not already been reported by his family ?

What had the victim meant by: “I’ll
do anything you want me to?” More im-
portant, who was the missing horse trader
and where had he gone? A search of the
bare ground offered no clue until the

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was another man with him, too, The two
of them had some sort of a quarrel about
her. I didn’t figure it was serious though.”

Had it finally grown serious? If so,
was the other man Joe Brown? Most im-
portant of all, was Peter Van Nearop
murderer or victim?

“We're stumbling around blind,” Yea-
ger complained as the three officials
checked over the case. “If this keeps up
we may find we haven’t even got a mur-
der.”’ : =

“Or we may have more than one,”
Cress warned him. “Don’t forget the lit-
tle girl and the woman.”

One question was soon cleared when a
second horse traders’ outfit containing
the little girl and the black-bearded fel-
low was located. Exonerated in the mys-
tery, the trader was able to say he had
seen an old man with Van Nearop and
that the woman also involved lived out
west of Pawnee. He supplied her name.

Either Van Nearop had picked up a
succession.of male traveling companions
or nobody had really noticed the other
man. No two descriptions of him had
tallied. Brown, however, had placed the
man’s age at approximately his own, And
the woman lived in Brown's general
neighborhood. Was there a sinister sig-
nificance in those two facts?

“It’s a trail, anyhow,” Cress told Yea-
ger. “Let’s go back and see what the
deputies from Perry have found out.”

It was late in the afternoon when the
two officials again reached the store at
Lela. One of the deputies was waiting
there, having picked up word that the
woman named had returned: the day be-
fore to the home of relatives.

“Then she’s the one we want to see,”
Cress said grimly. With the deputy’s
guidance he and Yeager drove to the
home, a two-room battered farmhouse,
secluded in a cluster of small wooded
hills that lifted themselves unexpectedly
out of the prairie.

The woman answered the door, S'
was prettier than Cress had expected,
with blue eyes and brown hair and a fig-
ure that retained some of its attractive
curves, -

But her attitude grew frosty as she
came out on the doorstep to answer the
prosecutor’s questions.

“Looks to me,” she said suspiciously,
“as if you’re just trying to get somebody
into trouble.”

Cress met her gaze. “We're more inter-
ested in solving a murder.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “Who's
been murdered?”

“You're answering questions, not ask-
ing them,” Cress reminded her coldly.
“Tell us about Peter Van Nearop.”

New Suspect

“tae woman paled and drew back as if
slapped. “Pete?” she gasped. “I haven't
seen him since yesterday morning when
he left me here. I did travel with him,
though. He picked me up in Kansas when
I was trying to find some way to get
home and was nice to me.”

Cress did not press that angle. “Now
how about Joe Brown?” he flung, “Where
does he come in?”

The woman shook her head. “I didn’t
know that he did. Maybe you mean Joe
Martin. He traveled with us from. Win-
field, Kansas.”

Martin, she said, was a_ blacksmith
from Watonga, Okla., who had struck
up an acquaintance, then a business part-
nership, with Van Nearop. The old Hol-
lander, however, had speedily learned that
Martin was practically penniless, and
she had learned that he had left a family
to make shift as best it could for the sum-
mer on an unproductive cotton farm. So
for two reasons she had spurned the ad-
vances that Martin continually made to
her and had clung to Van Nearop during
the trip.

~ SECRET SERVICE WOMEN

Breaking a 100-year-old tradition of his organization against the supposedly
talkative sex, Capt. Thomas J. Callaghan of the U. S. Secret Service’s

_ Chicago office, greets Mary E. Cooney, center, and Aileene C. Coldby, new

secretaries, who are replacing male workers drawn into the military forces.

“So they quarreled

nee,” Cress guessed.

She nodded. “I th

were going to fight,”
they finally agreed tc
then split up.

“What sort c

tin?” Yeager 9

“White-haire .

and about fifty,” she

Cress blinked, the

“We were on his tra
exploded. “And tha
Nearop’s outfit.

“Tt was Pete’s if

milkgoat among the
answered.

ickly the two m

Brien Joe Martin

she cried. “He’s kille
his outfit!”

The two officers
car before she had fir
savagely on the ga
to Lela, where he

who hurried out tc ~

into the rear seat an
while Yeager relay

At the store wher
that morning, the o!

outfit. had included {

Satisfied that they \
they drove on tot
There they learne
was camped a mil
banks of the Cimai

"Find °

HE man was J¢
his identity bu
seen Van Nearop !
pled trader had s¢
gone west, he said
Meanwhile, Sher
ing the interior of
neath a pile of 5
drew a small, sl
weapon was rec.
inspection showec
attached to it.
Cress eyed it for
to the trembling,
“Martin,”
it forever,
Nearop wit
him because ot J
matters even wor:
What did you do
Martin drew bz
free of Yeager’s
him,” he cried.
don’t know wher:
Yeager stared
prisoner, then at
“You know,” h
things now. Re
floating on that 4
we were there?
Cress frowned.
“That pond is
It’s the cellar ot
come in and was
to me a few mim
the body’s in ita
how it got there.
what I mean.”
Leaving one 0
had followed th
and outfit back

and Sheriff Isha:

and roared back
camp. There Ye
rectangular spo’
bare.

“Those timbe;

he said. “Marti
Nearop, then n
out into the wa

Isham was still out of town. But two of | accompany him, he said, “We’re going to of the tracks, Cress gunned the car until

his deputies were there andthe prose- check south toward Stillwater.” . they reached a roadside store four miles

cutor ordered them to the vicinity of Lela Driving back almost to the campsite, south of the highway. me

to learn everything they could about Cress turned onto the second road, A “Yes,” the storekeeper said in reply to
. Brown. and his recent movements. mile from the highway, the farmer who __ their questions, “there was a horse trader

ae “Meantime,” he said, turning away had been watching the road intently, stopped here about eight o’clock this

\ be . from the telephone, “we had better as- shouted in excitement. morning. A white-haired fellow about

low. sume that the old man is really dead and “Some kind of an outfit’s been along _ fifty years old.”

e that somebody else killed him.” Asking here!” he exclaimed. “With a woman in the wagon ve

Tt was true, With only a brief study Yeager questioned with rising hope.

' The merchant shook his head.
“This fellow was alone. He
stopped to buy some coffee and
tobacco and tried to sell me a
horse.” ae

“Our man bought coffee and

tobacco last night,” Cress re-
called, turning to Yeager. “Why
ns 4 = : . Ef Bes zo would he be buying more this
eee | Bes My ' er Hea! morning ?”

‘ Yeager shook his head. “He
wouldn’t.”

Cress turned back to the
grocer.

“We want a man for mur-
der,” he explained. “The man
we're looking for speaks brok-
enly and limps and his left fore-

[Continued on page 58]

the deputy and the farmer witness to

_ This watch with an Indian
beadwork fob finally
trapped a murderer when
he was found camped at the
site below on the banks of

the Cimarron river.

in and
ques-

ankly. a
a girl
fellow
” the

1 more
en the
{ been
t Lela.
, sure
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-awnee
deputy
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y

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Why ?”
he had
for a

“He’s
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that to

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Sheriff

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What a weird morass our laws have
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established the number of sex offenders
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Trapping Oklahoma’s Jealous Ax-Man

[Continued from page 45]

arm hasa tattooed figure that you couldn’t
miss.”

The storekeeper shook his head Pos-
itively. “Then this isn’t your man,” he
declared. “The country’s full of horse
traders and this is some other one.”

Disappointedly the three men walked
back to their car. Had the missing Pete
known about this other man and his south-
ward journey, then deliberately tried to
throw suspicion on him while planning
acrime? It was a fantastic idea but Cress
oro it as he drove back toward

ela.

“There must have been a horse trader’s
convention in Pawnee,” he-growled. “But
if the news of this miystery has gotten
around we may pick up something at that
store while the other boys do their check-
ing out.”

The news had spread and in the next
hour nearly a dozen farmers dropped in
at the store for details. Cress and Yeager
took turns at questioning them. But it
was Yeager who unearthed the first lead
and led the prosecutor outdoors for a
conference.

“This trader,- Pete, and Joe Brown had
trouble the day before yesterday,” he
snapped. “As I got it from that boy in
there, Brown made a horse trade and
realized about an hour afterward that
he’d been stung. He followed the old man
and tried to make him trade back. A
couple of fellows came along just in time
to keep Brown from getting rough. Brown
finally rode away, threatening to get
even.”

“And it’s your idea that he made good
on his threat?” Cress asked.

Yeager shrugged and scratched his
chin, “It looks that way. But if he did,
what happened to the woman and the
outfit? And the child?”

Cress’ jaw set. “Let’s go ask Brown
those questions,” he said.

Leaving the farmer at the store to
watch for other officers the two men
drove on to the Brown farm and found
their man in the hayfield. Lean and
saturnine, Joe Brown left the hay crew
and leaned on the fence to answer their
questions, obviously trying to hide his
nervousness. At first he denied having
had trouble with the trader but finally
admitted it.

“That, doesn’t mean I'd kill him,
though,” he pointed out.

“Who said anything about his being
killed?” Yeager’s eyes narrowed.

.Brown flushed under his tan and his
lips met in a stubborn line. “I heard it
around,” he said.

“We'll skip that,” Cress said coldly
before Brown could add more. “We know
you threatened him, Somebody was mur-
dered down at his camp last night and

I believe he was the victim. We'll be able
to tell you better when we find his outfit
and the woman who was with him.”

Brown’s lip curled defiantly. “Woman?”
he scoffed. “He had some man with him
but no woman. And if you think I’ve
got his crow-bait outfit, look around—
when you get a search warrant.”

Confident of himself once more, Brown
turned on his heel and walked away while
Cress angrily repented his own impet-
uousness in moving too fast.

“That hay crew won t let him get away
with anything, though,” he told Yeager.
“Let’s get into Pawnee and see what
we find.”

Identify Trader

AL THE Pawnee county courthouse
half an hour later, Cress called back
for a recheck with Waynoka before any-
thing else.

“That was old Peter Van Nearop you
asked about,” the Waynoka officer ex-
claimed. “I’ve checked him. He’s a Hol-
lander who came to this country as a
kid and has lived around here ever since.
Loved horses and was a swell hand with
them. After he got smashed up, he quit
the ranches and went to horse trading.”

“Who are his enemies?” Cress ques-
tioned.

“Enemies?” the Waynoka officer stud-
ied. “He must have had them but I
wouldn’t know. Everybody around here
liked old Pete. He might talk brokenly
but he was all-American. He was always
pretty well fixed for a little money, too.”

“How well?” Cress wondered if he had
not finally struck a hot trail.

“When he started this trip he had a
good Ford car and drew four hundred
dollars out of the bank. That was in May.
He could have been broke when he got
to your town, though. He liked to gam-
ble a bit and do some romancing, too.”

Cress suggested that a love affair might -

have brought an enemy from Waynoka
on his trail.

“No,” the office. replied.
bachelor. And he didn’t break up any
homes or anything like that.
tooed woman on his arm gives you an
idea. That was some carnival queen that
Pete fell for four or five years ago. He
traveled with the show until she got what
money he had. If there was a woman
with him there he probably found her
somewhere on his trip.”

That information fitted in with what
the Pawnee sheriff had picked up. “The
woman he had here was about thirty-five
and wasn’t bad looking,” he said. “But
the boys found out that she joined Van
Nearop in Kansas somewhere. And there

“He was a

That tat- °

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or, S'

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IbUCBe

“So they quarreled over you in Paw-
nee,” Cress guessed.

She nodded. “I thought at first they
were going to fight,” she admitted. “But
they finally agreed to leave me here and
then split up.”

“What sort of a looking man was Mar-
tin?” Yeager questioned.

“White-haired, blue-eyed, sharp faced,
and about fifty,” she answered.

Cress blinked, then stared at Yeager.
“We were on his trail this morning,” he
exploded. “And that was probably Van
Nearop’s outfit.”

“Tt was Pete’s if there was a brown
milkgoat among the stock,” the woman
answered.

Quickly the two men told her the story.

“Then Joe Martin’s the man you want,”
she cried. “He’s killed old Pete and taken
his outfit!”

The two officers were back at their
car before she had finished. Bearing down
savagely on the gas, Cress roared back
to Lela, where he met Sheriff Isham,
who hurried out to help. Isham leaped
into the rear seat and Cress sped off again
while Yeager relayed the story.

At the store where the man had stopped
that morning, the officers learned that the
outfit had included a brown milk goat.
Satisfied that they were on the right trail,
they drove on to the village of Perkins.
There they learned that a horse trader
was camped a mile out of town on the
banks of the Cimarron river.

Find Weapon

‘Ta man was Joe Martin. He admitted
his identity but denied that he had
seen Van Nearop in two days. The crip-
pled trader had sold him the outfit and
gone west, he said,

Meanwhile, Sheriff Isham was examin-
ing the interior of the wagon. From be-
neath a pile of miscellaneous junk_he
drew a small, short-handled ax. The
weapon was red with blood and close
inspection showed several human hairs
attached to it.

Cress eyed it for a moment, then turned
to the trembling, ashen-faced Martin.

“Martin,” he said coldly, “you ean deny
it forever, but you killed Peter Van
Nearop with that ax last night. You killed
him because of jealousy and you made
matters even worse by stealing his outfit.
What did you do with the body?”

Martin drew back and tried to wrench
free of Yeager’s iron grip. “I didn’t kill
him,” he cried. “I bought this outfit. I
don’t know where Pete Van Nearop is.”

Yeager stared thoughtfully at his
prisoner, then at Cress.

“You know,” he said, “I’m just seeing
things now. Remember those’ timbers
floating on that pond this morning when
we were there?”

Cress frowned. “Yes?”

“That pond is about thirty feet deep.
It’s the cellar of an oil well that didn’t
come in and was abandoned. It just came
to me a few minutes ago. My bet is that
the body’s in it and those timbers explain
how it got there. Let’s go. I’'ll’show you
what I mean.”

Leaving one of the other deputies who
had followed them_to drive the wagon
and outfit back to Perry, Cress, Yeager
and Sheriff Isham put Martin in théir car
and roared back to the scene of the tragic
camp. There Yeager pointed to a roughly
rectangular spot where the ground was
bare.

“Those timbers were stacked there,”
he said. “Martin could have killed Van

Nearop, then made a walk for himself
out into the water. That way, he could

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after a 19-year-old youth confessed, according to police, that he had
stabbed her when she rejected him as a suitor. The youth was found in a
closed car, with hose leading to exhaust, an apparent attempt at suicide.

: f Peter Vv

2
hat lawmen
an

*Xeecution,

By MARTIN ZIMMERMAN

clue of the

Yeager hesitated for a moment. Sheriff H. H. Isham
was out of town for the day and responsibility for the
investigation was temporarily in his hands.

“IT think we'll drive into Lela,’ he decided. ‘‘SSomeone
there may have seen the outfit passing through.”

LE“ consisted of three or four houses, a filling station
and a general-store. The proprietor greeted them

genially enough and nodded complacently when they

asked about the wagon trailed by several horses.

“Fellow that said he was a horse-trader stopped
here,” he admitted. ‘Bought some coffee and flour.
But I didn’t see the wagon or the woman.”

“What sort of looking chap was he?” Cress asked
quickly.

“Looked like a dried up Dutchman to me,” the store-
keeper answered. “He limped a little. Said his hip
was banged up when a horse throwed him years ago
at Waynoka. I guess he rode in the rodeos up there.”

Corpse
That —

awe.

‘Did you notice anything
else that might help identify
him?” Yeager asked hopefully.
“We suspect this man of mur-
der.”

The storekeeper’s jaw
dropped. ‘‘Good Lord!” he ex-
claimed. ‘“‘Who’d of thought it.
Well, he had a tattoo on one
arm. A woman ’bout as long as
a man’s hand, dressed in some
sort of armor. And I noticed
that he had a_ pocket-watch
with a beaded fob.”

“Good enough,” Cress said

Sak eere st

with satisfaction. ‘‘What time
did you see him?”
‘Last evening,’ he was

told complacently. “About: six
o’clock, I reckon.”

Cress stared. ‘This can’t be
the same man,” he said uncer
tainly. ‘‘The fellow we're after
pitched camp about four in the
afternoon.”

The storekeeper was unper-
turbed.. ‘“‘Pete’s the man you
want,” he. declared. “He told
me he was camping out by the
oil-pit and came up here for a
few groceries.”

Yeager looked interested.
“You called him Pete. Isn’t his
name Joe?”

The storekeeper shrugged. ‘'l
dunno, mister. He told me it
was Pete.”

Cress thought about the two
names as he and the deputy
crossed to the filling-station. Ii
the trader was named Pete—
and if he had committed a.mur-
der—why would the victim
plead with “Joe” to spare his
life?

A few questions asked of the
station proprietor established
the fact that the horse-t
and his outfit had

through l.ela the previous ait-
ernoon
oy te 1 to him a few min-
utes,” the operator told them.
, “He was a wizened little Ger-
man, sort of hard to understand. He said he’d come

from Pawnee and was heading south. The woman with
him wasn’t bad looking. But I: didn’t see them today.’

Baffled, the officers took their leave. ‘‘Those wagon
tracks turned onto the road in the direction of Lela,”
Yeager said positively. “If he didn’t go through this
town it means he turned off on the dirt road going t
Stillwater.”’

It seemed impossible that a slow-moving wagon could
evade the two officers who traveled by car. But the
old trader and his rig appeared to have vanished with-
out a trace.. At a Stillwater grocery store they were
advised that a horse-trader had been there during the
morning to purchase tobacco and coffee.

“He isn’t the man you want, though,” the proprietor
said convincingly. “This fellow was about the right
age and had white hair. But there was no tattoo mark
on his arm. He traveled alone and he didn’t limp.”

Branching out from Stillwater were a number of

‘a

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urvy the body out, dump it and push the
timbers into the water without leaving
tracks. See?”

Cress saw, although Martin, gibbering

in terror, still denied the murder. Two
hours later, however, when the officers
had obtained grappling hooks and brought
a burlap-wrapped bundle to the surface,
he drew back in horror. Unwrapping the
bundle, Cress and Isham saw why.
_ Inside was the body of Peter Van
Nearop. Three narrow wounds across the
top of his head showed where he had been
struck with a light weapon. Two other
blows with the ax had crushed the back of
his skull.

All doubts as to his identity were
settled as the dead man’s left forearm
gleamed whitely in the glow of flashlights.
Purple and pink against the shriveled skin
was the tattooed image of the carnival
woman. :

With Martin lodged in the Noble county
jail, the officers received their greatest
surprise. An autopsy disclosed that Van
Nearop had died of drowning!

For two days Martin stubbornly denied
knowing anything of the murder. He
‘insisted that Van Nearop’ had probably
been murdered for the money which he
claimed to have paid for the outfit. Then
the Lela storekeeper came into town and
examined the watch which had been taken
from the prisoner.

“That was Van Nearop’s,” he exclaimed .
pointing to the fob of Indian beadwork.
“I’d spot it anywhere. He had it out look-
ing at the time the evening he was in the
store.”

With identification of the timepiece,
Martin broke.

“All right,” he admitted on the morn-
ing of Aug. 1, 1932, “I killed him. He
cursed the government. He cursed
America. So I killed him. But that was
after I had bought his stuff.”

Tells Crime

(CRESS hurriedly led the heartless mur-
derer to a stenographer who took
down his story as he related it.

“We'd been quarreling that afternoon,”
Martin admitted. “After supper, I decided
I was tired of it. I waited until he was
asleep. Then I hit him in the head with
a ten-inch machine bolt. It didn’t kill
him, so I hit him again, Then twice with
the ax. ~.

“I thought he was dead then, so I
wrapped him up in the gunnysack and
tied an oil field pulley to it and dropped
him into the water. He groaned again,
just as I dropped him in.”

The oil field pulley was news to the
officers. Back they went to the pool and
grappled again. Finally, they drew up a
50-pound steel wheel which Martin identi-
fied as the weight.

After that, justice moved swiftly.
Authorities charged the murder really
was inspired by jealousy and a desire for
loot. Martin pleaded guilty to first degree
murder on Aug. 17, 1932, his only hope
of leniency being from the court.

District Judge John S. Burger, how-
ever, could find nothing in the circum-
stances to warrant mercy. Accepting
Martin’s plea, he sentenced the heartless
murderer to death in the electric chair
at the Oklahoma state penitentiary.

Martin appealed, deferring his fate but
not altering it. The criminal court of
appeals upheld the sentence. Martin was
electrocuted a few minutes past midnight,
May 5, 1933.

(To protect the identity of an innocent person,
the name Jos Prown as used in this story is not
real vi fu nee Lid.)

——

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July,

| | Only a Gory Stain Upon the Ground Indicated That Murder had

26%

[Q\HERE was blood on the ground. A soggy, crimson
splash perhaps two feet across. County Attorney
Paul Cress of Noble County, Oklahoma, stared at
the stain and then stepped back cautiously. +

“Don’t touch anything,’ he warned. “I don’t
know yet if we’re dealing with murder or not. But
any person who lost that much blood must be dead by
now!”

Deputy Sheriff Fred Yeager nodded without comment
and then looked over the abandoned camp-site. There
was no obvious sign of a struggle.: The camp fire ashes
were cold and undisturbed. Perhaps twenty yards
away was an abandoned oil-well pit. The large, water-
filled. excavation now formed an artificial lake of
respectable size. Piled carelessly near the bank were
a number of heavy planks, rotting reminders of the
day when the well had been in production.

“The body could be in that pond,” Yeager said
thoughtfully. “It isn’t likely that the murderer would
carry it away.”

Cress shook his head. “No one has been near that
water,’ he declared. “Look how soft the ground is.
Anyone who walked down there couldn’t help but
leave footprints. I can’t even find evidence that a
struggle took place here. If it weren’t for this blood...”

Yeager turned to the two overalled farmers who had
brought them to the scene. “Didn’t you even get a good
look at this outfit?” he asked.

One lanky farmer shifted his tobacco from one
cheek to the other. “Yesterday morning I saw a man
and woman driving along the highway in an old wagon,”
he recalled. ‘I took them to be traders, at least there
were three or four horses following the wagon. About
four in the afternoon a‘horse-outfit pulled into this
grove and camped. I didn’t investigate, but I suppose
it was the same party.”

“And later on you heard someone call for help?”

The farmer rubbed his head reflectively. “Not ex-

‘actly. Me and Mort here were coming over the rise last

night about ten o’clock when some man yelled: ‘Don’t
hit me again, Joe! I'll ‘give you anything you want!’ ”’

Cress said: ‘‘There’s something odd about this. . If
the campers were the people you saw during the morn-
ing, then they must have had company. A man was
being struck, apparently, by someone named Joe. Yet
you only saw a man and a girl.”

“Tt’s beyond me,” the farmer mumbled. ‘“We didn’t
come down here last night because -we thought it was
a private fight and I always like to mind my own busi-
ness. Then this morning I saw they were gone. When
I stopped by I found this blood on the ground. That’s
when I called you.”

“Well...” Cress looked at his watch. “If they’re
traveling by wagon they can’t be too far away. I’ll have
them picked up and see what it’s all about.”

The unknown horse-trader had pitched his camp at a
spot approximately twenty miles east of Perry, Okla-
homa. The two officers trailed the wagon until the
tracks turned onto the paved highway, apparently going
in the direction of Lela, a small town two miles away
on the road to Perry. From there the trader could con-
tinue in the direction of Pawnee or he could turn off.on
another road that led northeast to the Kansas border.

“JT don’t believe he’d head for Pawnee,” Deputy
Yeager remarked. “That’s open country. No place to
hide the body ... . and he must have it with him.”

“There’s a dirt road several hundred yards ahead,”
Cress said thoughtfully. ‘He might have gone down
there.”

The dirt road led south across the Cimarron River
plains to the little college town of Stillwater. It offered
abundant opportunities for the disposal of a body any-
where along the route. f

Cam p-
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roads, any one of which could have been taken by the
trader. However, since he obviously wes not the man
they were looking for, the officers returned to Perry
where Cress got in touch with Sheriff Isham and ad-
vised him of what had occurred.

“I'll get over there as soon as possible,” the sheriff
told him. “Meanwhile, call the sheriff at Pawnee and
see if they know anything about this man. Someone
may have seen them driving through. I’ll get in touch
with authorities at Waynoka. Maybe they know some-
thing about him up there if he played the rodeos.”

ASTNG on these instructions, Cress phoned Pawnee,
but the results only made the case appear more
confusing than before. A _ horse-trader had been
through the town two days before. But this man was
black haired and appeared to be in his early thirties.
He was accompanied by a twelve-year-old girl who was
assumed to be his daughter. :

“T can’t tell you much about them,” the Pawnee
sheriff admitted. “But I’m sure this wasn’t the man
you describe.” “

Cress wiped his forehead when the conversation had
been completed. ‘There must be horse-traders roaming
all over this county,” he said bitterly. “But I. can’t
understand how any one of them could drop so com-
pletely out of sight.”

However, several hours later when Sheriff Isham
returned, the prospects brightened considerably. “I
didn’t have much faith in that Waynoka call,” Isham
admitted. “But the sheriff up there remembered that
tattoo mark and the limp. The man we want is named
Peter Van Nearop. He’s an old Hollander who lived
around Waynoka for years, working the ranches. Good
hand with horses. After his accident he turned to
horse-trading. ‘The sheriff promised to call back later
if he can get hold‘of some additional information.”

“Waynoka’s about a hundred miles from here,” Cress
said. “The old man must have wandered pretty far
from home.” ;

“These traders get all over the country,” Isham as-
sured him. “What bothers me is that Van Nearop
doesn’t have the reputation of a man who would com-
mit murder. He was always friendly and easy going,
according to the sheriff.”

Deputy Yeager looked up. “T’ye been thinking this

‘Don’t hit me again, Joe! Pll give yeu everything
you want!” were Peter Van Nearop’s last words. But
the killer, pictured at left, paid no heed to them.

over,” he said softly. “The farmers who heard the fight
say the victim called his attacker ‘Joe. Maybe Van
Nearop is the victim instead of the murderer.”

“But why would anyone want to murder him?” Cress
asked doubtfully.

Yeager shrugged his shoulders. “Why would Van
Nearop want to kill anyone, for that matter? But he
was a horse-trader. Maybe someone tried to make a
deal and got into an argument.” —

Sheriff Isham nodded thoughtfully. “That sounds
reasonable. But what happened to the woman who
traveled with Pete? Was she killed, too, to prevent her
talking? And where are the bodies? Where is Pete’s
rig and his horses? I can’t believe the murderer is
driving around the country in a stolen wagon carrying
the bodies of his victims with him.”

There was no immediate answer to these questions.
However, officers of surrounding towns were contacted
and told to be on the lookout for the wagon and teams.
It was a physical impossibility to canvass all the roads
with the thoroughness required, and Sheriff Isham had
little faith in this procedure at best. For one thing, if Van
Nearop had been murdered, the killer would likely dis-
pose of the incriminating outfit at the first opportunity.

In this little shack Lawmen finally located one of
Peter Van Nearop’s travelling-companions, a woman
who helped them to establish the killer’s identity.

“The way I look at it,’’ Isham told his deputies, “if
Van Nearop was murdered as the result of an argument,
possibly over a horse trade, the killer must live in this
section. Our best bet is to learn who he dealt with
around here, and what sort of swap was made. Then
we'll have something definite to go on.”

Obtaining information of this sort wasn’t at all diffi-
cult. When a local man engaged in a horse swap the
entire proceedings were promptly discussed pro and
con by loiterers in the general-stores. By making a few
discreet inquiries in this direction, Isham learned that a
Joe Davis had complained on the previous night that
he had come out of a horse trade with the dirty end
of the stick.

“It seems the dealer hung a ‘heaver’ on Joe,” Isham’s
informant related with considerable satisfaction.

The sheriff nodded understandingly. A “heaver” is a
horse which’ has fed on dusty hay and has acquired an
asthmatic condition which is difficult to detect until
an attempt is made to work the animal. Isham knew
Davis as a muscular, hard-working man with a temper
that equalled his strength.

“I imagine Joe was pretty sore,” he said cautiously.

“Sure was.”

HE Dz
sherif
thinking
Joe!” W
Had he s
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wasted n
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me about
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even up
sound.
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EE ee ee

MILLIGAN, John, black, han ed Oklahoma City, OK, on March 13, 1895

t was not so much the fact
of the young black man loi-
tering near the railroad
depot at two o’clock in the morning of
November 7, 1893, that attracted the

The captured fugitive John Milligan.

THE HOMICIDE, TI

an dehy e

~ OKLAHOMA TERRITORY’S FIR

- attention of Detective Frank Church of
the East St. Louis, Illinois, police
department. What rang’a bell in the
officer’s brain was his description—age

. about twenty-two years, five-feet ten-

By Glenn Slhit

inches tall,'165 pounds, wearing a dark
pinstriped suit, duck-billed cap, and
ankle-high leather shoes with elastic

_ insertions at the sides known as “con-

gress gaiters.” When the subject ducked
behind a boxcar on the siding and ran

into the darkness, Church promptly

gave pursuit and took him into custody.

‘The Suspect gave the name Francis
Odin. He carried no weapon. His pock-
ets contained a packet of letters, thirty-
three dollars in cash, a fine gold watch
engraved “Gabe Clark,” and a railroad
ticket for Tennessee purchased in
Kansas City. The letters, written from

. Tennessee, were addressed to John

Milligan, in care of Gabe Clark,
Oklahoma Territory. When the suspect
pleaded with Church for ‘his release,
and even hinted that he would “pay lib-
erally for it,” the officer hauled him off
to headquarters.

Rummaging through the depart-
ment’s file of telegrams and wanted
notices, Church found the item plaguing
him—a dispatch clipped from the St,
Louis Globe-Democrat a few days pre-
vious. It told of the November slayings

: Of Gabe Clark and his wife, Hannah, and
the attempted murder of their seven-

year-old granddaughter, Amelda, on the

‘Deep Fork of the Canadian River, north-

east of Oklahoma City. John Milligan

.was being sought as the murderer. His

description tallied with Odin.

. Detective Church was convinced he
had “captured a prize,” the Globe-
Democrat reported. “He led the negro

OLD WEST

[sic] all aboi
clinched facts
until he had

up that he bro
horrible crime
for Gabe |
Territory; “t!
pay him and 1
week before.
span of mules
and seventy-f
Milligan dete:
wages due |
Tennessee.

November 2,

his pay, and °
at him with :
“wrested the

hands and st
head.” Durin
Mrs. Clark “‘k
with billets «
after “quieting
he turned on t!
“split open h
was “singular!
describing hi
the little girl t
ing that she “k
her grandmo!
Sticks to con
attack upon
could see I hac

them,” Milligz

took old Clar)
and the mone:
and hurried
place.”

WINTER 1995

The purpose for whieh the mur-
derer used: the planks (shown
nbove) was a riddle at first.

Isham glanced Significantly at his deputy. Both men
remembered the trader who had been seen in Stillwater
that morning. An elderly, white-haired man with a rig
similar to the one owned by Van Nearop.

“T think Joe is guilty,” the sheriff said flatly.
seen this morning with a wagon and team.”

“Pete’s wagon,” the girl said softly. “If Joe had it,
Pete must be dead.”’

‘He was

HE manhunt was on. But not until two days later

did Sheriff Isham and his men receive word from the
little village of Perkins that a horse-trader, answering
the description of the wanted Joe Martin, was camped
along the banks of the Cimarron River, about a mile
from the village. Taking Attorney Cress and Deputy
Yeager with him, the sheriff drove at once to Perkins
and from there to the river camp. :

Martin readily admitted his identity when he was
taken into custody, but denied knowing anything about
the missing Van Nearop. “I bought-.old Pete’s outfit,”
he explained. ‘He said he was going out west again.”

The sheriff glanced at a beaded watch-fob which
hung from the man’s pocket. “Did Pete even sell you
his watch?” he asked bluntly.

Martin flushed, but stood his ground.
watch,” he declared.

Isham shook his head. “That story won’t hold water,
fellow. You'll have to think up a better one if you want

“Even the

' to: keep your neck from being stretched.”

Yeager had been prowling through the wagon as the
sheriff questioned their suspect. Now he stepped down
triumphantly. “You might try to explain this,” he
announced, holding out a small, single-bladed ax, taken
from the wagon. “Look at those bloodstains! This is
the murder weapon.”

“That's it,’ Sheriff Isham agreed.
have any trouble from now on in.”

After making arrangements to have the team cared
for, the officers returned to Perry, taking their prisoner
with them. Martin was noticeably taciturn after the
ax episode, but he insistently denied knowing anything
about the suspected murder of Van Nearop.

“Personally, I don’t care if you confess or not,” Isham
told him. “The fact that you were in possession of Pete’s
outfit, plus that bloodstained ax is enough to bring a

“T don’t think we’ll

The tatteo by which Van Nearop
was definitely identified, despite
preeautions taken by a killer.

4 \ ’ ‘
iW t

A AREAL SB
a tel Re, é

A killer’s ingenuity made good
use of this pulley-wheel after Van
Nearop had been bludgeoned.

conviction from any jury, anywhere in the U. S|!”

He neglected to mention, however, that without a
corpus delecti, his murder charge didn’t stand a chance!

Martin ran harassed fingers through his white hair.
“Will you believe me if I tell you what really happened?”’
he asked worriedly.

The sheriff looked at him in pretended surprise.
“We'll at least listen,” he promised.

“It happened this way,” Martin said earnestly. ‘Pete
and I decided to split up. Bertha was going to her rela-
tives and I planned to travel alone. But later I began
to wonder if Pete mightn’t be willing to sell his oufit.
I asked around and learned where he intended to pitch
camp. I got to the place around nine o'clock, figuring
to talk to Pete and spend the night. But just as I
reached the camp I heard someone arguing.

“Pete couldn’t see me but I could see him and an-
other fellow standing by the campfire and arguing.
Whoever it was was plenty big and plenty sore. They
talked about a horse trade Pete had made. Finally this
man grabbed an ax and hit Pete over the head. He went
down like a struck steer.”

The sheriff didn’t bother to conceal his surprise. “You
saw this?” he asked incredulously.

Martin nodded.. “I sure did. I was’ scared stiff and
decided to just lay low and see what happened. Well,
this fellow looked at Pete awhile and then picked him
up and threw him in his car. When he drove off I went
into the camp. I was pretty sure the killer wouldn’t
come back but I wasn’t taking any chances. So I stuck
around*in the bushes until nearly morning. Then I fig-
ured it wouldn’t do to let the horses stay there without
food. And since Pete didn’t need them any more—I1...
well, I just packed up and drove away.”

Yeager said unbelievingly, “So Joe Davis did kill
him, after all.”

“I’m not too sure of that,” the sheriff said quietly.

The deputy, however was unconvinced. “If Martin
killed him,” he said, “the body must have been hauled
away in his wagon. But I went over it thoroughly.
There are no bloodstains on it anywhere.” .

Attorney Cress interrupted. “I’ve just thought of
a way in which the body might have been dumped into
that pond. Let’s go out there and see if it holds up.”

Martin was returned to his cell and the three officers

A Sheriff's Hunch and Shrewd Detective-work Contrive to Doom

drove tot
tim wasn’!
“That me
pond. If
where, si!
car.”

“If you
pond,” Sh
bet that it

For ans
on the ba:
have mad
“That wo
the soft gi
I'll wager
them up a
around th
where he
prints.”

Deputy
sounds p!
story is m

“Nevert
him. “I’n

Grapplir
pond was
bundle w:
Inside wa:
was ident
tattooed \

Joe Mai
this contr
knew you
“T knew it
fancy sto:
You saw |
But after
left. That
talked to

“T don’t
tive,” Yea;
was at lea:

“How
“Both Dav
took place
member,
pleading «
That’s whys.
that pond
could have

Still ano
ever, whe:
body of th
death had
tin, it seen
conscious.
placed the

White-h:
sidered the
“There’s n
said finally
Pete had ry
and I kille
why I wer
overheard
Davis I fig
murder
found, jus
volved. §&
weighted
field pulley

Davis ad
porary wa
Attorney C

a Cu

ei BY
¥ made good

heel after Van
bindgeoned.

| mn the Oo 7s..7
| that without a
stand a chance!
his white hair.
lly happened?”

‘nded_ surprise.

arnestly. ‘‘Pete
ing to her rela-
t later I began
» sell his oufit.
ended to pitch
clock, figuring
But just, as I
iim and an-
and> arguing.

y sore. They
ie. Finally this
head. He went

is surprise. ‘You

seared stiff and

| 1appened. Well,
then picked him
drove off I went
killer wouldn’t

nees. So I stuck
1ing. Then I fig-

ay there without

any more—Il...

Davis did kill

‘ said quietly.

ced. “If Martin
ave been hauled
‘r it thoroughly.
just thought of
een dumped into
it holds up.”

the three officers

>to Doom

drove to the murder scene. ‘We're agreed that the vic-

tim wasn’t carried away in the wagon,” Cress explained.

“That means if Martin killed him, the body is in this
pond.
where, since Martin claims it was taken away in the
car.”

“If you can show me how the body could get in that
pond,” Sheriff Isham said positively, “I’ll lay a little
bet that it’s there.”

For answer Cress pointed to the rotting timbers piled
on the bank. “It just occurred to me that Martin could
have made a walk out of those planks,’’ he asserted.
“That would eliminate the possibility of footprints in
the soft ground. See those planks floating on the pond?
I'll wager that after throwing the body in, he picked
them up and pushed them in the water. Then he waded
around the pond in the water, until he reached a spot
where he could climb out without leaving any foot-
prints.”

Deputy Yeager rubbed his chin reflectively.
sounds pretty complicated,’ he objected.
story is much simpler.”

“Nevertheless, it could bé done,’ Isham reminded
him. “I’m convinced that is exactly what happened.”

Grappling hooks were hurriedly obtained and the
pond was dragged. Three hours later a burlap wrapped
bundle was brought to the surface of the little lake.
Inside was the bloated body of Peter Van Nearop. He
was identified beyond any doubt by the
tattooed woman on his left forearm .. .

Joe Martin had little to say in the face of
this contradictory climax to his story. “I
knew you killed him,” the sheriff said softly.
“I knew it while you were telling me that
fancy story of Joe Davis doing the job.
You saw Davis there, I’m not denying that.
But after Van Nearop paid him off, Davis
left. That’s when you came into the camp,
talked to Pete and, later, killed him.”

-“T don’t know how you could be so posi-
tive,” Yeager said admiringly. “I felt there
was at least room for doubt.”

“How could there be?” Isham asked.
“Both Davis and Martin said the argument
took place at nine o’clock. But if you re-
member, those farmers heard old Pete
pleading with his killer just one hour later.
That’s why I knew the body would be in
that pond as soon as Cress showed us how it
could have been put there.”

Still another surprise was in store, how-
ever, when an autopsy performed on the
body of the murdered trader revealed that
death had been caused by drowning. Mar-
tin, it seemed, had knocked his victim un-
conscious. Thinking Van Nearop dead, he
placed the body in the water.

White-haired Joe Martin sullenly con-
sidered the evidence arrayed against him.
“There’s no use denying it any longer,” he
said finally. ‘I was flat broke,-but I knew
Pete had plenty of money. I wanted it...
and I killed him, just as you said. That’s
why I went back to his camp. But when I
overheard the argument with this fellow
Davis I figured he’d get the blame for the
murder. Even then I didn’t want the body
found, just in case I should become in-
volved. So I wrapped it in burlap and
weighted everything down with an oil-
field pulley wheel.”

Davis admitted that he had made a tem-
porary walk with the used planks, just as
Attorney Cress had deduced. “I had to get

“That
“Martin’s

a Cunning Murderer!

If Davis killed him, the body is concealed else-'

Sheriff H. H. Isham holds the murder weapon.
let of shrewd detective-work uneovered a crime which might
never have come to light.

rid of the body,” he explained, “and I knew my foot-
prints would show. Afterward, I pushed the planks
into the water and waded around the edge until I found
a place where I could step out without leaving any
tracks. That’s about all there was to it, except to break
camp and drive away.”

That was all, but it was enough. Since the pulley-
wheel had not been found when the body was recov-
ered, Sheriff Isham ordered the pond dragged still a
second time. And finally the grapplers brought up a
fifty-pound steel wheel which Martin identified as the
one to which he had tied his victim.

Peter Van Nearop was slain on the night of July 27,
1932. By August 1, Sheriff Isham and his men had
apprehended the slayer and obtained a signed confes-
sion. Seventeen days later; Joe Martin pleaded guilty
to first degree murder and threw himself on the mercy
of the court.

District Judge John S. Burger presided at the trial and
considered the evidence offered by defense counsel and
the prosecuting attorneys. But nowhere could he find
extenuating circumstances which would justify mercy
being shown to the cold-blooded slayer. The sentence
was death.

Joe Martin immediately appealed his case, but the
verdict of Judge Burger was upheld by the criminal
court of appeals. And shortly after.midnight, May 5,
1933, he went stoically to his death in the electric chair.

A huneh and a

Isham proved worthy of his post.

10 heard the fight
oe. Maybe Van
irderer.”

irder him?” Cress

Vhy would Van
matter? But he
tried to make a

“That sounds
the woman who
»0, to prevent her
Where is Pete’s
the murderer is

*n wagon carrying

o these questions.
ns were contacted
wagon and teams.
vass all the roads
Sheriff Isham had
ir one thing, if Van
would likely dis-

first opportunity.

leeated one of
anions, a woman
killer’s identity.

1 his deputies, “if
lt of an argument,
r must live in this
ho he dealt with
was made. Then
wasn’t at all diffi-
a horse swap the
liscussed pro and
By making a few
1am learned that a
cevious night that
rith the dirty end

”’ on Joe,” Isham’s
satisfaction.

A “heaver” is a
d has acquired an
It to detect until
mal. Isham knew
1an with a temper

1e said cautiously.

HE Davis place was a dozen miles from town but the

sheriff covered the distance in nothing flat. He was
thinking of the man who had cried: “Don’t hit me again,
Joe!” Was Joe Davis the man who had struck the blow?
Had he sought reprisal because he had been bested in a
trade? The sheriff found his man at the barn and
wasted no time in preliminaries.

“I hear you got beat in a horse deal,” he said bluntly.

Davis grinned sourly. “Only for a couple of hours.”

“How come?”

“T hunted him up.
money.”

Isham narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. ‘Mind telling
me about it, Joe?”

“Not at all.” The farmer picked up a stalk of timothy
hay and rolled it tooth-pick fashion between his teeth.
“This fellow wanted to swap a gray work gelding-for a
little sorrel driving mare I had. Well, I figured I could
use a draft horse better than the sorrel so I swapped
even up with the understanding that both horses were
sound. Then I found the gray had the heaves.”

“How did you manage to find the trader again, Joe?”

Davis laughed.
a good camping spot and I told him about the old oil
pit. He said he figured he and the woman would put up
there. Well, about nine o’clock last night I got out the

Made him give me some boot

ACN

f Ms 8
A section of the artificial pond created by an old
oll-pit where the slaying took place. There didn’t
seem te be any evidence that it concealed a corpse.

1 \aehh

car and went to see him. We argued awhile and then
he forked over the boot I asked for and everyone was
happy.”

Isham asked: “You sure that’s all that happened,
Joe?”

“Certainly!” Davis drew his brows together.
makes you think it’s not?”

The sheriff looked at him squarely. ‘Nothing .. .
except that we have reason to believe that trader was
murdered last night.” ;

Davis tossed his hay stalk away with a violent gesture.
“It wasn’t me, sheriff! You’re barking up the wrong
tree. But I’ll be around if you think different at any
time.”

“Tl count on that,” Isham said.
away won’t do you any good.”

Unable to make an arrest without more concrete
evidence to back his hand, the sheriff returned to Perry
and was informed that a call had been received from.
Waynoka. Peter Van Nearop, according to officials
there, had left home in May, driving a comparatively

“What

“Because running

County Attorney Paul Cress solved the mystery of
the oil-pit and confirmed Sheriff Isham’s growing
suspicion ef the grim. murderer’s actual identity.

“That was easy. The guy asked fof «

late model Ford. He Had drawn $400 from the bank
before leaving and planned to sell the car en route when
he was ready to engage in his horse-trading activities.

“That doesn’t help us much,” Isham said discour-
agedly.

“Maybe not,” Yeager told him. ‘But the sheriff at
Pawnee learned something worthwhile. He managed to
locate that trader with the little girl. This fellow knew
Van Nearop, but he says there was another man with
him in addition to the woman.”

Isham started. “Another man? Who?”

Yeager shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody knows...
yet. But while they were talking the woman mentioned
that she had relatives living near here. From what I
gather she intended to stay with them‘ for awhile. I
know the people and where they live . ...”

Isham grabbed his hat. ‘“Let’s get going,” he said.

_At a dilapidated shack several miles in the country,
their search came to an end. A young woman, who
identified herself as Bertha Gordon, readily admitted
that she had traveled across the country with the elderly
Van Nearop.

“I was in Kansas and wanted to get home,” she
explained. “Pete said he’d take me with him if I’d
do the cooking. It was really a lot of fun, camping out
and everything. But after we picked up Joe Martin
I was glad when the trip ended. He was never satisfied.”

Isham blinked his eyes. ‘Who was this other man?”

he asked. ‘Where is he now?”
, Joe lives in Watonga, Oklahoma,” the girl explained.
“Pete brought him in from the Kansas border. But they
quarreled a lot‘and yesterday morning Joe said he’d had
enough and was going on by himself. He left the outfit
and then Pete brought me here. I guess he’s all alone
now, too.’

“Pete’s dead,” Isham said quietly.

“Oh, no!”

The sheriff nodded gravely.
was murdered last night.”

The girl’s face was pale.
it?” .

“We don’t know. Suppose you describe him for us.”

“Tll try,” she said hesitatingly. ‘For one thing, Joe
was almost as old as Pete. But he had white hair
SOG. oy

“We're pretty sure he

“Do you ... think Joe did

nannies . - as aiasinncniati

CIDE,

andthe

Ee ee _
rERRITORY’S FIRST EXECUTI
, Glenn shirley

ds, wearing a dark
k-billed cap, and
shoes with elastic
»s known as “con-
the subject ducked
the siding and ran
Church promptly
< him into custody.
: the name Francis
weapon. His pock-
et of letters, thirty-
_a fine gold watch
irk,” and a railroad
see purchased in
otters, written from
iddressed to John
- of Gabe Clark,
», When the suspect
ch for ‘his release,
t he would “pay lib-
ficer hauled him off |

[sic] all about...and at every corner

up that he broke down and admitted the
horrible crime.” Milligan had worked
for Gabe Clark in Oklahoma
Territory; “the old man refused to f
pay him and tried to run him off.” A. § #3
week before, Clark had*traded a
span of mules for a team of horses
and seventy-five dollars cash, and
Milligan determined to obtain the:
wages due him and return to
Tennessee. After supper,
November 2, he again demanded
his pay, and “the old man came
at him with an ax.” Milligan
“wrested the weapon from his
- hands and struck him in the .
head.” During the struggle, _
Mrs. Clark “kept beating him
with billets of wood,” and
after “quieting” her husband, °
he turned on the woman and
“split open her face.” He
was “singularly reticent” in
describing his assault on
the little girl beyond stat- 5
ing that she “kept handing —
her grandmother wood f
‘sticks to continue the ff
attack upon him. “I
could see I had finished
them,” Milligan said. “I
took old Clark’s watch

irough the depart- |
sgrams and wanted |
ind the item plaguing |
slipped from the St.
rcrat a few days pre-

e November slayings

his wife, Hannah, and

irder of their seven-

zhter, Amelda, on the
‘anadian River, north-

. City. John Milligan

as the murderer. His

with Odin.

«ch was convinced he

. prize,” the Globe-

»d. “He led the negro place.” 1893.

Op WEST WINTER 1995

and the money due me, . Report on the Milligan case: nee
and hurried from the from the Oklahoma Press Gazette, November 13,

In Oklahoma Territory, however, » trary to Milligan’s story. Gabe Clark
clinched facts obtained from-the letters. Oklahoma County Sheriff John had come from Cottage Home,
until he had Milligan so badly mixed Fightmaster had developed facté:con- Tennessee, early in September to make

the race for homes in the Cherokee
Outlet. Failing to obtain a claim, he had
leased part of a quarter section from a
man named Freeman on the Deep
uthoy Fork, and constructed a barn
aay and log cabin. In October, his
wife and granddaughter
4 Amelda arrived from Ten-
nessee with the family’s hired
=| man, John Milligan. Times were
hard with the Clarks. When they
finally told Milligan he would
have to find work elsewhere, he
became angry and made threats
against them.

The morning of November 3,
Freeman serit his daughter to the
Clark home to pick up some of
Gabe’s mule money as rent due on
the leased part of his quarter-section.
The girl found Clark, his wife, and lit-
tle Amelda lying on the floor covered
with blood. Horrified, she ran home
and told her parents. They notified
Sheriff Fightmaster, who rushed an
ambulance and a physician to the cabin.
«Hannah Clark was dead. Amelda
was alive, but unconscious. Gabe Clark
aroused enough to ask the condition of
his wife and granddaughter. The throats
of all three had been slashed, and Clark
and his wife dealt fearful blows with an
ax. Amelda’s condition was serious,

courtesy Of the A

would live with proper care. Clark died

but the physician pronounced that she _

Shortly after being removed to
Oklahoma City, but lived to detail the
Deep Fork tragedy.

The family had retired about ten
o’clock the night of November 2.
Waiting until they were asleep,
Milligan crept into the bedroom armed
with an ax and a razor. He knew that
Hannah Clark kept her husband’s
money in a cloth belt about her waist,
and was the stronger of the two, and he
killed her first. The blow awoke Clark,
who grappled with Milligan until struck
with the ax. The brute then turned on
the child, who was awake and scream-
ing, slashed her throat, took Clark’s
watch and the money, and fled.

Sheriff Fightmaster had picked up
Milligan’s trail a mile and a half west of
the Clark place, where he had hired
another farmer to take him to Guthrie to
catch a northbound train on the Santa
Fe. The sheriff telegraphed Milligan’s
description to cities in Kansas and
Missouri and, theorizing that the fugitive
was trying to get back to Tennessee,
asked the territorial press to send dis-
patches to major newspapers along the
route, which had resulted in his capture,

Courtesy of the Author
Sheriff C.H. DeFord. Milligan’s execution became

one of his first responsibilities,

Fightmaster, heavily armed, returned
Milligan to Oklahoma City on
November 11, and lodged him in a steel
cage in the county jail. Late in the
evening, when, Bightmaster opened the
cage door and ordered him to step out
to be observed by witnesses and inter-
viewed by an Oklahoma Daily Press-
Gazette reporter, Milligan “seemed
More intent on’ filling a corncob pipe
with some cigar scraps which he pul-
verized in the palm of his hand with
careful deliberation.” Not until the
Sheriff “repeated the command in
sharper tone” did Milligan step into the
jail corridor and remove his duck-billed
cap for a better inspection. His story
varied considerably from what he had
told the East St. Louis police. He also
was “vague” about his movements after
leaving the Clark cabin and the amount
of money taken from the dead woman’s
belt. “He showed scarcely a trace of
cunning...it being evident that he
lacked sufficient wit to tell a lie and
Stick to it without contradicting himself
in the next breath,” wrote the Press-
Gazette reporter. rn

Milligan was indicted in Oklahoma
County and tried for mur-
der the first week of
February 1894, before
Judge Henry W. Scott of
the territory’s Third
Judicial District, In
graphic language, though
childlike and broken, little
Amelda Clark told how
Milligan had killed her
grandpa and grandma with
the ax and-razor. The
wounds on her own face
and neck, only half
healed, were powerful
evidence, and Milligan’s
defense was so flimsy that
it was a matter of general
surprise when the jury
took as long as it did to
reach a verdict. The jury
received Judge Scott’s
instructions in mid-after-
noon, Saturday, February
10, but it was past mid-
‘night, on Sunday, Feb-
Tuary 11, before they
decided that Milligan
should suffer the death
penalty.

Milligan’ s court-appointed attorneys
promptly moved for a new trial on
grounds that the court’s examination of
Amelda Clark out of the jury’s pres-
ence “as to her age, knowledge of the
facts and the nature and obligations of
an oath administered to her...did not
justify the court in permitting witness
to testify before the jury” and that the
court erred in “receiving the verdict of
the jury upon the Sabbath.” Judge Scott
Overruled the motion and set Milligan’s
trip to the gallows for ten 0’clock,
Friday morning, April 6. The attorneys
appealed to the territorial] supreme
court and, on April 3, obtained a Stay of
execution. At its next regular setting in
June, however, the higher court ruled
that Amelda Clark, “despite her age
and condition...was capable of receiv-
ing just impressions of the facts
respecting which she was examined
and of relating them truly,” and that
when a court is by law in session, “it is
as much in session on the Sabbath as on
any other day of the week.” The judg-
ment of the district court was affirmed
and the case “remanded for further pro-
ceedings under the sentence.”

Hundreds jammed the courtroom as
Milligan was again brought before J udge
Scott on November 19. The. Oklahoma
City Times-Journal of November 10
described the proceedings:

The negro’s [sic] attorneys inter-
posed a demurrer to the order of the
supreme court on the ground that it
was not full enough; did not give this
court power to name the day of exe-
cution. Judge Scott Overruled the
demurrer and requested the defendant
to stand up.

Milligan rose to his feet, stolid,
indifferent. .. Showing in every feature
of his face and movement the animal
nature which possessed him. He did
not blink an eye or change expression
during the judge’s solemn and
impressive charge; the vast audience
was as still as death...and a sigh of
relief went up from them with the
pronouncement that he “be confined
until the 11th of January 1895, at
which time you will be taken within
the walls or yard of the county jail of
Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Territory, or some convenient, private
place within said county, said terri-

OLD West

tory
the 1
dead

The
Oklaho:
tory’s
Oklahon
organiza

One |}
the terr
executio
of John
ion, and
Deep Fx
had bee:
dead m:
before Juc
hanged o1

A SC
near the (
nated by
tion, wou!
boost hi:
Cages, wh
the windo
testing thi
200-pound
the rope br
and burst a
demned m:
comatose
physician
grown weal
granted a s
case by the

Also, Oh
Sheriff. In ;
after a
Republican
Fightmaster

DeFord \
and former |
the war, he h

‘tile business

Greenwood (
served two te
ing to Okla}
1889. Since t
ous law enfor
ing deputy |
Milligan’s e)
DeFord’s firs:
A judicio.
DeFord detern
Success. Firs)
Due to Philli;
Milligan’s ey

WINTER 1995

ited attorneys
1ew trial on
‘amination of
jury’s pres-
vledge of the
bligations of
her...did not
itting witness
and that the
the verdict of
* Judge Scott
set Milligan’s
ten o’clock,
rhe attorneys
ial supreme
ined a stay of
ular setting in
er court ruled
spite her age
ble of receiv-
of the facts
as examined
ily.” and that
session, “it is
Sabbath as on
‘k.”” The judg-
was affirmed
x further pro-
ce.”
courtroom as
it before Judge
The Oklahoma
November 10

yrneys inter-
order of the
round that it
not give this
day of exe-
erruled the
he defendant

feet, stolid,
every feature
nt the animal
him. He did
ge expression
solemn and
vast audience
ind a sigh of
vem with the
“be confined
iary 1895, at
taken within
county jail of

Oklahoma
onient, private
ty, said terri-

OLp WEST

story, and then and there be hanged by
the neck until you are dead, dead,
dead!”

The question now arose whether
Oklahoma County or Guthrie, the terri-
tory’s capital city, would conduct
Oklahoma’s first legal hanging since its
organization as a territory in May 1890.

One Robert J. Phillips languished in
the territorial jail at Guthrie awaiting
execution for the May 5, 1894, slaying
of John T. Willis, a traveling compan-
ion, and throwing his body into the
Deep Fork of the Canadian. Phillips
had been captured in Texas, with the
dead man’s team and outfit, tried
before Judge Scott, and sentenced to be
hanged on November 23.

A SCAFFOLD had been erected
near thé Guthrie jail, and Phillips, fasci-
nated by the progress of its construc-
tion, would have a couple of prisoners
boost him to-the top of one of the
cages, where he could watch through
the window. When the workers were
testing the mechanical action with a
200-pound sack of sand as a dummy,
the rope broke; the sand fell with a thud
and burst across the platform. The con-
demned man collapsed and went into a

comatose state that puzzled the jail ,

physician. He had éaten little and
grown weaker each day, and had been
granted a stay pending review of his
case by the supreme court.

Also, Oklahoma County had a new
sheriff. In the fall elections of 1891,
after a hard-fought campaign,
Republican C.H. DeFord had defeated
Fightmaster.

DeFord was a native Pennsylvanian
and former Union Army captain. After
the war, he had engaged in the mercan-
tile business in Tennessee, and later, in
Greenwood County, Kansas, where he
served two terms as sheriff before com-
ing to Oklahoma in the land rush of
1889. Since then he had served in vari-
ous law enforcement capacities, includ-
ing deputy United States marshal.
Milligan’s execution became one of
DeFord’s first responsibilities.

A judicious, painstaking officer,
DeFord determined to make the event a

success. First, he needed a gallows.

Due to Phillips’ condition, and with
Milligan’s execution imminent, he

WINTER 1995

-. about eleven feet from the

arranged to have the Guthrie
scaffold. dismantled and
removed to Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma City Times-
Journal described it as “an
ingenious contrivance...prob-
ably nothing like it was ever
used before. The inventor, a
Guthrie contractor, made a
drawing of the apparatus, sent
it to Washington, and was
ordered to go ahead. It con-
sists of thirty-four. pieces,
each of which fits into the
other neatly and held together
strongly by fifty-four leg bolts
and other wood screws. Steps
in front lead to a platform

ground, in the center of which

is the trap door.-Above the
platform about eight feet is

Courtesy of the Author

the staple to which the rope is Dr. John R. Furlong, Oklahoma City’s mysteri-
attached. Underneath, the ous doctor-healer.

door is held by an iron piece

to which is attached a rope

running through pulleys and pulled tight
to any point from which it can be cut,
and down goes the trap.”

Milligan had shown no sign of
remorse for his crimes nor uneasiness
over his impending fate. He seemed to
enjoy the solitude of his cage, received
his meals regularly and sent his plates
away scrupulously empty. The arrival
of the gallows in the jail yard, however,
brought a different reaction.

On New Year’s Day, he was allowed
to take his noon meal in the corridor
with the other prisoners. When the
guards were momentarily distracted,
Milligan leaped through the glass of the
corridor’s front door and fled east from
the city with scores of men in pursuit.
With two inches of snow on the ground,
he could be tracked easily. Bareheaded,
barefooted, and in shirt sleeves, he
sought shelter in a barn near Chaddick,
where he was captured the next
evening. Authorities returned him to his
cage and placed a double watch over
him.

On January 4, DeFord received the
rope to be used in the execution—a
seven-eighths-inch hempen fiber of
three strands that already had been

tested on half a dozen criminals by ©

George Maledon, the famed hangman

for Judge, Isaac C. Parker’s federal

court at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Maledon
included instructions for tying and
positioning the big knot to break a
man’s neck rather than strangling him.

On January 8, Milligan was weighed
and measured in his cage. “A suit of
black worsted clothes, a pair of shoes, a
shirt, a collar and'necktie were pur-
chased, and a black cap made to order,”
said the Times-Journal.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's office was
deluged with applications to witness
the event. DeFord explained why he
could not accommodate everybody,
quoting the territorial statute that regu-
lated his duty: “The sheriff...must
invite the presence by at least three
days notice of the district attorney,
together with one physician and twelve
reputable citizens, to be selected by
him. He must also...permit any minis-
ter or ministers of the Gospel whom the
defendant may name, and any of his
relatives or friends, not to exceed
five...and such peace officers as he
may deem proper. But no person other
than those mentioned...can be present
at the execution.”

“Accordingly, the scaffold was
erected in the corner of the yard back of
the jail and enclosed by a high board
fence. There was no way to shut out
entirely the view from the rooftops of

the high buildings adjoining the yard,
but DeFord determined to make the
execution as private 4s possible. The
rope that sprang the trap he ran to a
small cook shack just west of the scaf-
fold, and he placed a screen before the
entrance so that no spectator,
regardless of his perch, could

doing the best they can considering
their knowledge, environments and
developments. ..People naturally gravi-

- tate to that religion which is best suited

to their natures and intelligence. All
religions and politics must come

know who cut the rope for the hic ppt

fatal fall. -

Then all proceedings came
to a standstill—due to the
efforts of Oklahoma City’s
mysterious doctor-healer, John
R. Furlong. Furlong had
attracted national attention
because of his extraordinary
sympathy and untiring efforts in
behalf of the poor, sick, and
distressed, and the “strange,
wonderful cures” he had per-
formed. A native of Shrough,
county of Tipperary, Ireland, he
had been reared in the Roman
Catholic faith and come to
Syracuse, New York, in 1871 at -
age sixteen, where he studied
Latin, French, and mathematics
at Cazenova Seminary, and
later, for the priesthood under
Archbishop Lynch of Toronto,
Canada. The archbishop’s the-
ology did not satisfy the best
reason and loftiest impulses of
his youthful pupil, however.
Two years later, Furlong left
the Catholic Church to “impar-
tially” read and study the Bible.

“While the Bible contains

The Date of John

tion Fixed.

Courtesy of the Author

much that is good and true and Oklahoma State Capital, November 20, 1894.

moral, it contains many things
that require credulity to
believe,” Furlong maintained. “There
are in the world today, more inspired
writers, truthful prophets who clearly
discern spirits, and more genuine heal-
ers than when St. Paul wrote the 12th
chapter of his first epistle to the
Corinthians.” In reference to Christ as
the son of God, he said, “We are all
sons of God...it has been demonstrated
to me beyond a reasonable doubt that
man retains his individuality after his
dissolution of the physical body...and
has beef seen, heard and felt by man in
the physical body.” :
Although he belonged to no church,
Furlong did not assail religion. nor its
ministers, holding that “they are all

through a natural, moral and intellec-
tual growth...To force religious and
political principle upon a people before
they have progressed far enough to
receive it would be like taking a crude
Indian out of a wigwam and placing
him in a palace—he would soon gravi-
tate to the breechcloth and tepee.”

‘Too, it was a “wonder” to Furlong
how people could be foolish and bar-
barous enough to live under a system in
which ‘competition involved the neces-
sities of life. How could each person
“strive, work and act so as to accumu-
late for himself regardless of the inter-
ests and conditions of his neighbors,
when in truth and in fact the whole

human family is so connected that what
effects one, effects all?”

In 1887 Furlong had joined a
“nationalist” or “co-operative” colony
in California, where he and hundreds of
others had spent thousands of dollars

putting to a practical test the
theory of socialism originating
in‘Edward Bellamy’s novel of
reform, Looking Backward. “Tt
would have proved a successful
operation, except for govern-
ment interference,” he claimed.
Afterwards, in Kansas, Fur-
long published a paper in
defense of union labor and
espoused the principles of the
People’s Party “as a step
towards complete nationaliza-
tion of every industry.” He
served as secretary of the
party’s central committee after
coming to Oklahoma in 1889,
and was chairman of the terri-
torial convention in 1892. The
following winter he served as
president of the Board of Relief
of Oklahoma City, organized
mainly through his efforts, and
in May 1894, he took an active
part in the Commonweal Army
movement. The Common-
wealers of the territory, some
2,200 strong, elected him gen-
eral.

Furlong wrote a great deal
for the newspapers on all sub-
jects, seeking no argument nor
shrinking from one. For nine

years he had “investigated
Occult Forces and the discover-

ies of the Psychical Research
Society of London, New York and
Boston.” The study brought him in con-
tact with the phenomenon known as
spiritualism, and he “got or mastered
the power of healing the sick without

‘the use of drugs or medicine.”

According to sworn statements of
scores of responsible people—city,
county, and court officials, school
teachers, mechanics, and farmers—he
had rid them of various diseases almost
instantly, and often after they had been
pronounced incurable by regular physi-
cians.

Whether he cured people through his
knowledge of occult forces, spiritual-
ism, hypnotism, God, or the devil, no

OLp WEST

——

one could say. Bt
reckoned with. H
Milligan’s plig
“nothing is goo:
pain, discord an:
world” and bitt
punishment.
Oklahoma T«
run with murder
ravaged by such
Daltons, Doolin:
the entire popu!
unlikely place |
the likes of Mi!
pathy Furlong ©
tee of more th:
upon Judge
William C. Re!
to intercede wit
Judge Scott
been indicted.
by a jury of hi
he must pay \
verdict, Judge
to pronounce |
gallows. Th
remanded the

Oklahoma

WINTER 14)

of love
3 find as

lanagers
utterly
ey would
you or I
chere are
And one
2 cabaret
f Juarez.
‘ore” she
aret.
le to my
iny with
ns, with-
ht a man
rl’s room
1eant by
went up
poor kid
bout. I
ou know
ouple of
yet.”
or thirty
fession.”
e cabaret
hing but
makes a
m repeal
er once
osed for
t of
the

d her.
in the

homeless
Reverend
the First
: 16th de
re Good
|

‘ECTIVE

Tom, bd

wily he ede lek m 9

Cc he 9

“Il Was Accused of

Murder!’

Death seemed inevitable for this Oklahoma man,
lodged in jail and accused of the horrible double
Yet from his cell he
directed investigations and trapped a brutal
slayer, avenging his parents and saving his own

life from the chair.

murder of his parents.

wrong at the Joseph P. House

residence in the suburbs of Mc-
Alester, Oklahoma, on that quiet Mon-
day morning, November 28, 1932. For
when a Muskogee bread salesman called
at the little grocery operated by my
father and stepmother at A and Kiowa
streets, he found the store still closed at
7:30 in the morning.

With speculative gaze the salesman
eyed our house which lay just across a
vacant lot from the store. He decided
to investigate. Luckily, Officer John
Meyers chanced to be passing. Quickly
the salesman told him of the unusual
state of affairs and soon the two men
were crossing the open lot toward the
House residence.

Although no sound came from the
closed house, the men were aware of a
distinct feeling of apprehension, as if
they half expected some fearful circum-
stance to materialize. Repeated knock-
ing and shouting at the door brought no
response. Meyers then stepped across
a flower-bed to the window on the west
side of the house and peered inside. An
instant later he uttered a horrified ex-
clamation:

“My God, they’re both dead! Joe
House, there on the bed, and Mrs.
House on the floor. I know they’re
dead !”

Through the gloom of the room it
was impossible to see distinctly, but the
position of the bodies left no doubt in
his mind. One thing, and one thing
only, crashed into Meyer’s brain.
Murder!

This was clearly a matter for the
police, and he hastily called headquarters.

ADVENTURES

Seta was obviously very

By THOMAS R. HOUSE

Special Investigator

A deputy sheriff examines the
bloodstained murder weapon for
clues to its wielder.

No man ever faced a more harrow-

ing ordeal than Thomas R. House,

falsely accused of the murder of,
his father and stepmother.

“Send some men out to Joe House's.
There’s trouble here.”

Ernest Ambrose, motorcycle patrol-
man, was dispatched immediately to the
House residence, and it was only a
matter of minutes until the men were
breaking open the locked door. Through
the funeral-like quiet of the little home
they stepped to the door of the bed-
room, led by Ambrose.

The gruesome sight which met their
eyes froze the blood in their veins!
Stretched crosswise on the bed and
half-covered with red-stained bedclothes,
lay the body of Joseph House, his head
and face brutally hacked until almost
unrecognizable. On the floor, sur-'
rounded by pools of blood, lay the body
of his wife in the same terrible state.
Blood was everywhere, on the bodies,
bedding and floor, Even the walls were
splattered with the red stains, The dried
condition of the stains showed that the
double murder had been committed
many hours before, probably early the
preceding night.

Stunned by the terrible discovery,
Patrolman Ambrose phoned back to
headquarters. Chief of Police Ott Read
notified Assistant County Attorney
W. J. Counts, and Sheriff Robert
Lackey, who lost no time in reaching

48 Master Detective

“You were sentenced to three years for robbing the Tom
Fabry store.”

“Yes, sir.” ‘

“That was your sixth felony conviction, was it not?”

“Yes, Sir.’

“By the way, what did you do with the shoes they issued
to you? | see you are wearing new ones now.”

“T bought these the day after I got out and burned the
ones they gave me.”

Reed produced the gloves we had found in the trunk.

“These “are yours ?”

“Y ésx'site

“How did the blood get on them?”

“T killed a chicken the other day, and it got on them
then.”

A FEW perfunctory questions followed. Morris was re-
turned to his cell and the negress was brought into the
office. ;

“What is your name?” asked Chief Reed.

“Blanche Littlejohn.”

“What do you know about this boy, Morris?”

“Well, he’s been staying at my place since
he got out and we were going to Muskogee
where he could get a job.”

“How much money have you,
Blanche?”

It was the question of
Deputy Sheriff Grady
Anderson (right) ‘““Have
you a gun?” addressed
to the suspect who was
loitering at the railroad
station that brought
startling results

(Above) Bob Shackelford, Bertillon expert at the
Oklahoma State Prison, who assisted the officers
in their efforts to identify the murderer

(Above) Ott Reed, Chief
of Police of McAlester,
Oklahoma, at the time
of this story. He with
four others was slain in
the notorious Kansas
City Union Station
massacre

“Just a few dollars.”
: She opened her purse and extended it
to Reed. The purse contained three
dollars and a small compact.
“Ts this all you have?”
“Yes, sir.”

“Take off your shoes and stockings.”

The woman began to mutter incoherently.

“Remove your shoes and stockings,’ Chief Reed again
commanded.

Trembling, she removed her shoes and as she started to
remove her right stocking, a large bundle of currency fell
to the floor. Reed seized the money and hastily counted it.
The bundle of banknotes amounted to four hundred and
eu te + dollars!

“Blanche, where did you get this money?” Reed asked,
sternly, —

“It's not my money,” the woman screamed. “It belongs
to Tom Morris.”

“Where did he get it?”

“I don’t know. He came in my room the other night and
threw it on the bed. When I asked him where he got it, he
told me he sure worked hard for it.”

“Now, Blanche,” Reed addressed the woman. “You are
in a pretty tough spot. If you don’t want to get into
serious trouble, you had better be very truthful.”

wor sir,” she replied, nervously twisting her handker-
chief.

“What night was it that Morris brought the money to
your room?’

“Sunday night, about midnight.”

“When he came in, was he wearing his new shoes?”

“No, sir. He was wearing his old shoes and pants.”

“Where are his old shoes now?”

“In the other trunk.”

(Continued on page 80)

Master Detective

The Red Riddle of Oklahoma’s Axe Atrocities

With this statement, the woman
reached in the bosom of her dress and
produced a baggage check.

Chief Reed seized the baggage check
with one hand, his hat with the other and
dashed for the door.

“Lock her up,” he called over his
shoulder. “I'll be back in a minute!”

To the waiting men, it seemed ages un-
til his return, but shortly he reentered the
office, carrying in each hand a_prison-
made shoe.

“TL think we have our man,” he avowed.

Still standing. he lifted the telephone
and placed a call to the Bertillon depart-
ment at the prison.

“@HACKELFORD,” he said, when the
connection had been completed,
“come in and bring the plaster cast, | be-
lieve we've found the shoe that matches it.”
After a few interminably long minutes,
Bob Shackelford arrived at the station
house carrying the cast in his hand. Im-
mediately, a comparison of the shoe and
cast was made. For some time the Ber-
tillon expert examined the shoe with a
magnifying lens and measured the dis-
tances between the projecting tacks.
Without a word, he passed the lens and
rule to Reed who examined and measured
the objects as had the expert.

“This is the shoe, bevond a doubt,” said
Reed.

Shackelford nodded in agreement.

“Now we'll have Morris in.”

Hour after hour we grilled the negro
who stoutly denied any guilty knowledge
of the murders. and stuck to his state-
ment that he had won the money by
gambling. Finally, after four and one
half hours of continued questioning, the
prisoner, weak and shaken, nodded in
agreement to an accusation hurled at him
by Chief Reed.

“Yes, | did it. All I want is a square
deal.”

A confession was quickly typed, signed
and witnessed. In his statement, his super-
stition was evident: “I covered the wo-
man’s head with the sheet because I al-
ways heard that if vou killed anyone
while they were looking at you the police
could take a picture of the dead person’s
eyeballs and tell who did it!”

As quickly as possible. we loaded Mor-
ris into the department car and_ trans-
ported him to the prison until such time
as he should be brought to trial for the
axe murders'of Mr. and Mrs. Joe House.

(Continued from page 48)

Until December 6th, 1932, Morris was
held at the prison for safekeeping. On
that date he was formally charged with
first degree murder, arraigned before Jus-
tice of the Peace A. C. Sewell and bound
to district court. Charges of murder were
filed in district court in and for Pittsburg
County, January 3lst, 1933. On March
27th, 1933, Morris was brought to trial

Traced by keen detective work, this
man finally admitted his guilt

before Judge Harve L. Melton, Judge of
the District Court.

County Attorney Frank L. Watson and
his assistant W. J. Counts prosecuted the
case in a very commendable manner. Step
by step, the evidence. as we had uncovered
it, was presented. When the plaster cast
was offered as an exhibit, attorneys for
the defense objected vigorously, but after
Chief Reed explained its origin and the
manner in which it was made, Judge Mel-
ton overruled these objections. The cast
was admitted as evidence.

HORTLY after court convened on the

second day of the trial, the case was
given to the jury for consideration. Two
hours later they returned their verdict.

“Guilty as charged with no recom-
mendation for mercy.”

Immediately, Tom Morris was sen-
tenced to die in the electric chair at the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary, one mile
from the scene of the murders.

Blanche Littlejohn was released from
custody. She was innocent of any con-
nection with the crime.

On November 24th, 1933, two men were
to die in the electric chair at the State
Prison. They were Tom Morris and Ear!
Quinn, convicted killer of Jessie Gril-
fith, young school-teacher of Bristow, Ok-
lahoma.

Housed in death row, in the basement
of the administration building, the two
doomed men scoffed at any suggestion
that they would be put to death. For
weeks, rumors of a disquieting nature had
been reaching the keepers, warnings to
look for trouble if Quinn and Morris were
executed,

Al two minutes past midnight, Novem-
ber 24th, two hundred witnesses
marched from the administration offices.
through the rotunda, across a corner of
the recreation yard, down a short flight ot
steps and into a long passage leading to
the execution chamber. Upstairs, grim-
faced guards paced back and forth in cell
corridors, alert for any sign of the prom-
ised riot. Inside tower guards clutched
tear-gas guns and peered intently at half-
darkened windows. Extra riflemen
manned the walls. An ominous hush
seemed to menace the entire institution.

In the execution chamber, beneath the
rotunda, white-faced witnesses were seate |
in rows, facing the electric chair within its
barred enclosure.

A shuffle of feet broke the monotonous
sound of dynamos as the door from death
row opened. A minister entered first, fol-
lowed by Tom Morris and two husky
guards,

“Have you anything to say?” the War-
den asked Morris.

“It looks like the game is up,” muttered
the negro, and began to sink to the floor.

Quickly, the guards seized him and
placed him in the chair, straps were
buckled and a moistened electrode was
clamped to his left leg. In a few sec-
onds the helmet and mask had been fas-
tened in plage. The guards stepped back
as the Warden raised his hand to signal
the executioner.

A spark flashed on the switchboard, the
drone of dynamos swelled. Tom Morris had
received his seventh release from prison.

In short order, Earl Quinn followed
Morris and by 12:30 a. Mm. the last witness
had filed from the administration build-
ing. The guards allowed their taut nerves
to relax. The long promised riot had
failed to materialize and law and order
had again prevailed.

| miss it. In the March True Detective

him and you'll have your murderer.”

True Detective, a Macfadden Publication,

An amazing story of the murderous methods by means of whi:
is the story of Toledo’s struggle with a giant octopus of cri

What has been done by each of the 48 states since Attorne
ago? President Roosevelt, on that occasion,
VIGOROUS WAR ON CRIME. What hap;

How amazingly true this proved to be, the officers discover when
revolver changed hands. Follow the detectives step by step as
strange murderer. You'll enjoy this fact story,

driver? That's what the Sheriff thought at first
trail led in a new and startling direction. Here’:
keeps you wondering who? and how? and why? until the very last line.

Other enthralling fact stories; which will appear in the March True Detective
Killers of Mr. and Mrs. Coleman; Beware the “Broad”
Case of Chicago’s Yellow Kid; Pale Moon Murder—A

sa st

TOLEDO TERROR!

ch gangs obtain their stranglehold on the political and business life of a great city. This
‘ t : me, and its revelations are startling, to say the least. Read how the authorities came to
grips with the organized underworld and by clever and daring methods smashed the damnable ring. This is a stirring epic of the fight on crime. Don’t

32 GOVERNORS MAP CRIME WAR!

y General Cummings called the National Crime Conference in Washington more than a year |
as you will recall, in a ringing speech, personally called upon the nation for an IMMEDIATE AND i
pened? True Detective has just completed a national survey, in which detailed information was

asked for, direct from the governors of the 48 states to incorporate in a report to the American p<ople.

Read the startling result of this survey in the March issue of Taue Detective. It will be a revelation to you!

THE CLUE OF THE OLD SHOES—CINCINNATI’S TWIN SLAYINGS

“Sergeant,” said the shoe ‘expert as he dissected the footwear left behind by the murderer, “

the owner of this shoe is young—poor—about six feet tall
and weighs 160 pounds. He is aman of careless habits, a drinker,

and has spent much time during the last four months outside the State of Ohio. Find

they unravel the riddle of the mysterious telephone call and the gay party at which a
the facts slip into place, and the story told by the shoes leads to the capture of the
which makes the cleverest imaginary deductions of “Sherlock Holmes” seem tame by comparison.

KANSAS’ SINISTER LOVE NEST KILLING

“In the glare of the headlights lay a grotesquely sprawled figure, a big fellow with broad shoulders and powerful hands.”” The victim of a hit-and-run
; but when bloodstains were discovered on the cushions of a jacked-up car parked by a roadside, the
ory with a bizarre background of illicit loves, with rendezvous in a slaughter house; a story that !

are: Maryland's Startling Guilino Mystery; How We Trapped the
Mob; A Strange Affair; Trapping Bogdanoff—Terror of the Underworld; The ‘‘Unbelievable”’
Montana Mystery; The Mystery of the Brown Bottle—Arkansas’ Strange Murder Enigma.
is on sale at all news stands February 5th. Get your copy today.

a Se

Poe

the scene. Shortly afterward the Ber-
tillon expert arrived from the Oklahoma
state prison, located at McAlester,
having been summoned by _ Sheriff
Lackey, and went to work. The bodies
were immediately removed to a funeral
establishment.

Son In Jail

[? WAS an ironical twist of fate that
I, who for many years had been
schooled and trained in the field of
scientific criminal investigation, was
forbidden by circumstance from taking
an active part in the apprehension of
the murderer of my father, Joseph P.
House, and my stepmother, “And now
you have my identity, for I was the son
who, by a trick of chance, was absent
from the house at the time the atrocity
occurred. Unbelievable as it ‘may
sound, I was lodged in the McAlester
city jail on the night of November 27,
on a technical charge of vagrancy, be-
cause of events which have no relation
to the story which I am now relating.
On Sunday afternoon, November 27,
I_ had returned to my father’s home
after a trip to the country. After eat-
_ ing supper at the store which my father
owned and operated, I went to our home
to change into more comfortable shoes.
I left the house about 6:15 and remem-
ber distinctly hearing my father remark
that there would be a good sermon on

Sp? oS
us
pe seve

PRS,

the radio soon. These were the last
words which I was to hear my father
speak,

I walked downtown to a drug store

on Main street and there met an old -

friend. As we were joking carelessly
with one another, an officer came in,
and, taking me to one side, told me that
the chief wanted to see us at the station.
Accordingly we accompanied him to the
city jail, and, finding the chief out, took
up our residence on the second floor
of the jail until morning. As I have
said before, the details regarding this
event are insignificant, with the excep-
tion of one important factor. We noted
and had occasion to call the officer’s at-
tention to the hour, which was exactly
6:50 p. m.

Next morning, about seven o’clock,
I asked to be allowed to call my father,
since I wished to allay any worry on his
part as to my whereabouts. I received
no answer to my call, but as the family
phone was installed in the grocery, I as-

sumed. that my father had slept late and.
‘had’ not -yet opened the store. ee
After breakfast I had my first inkling

that something was wrong when Tom
Abbott, Assistant Chief of Police, asked
me to step into his office. I could see
that he was deeply worried over some-
thing. Once in his office, he wasted no
time in coming to the point.

“Tom, have you’ got an ax, T.mean a

double-bitted one?” he'asked bluntly. —:
Surprised by this abrupt question, I°-

replied: “No, I don’t think so—unless
Dad bought one in the last few days.
The only ax we have is an old short-
handled one, single-bladed. We use it
to prepare “meat for sausage. Why?

Tragedy stalked this modest home, scene of the brutal murders which
shocked Oklahoma. Arrow points to room where the bodies were found.

Has something happened?” A picture
of recently attempted burglaries at the
store flashed through my mind.

“Well, yes. Your dad’s place was

‘broken into last night. Looked like they

used a‘double-bitted ax to pry open the
door.”

His words did not deceive me. From
his disturbed manner I knew that some-
thing more serious than mere burglary
had occurred, but decided to wait until
he told me of his own accord.

Aceused Of Murder

HORTLY after, I was told that

Sheriff Lackey wanted to see me.
He began by asking me numerous ques-
tions regarding my actions during the
preceding evening.

“What time did you leave home yes-
terday afternoon, Tom?” asked the
sheriff,

“About 6:15, I guess. Right after
supper, and looking over the Sunday
papers for a while.”

“Where did you go?”

“Well, I met a friend at the drug
store first and then an officer came in
and said the Chief wanted to see us at
the station. You know all that.” My
good humor was gradually wearing
away. Something was up about which
T knew nothing. ee anata

“Yes, we. know all that. What time

“were you brought in?”

“Tt was just 6:50 when we came into
the jail.”

“How is it that you remember the
time?”

“Well, I mentioned it to the officer
because I had a telephone call to make.

In
gone
word:
seem¢
tried
woulc
men
little
tion ;

Th:
round
sense:
murcd

Itv
ended
Short!
that in
to be
funerz

Ik
short,
office
knew
steppe:
stairs
that <

STARTLING DETECTIVE

ADVS

@) ¢ 1h “ Vv : | ; a wi “—e
GLESBY, Earnest, white, 27, elec. Okla, SP (Oklahoma) V9 38
' «e

fatally wounding Officer Beasley with his pistol. As Beasley
fait over in the back seat, Ferguson jumped from the car.
Sergeant White and Officer Reading started firing. Running
out of the hardware store, Mabe joined in the shooting. J. E.
Ferguson made it only a few steps before he crashed to the
ground dead.

officer John Beasley died on May 21, 1933. Fearing the

loss of more lives, the black box was taken to an isolated

area near Edmond, Oklahoma, where repeated attempts with
Ferguson's trigger mechanism failed to detonate it. The

box was finally wired correctly by the demolition squad and

DIELWBhomMA CVI OK Volic €.
TA or 323-306

Tragedy seems to strike some families more than others.

hele
officer Douglas Gates

officer Jack Gates had been dead only three years when his
brother, Officer Douglas Gates, met a Similar fate. Doug

Gates and his partner, Officer Webb Campbell, observed a sus-

Sd Earnest Oglesby

halted Oglesby's vehicle, and Officer Campbell approached the

The two officers

pected automobile thief nam
car. As Campbell neared the suspect's vehicle, Oglesby gunned
his automobile and began to flee. Officer Campbell jumped

=“ 12 =

Unidentified information sent by Ronald C, Van Raalte

“onto the spare holder of the-vehicle and hung onto it.
Officer Gates pursued both of them in the police vehicle.

As Campbell was hanging on for his life, Oglesby turned
and fired his pistol at him. The bullet came through the
rear glass. Campbell's eyes were cut with flying glass, but
he managed to return fire wounding Oglesby. The suspect lost
control of his automobile, and it crashed into another car
near 23rd and Robinson Street. Officer Gates was immediately
at the scene of the wreck. As he exited the sacut Car,

Oglesby opened fire at the officer. One bullet struck Gates!
police badge and was defected. A second bullet found its mark,
and Officer Douglas Gates joined his bro in the Oklahoma

City Police Department's history, — s later

captured and died in the electric chair for his crime.

Officer Elmer Sacter

1934 brought a new rash of police deaths to Oklahoma City.
The killer's M.O. was wheels and speed. Elmer Sacter, an
Oklahoma City motorcycle officer, died as a result of an
accident on May 23, 1934. Officer Sacter was escorting Post-
master General James H. Farley's automobile caravan on a tour

of the famous 101 Ranch near Ponca City, Oklahoma. The twenty-

a 13 =

ICHOIS, Bennie, black, 31, elec. Okla. SP nea 8-21-1931,
Flect ocuted Oklahoma State rison on August 21

ENNY NICHCLS

Ranner headline ee The Ada News of March 27, 1930--NICHiT WATCHVYAN AT CCMFRESS MURDERED

~, Body of Jorn EH. Horten. found in early morning, back of head beaten te pulp
tf ° : ra)
(noe--I, as young reporter, saw it ard it was gruesore)on floor of Peorle's

sy oN
Comoress. Not much was known about Horton but he was called "Uncle Jack" by Lee
seme friends. Slaving was still e mvstery on March 30. However, at first it -. ft ss
J

Was suegestec that scveore hac dropred off a freight train on the nearby Frisco
Railroad, robbed Horton, killed him and then caught a ride on another freight.

Somehow the officers in questionindsevers] people in the colored section that
was near the compress got sore bits of information that led them to Bennie Nichols,
porter at the Aldridge “ote-l and, as needec, “shine boy" in thé hotel] barbershop.
His shoes ard overal]s had just heen washed when the cfficers arrived at hishhore
to question him. These were taken and sen‘ off to a lab for analysis for any
trac=:s of biood. Now Michols ard a woman were held, e

Cn March 31 complaints were filed on Nichols and Bessie Simpson, krown
as "Black Bess." Informaticn kert comine in slowly until the officers had the
picture but needed corroboration.

Cn Avril 2 some Negro children playing near the tracks found an oak "scantling"
stuck in one of a vile of pipes. One erd hac hair ard dried blocd. A strapring
cclored man, trailed by a growing train of youngstrs ard oldsters, carried the
club, severe) feet long, south cn Broadway to the sheriff's office,

Cfficers found one unwashed sock literally stained with blood. By now Bess
Simpson had involved Michols. Cn April 7 they were helc without bond, he still
protesting his irnocence..

At vreliminary hearing on charges of maxder epson gave an account--that
following his instructions she persuaded Horton into sexual act, got a dollar
from Horton and handed it to Nichols, who was behind cotton beles. Then he
stepped out with the club ard, from behird, knockec Horton down and beat his
head repeatedly. They went to a place nearby and Nichols came out with a pistol
and five one-doller bills. (Horton's purse hac been emvtied) Sheywas scsred by
now ard he threaterec her. She said that she tried to wash his bloody garments
and wiped his shces with a reg. Both were bourd over for trial. (The events
at the compr«ss happered between 3:30 and 4 a.n., she said--the body was found
about 4 a.m.)

Cfficers hat pieced together bits of information and got Sirpsor on
the line.

Nichols was taken to the state penitentiary at McAlester for safekeeping.
By now he was described as frantic, prayinz at the top of his voice and denying
that "I ever killed that man"--this he would maintain steadfastly to his death.

~“

Bernie Nichols (2)

Nichols claimed that his cveralls and shces were stained with oxhlocd
shoe polish srlash<ed on them or wiped from his hands while he wes shining shces
He also claimed that he spent the nicht of Horton's murder with a friend, but
the "friend" wouldn't testify to that.

Cn May 13 trial of Michels and Simpson opened. Both asked for anc received
severance,

After evtersive testironyv, most attention being given to that of Sirpson,
the jury was cut only cne hour, returning to assess the d-ath penalty. Nichols
did net take the stare, saying it would be only to deny the rurder. This was
the thirc death prnal“y assessed in Pontotoe County: the ether .two had escared

the chair,

Cn May 1€ the judge set execution for Aug. 10. When the judge brceucht in |
the Mosaic lew, Thou shalt not kill, Nichels broke in, "Judge, I didn't do that."

He was t
a shadow of h
was eventuall

aken then to the state penitentiary to aweit executicn, slumped,
is former self, Simpson was allowed to leave Ada ard her case
vy dropped as she disapreared from the cormunity for good,

—_—~

Note--I am working now in early 1931 on notes for a history of Ade, and will serd
this as soon as I am sure there are not-any further developments--if there are,

I will irelude them. There was no picture of Nichols--our facilities at that
time were limited in use of local pictures, I do rerem-er one of the officers
tellirg me that despite his cenials Nichols was so nervous that on one

occasion the officer stepped up quietly behind him and, punchec him lightly in

the back and that Nichols jumpec “almost to the ceilirg." T've taken the above
account, from files of The Ada News and added a bit here ard there out of ny
personal knewledg- of the case.

Nichols, 30, was scheduled to die July, but Gov. Bill Murray granted stays ee
executicn until he was finally convinced that "he must reap what he has scwn.

Cn Aug.21 Nichols was executed, vrotesting his innocence until his last word.
Asked bythe warden if he had anything final to say, he said, "Mr. Brown, I am as
irnceent as you ere. It is a dirty shame that I am to die, an inn-cent boy.
That woman I lived with and that man wert out and did it and Jaid it or me,"
However, he did~'t name the other man who "swore my life awey."

. oh
The 117 who watched the execution composed the leartest ever, to that tive,
te witness an execution at the Cklahoma SteatePmitentisry.

Well, T hep this covers what you want ard helps yor out; regret there a8 no a
picture and some other détails you went are missine. Ina way, I rather enjoye
working through the acecunts--I hac berun work for the paver Pa rege sere a
September, went through covering the trial but dicn't get to 'make’ the execution.
So much of the details remaired in mind.

4 pry \r' i Whey 4 MOLL nr

ER canal

Marshal’ Dee Ramsay of Davis,
Oklahoma, examining rock in ‘an
endeavor td discover just how
blood could have stained it when

the automobile pitched off the
bridge.

’ It was finally decided we would take
Sheriff Bose Johnson and return to the’

scene of the accident, and question the
Oliver boys, then decide whether to arrest
Claude ‘and George Oliver on: suspicion
of murder, or to clear them of all sus-
icion. Sheriff Johnson, Under-sheriff
ples and I left Sulphur for Davis
shortly after noon, determined to come
to some conclusion before nightfall.

WE went first to the scene of the acci-
'V dent, on the Price’s Falls Road, and
showed Sheriff Johnson the edge of the
bridge just as we had described it. We
then drove to the home of Noah Oliver,
a brother of Claude, who resided a few
miles west of Davis. Mrs. Oliver an-
swered our knock, and told us the men had
gone to town and were not expected home
till late that evening. As we started
back to the gate to our car, one of the
group halted. He said: “There’s the
a car. Let’s have. a look at it.”

We went back toward the barn and found a Model-T Ford
roadster. The top had been shattered in the wreck, the
tires stripped off, and apparently no attempt had been made
to repair it. We all gathered around the car and looked inside.

“These stains on the floor,” Samples said, opening the
door and leaning farther into the car, “they look like blood.”

“They are blood,” the Sheriff said, leaning closer to join

_ his Under-sheriff in the inspection. “They certainly haven’t

tried to destroy any evidence, anyway.”

Then I remembered the car was supposed to be turned
upside down at the time Della Oliver met her death from
wounds on the head. I visualized the car upside down in
the creek bottom, then spoke: “Unless I’m seeing things,
when this car was turned over the blood from Della Oliver’s
head would either be on the side door or the top. How could
it be on the bottom of the car, unless blood runs uphill?”

“ ATER doesn’t run up hill, neither does blood,” Sheriff

Johnson said slowly. “This blood on the bottom of the
car, the signs of blood you found in the dirt farther up the road,
and the unscarred bridge all indicate the girl was killed in the
car, then driven to the scene of the wreck, and the car pushed
over the bridge. We've got enough to act on, but not. near
enough to prove a murder case. Let’s go find the Oliver

bo has :

tals that evening we located Claude Oliver mingling with
the farmers who had come to Davis for their usual Saturday
afternoon visit. He was arrested, and George was placed
under arrest half an hour later when he came to meet his uncle.
The two were lodged in the Murray County Jail at Sulphur.

On the drive back to. Sulphur we asked George how the
accident happened. He said he and his uncle wanted to go
to Brassfield’s farm to see about buying some chickens,
and when he neared the bridge the car went out of control.
He wasn’t exactly sure what had poy eer The Sheriff
brought up the subject of insurance to laude, and received
an answer that surprised us all. “I took out a $5,000 policy

Par’

on mysc

was & £
Oliver’s
if we ha
his inco
men ha
Oliver.
a very
in his a
out wi
The:
just th
Hamiple
Price’s
met us
clues w
include

HE!
ing
who h:
careful
fatal a
Brassfi
Mr. B
day o!
“Ve
in an
were ]
oppos
there
of Da
“Di
which
leap.
ON c

“

“panied the bridal pair’
av tal. ride.

ment had put on some
- new boards to supplant the
worn ones just previous to
the accident, and I noticed that
the right side of the bridge showed:
no signs of being rubbed or scratched.
.“When a car hits the edge of a bridge
and goes off, doesn’t it leave some trace?
Either a scarred edge or scratches from
the undercarriage or splotches of oil from
the crankcase?” .
“Tt, certainly does,’ Samples replied. ‘This bridge
doesn’t tell us much, but it does tell us the accident
didn’t happen as they said it did. The only way I can see
this car could have got off this bridge, is to be pushed off,
‘as it would have certainly left some tracks had it run off
under its own power.’

Te point being mutually agreed upon, we started looking
up the sides of the road for further‘clues. Suddenly
Samples shouted to me. ‘Look here, Earl! Come see this
dirt.’’:

I joined him and as he sifted the soft mixture of sand, gravel
and clay, I noticed several particles of the ground were stained
: a darker color than-the balance. He took grains of the stained - -
would be a good idea to have you fellows look over the case _ soil, sifting them carefully, and tied them in his handkerchief.

in,” As the spot whete Samples had found the strange-colored’

The three of us then drove out to the scene of the accident. grains of earth was thirty or forty feet from the bridge, and
The car, of course, had been removed and with the victim of we knew it would be impossible for the blood of Della Oliver
the wreck in her grave, I don’t think any of us hoped to find to be at this spot, we started back to Sulphur immediately’
very much. It was more in the form of a routine trip in order to confer with Sheriff Bose Johnson and the County Attorney.
to satisfy the insurance adjuster, confirm the report of Marshal During our discussion we pointed out to County Attorney
Ramsey, and to clear the Oliver boys of any possibility of E. W. Fagan that if the accident had happened as it was
suspicion. It’s pretty hard to find out anything about an reported, the right edge of the bridge would have shown
auto accident nine days after it has happened. : some signs of the car having gone over it. We further pointed

: a -- out that the stains in the soil, which we suspected of being.

pulled up to the little bridge, parked the car on the blood, could not possibly have been discovered ‘that: far from

side of the road and got out. All that met our gaze the accident, had it occurred as it was reported. To clinch

as we started looking around was the newly graveled road; our argument, we told of the $5,000 life insurance policy
rolling fields of prairie hay browned by the first autumn frost,. being carried on the life of Della Oliver.

the rocky creek bottom and the little bridge, without side | County Attorney Fagan, being one of the best legal minds

tails. Certainly not much to investigate. in this section, cautioned us about acting too hastily. THe

“The car came down this way,” Samples said, sweeping said that it was possible George Oliver did not give a correct

his hand from west to east to indicate the route of the car. report of how the car went over the bridge, as auto accidents
“Its right wheels missed the bridge, and it turned over down “happen so quickly few people are ever able to give a coherent
there?”’ report of them. He further said that the amount of a life

“That’s the way George Oliver said it happened,’’ Ramsey insurance policy could not be legally taken as criminal intent,

ied. and that we should process most cautiously in bringing

I looked at the edge of the bridge. The highway depart- charges of murder on the very meagre evidence we possessed.

ave your opinion
and I wouldn’t

Ge? Geag Fh

ance ‘investigator
ae claim on Della

ed,” the Marshal
investigator was
y. The one that
ley, about $350—
eek. The fellow
1a Life Insurance

is a whole lot of —
ld wife of a man
rk in the cotton

die the business
too much

aake a criminal,
cious of this car

: just thought it

ound a Model-T Ford
xd in the wreck, the
tempt had been made
car and looked inside.
les said, opening the
they look like blood.”
leaning closer to join
‘hey certainly haven’t

pposed to be turned
met her death from
- car upside down in
s I’m seeing things,
‘d from Della Oliver’s
>the top. How could
runs uphill?”

¢ does blood,’’ Sheriff
on the bottom of the
rt farther up the road,
girl was killed in the
<, and the car pushed
act on, but not. near
3 go find the Oliver

Oliver mingling with
their usual Saturday
George was placed
ime to meet his uncle.
ity Jail at Sulphur.
ked George how the
; uncle wanted to go
ying some chickens,
went out of control.
ypened. The Sheriff
laude, and received
k out a $5,000 policy

SP ERE Sie” hat ok nll

fie

The Secret of the Doomed Bride

on myself and the same on Della, because we had so little I
figured I could struggle along and pay the premiums, and it’
was a good way to save money.’ Tears came into the elder
Oliver’s eyes as he made this statement, and all of us wondered
if we had not been too hasty with our accusations. Certainly,
his income did not justify so much insurance, but good sales-
men have been known to oversell brighter men than Claude

~~ Oliver. I came to the conclusion we were either dealing with ,

a very astute criminal, or we had made a glaring mistake
in his arrest; either of which would be difficult to prove with-
out witnesces. :
The next day was Sunday, but we pushed our investigation
— the same. Bright and early that morning, Under-sheriff
ples, Sheriff Johnson and I drove to Davis and out the
Price’s Falls Road to the scene of the wreck. Marshal Ramsey
met us there. We had hardly started looking for additional
clues when we were joined by a group of curious people, which
included the father of Della Ring Oliver.

HERIFF:- JOHNSON assigned me to the job of interview-

ing near-by neighbors in the hope we could find someone
who had witnessed the accident, while the remaining officers
carefully examined the terrain around the bridge where the
fatal accident occurred. I first stopped at the home of Jim
Brassfield, about a quarter of a mile from the scene, and asked
Mr. Brassfield if he had noticed anything out of the way the
day of the accident.

‘Yes, I did,”’ Brassfield responded. ‘I saw two men sitting
in an old blue touring car just before noon that day. They
were parked out there on the road just at the top of the hill,
opposite my house. They looked like Mexicans. They sat
ps for about thirty minutes, then drove off in the direction
of Davis.”

“Did you notice the make of the car, or anything else by
which we could identify them?” I asked, my heart taking a

leap.
“No, I couldn’t tell the make of car.’ Brassfield slowly

Claude Oliver, young husband of
the victim. -His story of the auto
trip during which his young bride
met her death interested the de-
tectives. (Left) Horseshoe Road.
in Murray County, a spectacular
curve in the Arbuckle Mountains.

replied, “I’m not very good at ‘pick-
ing out the kind of cars, but I did notice
it had a light colored top, and the top
flapped in the wind.” ;

I thanked Mr. Brassfield and returned
to the fatal bridge. Somewhere in the
back of my mind I had a picture of an
old blue touring car, with a light top
that was loose from its frame, but the
harder I racked my brain to identify
it, the more it eluded me.

While I had been off interviewing the
neighboring farmers, the searching party
had uncovered another important clue.
Marshal Ramsey, down in the creek
bottom with several others, took a firm
grip on a stone about the size of a cocoa-
nut which was half embedded in the mud.
Working it back and forth, he extracted
it and discovered a dark brown stain
which appeared to be coagulated blood,
and several strands of brown hair cling-

‘ing to s fragment of scalp about the size

ofadime. It was (Continued on page 114)

114

True Detective Mysteries

_ The Secret of the Doomed Bride

immediately decided this was the hair
and scalp of Della Oliver. And it was
so deeply embedded in the mud, we came
to the conclusion this rock was the murder
weapon, for it would have been impossible
for Della Oliver to strike her head against
the rock, and the blood and hair be on
the bottom side.

It seemed the net was tightening around
Claude and George Oliver as these appar-
ently simple clues were uncovered. By
this time we felt we were on the trail of
a murderer, but still realized that our evi-
dence, unless strengthened by a witness,
would only appear ridiculous in court. If
I could only remember who owned the
blue car with the top that flapped in the
wind. I thought of every Mexican I
knew, and then the solution suddenly
dawned on me. I was off to Davis a few

George Oliver, nephew of the victim’s
husband

minutes later to see a light-complexioned
Negro, named Bird Adkins, who owned
an old blue Jordan with a light colored
top—and I remembered the back curtain
was loose so it would “flap in the wind.”
I went to Adkins home in Davis and found
the car parked near-by.

“Es sir, Mr. Rowe,” Bird said in reply
to my question concerning his where-
abouts on the day of the accident, “I was
out that way with Venyal Erwin to see
his dad about a hog, but I don’t know
nothing about an accident. We went
over early that morning and I was back
here before noon.”

Next, I located Venyal Erwin, and I
did not give this Negro a chance to deny
his presence at the scene of the accident.

“What were those white folks doing,
the day you and Bird Adkins were parked
out by the Price’s Falls Road?” I asked.

“They was fighting, Mr. Rowe,” Erwin
admitted, a frightened look coming into
his eyes.

“Who was doing the fighting?” I shot
back at him.

“All three of them—the two men and
the girl. They was all fighting pretty
hard too.”

“You know yourre lying,” I said. “You
couldn’t see down in that ditch under
that bridge from where you and Bird
were parked.”

“But Mr. Rowe,” he said, “the fighting
was up on the other hill, before they got
to the bridge. It looked like they was
beating the girl, and then they put her in
the car and rolled it down on the bridge.
Then the two men got out and pushed the
car off the bridge.”

“What did you do then?” I asked him.

(Continued from page 39)

“Bird and I drove back to town. He
told me to keep my mouth shut about
what I’d seén and later that night Claude
and George Oliver came to my house. I
hid under the bed but they came in and
got me. They told me if I ever told
what happened they would kill me.”

At last our case was broken! We had
an eye witness to substantiate our sus-
picions that the Oliver car accident was
murder. I took Erwin to the scene of the
crime and had him point out the spot
where the fight occurred. About a hun-
dred yards west of the bridge we found
footprints at the side of the road that in-
dicated a struggle had taken place there,
and one print, evidently made by a high
heel of a: woman’s shoe, indicated this
was the spot where Della Oliver was at-
tacked. Erwin also told us he saw one
of the men throw something, and going
over in the pasture about a hundred feet
we found a heavy blood-smeared file, and
near-by a piece of automobile spring often
used as a tire tool. Both had wisps of
brown hair clinging to them.

E took Erwin and returned to Davis,
where we found Adkins still at home,
and placed him under arrest. The two Ne-
groes were taken to Sulphur and placed in
the county jail. Putting these two Negroes
in jail in broad daylight Sunday noon,
just thirty hours after the investigation
ad begun, was calculated to have a psy-
chological effect on the Oliver boys, which
we hoped would help us wring a confes-
sion from them that day.

Without taking time: to eat a noon-
day meal, County Attorney Fagan, Sheriff
Bose Johnson, Under-sheriff Sumples, Dee
Ramsey and I gathered in the County At-
torney's office. George Oliver was brought
in. He told a halting story of how he
had gone with Claude and his wife for
a ride that morning, intending to stop by
Brassfield’s and see about some chickens

Turner Falls—nature lent a beautiful
backdrop for the tragedy

He repented his story that the car had
gone out of control, hurtled down the
hill and crashed against the bridge. He
was not sure, he said, just exactly how the
accident happened. He left Mrs. Oliver
moaning in the ditch and ran to the Brass-
field home to summon a doctor.

I watched this youth make his apparent-
ly frank statement, and wondered if it
could have been possible Claude Oliver
had murdered his injured wife during his
nephew’s absence, and not confided in the
younger man. Then I remembered “blood
doesn’t run uphill,” and again centered
my attention on the investigation.

“Ever see this before?” Sheriff Johnson
asked suddenly, producing the blood-
smeared rock Ramsey had found in the
creek bottom.

“No sir, I never did.” George replied.

Deputy Sheriff Earl Rowe, co-
author of the story, who solved the
enigma of the car accident

“Or these tire tools?” the County At-
torney barked, tossing the heavy irons on
the table in front of Oliver.

George took a quick look at the tire
tools, shrank back, and paled. Then he
seemed to be afflicted with some type of
malady induced by fright or horror or
fear, for he was literally struck dumb. He
nodded his head, grasped his throat, but
could utter no words. He found his
voice at length.

‘TH tell you all—” he gasped, “but if I
tell—it will send—my Uncle Claude to
the electric chair.”

During the next three hours, George
Oliver went through one of the most pe-
culiar grillings I have ever witnessed. I
sincerely believe the boy was trying to
tell us what happened on Della Ring
Oliver’s last auto_ride, yet every time he
would start to answer a question, his face
would become red, and it seemed words
were sim ‘4 beyond him. When we were
convinced he was doing everything in his
power to admit his guilt, we sent for his
uncle.

Claude Oliver shot a quick look at his
nephew as soon as the door had closed be-
hind him. He must have read in that
frightened boy’s face that the break had
come, for he began his confession at
once.

Settling down in a chair, Claude Oliver
related the horrible details of one of the
most heinous and cold-blooded, premed-
itated murders in the annals of Oklahoma
crime. The callousness with which he
made the confession, astonished the group
of seasoned officers who listened to it, al-
though all of us had handled some of the
country’s worst criminals.

Under-
active

“Georg
ting mar
“T told }
some mo
He askex
would m:
then kill
we were
farm. G
right, so
to marry.
decided o
didn’t) wa
I We a
and finall.
he would
want to
married a
surance.
lars, and °
with anot

“THING
day a
We had d
with her \
we could
framed-up
men hauli
off during
good wit:
car over.
off the Pr
over the hi
car was a
the little |
down and
back of th
yarked hi;
bead Dell
ure you dc

-a scuffle in

hit her wit
car and ra
out, and
was runnin
way up an
She said °
hurting me
“George
into the p
up this tim
the back o
head with i
We though
her in that
in the car
hill to the
pushed it «
down, took
on the side
it. ‘Do yo
asked me.
way, Georg
her on the
on the tab!
field’s to te
people cam

en added it was “no fault of
‘ry watched with some other
nd.” The club where Julie is
; charged with permitting lewd
shows.

gree murder indictment was
\inst. 22-year-old Richard A.
Indianapolis, accused of shoot-
friend during a rape attempt.
as charged with the shotgun
September of Thomas E. Scott
eaks With Me And Lives, Jan-
_ 1957). Police said Scott was
.e approached a bedroom where
d tied Donna Games to a bed
z her clothing to ribbons with
rs. Moistner escaped in Scott’s
s the object of a nation-wide
his surrender a wéek later at
mit.

ce by the state of Ohio of a plea
first-degree manslaughter ended
‘ree murder case of Peter Robert
Norwalk, Ohio, accused in the
his 23-year-old brother, Robert
April, 1956 (Care To Share

der INSIDE, 1956). The trial

1 end before the first state’s

s called, in the midst of opening
by Miller's court appointed
ttorney Peter Catri. Miller was
-o Mansfield Reformatory on the
t carries a one- to 20-year sen-
rad been sent to-the state hospital
following his plea of not-guilty
of insanity. The report from the
sted him as legally sane under
Attorney Catri withdrew the in-.
during the court proceedings and
not-guilty plea. Dr. Forrest
superintendent of Lima State Hos-.
ied Miller as subnormal and his;
<illing as ‘“‘an act of impulse under
in.” Bushong and other doctors
ologists agreed that Miller is sub-
intelligence, with estimates of his
z from 74 to 80.

Ray Amer, 20 years old, entered
plea of guilty to a charge of sec-
e murder in the slaying of Alfred

name for 12 years since his escape from a
Missouri prison, was denied a writ of habeas
corpus (The Borrowed Life of H. R. Mc-
Cullough, March, 1nswe, 1957). McCul-
lough’s attorney was overruled in his argu-
ment that Missouri extradition papers were
insufficient and that Governor Johnson’s
executive warrant was improper. ‘The offici-
ating judge held that McCullough was fully
informed of his rights and that the extradi--
tion procedure was entirely legal. He di-
rected Denver authorities to turn the fugi-
tive over to Missouri officials. The defense
was successful in gaining a 60-day stay of
execution of the order to permit McCul-
lough to appeal the ruling to the Colorado
supreme court.

Mrs. Blanche E. Jacobs, 32, was sentenced
to life imprisonment after pleading guilty in
Columbus, Ohio, to two counts of second-
degree murder. Mrs. Jacobs was charged
with the knife slaying of an elderly Grove-
port, Ohio, couple, last July (Nightmare
Over Naomi Court, October INSIDE, 1956).
She had been scheduled to be tried before
a jury on first-degree murder charges. Vic-
tims of the double-knife slaying were Mr.
and Mrs. Andrew J. Robinson. Prosecutor
Samuel L. Devine offered to reduce the
charges to second-degree murder in exchange
for a guilty plea. Blanche agreed after con-
ferring with her husband, a U. S. Army
major, and her attorneys. She had report-
edly turned herself over to Columbus police
last July after two days of “weaving a net
of lies around herself.”

enn anda nner errand

John Gilbert Graham, it was learned on
the day of his execution, had twice admitted
to a Denver minister that he was guilty of
the mass killing of 44 persons who died in
a bomb-shattered airliner (Flight 629—To
Eternity, February INSIDE, 1956; and Jn
At The Finish, January and February
INSIDE, 1957). Graham died in the Colorado
prison gas chamber for the murder of his
mother, Mrs. Daisie King, among those
aboard the United Air Lines plane which
blew .up near Longmont, Colo., Nov. 1,
1955. The Rev. Lloyd C. Kellams said
Graham told him that he had placed a
home-made dynamite bomb aboard the
airliner. This was three days after Graham
had feigned a suicide attempt in the Den-
ver County jail. The second admission came
the day after Graham’s conviction of mur-
der last May ... While in his death row
cell, Graham was asked to pay the city of
Denver $32,106.24 for the cost of his trial.
He made no reply to the request. The legal
demand for the payment came in the form
of a “writ of execution” on a judgment
against him entered by Denver district
court. In case Graham did not pay the
judgment, the writ directed Safety Manager
Ed O. Geer‘to take possession of all “lands,
tenements, goods and chattels owned by
Graham as of 10:37 A.M. November 16,
1955 (the hour of his murder charge), and
offer them at public sale. Graham’s mother
had been owner of a local drive-in which
Graham managed . . . Minutes before his
mother’s death, Graham had purchased in-
surance policies. It was learned that he can
collect nothing on them.

. Mo.,

Smoking a cigaret, Otto Austin Loel, 45,
a former Oregon peace officer, entered the
death chamber in McAlester, Okla., shook
hands with the warden and was pronounced
dead in the electric chair minutes later.
Loel, convicted of murdering Mrs. Eliza-
beth Jeanne Henderson of Compton, Calif.,
in an Oklahoma City motel, in January,
1956 (Have You Seen Otto Loel? Decem-
ber FRONT PAGE, 1954, and Curse of. the
Golden Buddha, February 1Nswe, 1956),
was asked if he had anything to say. “No,
thank you,” he replied courteously. After
his final plea for clemency was turned down
the day before his execution, Otto tele-
phoned his sister in Syracuse, N.Y., to tell
her that he had been refused clemency. He

. then ate a last meal, a bowl of oyster soup.

His last request was for a cough drop but
no one had one. . . At funeral services
preceding his burial, no relative of the
convicted killer appeared to claim the body.

Sentenced to 12 years in prison when he
pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of
Nelson H. Beare, 50-year-old Kirkwood,
salesman and church officer, was
Charles William White, 20-year-old itiner-
ant (Corpse In The Gray Flannel Suit,
December INsIDE, 1956, and In At The
Finish, January INSIDE, 1957), White
originally was charged with first-degree mur-
der but charge was reduced to second-de-
gree and he pleaded guilty. Beare’s stab-
wounded body was found last September in
a St. Louis, Mo., hotel room. White, arrest-
ed the night before on peace disturbance
charge, confessed stabbing on previous day.

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saw my mother,
put we just can’t

ittle place called

“Not more than
old friends when
meet somebody

g broke up that
if she really had

to see her mother
despondency fol-
aat his journey to
canged wife there
y with the navy.
an emotional ce-

cson had an idea
yw, a gentleman,”
about Otto’s dead
r as Newark and
hole trip wouldn’t

ha Al

Cameron Henderson’s first impulse was to reject the no-
tion flatly. However, he loved his wife. He was her second
husband and he had always agreed with her that, within
bounds, each might choose his or her own friends. He had
complete trust in her fidelity and had always admired Betty
for her ability to handle any situation.

“T’]] think it over, honey,” he said. “I know how much
the visit back home means to you. Why not let me meet the
guy?”

She introduced him to Loel, who agreed without undue

eagerness to Mrs. Henderson’s traveling with him. Hender- -

son found Loel a seemingly decent sort. This impression was
confirmed by mutual acquaintances who had come to know
Loel in the short time he had been around Compton. After
a couple of talks, Cameron Henderson. agreed to his wife’s
journey.

On Thursday night, January 7th, 1954, her husband and
her 13-year-old son by her first marriage kissed Elizabeth
Henderson goodbye. Loel’s sedan moved off at 10:30 P.M.,
an hour calculated to avoid the heavy traffic out to San
Bernardino and see them in Needles, with the long stretch of
desert highway behind them, by about daybreak.

Six days later, on Wednesday morning, January 13th, the
owner of the Moderne Tourist Courts on northwest 39th
Street in Oklahoma City, began his daily routine. First on
his list of chores was Cabin 4, which had not been cleaned
since Sunday. The man who took it then had paid advance
rent until Tuesday afternoon and asked that it be left unen-
tered until he and his wife checked out.

“It won’t need cleaning,” the guest explained, “because
well be out, probably, till we’re ready to leave. Got to make
a couple of side trips, but we want to leave our luggage
here.”

That had been at 7 o’clock Sunday night. He had not seen
the tenant since. Nor was the dark blue 1947 Buick sedan
parked there.

Assuming that the couple had come back, reloaded their
belongings and gone their way, he unlocked the door of
Cabin 4.

He was surprised to find the suitcases still in the room,
clothing strewn over the chairs.
Then he looked at the bed, stared
with swiftly mounting shock at
dark splotches on the white linen.

Blood! He hurried around the
foot of the bed and there, on the
floor between the bed and the wall,
he found her.

She lay in a hideous sprawl, clad
only in blue panties and a sheer
nightgown, bunched around the
waist, her head on a blood-soaked
pillow. Her face was a battered
mask, her shoulders and chest a
mass of gaping knife wounds. Her
throat had been cut in a ghastly
slash. Her head sagged back upon
the spine.

Homicide Detectives Bob Hud-
son and Don Cochran found plenty
of signs of a violent struggle in
the cabin. From the blood on the
bed and spatterings on the wall,
they reasoned that the woman had
been slain on the bed and her body
had rolled off upon the floor.

An empty whiskey bottle and
three empty soft drink bottles stood
on the dresser. A woman’s purse
yielded a social security card and
other papers identifying the victim
as Elizabeth Henderson of Lyn-
wood, California.

The clothing she had worn be-

fore donning the nightgown was heaped upon a chair, and
one of the two suitcases was filled with feminine attire.

On another chair were two pairs of men’s trousers. A
man’s brown jacket and tan topcoat hung over the foot of
the bed. The second suitcase held articles of a man’s ward-
robe. Papers in it identified its owner as Otto A. Loel of
Compton, California.

Among the papers was a letter, enclosed in an unstamped
envelope, addressed to Mrs. Helen Loel in Roseberg, Ore-
gon. Dated December 31st, the letter rebuked “Dear Helen”
for not accepting some Christmas presents, and concluded:

“For this I am putting the curse of the little golden
Buddha upon you. No one can lift it but I. May your days
be full of pain and may your nights hurt you as much as you
hurt the one that loved and still loves you. I and I alone
can remove that curse, Laugh, if you will, but think back
and remember. Ever lovingly yours. Otto.”

In a wastebasket, the detectives found a man’s bloody
slacks, an empty whiskey bottle and a bloodstained hunt-
ing knife with a six-inch blade. This apparently was
the weapon with which 19 stab wounds had been inflicted.

But where was the bludgeon used to smash the dead

woman’s face beyond recognition?

The motel proprietor told Homicide Captain Ted Baugh-
man and Detective Chief Wayne W. Harbolt what he could
of the couple who-had last occupied Cabin 4. They had ar-
rived early Sunday morning, January 10th, shortly before
8, he said. The woman remained in the sedan while the man,
about 40, 5 feet 8 inches tall and of medium build, signed
the register as ‘“O. A. Loel, Los Angeles.”

Shortly before dark, the proprietor continued, Loel went
to a nearby cafe. Then, at around 7 o’clock, he paid the rent
for the next two days, gave the orders to leave Cabin 4 un-

disturbed.

“T never saw either of them after that,” the proprietor
concluded. “I didn’t see or hear him leave, but he could have
driven off unnoticed almost any time.”

A long-distance call to Cameron Henderson confirmed
that Mrs. Henderson had been traveling with Loel. More-
over, the husband could place Loel and his wife in Okla-

With mustache, glasses, dentures removed, he made himself look older, eluded police

in At The Finish

Just Four Months of intense investiga-
tion by FBI and New York police and then
the announcement: They solved the $305,-
000 robbery of the Chase-Manhattan bank
in Woodside, Queens, N.Y. (We Was
Robbed, July 1nsweE, 1955) Arrested were
James McCoo, 36-year-old unemployed
lather, often a suspect in bank robberies

and a friend of Redmond (Ninny) Crib-
bins; Frank Cocchiaro, 34, whose wife was
4 teller at the bank and who was ushered
into the vault with the other employes.

ee eteend

She later resigned after repeated question-
ing by police. One other man was arrested
and held as a material witness. Both Coc-
chiaro and McCoo were said to have ac-
tively participated in the robbery. At the
same time warrants were issued for the
arrest of Cribbins and Thomas (Duke)
Connelly. Cribbins, machine-gun expert and
reputed leader of the gang, was a suspect
from the start of the investigation. Con-
nelly, police said, is believed to have been
the driver of the getaway Car. Connelly’s
children were recently found abandoned,
one in Baltimore, Md., the other in Wilm-
ington, Del., and police speculate as to
whether Connelly and his wife are still

psychiatric examination. (Has Anyone Seen
Oito Loel? December FRONT PAGE, 1954;
Out of a Den—Otto Loel, April INSIDE,
1955) Loel had agreed to drive Mrs. Hen-

alive. As one New York cop put it, “Crib- ,

bins would have had no hesitancy in kill-
ing both parents if he thought they were
‘going soft,’ and would squeal to the po-
lice.”

Otto Loel, charged with the sadistic
slaying of Elizabeth Jeanne Henderson ‘in
Oklahoma City, has been committed to
Eastern Oklahoma Hospital for a pre-trial

than a year before he was hounded out of

derson from Compton, Cal., to visit her
parents in Ohio. Six days later her mutilated
body was found in an Oklahoma City mo-
tel, covered with stab wounds and cigarette
burns. Loel was the object of a nationwide
search, eluded police and FBI for more

a little palm thatched lean-to in Sanford,
Fla. ;

Charges against Katherine Ann Hayes,
29-year-old Washington, D.C. housewife
who shot and killed her husband’s sweet-

heart were finally dismissed because her
husband refused to testify. (Self Defense,
October INSIDE, 1955) The shooting oc-

curred in the room her husband alleged-
ly rented for 19-year-old Nancy Penton.
Mrs. Hayes said the gun went off. when the
girl, clad only in a pajama top, bumped her
hand. Acting as her own lawyer at a cor-
oner’s inquiry, she subjected her husband
to a two-hour grilling about his romance.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental
death. She was then ‘charged with assault,
but when her husband refused to testify,
they were dismissed from court for “want
of prosecution.”

Tina Dutton, San Francisco’s photogenic
blonde ex-beggar, whose colorful past in-
cludes convictions for panhandling, disturb-
ing the peace and shoplifting, has added two
more counts to her string. (Tina, The Queen
of the Panhandlers, June INSIDE, 1955)
Again charged with shoplifting and beg-
ging, Tina wrote a letter to the judge who

was to hear her case. An impassioned plea
for probation, in part it read: “When I
was a beggar, people admired me for my
nerve and guts, which I thought was great.
I thought I was better than the average
bumb (sic). I was young and pretty and
men would do more for me than they
would for an old man walking the streets
bumming money for wine. But if you want
to be loved and respected, you have to
stay on the side of the law. As long as you
have no guilt—of what wrong you have
done—then you can be sure of having
peace of mind and happiness.” The judge
set aside a 60 day sentence for begging,
but ordered her to forfeit $500 of her bail
as a fine. He also sentenced her to 30 days
for disturbing the peace.

NV oyenth— - |

TSS)

@ John C. Sieme:
land ex-bank cler}

the embezzlement
(The Hottest $80,
Ferry, February F
ny’s Back and the
INSIDE,
wife, three kids a
belonging to the >
he worked, to a
evaded FBI agent
somebody in the t
a picture. Siemer.
paid as well as hi
job had grown a
foil identification
more than $20,0(
waived extraditior
turned to New Yor
His wife, who had
was returned with
she would stand b
he pleaded guilt,
amount than the
York Judge Matth«
for psychiatric exa
that Siemer would
He indicated that
sentences were nec
bank embezzlemen
faces a possible 15
of $15,000.

A California gr:
dicted 27-year-old
two counts for th
year-old Stephanie
Stephanie Brvan,
and Berkeley, Ca

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RAIA TOL TTT 27 RE
.

1955) Sier

LOEL, Otto, white, elec. OK (Oklahoma) January 11, 1957

oo 2a

“on

the slasher
and the girl
in the motel

ih li aa

E STOOD with a couple of friends at the bar
in suburban Compton, on the western fringe
of Los Angeles, a trimly-knit man of perhaps

40, clean-featured, with eyes a deeper brown than
his hair. He wore a blazing orange Hollywood sports
shirt, with a jacket of a chocolate hue.

She sat only a couple of stools away, a slim, modishly
garbed woman of about 30, with lambent dark eyes be-
neath smartly arched brows. The tavern lights glinted

softly in the thick waves of her auburn hair as she stared:

moodily at her highball.

He was talking, she listening. “Syracuse,” she heard him
say. “Long haul, but I figure to make it in five days, at
most.”

She glanced up with frank interest. She knew his com-
panions. She lived in Orchard Street, just across the com-
munity line in Lynwood, only a few blocks away, and came
to this tavern frequently. One of them caught her look and
spoke. Then introductions were being made.

“Betty, this is Mr. Loel. Otto, Mrs. Henderson.”

She was an invitingly pretty woman, despite the shadow
that haunted her face. She smiled wistfully. ‘“You’re going
back East, Mr. Loel?”

“Yes. Driving to Syracuse as soon as I can arrange to
leave. Three or four days, maybe.”

TRUE DETECTIVE, May, 1955

“You can never drive murder from your mind.
You have to find ways not to think of it,
or it will drive you crazy.

Pm one guy who will never end up crazy.”

by CARLOS LANE

“I envy you. It’s been four years since I saw my mother,
back in Ohio. I’ve been aching to visit her, but we just can’t
afford it now.”

“Ohio?” he echoed. “I was born there. Little place called
Waverly. You probably never heard of it.”

“Down below Chillicothe.” She nodded. “Not more than
80 miles from where I grew up, in Newark.”

He smiled. “Always makes you feel like old friends when
you’re 2,000 miles away from home and meet somebody
from your own neck of the woods.”

By the time the little tavern gathering broke up that
night, Elizabeth Jeanne Henderson felt as if she really had
known Otto Loel for a long time. :

She had confided to him that her desire to see her mother
in Newark, Ohio, had been heightened by despondency fol-
lowing a long illness. He admitted to her that his journey to
Syracuse was to break the news to his estranged wife there
of the death of their son while on duty with the navy.
Trouble, sorrow, the quickest of all human emotional ce-
ments, did their work.

When she got home, Elizabeth Henderson had an idea
firmly fixed in her mind. “He’s a nice fellow, a gentleman,”
she assured her husband. She told him about Otto’s dead
son. “I could ride along with him as far as Newark and
pay part of the expenses. That way the whole trip wouldn’t
cost too much.”

Cameron }
tion flatly. H
husband anc
bounds, each
complete tru
for her abilit

“Pll think
the visit bac}
guy?”

She introd
eagerness to
son found Lo:
confirmed by
Loel in the s
a couple of t
journey.

On Thursd
her 13-year-«
Henderson gi
an hour calc
Bernardino a
desert highw:

Six days la
owner of the
Street in Ok!
his list of che
since Sunday
rent until Tue
tered until he

“It won’t n
well be out, p
a couple of s
here.”

That had be
the tenant sir
parked there.

Assuming t
belongings ar
Cabin 4.

He was sur
clothing stre\
Then he look:
with swiftly
dark splotche:

Blood! He
foot of the be
floor between °
he found her.

She lay ina
only in blue
nightgown, b
waist, her hea
pillow. Her f:
mask, her shc
mass of gapin;
throat had be
slash. Her hea
the spine.

Homicide D
son and Don C
of signs of a
the cabin. Fro
bed and spatt
they reasoned
been slain ont
had rolled off :

An empty
three empty so:
on the dresser
yielded a soci
other papers id
as Elizabeth |}
wood, Californi

The clothing

2a long the tracks near
ol, far from the Urban
and about 100 yards east
They noticed a pile of
ig a railroad tie, on
Q tracks. A human
er..., -rranged the small
nes. They removed the
»vered a hole in the sand
hole was a rifle.

' was relayed to Inspector
he hurried to the spot.
.s lifted from the hollow
guard so as not to blur
rints.
gun, Meyer and his men
that it was the death
ylt-action .30-06 caliber
n sawed off at both ends.
zth made it handier and
id in no wise lessened its
r when Meyer sniffed at
icated it had fired only
earlier. No ammunition
ed away with the sawed-
nmunition had been dis-
person of the teenager.
ely that the ammunition

were brought to the spot
cated search. At 10:50,
‘ells were found in the
‘ub under the “‘Give a
orth of the tracks: A few
yty shell was found under
ton the south side of the
ly the sniper had fired
i “+ shadows of the
t ‘rrossed the tracks,
t.v... vf the embankment
he shot that had killed

ought their trophies back
yuse and the interrogation
suspect went on with
At two in the afternoon,
drove him in an un-
car to the shooting scene,
ned him to the precinct
at. 4 o’clock, he was
jesk of Sergeant Raymond
main room of the station
ed on a homicide charge.
way in a cell until his
the evening before Judge
in, in Brooklyn-Queens
The judge ordered the
ithout bail on the homicide
<ed bail at $5,000 on a
ious assault. A further
eduled.
» detectives, the suspect
ted firing the death shot
and also the earlier shot.
however, that he refused
re he had procured the
.wed-off rifle. ,
the youngster from neigh-
intances painted an odd
‘ors in the five-story brick
ing where he lived describe
ul y. He was a ham
a lot of radio
1s nome. He was a fire
ed of being an auxiliary
#ivil Defense volunteer.
fire calls and even had
adio receiver on his bike,
ld tune in on the calls

and dash to the scene of the blaze.

One neighbor said that young Whitmore
showed him the rifle about two weeks
earlier. The neighbor instructed John

on how to clean and care for the |

weapon. He had not revealed where he
had obtained the gun, and at the time
he had showed it to the neighbor the
rifle had not been sawed-off.

The mentality and hidden drives of the
secret sniper who gets kicks out of picking
off strangers against whom he has no
animus is difficult to analyze. Psychiatrists
believe that they have some of the an-
swers. They point out that a gun is
without doubt a sex symbol. Men, with
a special fondness for firearms, are some-
times secretly compensating for a lack
of confidence in their masculinity. They
draw a feeling of virility and power from
fondling and shooting a rifle. It makes
them feel like men.

Whatever the subconcious motivation
of the sniper, he definitely is one of the
most dangerous of.criminals. Other de-
predators slay for greed, revenge, love,
or fear. The sniper shoots because of the
intense pleasure it gives him, the same
sensual gratification that normal males
derive from the consummation of a love
affair.

What secret cravings goaded the Sunny-
side sniper into his insensate attacks on
two passing trains can, at this point,
only be surmised. Perhaps more answers
will be found as the case against John
Whitmore unfolds. It must be remem-
bered, however, that under the laws
of our land, he must be presumed innocent
of all charges until and if he is found
guilty in a court of law beyond all
reasonable doubt. *

TRIP TO SLAUGHTER
(Continued from page 41)

Thereafter he was continually send-
ing telegrams back to California, asking
friends for money. One sent $25, but
this was spent before the group reached
Oklahoma.

“T even lent him a couple of bucks
once for gas,” the young man said.
‘“‘He’d been spending pretty heavy, hav-
ing his picture taken in night clubs with
his ‘wife’ and buying drinks for him-
self.”

From this young man detectives
learned also that two other hitchhikers—

x = ¥

Discover America.
Its 3,000 smiles wide.

ee aE ed

one a sailor, the other a young civilian
—had been picked up in Amarillo,
Texas, and carried all the way to Okla-
homa City.

Fenelli and the McAlester youth had
alibis for Sunday afternoon and eve-
ning which they were easily able to
establish beyond doubt. They could.not
vouch for the hikers who had crowded
into the Loel sedan at Amarillo, :

At the café near the motel, no one
remembered Loel’s visit at about dusk
on Sunday, So whether he had run into
one of the two missing hikers there, or
had taken up with some stranger, the
cops were unable to find out,

On Friday it seemed very likely to
the investigators that Loel, as well as
Mrs. Henderson, might have been a
victim of a third person in the motel
cabin that Sunday night.

On that day they received a report
from Shreveport, Louisiana, that on
Tuesday night a hitchhiker who gave
the name of Fischer had stayed in a
motel near Shreveport and, on Wednes-
day morning, had sold an expensive
pair of sunglasses to pay his bill.

Inside the case for the glasses, the
name Otto Loel had been stamped.

As they sought the youths whom
Loel had picked up in Amarillo, the
Oklahoma City men received further
data on Loel from the West Coast.

He had served in the Navy in the
late 20’s and early 30’s. He had been
stationed in China, where he learned
some Chinese, acquired a great ap-
petite for Chinese food and where—
according to stories he later told—he
became a gun-runner for Chinese war
lords after his discharge from the Navy.

He sometimes boasted of having had
five wives. He drank heavily, usually
consuming huge quantities of beer,
which he could apparently hold with-
out ill effect, although his yarns got
taller as he built them up with alcohol.

He was an expert woodsman and an
excellent man with tools of any kind.
His reputation as a gunsmith was Wide,
and his ability to use either a knife or
a gun he had demonstrated often.

The detectives learned, too, that Loel
made friends easily. People generally
liked him, but even his pals admitted
he was undependable, His only criminal
record was a drunken-driving convic-
tion in Cleveland a number of years
before.

Y the week end, the two missing

hikers had come forward to tell ‘of
Oklahoma City and to offer alibis for
Sunday afternoon and night which
cleared them completely as suspects in
Mrs, Henderson’s slaying.

“So it looks like it has to be Loel,

after all,” Captain Baughman said.
_ Among Mrs. Henderson’s effects had
been a couple of prints of night-club
photos, showing her at tables with a
man, the same man. The hitchhiker
from McAlester and Worthing both
identified him as Loel, and the motel
operator in Shreveport was certain that
he was the man who had registered as
Fischer and had sold the sunglasses
there.

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a guest back here to the motel with
him—a guest who got rough over a
pretty woman.”

“Then where’d Loel be now?” the
motel owner wanted to know.

“Maybe in the trunk of his own car,
maybe in a ditch somewhere,” Baugh-
man replied. “And good and dead.”

Higgs found the fingerprints of one
man and one woman on the bottles
and drinking glasses in the motel cabin.
The medical examiner reported that the
victim had been dead apparently since
sometime Sunday afternoon or evening.

Through long-distance calls, the
Oklahoma police verified Loel’s iden-
tity, the date of his leaving Compton
and the license number of his car—Cal-
ifornia IN4588.

They also satisfied themselves that
Mrs. Henderson had started across
country with Loel on an expense-shar-
ing trip, but her husband was shocked
to learn that she had been registered
in a motel cabin with Otto Loel.

“She told me,” the husband said,
“there was a party making the trip. I
understood there’d be another couple,
at least.”

The woman in Oregon, the Oklahoma
City sleuths learned, was Loel’s second
wife, separated from him because of his
continued excessive drinking. For a
time, the cops discovered, he had been
a policeman himself, the night officer
on a three-man force in Sandy, Oregon.
But he had been fired from this job
for “chasing around and not paying
attention to business.”

Ty day following the discovery of
Mrs. Henderson’s body in the motel,
Baughman and his men knew that al-
though Loel and the victim had left Los
Angeles by themselves, they had had
company on most of the journey.

Upon reading of the crime in his
home-town newspapers, young Tim
Fenelli went to detective headquarters
in Toledo, Ohio, and revealed that he
and a road companion who lived in
McAlester, Oklahoma, had hitched a
ride in the Loel machine all the way
from Barstow, California, to Oklahoma
City.

Loel had introduced Mrs. Henderson
as his wife, Fenelli reported, but once
along the way she had said they were
not married, and had implored Fenelli:
“Don’t leave the car till we get to Okla-
homa City.”

“I never did find out what she meant
by that,” Fenelli said.

The McAlester youth had even more
to add. Loel stopped frequently at
taverns along the way, he informed of-
ficers, and somewhere his pocket had
been picked of about $100.

Thereafter he was continually send-
ing telegrams back to California, asking
friends for money. One sent $25, but
this was spent before the group reached
Oklahoma.

“T even lent him a couple of bucks
once for gas,” the young man said.
“He'd been spending pretty heavy, hav-
ing his picture taken in night clubs with
his ‘wife’ and buying drinks for him-
self.”

From this young man detectives
learned also that two other hitchikers—
one a Sailor, the other a young civilian
—had been picked up in Amarillo,
Texas, and carried all the way to Okla-
homa City.

Fenelli and the McAlester youth had
alibis for Sunday afternoon and eve-
ning which they were easily able to
establish beyond doubt. They could not
vouch for the hikers who had crowded
into the Loel sedan at Amarillo.

On Friday it seemed very likely to
the investigators that Loel, as well as
Mrs. Henderson, might have been a
victim of a third person in the motel
cabin that Sunday night.

Inside the case for the glasses, the
name Otto Loel had been stamped.

As they sought the youths whom
Loel had picked up in Amarillo, the
Oklahoma City men received further
data on Loel from the West Coast.

He sometimes boasted of having had
five wives. He drank heavily, usually

consuming huge quantities of beer,
which he could apparently hold with-
out ill effect, although his yarns got
taller as he built them up with alcohol.

He was an expert woodsman and an
excellent man with tools of any kind.
His reputation as a gunsmith was wide,
and his ability to use either a knife or
a gun he had demonstrated often.

Y the week end, the two missing
hikers had come forward to tell of
riding with Loel from Amarillo to
Oklahoma City and to offer alibis for
Sunday afternoon and night which
cleared them completely as suspects in
Mrs. Henderson’s slaying.
“So it looks like it has to be Loel,
after all,” Captain Baughman said.
Among Mrs. Henderson’s effects had
been a couple of prints of night-club
photos, showing her at tables with a
man, the same man. The hitchhiker
from McAlester and Worthing both
identified him as Loel, and the motel
operator in Shreveport was certain that

he was the man who had registered as
Fischer and had sold the sunglasses
there.

“He talked about going to Pensacola
or Tampa to get work,” this man said.

On January 25th, Loel’s Buick sedan
was~found on a parking lot in Dallas,
where it had been left a day or two
before Mrs, Henderson’s body was
found.

* By now, since obviously the quarry
had crossed several state lines in his
flight, the FBI had joined in the search
for him on the strength of a federal
warrant charging him as a fugitive to
escape prosecution for murder.

Late in January, the FBI nominated
him to its Big Ten—the list of the na-
tion’s “ten most wanted criminals.”

Because of his known skill with knife
and gun, the “wanted” flyers on him
bore the warning.: Armed and danger-
ous.

Weeks became months, but no trace
was turned up of Otto Loel. Late in
the fall the FBI learned that he had
traveled all summer with a carnival—
operating a shooting gallery!

But the carny was broken up by
then, its personnel scattered everywhere.

The anniversary of Elizabeth Hen-
derson’s murder neared.

They were freed the next morning in
bail of $17, but one, who had given
the name of Jack G., McCoy, did not
appear in court.

On January
abundantly clear.

Both sots had been fingerprinted. The
FBI reported that “McCoy’s” prints
were those of Otto Loel.

PECIAL AGENTS Robert Parke

and Charles Robichaud of the FBI
hurried to Sanford to work with local
officials in searching for “McCoy.”

He had been in the city for about
two weeks, working in a local foundry.
He had been laid off and paid off on
Saturday. And Saturday night he had
got drunk,

His landlady said he had vanished
from his rooming house over the week-
end.

On Monday morning, January 17th,
with a widespread hunt on for the
fugitive, Seminole County Constable
J, Q. “Slim” Galloway took a call in
the sheriff's office. :

Five minutes later, Galloway, Chief
Deputy M. R. McClelland and Deputy
O, G. Owens were racing toward the
northeastern outskirts of the city.

Loel, alias McCoy, had appeared at
a junkyard there, trying to sell a piece
of scrap iron he had salvaged off a city
dump. .

They spotted Loel as their car skid-
ded into the junkyard parking space.
Remembering his reputation with a
gun, all three officers had their pistols
out as they sprang from the cruiser

14th, the reason was

POLICE DRAGNET \

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, ga es

and lunged at the nondescript little man

beside the junkyard office door.

He faced them quietly, and surren-
dered without protest.

“I’m your man,” he said meekly. “I
know what you want me for. I’m glad
it’s all over.”

Sometime later, however, his humble
mood changed.

“If I'd had a gun out there,” he
a calmly, “I’d have shot your eyes
out.”

He led local officers and the FBI
men to his hiding place deep in a
palmetto swamp. Here, using his woods-
man’s craft, he had bound palm stalks
to the trunks of trees, set other stems
upright and had woven a roof of
fronds. He had taken to the swamp, he
confessed, because he was sure the
FBI would “make” him from the prints
the Sanford cops had rolled.

“Then why didn’t’ you try to get
away, out of town?” he was asked.

“What chance would I have had, on
the rods or on the roads? Besides, I
was getting tired of running. I just de-
cided, what's the use.”

Now wearing glasses, sporting a small
mustache and with a pinched face as
the result of his having removed his
false teeth, Loel bore little resemblance
- the widely circulated photographs of

im.

He made a confession to FBI Agents
Robichaud and Parke in the slaying of
Elizabeth Henderson.

In the motel, Loel went on, Mrs.
Henderson’s hysteria increased, She got
the idea that Loel was going to abandon
her there, he claimed. She snatched up
his hunting knife and came at him,

“We struggled,” he related. “We fell
to the floor together. She was stabbed.
Then the knife was in my hands. I
struck her—I don’t know how many
times.”

He said that when he left the motel
cabin, he intended to return, but got
drunk and “just didn’t go back.”

_One piece of evidence flatly contra-
dicted Loel’s story.

The murderous attack had occurred,
not upon the floor, as he claimed, but
on the bed, where it was unlikely in
the extreme that it could have been in
the self defense of the killer.

He was. returned to Oklahoma,
charged with first-degree murder and
jailed to await trial. During his waiting
period he was placed for a month un-
der the observation of psychiatrists ta
determine whether he was sane.

On October 17th he was arraigned
before a jury and District Judge A, P.

POLICE DRAGNET

Van Meter in a preliminary test to de-
cide if he was sane.

Three psychiatrists testified that al-
though he had a psychopathic personal-
ity with anti-social reactions, and that
he was a chronic alcoholic and un-
stable, he was legally sane,

The jury agreed, was dismissed and
a second panel called. This jury would
determine his innocense or guilt in Mrs.
Henderson’s murder and, if guilty, in
what degree.

SSISTANT COUNTY attorneys

Martin and Lawrence opened their
case with the routine establishment of
the corpus delicti—that Elizabeth Hen-
derson had been found slain, with 13
stab wounds.

Detective Higgs said that fingerprints
he lifted from a water glass in the
motel cabin where the body was found
were those of Otto Loel,

Don Cochran identified the murder
weapon and described the scene of the
slaying.

FBI Agents Parke and Robichaud
testified about the statement Loel had
given them.

Then, as the state rested its case,
Otto Loel himself took the witness
stand, Immediately he varied his story
from that he had told the FBI men. He
said he had never seen Mrs. Henderson
until the day they left on their trip.

“I went into Harry’s bar and told the
bartender I was coming in to have a
good-by drink as I was leaving for
Ohio,” he said on the stand.

“Mrs. Henderson was sitting there.
She said: ‘I am from Ohio, too, How
about me going along?’

“But I don’t know what she told her
husband,” Loel said.

He described the journey, told of his
financial troubles and of Mrs. Hender-
son’s getting $35 the Sunday of her
death, They got some auto supplies and
two bottles of whiskey, then retired to
the motel cabin, Loel said.

He testified that although they had
shared motel accommodations all the
way from California to Oklahoma City,
theirs had been strictly a platonic rela-
tionship—until the fateful day of Jan-

uary 10th, 1954.

Back in the cabin, Loel said, he lay
on the bed and fell asleep, Then came
the allegation that shocked everyone in

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the courtroom except his attorneys.

Loel solemnly swore that he was
awakened by an attempt by Mrs, Hen-
derson to do something very unnatural
to him.

“I slapped her,” he said. “I pushed
her away and choked her to get her
away from me. She grabbed me and
started squeezing and twisting. It was
the worst pain a man.can ever experi-
ence,

“T reached over by the side of the
bed and grabbed something from a
night stand and started beating her with
it. I guess I went haywire. We rolled
on the floor and I kept beating her.”

“Did you learn later,” queried Percy
Hughes, one of the defense counsel,
“that you had a knife in your hand?”

“Ves,”

“Did you know what it was when

you grabbed it when you were going
through the pain and anguish you have
described?”

“I didn’t look. The first thing I got
my hand on I used.”

“Did you mean to kill Elizabeth
Henderson?”

“I had no intention of killing her.
I had nothing against her. I liked the,
kid. She was good company.”

Loel explained the presence of the
knife by saying it had been used earlier
to open a parcel.

Both county attorneys assailed his

story as “detestable fiction”
beat the electric chair.

invented to “=

The case went to the jury on the >

afternoon of October 21st. It took the
jurors six hours to reach their verdict
of “guilty!”

Loel listened with a twisted smile. No
recommendation of mercy was made.
Death was mandatory. The killer met
his fate in the electric chair on Decem-
ber 1, 1957. *

Editor’s Note: The names Tim Fenelli
and William Worthing are fictitious.

KATHY’S TERROR

(Continued from page 41)

Some he answered in a straightforward
manner, others he parried, still others
he refused to answer.

About eight o’clock the telephone
rang. Graves answered, hung up and
left the room, saying, “Give him a rest
and send out for some coffee and sweet
rolls.”

In the corridor Captain Sawdon was
waiting. He handed his ‘superior a
woman’s wristwatch and said, “Found
this in Keys’ car. Found something
else that’s interesting. A lot of blood
stains. The lab boys are already work-
ing them, over.”

Graves went into his office and
called Lincoln General’s Nursing
School and asked to speak to Iva Doer.
When she came to the phone he intro-
duced himself and said he had learned
that she had been very helpful the night
before in the matter of her missing
classmate.

“Did Miss Ristine have a_ wrist-
watch?” he asked. Iva said she did, and
described it. Her description exactly
matched the article found in Keys’ car.

“Was she wearing it when you saw
her last night before she left the resi-
dence?” Graves asked. ,

Iva said she was as sie remembered
Kathy had looked at it just before leav-
ing the room to see what time it was.
The assistant chief thanked her and
dialed another number.

Lancaster County Attorney * Paul
Douglas answered from his home.
Graves gave him a short account of
what had developed during the night,
said that the appearance of the missing
girl’s watch in Keys’ car, plus the blood
spots, almost certainly indicated foul
play. The prosecutor said he would be
right down.

Next Graves telephoned his top su-
perior, City Safety Director Emmett
Junge, and repeated the story. Junge
also said he would be at headquarters

as fast as his car could get him there.
When the questioning of Keys re-
sumed, Director Junge and Prosecutor
Douglas and Captain Sawdon had
swelled the interrogation ranks.

NTIL a break was called at noon,

Derrold D. Keys batted back ques-
tion after question, admitting only the
known facts of his life: that he had
been born on a ranch outside Purdom,
Nebraska, 12 miles north of Kathy’s
hometown of Halsey. After finishing
high school he had gone into the Air
Force. During his service he had spent
two years in Germany.

After his release from _ service,
he had returned to the Purdom ranch
until he was called back for a three-
month tour of duty with the reserves,
part of which was served at the Lin-
coln, Nebraska, Air Force Base. When
this ended he had stayed on in Lincoln,
largely because Kathy Ristine was
there. He had first met her at Halsey
in 1958 and had tumbled head over
heels in love.

Throughout he insisted, in view - of
his admitted feelings for Kathy, he
certainly would have done her no harm
and would naturally want to help in
every way to learn her present where-
abouts.

The police had deliberately withheld
the fact that they had recovered the
missing student’s wristwatch and that
even at that moment blood stains in
his auto were being analyzed.

Before Keys was brought back from
lunch a call came in from General Hos-
pital. The hospital, it seems, had been
conducting its own private investiga-
tion and blood had been found near,
and on the wall, of an empty house
three doors north of the hospital on
the west side of St. Mary’s Avenue, the
thoroughfare on which General Hospi-
tal is situated. This was on the route
Kathy would have normally taken to
and from the drug store at South and
14th.

Graves immediately detached a: team
of technicians to the spot to take speci-

mens and comb the area for possible
clues.

During the afternoon session, evi-
dence against the now prime suspect
still suppressed, Keys was asked if he
would submit to a lie detector test. After
some thought he said he would. The
polygraph was brought in and the
heavy-set mechanic spent an hour with
it and its supervisor. Then the question-
ing again became personal. No progress
was made when another break was
called for dinner at 6:30.

Graves, eating at his desk, heard the
report from the investigators who had
been working in the area where the
blood spots had been found by the
hospital’s amateur sleuths, The blood
was the same type as that found in
Keys’ car—the same type as Kathleen
Ann Ristine’s! The blob on the wall of
the vacant house at 2236 St. Mary’s
was made by a man’s hand, although
too smeared to allow identification.

Later the polygraph expert came in
and said that Keys had clearly lied at
several intervals during his bout with
the box.

After his team had returned from |

dinner, Graves acquainted them with
all the evidence that had been assem-
bled against the former boy friend of
the missing student nurse. It was then
decided to allow him several hours of
respite on the chance his confidence
might be bolstered. Then all the dam-
aging findings would be flung at him
broadside.

All this time, newsmen from the
press and broadcasting mediums had
been crowding the corridors waiting for
a break in the mystery, drinking coffee,
chopping their gums and smoking.

Shortly before midnight, Keys was
again led into the interrogation room
to face the tiring officers who had enter-
tained him all that morning and after-
noon.

No sooner had the suspect seated
himself than Prosecutor Douglas and
Assistant Chief Graves started hammer-
ing him with the deadly evidence they

had gathered. Keys listened mutely for ©
POLICE DRAGNET \

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HEADQUARTERS
* THE ARM of the law had been long, its
tentacles reaching out, seeking him in every
direction . .. he had eluded it for nearly two
years. Now he sat in the courtroom in Okla-
homa City, while his lawyers questioned pro-
spective jurors who would determine his fate.

LET'S
TARE A TRIP 10

- SLAUGHTER

She was found in another man's
bed, nude and soaked with blood!

» * soe

Liz's cross-country love tryst ended in a dingy motel room.
40

DETECTIVE MAGAZINE, JANUA

The questions droned on interminably, their
monotony broken by sharp interjection of ob-
jection and argument. =

“Have you formed an unchangeable opinion
as to the guilt or innocence of this defendant?

“Are you opposed to the death penalty?

These were questions the State insistéd must
be answered by each acceptable juror in the
negative. Assistant County Attorneys Joe T. Mar-
tin and Max Lawrence had made it plain that
they were demanding the death sentence for the
dreadful butchery in the motel. _ ee

The story, now rapidly nearing its end in mid-
October of 1955, had begun far away in Cali-
fornia 22 months earlier, in the first week in
January, 1954.

It had its beginning in a bar in Compton, a
western suburb of Los Angeles, when a man in
a bright orange sports shirt announced that he
was driving East to visit relatives in Ohio and
in Syracuse, N. Y.

“Ohio, gee!” murmured the pretty redhead
a couple of stools down the mahogany. “It’s
been four years since I saw my mother there.
If I only had the money to go.”

by PETER OSDEL

Knife and personal effects found in room.

RY,

1969.6

It wasn’t long before she made the
suggestion.

“Let me ride with you as far as
Ohio. I'll pay my share of expenses on
the trip.”

There was a complication, Thirty-
one-year-old Elizabeth Jeanne Hender-
son was married and living with her
second husband, and her son, 13, by
her first marriage.

Sx days later, on Wednesday morn-
ing, January 13th, as he began his
day at the tourist courts, which he
owned and operated in Oklahoma City,
William Worthing remembered that
Cabin No. 4 had not been cleaned since
Sunday.

There had been a reason. The oc-
cupant, on Sunday night, had paid two
days’ rent in advance and had said to
Worthing: “You needn’t bother the
cabin. We'll be in and out, my wife and
I. We'd rather not have anything dis-
turbed.”

Worthing unlocked the door to No.
4 and stepped inside. He was wrong, he
told himself at a glance. They had not
moved along.

Two suitcases lay opened in the
room, and clothing was heaped on two
chairs. The motel owner was about to
leave when he saw the bed.

Great, dark, ominous blobs on the
white linen sheet.

Blood! He knew it before he took
his next rapid step forward.

He found the body on the floor
against the wall, with the bed wedged
partially over it.

Clad only in blue panties and a sheer
nightie was the bloody, slashed and
stabbed corpse of a woman. Worthing
retreated hastily, ran to the office and
calJed the cops.

URDER was nothing new to Hom-
icide Detectives Bob Hudson and
Don Cochrane. They went about their
chores methodically, barely pausing to
nod when Captain Ted Baughman,
their squad chief, M. E. Higgs, the de-
partment fingerprint expert, and Detec-
tive Chief Wayne W. Harbolt came in.
The officers noted that although
there obviously had been a bloody
struggle in the bed, there was no sign
of battle elsewhere in the room,

There were two pint whiskey bottles
and three coke bottles, all empty, on
the dresser along with two sticky wa-
ter tumblers,

Two chairs, one holding feminine at-

tire, the other bearing several items of
male wear, stood upright. The suit-
cases, one filled with feminine frippery,
the other with men’s garb and accoutre-
ments, were undisturbed,

Cochrane followed an indistinct trail
of bloody footprints to a wastebasket
and from it took a pair of gore-soaked
men’s slacks, an empty beer bottle and
a hunting knife with a bloodstained
six-inch blade.

Papers in a woman’s purse identified
its owner as Elizabeth Henderson of
Lynwood, California, the suburban
community next to Compton.

Other papers, these removed from
the man’s suitcase, named its owner
as Otto Loel of Compton. Among
these papers the dicks found a letter
in an unstamped envelope addressed to
a woman in Oregon. The missive
bore a December 31 date, expressed
pique at the person to whom it was
addressed for not accepting some
Christmas presents, and ended with a
weird paragraph.

Bob Hudson took the queer letter
from his partner, read it and passed
it along to Captain Baughman.

Hudson said: “I don’t know about
his ‘curse of the little golden Buddha’
—but our boy Loel is sure lethal
enough when he puts the curse of a six-
inch knife on his babes.”

“I'm wondering about that,” Don
Cochrane remarked.

“You've seen this—and you’re won-
dering?”

“Why a guy would-register in a mo-
tel, obviously under his right name,
kill a woman, take time to clean up
and change clothes, and then walk
out and leave behind enough identifica-
tion to cash a check in a strange town.”

“Don’s got a point there,” Captain
Baughman conceded. “If Loel had plan-
ned the killing before he and the wom-
an came here, it stands to reason he’d
have taken pains to cover up his true
identity, If the murder was in a fight,
the chances are he'd have tried every
which way to clean out all traces of his
identification.”

The captain turned to Worthing.
“He register his license number when
he checked in?”

“Sure. Come on to the office and
look at the book.”

The motel register showed that the
couple had rented Cabin No. 4 at
about 8 A.M. Sunday. Worthing said
he had seen neither of them until
around dusk, when Loel went to a
nearby café, from which he returned
at about seven o'clock to pay the cabin
rent for two days in advance.

“That’s when he told me not to
bother about cleaning up till they left.

I've had other folks ask the same thing.
Only I never had one leave a mess like
this behind till now.”

“We've got to assume, of course,”
Baughman said, “that Loel is our man.
But we'll not overlook another pos-
sibility, too. That he met someone,
maybe over in the café, and brought
a guest back here to the motel with
him—a guest who got rough over a
pretty woman.”

“Then where'd Loel be now?” the
motel owner wanted to know.

“Maybe in the trunk of his own car,
maybe in a ditch somewhere,” Baugh-
man replied. “And good and dead.”

Through long-distance calls, the
Oklahoma police verified Loel’s iden-
tity, the date of his leaving Compton
and the license number of his car—Cal-
ifornia IN4588.

“She told me,” the husband said,
“there was a party making the trip, I
understood there’d be another couple,
at least.”

i hte day following the discovery of
Mrs. Henderson’s body in the motel,
Baughman and his men knew that al-
though Loel and the victim had left Los
Angeles by themselves, they had had
company on most of the journey.

Loel had introduced Mrs, Henderson
as his wife, Fenelli reported, but once
along the way she had said they were
not married, and had implored Fenelli:
“Don't leave the car till we get to Okla-
homa City.”

“I never did find out what she meant
by that,” Fenelli said.

The McAlester youth had even more
to add. Loel stopped frequently at
taverns along the way, he informed of-
ticers, and somewhere his pocket had
been picked of about $100.

(Continued on page 50)
41

Se Cree,
°1S6T *TT /uer uo (AqunoD euoYyeTyO) eUOYeTYO peynooaqoeTe fot faqryum **y 0990 “THOT

ahs 7k

a 39, oa

ig eee

LN Aorta) €

Tota tS

nes

Pr tao

newspaper reporters ar

Bers of. warring gangs, ahd there-
fore not killed. In. gang, wars, I" bid
you adios. ey

ONE CUSTOMER”
AND BANDIT ARE
STRUCK BY SHOTS

ey (Continued trom “page ‘otie) *!

; driver.: ‘in it-and. ‘take me, out of
the cityi’<" There »Was*a rumor
PA ‘that there. was a man outside in a
pear-.waiting. for-him’ but: he. said
‘of SL-did the; job: -alone;' Which was
he firstone: ever attempted.” *

ir.) T.*M:“Aderhold: ‘told~a* Tri-
“2 bune. representative « that’ Lovett,
although ina ‘serious condition,
‘was likely to live, 2+... su

‘afternoon,. Lovett. said’ “that *he
arrived ‘in. Eb: Reno... Tuesday
‘night-and.. ‘slept ini :one- of the
JTocal. cotton gins, after’ looking
‘over all: of “the.-banks “here. He
‘stated that he had. just’ intended
+ Passing through ‘EL Reno and robr
-bing the Union’ City:.bank, . but
‘after looking the Banks over here
decided to remain and attempt. to
[rob the First National. : hast f
* There was ‘considerable argu-
ment as to whether Jesse Burge,
‘bank cashier or: George. Adams,
x} employe ofthe Oklahoma Tire
Seem, and Supply store, who’ opened fire
3 on: the, bandit as he fled from the
4 bank, shot the bandit in the chest.
‘Hospital attendants. » said
¥et'as.to what caliber’. gun ‘had
aflicted the ‘wounds. .; i

Tn’ a .statement. late zn ‘in 1 the}

| Mr. -Burge’s « cage, he ordered him
to‘ go. “to ‘the rear, also, Burge
| turned’ as though . he was obey.
ing the command, -but he picked’
up a. revolver and as the bandit:
turned his head. slightly, Burge,
fired a shot at ‘him.

dit fired three shots in that di
réction, one of the. bullets tearing
ont a:bar in the cage window. >
wis Firés* At Foliart
_-According to the witnesses, Fo-
liart then entered ‘the front door

a. holdup was ‘in. - Progress, «. : The
bandit fired one’ shot at hi

the - bullet : striking, Fottart in t é.
ches i

“The ‘bandit ‘ then: ran out. ‘the:
front. door . and’ started for the

i rear of the building. , Adams,: who.

was changing 4’ tire on an auto:
mobile ‘on Woodson street; direct-
ly ‘opposite the: bank, ‘had heard

ia the Shots and. had obtained a gu

from his" store.” Returning to the
rear’ _ door, of the? tire store,- he,
Heaw’ ‘the bandit running for the
alley and he opened fire. The

bandit ‘turned ' ‘and fired’ ‘one shot,”
but. not at “Atlams, ¢ After. Adams...
had tired his third’ ‘shot, the ban-
dit fell) 2s!

2 Foliart : and “Lovett “were rushed |
‘to: the» El Reno ‘Sanitarium. . 4
Lovett Talks. cat Hospital | Pepe
‘ Lovett was willing, to talk from. :

| his’ room’ ‘at: the El Reno Sani. .
a tarium; and discussed the incident f

freely*with officers, Mayor Charles:
Tompkins anda Tribune reporter.
He said “I was alone. There. was
no. one else’ with me. I had plan:

down: ‘the: alley, catch:a car with ©":

/ (Continued 00 page 6) °

‘of the bank, not’ knowing..that‘/*

ned, ‘to take the“ money and ru a.

OHE GUST

AND BANDIT ARE-

STRUCK BY SHOTS

Dee Foliart = i, S: In-
structor, Seriously Hurt;
done ue Man i is Bandit

‘Two men were. ‘shot and eriti-.
cally, wounded: when a lone “ban-
dit attempted to holdup and: rob
the First National Bank,‘ corner
of Bickford avenue and Woodson

-street, at.12:30°o’clock this “af-
} ternoon, The ‘wounded are:

Tf as “Henry Lovett, 38, of Chick-.
_asha, ° ‘the:": ‘bandit, ° ‘shot.
; through the ‘chest, Condition
‘serious. 0) ey. 1 hoor
Dee- Foliart, 28, assistant:
a * athletic” coach: ‘of EL Reno
‘high school, ‘a customer: in’
“the bank, “shot | ‘throngh. tho
chest. ; Condition Critical,” ms
Dr. *PytBS; Myers; . who. Ais at
tending Foliart, gave out the fol-

{lowing statement at three o'clock

this’ afternoo r7
ee chances: “tor: zFecovery. fare,

e was shot “py” George:
Adams, employee of the Oklahoma.
Tire’ and Supply company, - as he-.
iran, toward -the: alley at the rear
4of the bank. Jesse M,. Burge, as-
sistant cashier of the’ bank,” had, -
fired one shot’ ‘at, the bandit wee:
4g was in. “the. bank. :
«Orders. All- To “Rear.

im Haterin's’ ‘the: front. door: ‘of the
bank, Lovett ; ‘ordered all. cus
tonrers™ sduar“employees: ~ot—ths:

‘He.. _ brandished. a revolver and.
shouted, aa mean: business,”

the bandit “entered were: F. Ht:

“| Morris, president; Jesse M. Burge, ~
} assistant cashier; Mrs. Burge; ~

Mrs. -Georgia ‘Cox, * book-keeper;. :
Miss Teresa Williams, head book-
keeper; Ed Lymann, local. mer-.
chant, and J. F- eK of Breil

3 .
both customers, » ; :
i

Mr. Morris ; started to * obey
the bandit’s orders. Mrs, Burge,

™) however, who was sitting In the

front of the. room, turned and i
Tan out the front door and called
the police. As the bandit passed
Mr. Burge’s cage, he ordered him

‘to go to the rear, also: Burge

vem
bank to, the rear of, the room, '

” Those‘ in ‘the bank at the time ee

‘ful’ for such nice - weather |i
along with out many other
blessings that are bestowed
upon us.*", ~

“> FOLARTS DEATH)
~ HOURNEDEY MANY

ae pesto Thanksgiving Vacation is
Sadly Halted -

~ ae
oe cara

A “lanes Thanksgiving: vaca-
tion to be spent with. his parents,
Mr. and Mrs: J. Foliart, at, Keota,
Oxia., Was sadiy “halted” “When. Dés]"
Foliart, .28, El eno high, school
{ instructor, succumbed ‘to “a gun
ee) shot wound at the El-Reiio Sani-
jtarium at 10-15 o'clock’ Wednes-
jeay night. He had been shét
hats Wednesday noon when he entered
f ars the First National Bank “to de

; et posit: his -salary. check. while an
4 attempted holdup was in- progress.
-Death came before his father ar-
rived at.11 o'clock last, night.
irsA wWire-was sent to Dee's.” mo-
ther, who: was visiting - if. Mis-
‘souri, following the accident Wed-
“| nesday, but was relayed‘to Iowa
{where she had. gone. ° Details: of
the accident were wired:.to her
_-|at Kansas City and was delivered
| to the young man’s mother. at the
‘Union station. Mrs. Foliart. wired
back and_ said, -Going ~ t Keota.
Thanks “for your. -services.
| Foliart.” aac
| The " body is to Dé: akon to
#8 Keota for the funeral‘ services.
“|The time of the services. has not
been announced yet.:: oh
. He. is survived. by’ iis! ‘parents
‘and a- brother, John, who arrived
4in El Reno from Amarillo, Texas,

“about 2 o’clock Thursday morning.
a, Hé also has a sister living in Cali-
fornia and one living in‘Texas.

S ular high school assistant ‘coach
Ey threw a-dark loud. over” the en-
S$ tire city as he had°made a host’
Sy of friends, during his short Tesi-
*ee] dence here, amoung the high school
students and the business men and
.| citizens ‘of the city..-He was. only].
spleete 4 an innocent customer of the First:
ba vegan! Natioal bank who -was. ventering

«| the building to deposit - a ‘warrant

seces A

“) Burge- fired - a-shot at him.: Th

pei ions when the bandit- opened’ fire.

ri bullet ‘is believed to ‘have hit the.
‘bandit, ° : ,
ut..regained on his feet and be-..\+-

‘a bar in the window. of, Burge’s.

oF ‘The customers, 'Mr.’ Morris’ and”
a che other employes: -of _the Bank pei

-|'sudden.
‘| from. close range..>.Foliart grasped *

4 the," "steps. Se :

mer. qf biakford caverue ana
Woodson street, Wednesday noon,
during. which he is allered to
have fatally”: wounded Dee Foi-
iart, 28, assistant athletic
coach of El Reno high school, and

was shot through the chest hi im- —

self. j

Foliart who entered the bank
during the attempted holdup,
died at the El Reno ‘sanitarizm
at 10:15 o'clock. ‘ Wednesday
night:.He had been shot through
the chest.
fiously. wounded,
recover. He is being guarded

closely. by deputy sheriffs at the: '

sanitarium. a a
Fred Wallace, county attorney,

said. today that he- was ready to’

file the charges against Lovett
today, but. that “he would
the action until Friday becausy
of the legal holiday. today.
"Lovett Says He's ;{Serrm"'

“When told of ‘Foliart’s death 7

last night, Lovett merely ‘remark-
ed, ‘I’m sorry.”’.
the sheriff's office .and police

department and Mr. Wallace have ._

questioned Lovett at length, but
he sticks to his ‘story that ha

had no =o are in: his — =:

to-rob the bank. co

Foliart was serving his first: 3
year as a member of the El’
Reno high school faculty, having -
taught at Geary: last -year. He
taught junior high ‘school mathe...

matics, coached |-wrestling -. and

assisted J. .E... Simmons, ‘head |
coach, in other. branches of ath-.
letics ‘in the local’school. While--

a student ‘at, Oklahoma Unirer- a

sity? : Foliart~ 1 won Say: sletter : ‘in
bf Dano wr ze ays
“Different ‘Gisties Told

told-as to several details concern-'r
ing. the’ att empted> holdup. Lovett
entered the front door of the bank -
about -12:30 o’clock,. however, and’

immediately. ordered ~all’ officers, -
employes and. customers to enter...
the vault at the rear of the build- ~~
F. H. Morris, ‘president of °:

ing.~
the bank, and the. employes ard.
customers in the. building started’.

Ped :\}to obey the command. ,*Mrs. J. M1..." Les
». News. of the death. of the pop- ;Burge,, ‘wife of- the assistant. cash- :

ier, who was sitting:.in the front.
of, the bank, ignored the order,
however, and hurried -out the front:
door: - Lovett -
that. he did not want to kill Mrs
ee: so decided to* ‘let. her 80.

t2As° the -- bandit.
Burge’s cage, the “latter grabbed
a-sungand- when. Lovett tiirned’ his
head ftoward the Year: of ‘the:.bank

who slumped downward,’
gan*shogting. . ,Qne bullet tore out,
cage, | and .-two, others. burried |:

‘ themsely es in. the: wall. pebind the; ;

2 closed. the door: “Lovett, who was.

= following. them, ‘had his. back~ ‘to. :
“the .side- ‘door, when‘: Foliart: en- mt
“vtered to deposit: his salary check:

The bandit’ turned: toward Foliart -
and‘,told him: to lie .down: on the.,
| floor.: ». Foliart,- confused by the)
realization’ of what - was.
happening, hesitated ‘and the. ban:-
dit. is* said to haye fired at him’

at. his: side and staggered out- the’
side: ‘door, where © ty blamiped « ‘to!

C. R. Horton, : also a teicher: in

4 the” city «schools, ‘had: walked UD... fn

town ‘with Foliart’ ‘and. had ‘left +

|) him’ just outside the bank, Horton,'.’:
‘| who had’ gone- on east toward the’

Citizens. National: bank, heard the *

Lovett, although ser- °
is expected to

delay =~

‘Officers from-'.

‘Conflicting . -stories.* have been.

ra x n

told officers later’. oe

‘FOLIART DIES;
- BANDIT TO FACE -
‘MURDER CHARGE]

[ee eGamtiieied from Pais One) ®

Shots fired int the ‘bank: and,. turn-
ing” around, “saw : Foliart stagger |
out of the -bank.: He ran back. to:
Foliart and. asked him what was,
the- matter,’ °“Nothing,”.. Foliart |
_ (said, “I’m not_hurt.’”- But Horton, |
fF seeing <. blood -
realized. that. Ris’ -friend ~ was
wounded and,: ‘calling another man,
took him to‘ a’ -physician’s office:
Later, Foliart was. seach to: aie
Sanitarium: :

“ik Bandit. ies Bank *
‘Shortly after: Foliart. was- ‘ight:
Lovett» left ‘the’ bank. . Some’: say
he ‘ran out: ‘the ‘front door | and
then back along ‘the north “side af
the building-to the alley. ‘William
Patterson, , druggist, who ‘said he
started into:'the bank on business;
said he> saw - ‘the: ‘bandit ‘leave: by.
the -side, “door, ‘then’ run. to’: the
front --of. the ‘building ‘and - look
south. on: Bickford “avenue: The,
bandit ‘then’ . turned,- Pusiiceen:
‘said; and*: Tan tae al — toward
the: alley?!
‘ George Agawa.. “an been fe “of
the. Oklahoma: Tire’ and: Supply |

aso3 aS aa

a’ car opposite the’ bank. “Hearing
-}the ‘shots he obtained a gun from
his store-and as Lovett ran toward
the alley, Adams- opened fire. -He
jfired three. -shots-and- Lovett fell
in. the -alley« after the third ‘shot.
‘Adams. Tan to Lovett and told- him
‘to® put up ‘his arms. Lovett: raised
‘one arm and ‘Adams took his gun.
| away-from: him:”, Lovett Wag. then
“| taken to’ the Sanitarium.. eS
7 -No- Accomplice Seen

‘he: attempted. :to” fob the. ‘bank by
‘ | himself,, and’ no: witnesses “have
=a been, found’.who saw ‘another ban-
i dit,. officers’ are ‘inclined to believe
“that: Lovett: ‘had an.-accomplice }-
ef -somewhere smear: “the: bank to: aid
Vr him ‘in?! ‘his’: ‘escape.’ “One= story
given. ‘circulation® was: that a Buick
automobile. had been seen“to leave
‘the alley at’ the rear of the. bank
;at-a high rate of: speed" about - the
time ‘of the attempted robbery.~
Lovett told the officers that joe
‘came here from Kansas Tuesday,
| He said he rode- with an .under:
| sheriff from~a point Rear Liberal,
‘Kansas, to. Enid. After looking |

* on» his clothing, |.} 4

S}iart, 28,
company, was changing a‘ tireon |

hough: Lovett: declares that 5

"TroLiagr
ae

Wound Received By gang

: Charges" of. imurder - ‘and’ “Tob- :
bery with: firearms probably will
be tiled against Henry. ALéyett, 38,

mer -.of.
Woodson: street, Wedesise noon,
during « which “he °

“assistant: “Sathletic™ 5%
coach’ ‘of EL Reno: high School, Songs Ey

self. - ‘
Foliart ‘who entered: the. bank:
during -- the« ‘attempted holdup,

| “o'clock.
‘night... He had° been ‘Shot, through‘ sv35
‘the chest ‘* Lovett, although: sere 2
“iously..'wounded, - is expected ::-to ag
recover... He is being: -guardet-
. closely. by. deputy sherifts, at bene tl
© sanitarium. ; Sa
-.-Fred Waltace,’ colts. attoraaye
said : ‘today that he was ready “ta
file the charges against. Lovet
today; -but. that he would: dela}
the~ action- until . Friday because’
aie .the ‘legal: holiday.. today. = : Bee

gwoxete Says: He's: sSorey

last night, Lovett. merely remarkr3
ed, ‘I’m. Sorry.’”*. “Officers ‘from; i
‘the sherift’s © “office and police.
department and Mr:.Wallace have+}
questioned Lovett ‘at. length, but
he: sticks to~-his ‘story . that,
had no accomplice in his astame
E to. rob the. bank... * LESS, :

. Foliart : (was. servitig his first?

~| over. the, banks here, he decided |
Fa to. rob the First National, he said.
“T-was!down and out,” Lovett told

Officers. -“I decided to rob a bank
‘and. if I got by, alright,. and if I
|. didn’t. L didn’t ‘care’ ~ .

He © said’ he had planned to rob
the bank and then catch an auto-
| Mobile..at a stop. sign and Yorce }
the: driver ‘to take him out of the
4 city. oe Tey 1 . 3 ae
“ Lovett’s woaneee consist. oe :

serious one “in his left side,” just
| below. the ‘heart? He-Wag im-
proved this: morning and’ physic:
dans believe’ he-will recover. ACB
»- Lovett’s - father, - John - Lovett,
}.and four brothers, all of - Chick;
asha, visited the wounded man at
the hospital here last night,

= Wrestling. © 0 yes

| slight. bullet wounds~ over the left Abe
eye. and in his neck, and - -more | *.

year as .ai-member of, the. El.
Reno high school faculty, having =
‘ taught at Geary -last year, Ha-
taught junior high school mathe-.
matics,’ coached . Wrestling . and’:
assisted ~J..E. Simmons, head
coach, in: other branches of ath-:
letics inthe local school. While*-
.a student ‘at. Oklahoma’ Univer--.

§ sity, - Foliart = won a létter ‘in:
» a cet Pa

_o. Different-Stories Told
Conflicting stories have been.

ceria 2 Te a

around the smoky lantern and listened. Again the lost dog
howled—half a mile away to the southeast.

“That fool pooch of yours is caught in the wire,” one of the men grum-
bled. “Over to the left there by the creek.”

Nodding, the lanky farmer s and started off with the
bobbing lant a hundred yards beyond,
however, he at a new sound. From off to the right

i i darkness like a thin-bladed knife.

"TT intewan G through the Oklahoma summer night the four farmers
halted

emanded, wheeling as his Startled companions came

answer, the unseen man cried out again,

oe,” he pleaded. “I’ll do anything you want me to.”
Then one laughed shortly

: orse trader and the g i -
Sounds like they got company.”
The leader frowned. “We'd better go down and investigate,” he suggested
uneasily,
“Don’t look for trouble,” the other man snorted. “That’s some private
fight and it’s all Over now, Listen.”

ahh LN ENN LY 9

ec. Okla. (Waggoner), 3/1/1940

[Continued from page 25]

Mystery of the Missing Chef

Sobs shook her shoulders and I felt as
awkward as a horse.

After waiting for her to regain control
of herself I gently began asking ques-
tions.

“You said that your husband was driv-
ing his car on the day he left home,” I
began. “Now will you please give me a
description of the car, and if you have
them with you, the license and motor
numbers?”

The woman said she would have to
return home for the numbers I wanted.
She did describe the car closely, though.

I told her that I would get the desired
numbers from the highway department in
Springfield.

When I had the numbers I wanted from
Springfield, I sent out a general pickup
order to all surrounding counties, and to
the state police.

On the morning of Dec. 29, I got results.

A phone call came from State Highway
Patrolman Horace M. Hudspeth, at
Petersburg, Ill. He said that he had found
the car I had been seeking.

I drove to Petersburg as fast as pos-
sible.

But when Hudspeth pointed out the
car, I was disappointed. Somehow, this
car didn’t exactly answer the description
I had. The wheels were black, not orange
colored and there was no spare.’ Also,
the hub caps were all in place.

Hudspeth pointed to the wheels. “Right
there is what aroused my suspicion,” he
said.

And then I saw what had been done.
The car had been painted but Hudspeth

had detected flecks of orange paint on
the wheels where stones had knocked
part of the new black coating from the
wire spokes.

We called the manager of the garage
and he told us that a man named George
Grimes had left the car there. It was
only a matter of minutes to locate Grimes.
And this‘man said that he had traded for
the Ford sometime before.

He produced a bill of sale and as this
was before the title law in Illinois, it was
perfectly legal as far as he was concerned.

The name of Ray Gillmore appeared on
the bill of sale as the seller and his address
was given as Kilbourne, III.

At last it looked as if I was getting a
break in this case. I removed the car to
Havana and sent for Mrs. Durkin again.

She identified the Ford at once despite
the effort that had been made to disguise

it.

Now I had to tell her that I thought
something serious had happened to her
husband. She took the news with admir-
able restraint, saying that she had had
time to think things over and was pre-
pared for the worst.

I examined the seats of the car and
found some brownish stains. Scraping
some of the substance into an envelope, I
sent it to Springfield to learn whether it
was human blood. My belief was soon
confirmed.

When I went to Kilbourne I learned
that Ray Harrison Gillmore lived out in
the country. I determined to arrest him
at once. I believed I was drawing near
the end of my first big case.

TWO LAST MILES—1,000 MILES APART

On March 1 the Oklahoma chair claimed Roy Mannon, left, killer in Nov.,

1938, of Jake Skelly, aged Wagoner astrologer (DYNAMIC DETECTIVE

Nov., 1939). Shortly before, Demetrius Gula, right, one of the kidnap-

slayers in Dec., 1937, of Arthur Fried, New York contractor (DYNAMIC DE-
TECTIVE Sept., 1938), died at Sing Sing.

I knew, of course, that Gillmore might
show a bill of sale from Durkin and ex-
plode my whole case in my face. But
nevertheless, I took State’s Attorney
Barnes and that night we drove to the
Gillmore home.

Barnes told me that I was taking a
chance on making myself look foolish but
I argued that had Durkin merely sold his
car he certainly would not have thrown
away all his clothes.

And why hadn't he written to his wife,
especially when they had a young baby at
home?

It didn't make sense to me that a man
who was past 45 years of age would just
suddenly run away for no reason at all.

So I felt sure that Gillmore was guilty
of some crime and one more serious than
car theft. But I was going to go about
it easily. I'd ivl. to trick him into an
admission, if he was guilty. For I had
nothing but the thinnest sort of circum-
stantial evidence and not one bit of proof
of a crime.

We found the young man in bed and
he made no protest when he learned the
sheriff wanted to talk to him.

I told him that I merely wanted to
question him about the car deal he had
made, saying that Grimes was dissatis-
fied. This. seemed to sound all right to
the Gillmore family and we started for
Havana with our prisoner. I was driving
and Gillmore sat in the rear seat with the
state’s attorney.

As we drove slowly on the rough coun-
try road, no mention was made of the real
object of our visit. But when I reached
the concrete highway I could take my at-
tention from my driving a little and I
began to talk about the trade Gillmore
had made with Grimes.

“I don’t see what he has to holler
about,” growled the youth. “I think I’m
the one who got hooked.”

“By the way,” I said, “how much did
you give Durkin for the flivver?”

For a moment there was silence from
the back seat.

“Oh, I traded a lot of stuff and gave
him some money to boot,” Gillmore an-
swered, but I thought I detected a tremor
in his voice. ‘“Why, Sheriff? You don’t
think I stole Jim’s car do you?”

“Oh, no, of course not. But the fact
of the matter is, Durkin’s wife is not
satisfied with the ‘deal. And you know,
Ray, that you haven’t shown us any bill of
sale for the car yet.”

“Oh, I got one all right though,” came

_the answer from the young farmer. “I

reckon Pa can bring it in tomorrow.”

I wondered if this was a bluff, or if
Gillmore really could produce a signed
bill of sale. If he did, I failed to see how
I was going to hold him. A proper bill
of sale would wreck my entire theory.
But something told me that it was a
bluff and I determined to call his hand.

We drove on for another mile, then I
opened up again.

“Ray, just why did you paint the car
when you knew you were going to sell it?
And why did you take the spotlight off?”

Once more there was a painful silence
for sometime. Then the suspect answered.
“Oh, I didn’t like the color and I traded
the spotlight for some gas: one night.”

I let him stew for a while after that. I
knew he was worried and he kept getting

eee Uaces

» DetectTivé

more nervous
we knew som
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than we did.
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thing unless
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“Was Jim
changed the
throw them
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“Ray,” I
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“I Was Accused of Murder!”

[Continued from page 29]

Meaningless Clues

I HAD plenty of time to think. Time
after time, I ran over the events just
preceding the crime and weighed the
little evidence on hand. There was the ax
with which the murder was committed,
and a footprint in the yard from which
a plaster cast had been taken. Any
unknown person might have made the
track, and there were no finger-prints
on the ax. The most important point
in the entire case would have been the
definite establishment of the hour of
the crime, but since the bodies were not
found until morning, this could not be
exactly determined. No witnesses had
been discovered who could testify to
having seen my father and stepmother
after six o’clock on the evening of the
murder. That left me entirely open to
suspicion as far as time was concerned.

I soon worked out a plan which I be-
lieved would be successful. By means
of the grapevine I sent a message to a
peace officer whom I knew I could trust,
Constable Grady Anderson. I outlined
a plan by means of which I was sure
progress could be made. He immediately
sent me word that he would follow my
advice to the letter.

Tuesday morning I was conducted to
the funeral home where my father and
stepmother lay. A _ large number of
people were present—relatives, neigh-
bors, friends and _ curiosity seekers.
Nearly forty state, federal, and local
officers had gathered to honor my father
for his long years of public service as a
former U. S. marshal and chief of the
McAlester police.

As we viewed the bodies, my sister,
who was standing near, burst into tears.

Trapped by the alert sleuthing of

Constable Anderson, Tom Morris,

ex-convict, confessed to the brutal
ax slayings. |

I saw that the eyes of the officers were
upon me, and betrayed no emotion. I
could not rid myself of the atmosphere
of antagonism which followed me as

moved through the crowd. Apparently,
however, many expected me to break

down under the emotional strain, for’

afterward I learned that my coolness
was regarded as evidence of my guilt !

Day by day, the public was becoming
more and more certain that I was the
murderer; but this public feeling aided
rather than hindered my underworld in-
vestigation, I believed, for the true
criminal would naturally be off his
guard. I was hopeful for early results,
and eagerly awaited each bit of news of
Grady’s investigations. After eliminat-
ing a large number of possible suspects,
his attention was finally centered on one
Tom Morris, a negro who had been re-
leased from the State Prison at Mc-
Alester only four days before the fatal
Sunday. Bit by bit the information con-
cerning the movements. of this negro
began to assume significant proportions.
When the constable found that my
father had been instrumental in con-
victing Morris of burglary charges, he
believed that close observation was jus-
tified.

Pressing his investigations, Anderson
discovered that Morris's wife, until a
few weeks before the tragedy, had been
employed at the House residence as
part-time ‘maid-of-all work, and that
Morris had made no move to leave Mc-
Alester after his release. Since the crime
indicated motives of both robbery .and
revenge, Morris fitted into the case per-
fectly.

The church was crowded at the fu-
neral which was held Wednesday after-
noon. I attended in the company o
some eight officers. Throughout the
long ceremony my mind was torn be-
tween my grief and the ignominy of
being under arrest in such an hour of
sorrow. I resolved that come what may
I would be freed from the charge which
was hanging over me.

The Grapevine Message

cy THE way out of the church,
along the line through which I must
pass, I saw the man who was acting
as my grapevine communicant. A secret
sign told me that he had a message for
me, and as I reached him I paused long
enough for him to whisper: “They’ve
got a nigger!” My heart leaped within
me, for I knew that if an arrest had
been. made by Anderson the chances
were that it was the guilty man! One
burden atleast was lifted from my soul,
for the disgrace of the accusation had
been bearing heavily upon me.

‘It was not until the next day that I
learned the details of the arrest. An-
derson had traced Tom Morris to a
small hotel for colored people on South
Main street. When he called to inter-
view him, Morris ‘had not been in; but
a long conversation with the proprietor
aroused Anderson’s suspicions immedi-
ately. Morris had arrived some days
before, and though he had no money,
apparently had not been looking for
work. Anderson planned a return visit,

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and made arrangements with the pro-
prietor to notify him immediately if
Morris made any move to leave the city.

On the afternoon of the funeral, start-
ling developments took ‘place. About

1:30 Morris rushed into the hotel say-
ing that he must catch the 1:55 train,
and wanted to check out immediately.
He paid his bill with an old-style gold
bank note. The hotel man’s suspicions
were immediately aroused. He phoned
Anderson's § office. Orville Stapp, Ander-
son’s aide, took the message. Stapp
lost no time in finding Anderson, and
together they rushed to the station.
The train was to leave in 20 minutes.
They secreted themselves in the bag-
gage room, for they knew that Morris
would be checking is trunk as soon as
he arrived. In a few minutes Morris
entered and Anderson arrested him im-
mediately. The frightened negro gave
himself away at once.

“I know what you want,” said Morris.
“It’s about that old man and woman
who were killed. I don’t know any-
thing about it.”

“Where’s the key to this trunk?” de-

manded Anderson. He was not a man
to stand on ceremony.
’ “You can’t search my trunk! You
haven’t got any warrant,” screamed the
negro excitedly. “Anyhow, my wife's
got the key.”

“We'll just break it open, then.”

With the butt of his gun Anderson
knocked off the flimsy lock. A hurried
search revealed a suit of bloody clothes!
As this damning evidence came to view,
Morris broke loose, and dashed from
the depot. Anderson fired and missed.

“Stop him,” yelled the constable. An
insurance man blocked the negro’s path
momentarily, but a blow from Morris’
fist knocked him sprawling. This slight
delay, however, gave Anderson and
Stapp a chance to overtake the negro.

A hand -to hand battle ensued but
Morris was overpowered and_ hand-
cuffed. The arrest had broken the
negro’s spirit and on the way to the
state prison where Anderson took him
for, safe keeping he confessed, in part,
to the crime. As the trio mounted the
steps to the warden’s office, the latter
stepped outside his door.

“Why, Morris,” he exclaimed in sur-
prise. “What are you doing back here?”

“Warden,” he said prophetically, “J’ve
come back to burn this time!”

Named As An Accomplice

BA in pe cell again after the fu-
neral, was weary and grief-
stricken; oh the news of the negro’s
arrest and the belief that I would soon
be released brought me no little com-
fort. But complications were soon to
arise. The sheriff came to my cell a
few hours after our return to the jail
and I knew from his face that some-
thing serious had come up.

“Tom,” he said, “things still look bad
for you. Morris has confessed, but he
implicates you! First he said you did
the killing and he acted as a lookout,
but finally he changed and said you
hired him to do it with the promise that
a = have whatever money he could

I was staggered for a moment. Then
I said, slowly: “Sheriff, bring Morris
over here and let him pick me out of a
group of other people. I’m taking a
chance that he knows me, but it’s the
only chance to prove he’s lying.”

The next morning Morris was brought
to the jail but his attempt to identify
me failed completely. Apparently he
had taken a chance on being able to pick
out an accused man among others, but
I outwitted him by my calm and care-
less manner when brought before him
in a group of some seven others. This
settled the matter as far as I was con-
cerned, for it proved the negro’s earlier
confession to be entirely false. J was
free!

In his final confession, Morris told
the complete story. He had entered my
father’s home at 8:30 on the evening of
November 27, murdered my people with
an ax taken from a house a few doors
away, ransacked the premises and found
about ;

The murder trial was held on the 27th
and 28th of March, 1933. The jury re-
turned a verdict of guilty after a five
minute deliberation. Death in the elec-
tric chair was recommended by the jury

-and Morris was so sentenced some

twenty days later. The execution took
place on Friday, November 26, 1933, al-
most a year to the day after his brutal
act.

Tracking Kentucky’s Girl Gunner

[Continued from page 52]

oners the deputy searched under the bed
and found a loaded .45.

While Weikel was taking his prisoners
back for trial he heard Grace’s story of
old Green River. She said Browder had
spent his boyhood along the stream, fish-
ing and hunting and frog-sticking. Then
he .became a vagabond in the East,
shipped to European ports, returned and
wandered in the West. On one trip
back to his boyhood haunts he met Grace
and they married and made their home
in Detroit.

“Carl hankered for Kentucky all the
time,” she said, with a sigh, “and I did
too. He talked about the Green River
and the frogs a-hollerin’ in the bottoms.
We planned to buy a place near Calhoun

- and settle down to be near the river.

Carl was going to get some money quick

and put it on the dice at Louisville and
win enough for a home.”

Though the couple fought the bank
robbery charge, there were many to
identify them and conviction was simple.
Louisville police said they suspected
Browder of machine gun holdups there.
A jury sentenced Grace to twenty years
and Carl to eighteen.

“Green River, puts a spell on folks,”
she often said, “and Carl and I will go
back and have a home there when we
get out.”

But Green River was not to offer shel-
ter to the couple. Carl attacked a guard
ut the Eddyville prison and was shot to

‘death. Grace mourned and wept, while

there remained many years in which she
must pay for her dubious distinction as

Kentucky’s girl machine gunner.

64 Tuank You For Menrioninc Startiinc Detective ADVENTURES

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Member
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—

MO RRI S | pee 1 2 a an a i
RIS, Tom, black, elec, Okka OP (Pittsburg Co.) Nov. 24, 1933
x "3 wd

These gloves helped a ruthless
ax slayer to leave no identifying
trademark on the fatal weapon

Was Hidden Treasure or Revenge
the Motive for This Double-Murder.
of the. Former McAlester, Okla-
homa, Police Chief and His Wife?

By Frank R. Watson = @=—
Former County Attorney, McAlester, Oklahoma,
as Told to

Harlan Mendenhall

den stop at the death scene. Erney’s
words were casual:

“Both hacked to death with an ax.”

For the time being, we tried to for-
get our deep friendship: for the’ old
couple as we pushed our way through
the crowd. Constable Anderson met
us at the front door.

.“They’re in there,” he said, nod-
ding his head toward the bedroom.
“The coroner is examining them. It’s
awful.”
‘We all walked quickly to the bed-
room, but we stopped momentarily at
the doorway, surprised at what we
saw. The floor and the beds literally
were covered with blood. Doctor
Charles M. Reed, the coroner, was ex-
amining the bodies carefully. I walked
over to him and touched his shoulder.
_ “How long have they been dead?”
I asked.

ITHOUT looking up, he said, “The
way I figure it, they were killed
about nine o’clock last night.”

For the first time, I took a good
look at the bodies. I saw. that Uncle
Joe’s skull had been crushed . badly
and his body was covered with deep
cuts. But the body of his wife was

Mrs. Joe House: “Joe and | have been Just a little bit suspicious”

J I ET down here quick, Wat- loved by as many people. He was 74
son! Uncle Joe House and his years old. His wife, just as well liked,
wife were murdered some- was 68. Uncle Joe formerly had been

time during the night. It’s just been ‘chief of police in McAlester. He was

reported.” : a church man, kind and loving. About
Patrolman Ernest Ambrose’s ex- his only fault as McAlester’s police

cited words on the telephone drove
my drowsiness away and I snapped,
“Erney, if you’re—”

Disgustedly the reply came back,

“Jump into those trousers of your’s—"

there’s no time to waste now. I’ll wait
here at the Station for you. Constable
Grady Anderson has already gone on
out to the murder scene.”

I slammed down the telephone re-
ceiver and dressed as rapidly as I
could, Uncle Joe House was known
by everyone around McAlester, and

chief had been‘ that he was too kind-
hearted. -

I finished dressing, hurried to my
car and speeded to the Police Sta-
tion. There I picked up Erney and
Ott Reed, the chief of police at that

‘time, and we drove at once to the

modest home where the old couple
had lived,

Already a large and morbid crowd
had gathered.

“How were they killed, Erney?” I
asked, just as our car came to a sud-

still worse. It was in a semi-erect,
kneeling position, the hands clasped
in front. .

I realized what had happened: The
killer had pounced upon the two while
they were saying their evening pray-
ers! Probably Mrs. House never had

Attorney Frank R.. Watson,
co-author: “Things are get-
ting too hot around here”

ders which
vere found,

d?” A picture

irglaries at the

y mind,

-"- place was
d like they
y Open the

zive me. From
new that some-
mere burglary
d to wait until
-cord,

urder

was told that
ed to see me,
‘umerous ques-
ms during the

ive home yes-
asked the

Right after
* the Sunday

at the drug
ficer came in

‘ to see us at
ll that.” My
ally wearing
about which

What time
we came into
émember the

o the officer
call to make.
7]

Closed when it should have been open for business, this store, operated by

the victims, furnished the

What's all this about? You know I
didn’t break into the place.” It seemed
to me that all this mystery was hardly
fair. I could hardly be accused of some-
thing that had happened during the
night while I was in jail,

The sheriff looked at me quietly for
a moment, as if wondering what to say
next. Then, watching my face closely
he said, slowly: “Tom, there’s more to
this than we’ve told you about. Your
father and stepmother were murdered
last night with an ar. We don’t know
who did it, and you were the last person
Seen around the place. We thought
maybe you could help us.”

must have stared at him like a man
gone mad. Slowly the meaning of his
words dawned upon me, but my mind
seemed paralyzed with the shock, I
tried to speak, but found that speech
would not come. I felt the eyes of the
men upon me, accusingly, Little by
little my brain was beginning to’ func-
tion again.

Through the fog of grief that sur-
rounded me it gradually came to my
senses that the men suspected me of the
murder !

ended and I was taken to a cell upstairs,
Shortly afterward the Chief told me

office of an old friend, an attorney. I
knew that he would help me. As I
Stepped into the doorway leading to the
stairs mounting to his office, I observed
that a “shadow” was following me.

‘the death chamber.

first hint of the tragedy.

From then on, I knew it was a fight for
my life. My attorney friend met me at
the door. I knew by a glance at his
face that he, at least, was on my side,
I started to speak, but he stopped me
with a wave of his hand.

“I know what you're going to say,
Just leave everything to me. I knew
they’d probably try to accuse you, and
I’m working on the case. Now you go
ahead with the funeral arrangements.”

Visits Death Chamber

W ITH this assurance, I hurried to
my home which had so recently
been plunged into a house of horror, A
crowd of friends, relatives, and neigh-
bors were grouped about the house. The
door was locked, but the sheriff opened
it at my request,
glanced about the silent house

quickly, then stepped immediately into
The bodies had
been removed, but the blood-spattered
walls, and red-stained bedding bore
mute evidence of the horrors of the pre-
ceding night. The situation seemed
hopeless as far as discovering signifi-
cant evidence was concerned, for all ob-
jects with any bearing on the crime had
been removed. Sheriff Lackey eyed me
carefully,

“Well, what do you think ?” he asked,

“Bob,” I said, “Tl tell you what I
want to do. I want to clear up this
case myself, and I believe if you'll let
me work on it, with , . .”

The sheriff shook his head. “You're
going with us. We figure we’ve got the

right man, and don’t need to look any |

further.”

|
}
a,

Former U. 8. marshal and Chief

of Police of McAlester, Oklahoma, .
Joseph P, House was hacked to...
death, laun a mutder mystery
in which his own son was to be
accused as the slayer,

“You're crazy,” I exclaimed. “You
know I was in jail at the time of the
murder. If you lock me up the real
murderer will get away !”

“We figure we’ve got the right man,”
the sheriff repeated. “You didn’t show
any surprise when we told you about
it this morning, and now when you see
the room where your folks were hacked
to pieces, you don’t show that you care
any more than if they’d been strangers,”

Lodged now at the county jail, I set
my mind to work at constructing some
sort of plan by means of which I might
continue my investigation not only
without aid of the public officers, but
actually without their knowledge and
while being held prisoner by them. I
doubt if an investigator ever worked
under such a handicap before, Clearly
there was only one course Open to me.

must establish communication with
the underworld grapevine !

Monday afternoon was spent in cau-
tiously setting up communication. For
obvious reasons, the details of my work-
ing must be kept secret, but during the
afternoon I learned many details re-
garding the movements of the Officers
on the case. I also learned that my
lawyer had twice called at the jail but
was refused permission to see me.
[Continued on page 63]

prosecutors said.

(source: Access Arizona)
>>

Sunday October 6, 1986 America Online; Galba33 Page: 4

Myvyend

Dec. 9, 1998—
OKLAHOMA:

Execution looms Thursday for a Vietnamese immigrant convicted of
killing 2 young children and his wife 16 years ago in Tulsa.

Tuan Anh Nguyen is scheduled for lethal injection at the Oklahoma
State Penitentiary in McAlester on his 39th birthday, which also
happens to be International Human Rights Day.

Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said Nguyen has made no
requests for his last meal or for witnesses in the viewing room and a
minister beside him.

Defense attorney Scott W. Braden contends that Nguyen is insane,

uncommunicative and unable to comprehend the death penalty. The

10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals denied Braden's request for a stay of

execution, rejecting the clairn of incompetency. -

One final appeal was pending Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nguyen was convicted in 1986 of 3 counts of 1st-degree murder.
Prosecutors say he stabbed his 20-year-old wife, Donna Nguyen, 26
times; 3-year-old Amanda White, 22 times; and 6-year-old Joseph
White, 17 times, in 1982.

(source: Amarillo Globe-News)
>>

: Monday December 9, 1996 America Online; Gatba33 Page: 4

Dec. 4, 1998—
OKLAHOMA:

Tuan Nguyen today was denied clemency by the Oklahoma Pardon and
Parole Board. The vote was 4-0, Board member Brad Little was absent.

Mr. Nguyen was not present, nor were any of the victims. However,
letters from the victims, who protested clemency, were made
available to the board.

Board member Nadine McPherson noted, before the vote, that she had some
Vietnamese friends who also went through hard times during the war and
after arriving in the United States. She noted none of them had

committed crimes such as these.

Within an hour after the clemency hearing, Mr. Nguyen's attorneys
received word the 10th Circuit had denied his request for a stay, 2-1.
The dissent was by Judge Briscoe. |

Mr. Nguyen’s attorneys plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
(source: TCADP)

Li i A i 4. |

Wednesday December 4,1996 America Online: Galba33 Page: 1

Oct. 9, 1998—-
OKLAHOMA:

A Tulsa man will be executed about 12:01 a.m. Dec. 10 — his 39th
birthday — in the deaths of his wife and 2 of her cousin's children.

The execution date was set by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
on Thursday for Tuan Nguyen, who fatally slashed his wife and 2 small
children in May 1982.

The Court of Criminal Appeals didn't know the date it set was Nguyen's
birthday, Presiding Judge Charles Chapel said.

Under the law, the court must set the date at least 60 days after the
dissolution of a stay of execution. Nguyen’s appeal before the U.S.
Supreme Court was rejected Monday, and Chapel said the appeals court
sets execution dates on Thursdays.

The court's order on Nguyen came just 3 days after Attomey General
Drew Edmondson filed a motion with the court, asking it to set an
execution date within 60 days.

"| appreciate the swift response of the Court of Criminal Appeals in

this matter," Edmondson said Thursday. “We see no reasonable chance
that the execution will be delayed and will be prepared to reply
immediately to any such attempts by Nguyen's lawyers.”

Nguyen was convicted of the stabbing deaths of his wife, Donna, 21,
and her cousin's children, Joseph White, 6, and Amanda White, 3.

The killings occurred in the Tulsa home of Myra White, where Nguyen's
wife was living. Nguyen and his wife had separated before the
killings.

Donna Nguyen was stabbed 26 times, Joseph White was stabbed 17 times,
and his sister, Amanda, was stabbed 22 times, the attomey general's
office said.

A jury in Tulsa County convicted Nguyen of murder in the 3 slayings.
it sentenced him to life in prison for killing his wife and to death
for killing the children.

After the killings, Nguyen fled Oklahoma. He was arrested in 1986 in
Arizona.

His trial and convictions were in 1986.

Edmondson said 6 of the 11 people executed in Oklahoma since 1966
were convicted of multiple murders.

(source: The Daily Oklahoman)

Wednesday October 9, 1996 America Online: Galba33

Page: 1

REAL DETECTIVE

REAL

DETELTIVE

of the coupe swung violently open. He was

caught directly in the sights of the long

barrelled .38 special revolver in the hands

of the gunman. Ae aire

The young fellow squeezed the trigger
twice in rapid succession. The range was
very close . . . less than ten feet. The first
bullet smashed into the police shield di-
rectly above Gates’ heart. The second. slug
crashed into his chest slightly below his
collar bone. It ranged upwards, severing
major blood vessels in his neck.

He slumped back into the seat of the car.
A crimson stream gushed from the corners
‘of his mouth. His revolver dropped from
his nerveless hand and clattered to the
running board. An instant later Officer
Gates’ head fell forward on his chest and he
lapsed into unconsciousness.

The gunman leaped from the coupe and
stared wildly about. Blood dripped from a
wound in his left forearm. He leveled his
revolver at Webb Campbell who was trying
desperately to clear his mutilated eyes of

lood, He fired two hasty shots at. the
officer but his aim was unsteady. Both
bullets missed their mark.

The young man cursed ‘savagely. 1A
Willys-Knight sedan driven by E. R. Case
and in which his wife, children and some
friends were riding, was going east on
Twenty-third. Case slowed down as he
passed the wrecked cars.

* Leaping on the running board of this
car, the wounded man jammed the barrel
of his pistol hard against Case’s neck. He
commanded him to head south on Robin-
son. Casé deliberately attempted to. stall
his automobile.

“Don’t you try anything like that,” the
gunman snarled. “Get moving or I’ll blow
your head off your shoulders.”

The car leaped forward. Two young
brothers, Tom and Gordon Buroughs, had
been riding in the car into which the gun-
man’s coupe had crashed a moment before.

hey had started on an early ' morning
hunting trip.

Both of these men were armed with
shotguns which were not as yet loaded for
the day’s shooting. Tom Buroughs grabbed
his gun and told his brother to break open
a box of shells. His brother hastened to
obey the command but before Tom’ Bur-
oughs could insert a single shell in the
magazine of his shotgun, the car on which
the bandit was riding had turned south on
Robinson and was out of range.

Officer Campbell succeeded in wiping his
right eye clear of blood. He raised his re-
volver but as suddenly he lowered it again.
He could not afford to take a chance on
hitting the women and children in the car
the gunman had commandeered. Furious
at his inability to fire, he waved down.a
car driven by yes Davenport, an employee
of the Steffens dairy.

“Follow that car... the one with the
man on the running board,” he commanded.
“Try and get close enough for me to get

just one shot at him. Hurry.”

Davenport, with the wounded officer
hanging onto the running board of his own
car, set out in pursuit of the machine
pointed out to him by the officer. He was
almost a block behind and found it difficult
to keep it in sight.

On the car ahead the young gunman
mouthed a constant string of curses and
threats. Mrs. Bessie Case and her young
children were almost paralyzed with fright.

ss Lares ea

“TAKE A CHAIR, COP KILLER!”

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57)

When the machine reached Fourteenth
Street the unwelcome passenger ordered
Case to turn to the right and head toward
May Avenue.

“You can get more speed out of this
crate. You know the cops are after me.
They’ll never take me alive though,” he
gritted.

Looking back over his shoulder he no-
ticed that the car on which Office Campbell
was riding was no- longer in sight. He
laughed deep in his throat. gars

“Looks like I’ve given ‘that copper the
slip,” he chuckled.

t the intersection of Fourteenth and
May he suddenly ordered Case to stop the
car.

“Are you guys gonna call the cops just
as soon as you get out of my sight?” he
asked as he stepped to the pavement.
“You'd better not. I’ve got the number of
this crate, mister. If you tell the officers
where you let me off T’ll hunt you down
and Til kill every one of you.”

“Let us go. We won't tell,” Mrs. Bessie
Case answered in a hysterical voice.

“All right. You won't if you know
what’s good for you and those kids, sister,”
the man threatened. “Here... take this
dough for your trouble.”

He pitched a five-dollar bill carelessly
into the car and walked rapidly southward
on May Avenue.

Case whirled his car and headed north.
“Let me get to a phone,” he said. “If the
officers can make it out here quick enough
they can catch that mad dog before he gets
away.”

Case stopped at:the first filling station
he came to and phoned the officers at the
central police station. His call came in
right on the heels of one made by Officer
Campbell who had informed headquarters
of the tragedy and reported he had lost
traces of the gunman when a large truck
had cut off his vision momentarily.

T= ENTIRE POLICE FORCE of Oklahoma
City was galvanized into instant action
at the news. One. group of squad cars
raced to the scene of the shooting. Another
group, together with forces from Sheriff
Stanley Rodgers’ department, converged on
May and Fourteenth in the hope of quickly
apprehending the desperado.

Gordon and Tom Buroughs loaded Of-
ficer Douglas Gates in their partially
wrecked car and rushed him to the Okla-
home General Hospital. Dr. Albert W.
Shifley examined the wounded man and
shook his head gravely.

“There’s mighty little that can be done
for him,” the doctor said after making a
probe of the wound. “We can ease his
pain, That’s all. He can’t possibly live
more than a few hours.”

Following his report to headquarters,
Webb Campbell was driven back to Robin-
son and Twenty-third by Ivan Davenport.
Upon his arrival he found Sergeant Henry
Revels and Officer Jack Ragland taking the
sledge hammer, pinch bars, .45 automatic
and sawed-off shotgun from the coupe and
placing them in their own squad car. Other
officers were questioning people in the
vicinity who had seen the wreck and the
shooting.

“Why aren’t you in the hospital, Webb?”
Sergeant Revels demanded.

“T’m.all right. I just want to help track

down that guy who shot Doug,” Campbell

answered, despite the fact he could hardly

see and the blood was still flowing from
is face.

“Get in that car. Jack and I are taking
you to the Oklahoma General,” Revels
commanded.

Campbell begged to be allowed to take
part in the search for the gunman but
the sergeant overruled his plea. On the
way to the hospital Campbell told his com-
Panions all the details of the shooting and
gave them an accurate description of the
driver of the Chevrolet coupe.

_ “You boys get out to the Jackson Tour-

ist Courts,” he said as they let him out at

the hospital. “That fellow drove out of
there. . He more than likely stayed there
last night. Talk-to the owner out there,

Maybe he can give you some lead.”

Back at May and Fourteenth, Police Of-
ficers Clint Miers, Jack Roberts, Jack
Carey and Deputy Sheriffs Earl Gordon
and George Catron were making a house-
to-house canvass in an effort to pick up
even a scrap of information about the
wounded gunman. No one living in the
vicinity seemed to have seen him at all.

Maybe he hailed a Passing taxi,” Jack
Roberts suggested. He hurried to a tele-
phone, called headquarters and asked that
a quick check be made of all taxi companies
in the city to find out whether or not any of
their drivers had picked up a wounded man
recently.

City police as well as county authorities
sent additional men to aid in the search.
Grim faced officers plodded up and down
side streets and peered into alleys. They
knocked on scores of doors in a futile ef-
fort to find some trace of the man they
sought.

Officers were also placed on duty at all
of the bus stations, travel bureaus and the
railroad depots. State highway patrolmen
scoured the highways leading out of Okla-
home City on the theory the gunman might
be attempting to thumb a ride out of town.

At police headquarters all hospitals as
well as all private physicians in the city
were interrogated in an attempt to learn if
any wounded man had applied for treat-
ment. It began to appear the gunman had
acted as his own physician.

At the Jackson Tourist Courts, Sergeant
Revels and Jack Ragland questioned James

iller, operator of the establishment.

“Sure. I remember that guy,” Miller
said excitedly. “He checked in here yes-
terday morning with a good looking blonde.
They had a sedan. In the afternoon they
went off. When they came back the girl
was driving the sedan and this guy was
driving a Chevvy coupe. | thought it was
odd for ’em to be having the two cars but
then it wasn’t any of my business. They
both left here early this morning.”

“Show us the cabin they were in,” Revels
requested.

They found nothing of importance in the
cabin. The former occupants had packed
up all of their belongings. Nothing was
left behind except an empty whiskey bot-

tle. Revels examined it for fingerprints.
and found there was none clear enough to
be dusted and photographed.

“You didn’t happen to notice the license
number on that sedan, did you?” Revels
asked finally.

The tourist’ court Proprietor shook his

pairing a tr

head. “Nope,” he saic
attention to it.
Ti bet you Webb 2
number of that dame»

Hey

“What makes you

queried.

i told t'
Miller oie ae
Gates: and Campbell
driveway of his LN
they seemed to su
of the Chevrolet secs

oats get back 0%
ask Webb about it.
the number of ar :
thing,” Revels to

HE TWO OFFICE
T pital where the
what they had lear!

“Yeah. I remen
sedan,” Campbell
fixing to write it
after the coupe inst
have got somethin:

He gave them tt

and Sergeant Re
headed straight
they reported the

iors.

Pe Complete recor:

tions in the maakt
the Motor Vehicl:
homa State Cam
day, the Capit’
ployees other tha

Tt took Revels

ime however

Muwt Vehicle

cess to the reco

In less than
they learned th:
the man an
come to the to
in the name of
The two omc
on the record.
from an occup:
disappointing.
there up unt!
moved withou
They were ab!

eae she sé
you any idea
els asked.

“y don’t th
Oklahoma Ci
been interroe
ute. Let me
tell me she \
on North W:

positive.

though.
Sergeant |

back to pe

their findiv
order crack
all availab!
West Twe'!
“Search
treet 11 1
Ethel McC
A comp!
broadcast
of the car
driving.
Nearly |
were avi!
was divid:
were assi*
in the blo
diction.
Officer:
Jack Roh
George '
other ca
tending °
They -

ise aes

REAL DETECTIVE 81
ained nearly period of deliberation. penitentiary at McAlester. nd in that 3%
In a calm, matter-of-fact manner he grim chair from which no guest ever, rises,
un you shot. > presented the following verdict : “We, the he paid with his life for the wanton slaying
jury, do upon our oaths, find the defendant of officer Douglas Gates on that chill De- : }
ybody. I’m guilty of murder as charged in the informa- cember morning.
| tion, and fix his punishment at death.” ;
for me to _ On January 4, 1935, Ernest Oglesby was Editor's Note: The name Ethel McCabe
ritted. He invited to take a chair. -- a sturdy chair is used fictitiously to. proler, a person % t -_—
it was lectrocution room of the State actually connected wit the murder.
er,
the house,
ni »mewhere,”
Se Cel <3 Be
len under a
Ome . mn REAL eee Poe
beside it. pomM PAGE 35)
till loaded.
rrel.
unced. “y
ef Bi
and Ethel pointed grimly to a beaten down Ms ae in the for removal of the body to the Oneida
.dquarters. tall grass at the edge of the wo lot. The morgue. When this was done, he gathered
dress the flattened grass was splotched with crimson! the group into the parlor.
nd, leading away rom that spot was 4 He pro d_ slowly, with a skill born of
ich i experience with many 2 rural murder case

he had cracked in record time. :
oO —

He had And,
a sombre trail of crushed grass over which it was
Oklahoma apparent some heavy ° ject ha been which
dragged. ohn Romack the father-in-law, was
viously bewildered, and cou offer no sub-

d without
; vering trail, and just inside the woods came
their eyes upon a brand new spade flung into the earth Joss as far as a ossible lead was concerne! G i
| they had so savagely that it stood upright. The ser- The now half-hysterical Sophia insiste’ J. °
of Webb yeant lifted it'out without touching the han- frantically that Nat had loved her and she pon. Got my free Noec, fon
: bandages : le and inspected the earth clinging to the had love him, and there was o one she may Aten. ampion, Look the Titles
m that of- metal part. “Pm sure, said grimly, knew who CO ld have held such bitter | at me Now! “Dynamic Ten WE ‘Pere
on flashed “we'll find @ newly dug grave near here.” hatred toward Nat that he would shoot him | sion” WORKS! I'm proud fectly, ped
st He handed the spade to a trooper. “Wrap down, back turned, from ambush. path naturals ‘At Bay Se egy
of it,” he ° a couple of handkerchiefs around that han- But in the remar 5 of young Nick, San- pion’ !”
; dle,” he said, “and rush it in to the barracks. derson sensed that he might have struc
printed at The killer’s fingerprints may, on it.” pay dirt. Let Me Prove
vd to the The State policemen quickly found a spot wThere were lots of fellows disappointed 1 Gan Make you
7 so Te- where a crud attempt had been made when Sophia married Nat,” he said brood- a New Mant
i ification, camouflage 4 newly dug pit with old leaves ingly. ‘There were lots of them who loved
ready es- and branches © trees. Trooper Sohmer her more than Nat.”
used a shovel which young Nick obtain “That's a lie,” Sophia interrupted fiercely.
Auain not from the barn and cautiously dug down She looked at her brother in awe! wonder.
2 esby, an Only a foot below the surface, he struc “J don’t know what’s come over you, to
ena loser. something firmer than the loosened earth saying 4 thing like that, she said.
as wanted above. . Nick would not meet her gaze. Instead,
“Here it is,” he said, his face blanching, he looked straight at Sanderson and said,
i “There were Ned Travers. an Bob Ed- | fect! eloped ian:
secret iS ynamic Ten-

one Star
» ll prove it will give

id Kansas. but making an effort at composure:
. damning The men knelt down and used their hands wards—and worst of all, nk.
inet to push away the dirt. Finally there was “What about this Ed Zink?” asked San- sion. Rie: :
ca re ,a exposed a ruesome sight that made them derson quickly. ‘ou power tt rippling muse er
D ullet shudder and prought @ desperate shriek “Why, he—he’s been drinking 2 lot since | ror. And for tho
ouglas from Sophia Kozlowsky as she flung her- Sophia ‘married, and I hear he’s made tems , sluggish from lack
sid self into the arms of her mother. threats.” exercise — help them, tind up
y that Tt was the bullet-tomn body of Nat Koz- The questioning, was interrupted then by inside and out.
Cates aud lowsky. The back of his overalls was 4 the arrival of oziowsky’s parents an
lation bw mass of congealed plood, and on his grimy prother, John. In the midst of the result-| M method “Dynamic Ten
‘hields ue face when the dirt was cleared. away, 2” ant confusion and wails of grief, the two _will turn the trick for you. .
ar plad hw in his open, fixed eyes, was an expression sergeants slipped out and got into their teary eV Say S is practical
>NO 42 of painful surprise- prowl car. Sanderson took the wheel an finutes a day in your own Yes
+ Sealy ae Sergeants Sanderson and Stevenson knelt said, “She's a peautifu girl, Sarge, an From the very start you'll be using
- know the and made swift examination. guess we have the motive right there, I'd amy method, oot Orenae Lp aps
ond “A mbushed,” muttered Sanderson. “Shot say that before we tackle this Ed Zink. we | ute of the canes igalling, end
ya ee the through the back with a shotgun. might find how the wind blows with those over ete Ty. uUSsCL
3 pos me Stevenson nodded grimly. “TPs a clear other two fel ows.” i . * ’ ;
3 ih A case of remeditated murder,” he said, _ Stevenson nodded and said, “Right. Al- FREE BOOK ‘Everlasting |,
HAY soe ine “The killer even brought along that spade. ways nice to have a little info beforehand . : Health and Strength
wading * He turned to the anguished Romack family, when you start to question.” ‘tia yao fo, sae reo
5 pal.” ype “Any of you ever see that spade before? sel sage Paceticliows spirational DSSSEy “MEN
pong? : he asked. : ie 4 ew OFFICERS soon located Ned Travers | in strength, My way. Let me
of Pies The: father-in-law of the, victim. was the and Bob Edwards, who lived near the ral von I helped OST ior
comb set first to find his voice. No,” he said. “We town of Palmyra. *¢ both admitted, they |a © thrill, send for this hante
yin Ju dae paxil —e a new spade at the farm for beg weer Sophia long before she married. todays No CE. CHARLES
ru ° ; at. .
aes. in his “Oh, who could have done such a horrible “And you both think a lot of her, don’t sa ppt
pg he thirig_ to” Nat?” moaned Sophia. “Who? ou?” snapped Sanderson. He watched |§ CHARLES
. Who?” tertly for, their reactions. Edwards fell |# 115 £. 23rd St tiew Yor
m as th “You might know,” said her brother, silent, staring dully down at the ground. week proof “D amic rronston?? wil help make m
7 1€ i ‘ 4 ? flushed slight! and look d de- a, New nt Proot son healthy, husky body, tig muscle Se
oughs did Nick, bitterly . But Travers gntly * ced de- | Yelopment. , Send healthy’ Nook, ““Hveriasting Health
mily tae : : The girl stared at him uncomprehend- fiantly at the officer. Sure,” he said. 1 ind. Strength.” :
ind foreed ingly. ergeant Sanderson also glanced at uess we b th did. And still do. Shes a
drwae bei the youth in surprise, put decided this was swell girl, and, well, a lot Yee our: | Name +++ pias eh owt MAL” Mencseds
e ie ] not the’ moment for. probing. He ordered heads about her “We all used to meet 2 (picase ‘print or write piatniy) ry
E. Han- a thorough sear of the woodlot and field: dances. But when she got married, Well, |a yaar 4
1. a&-attens for possible further clues, then went back that was that. And Nat was @ good scout. fae donee cenne OA gonvenoseserer sie
Halt Bled , with Sergeant tevenson and the family “T see,” said Sanderson slowly. Then he |# en H
ig a brief the farmhouse where he called the looked innocently at both ouths. “Look, W City. + *Giecie here ig under 16 f0F ‘Booklet cute
ents fellows,” he said, “T dont yelieve either of {or Stee ee oeaneemenen

BROCKTON, MASS,

inpbell
hardly
trom

taking
Revels

o take
in but
Jn the
5 com-
ug and
of the

Tour-
out at
out of

there
there.

e Of-
_ Jack
‘ordon
10use-

| that
panies
iny of
| man

rities
arch.
down
Chey
e ef-

they

it all
! the
imen
Ikla-
night
town,
Is as
: city
irn if
treat-
n had

veant
ames

Liller
yes-
onde.
they
- girl
was
t was
s but

They
Levels

in the
sacked
: was
- bot-
prints
zh to

icense
‘evels

k his

head. “Nope,” he. said.

attention to it, Hey.-:
Webb Campbell knows the

Til bet you
number of that dame’s

queried.
Miller then
pairing 4 tire €

ar
Gates: and Campbell ha
his filling station.

they secmed to suddenly start 0
y by the blonde

girl.

“Let’s get back out
ask Webb about it.
the number of thi

iE TWO OFFICERS
pital where they

what they had learned
“Yeah. I remem er

" Campbell declared.
t down when We

to write i

after the coupe instea
there.”

have got something
He gave them the

time however to

Motor Vehicle De

from an occupant

disappointing.
there UP unt

“What makes you think so

told them he had_ been
that morning while

at car we may
Me Revels told his partner.

e State were kept 1 the

REAL DETECTIVE

“] didn’t pay any aa

wait 4 minute.

car.

ai Ragland

d been sitting the
He said

ff in pursuit

to the hospital and
ber

If he can remem!
have some-

hastened to the hos-
told Webb Campbell
at the tourist court.

8
d. I think you fellows

number from memory

of all motor registra-

plonde compani
was

i) the day before.
new address.

moved without leaving he
te to get 2 800

registered

FACES

ER CHARGE

MURD

»° Aleade sits
while officials see
nlo Alto. In 1

tis at
er of Kathleen Nobinson but w

935 Aleade was ace
as released.

enant shows UD- This may

until the new t
put we can’t take

ey interrogate filling station
¢ small busine es- be a wild goose chase
mn ”

operators owners 9
tablishments in that neighborhooc- any chances.
appeared to have notic a striking plonde Both the front and pack doors of the
answering to the eneral description © house were loc There was no answer
Ethel Cabe. to the repeated knocking of the officers.
A milk delivery truck operated by L, F. Calling to Catron ani Gordon to remain on
i slowly along making de- ard, Miers and his companions Wen
; back to their car. They climbed in wit
continuing their search 10

They were able
her. :
“pid she say anything that might give liveries 1 the 2,
you any idea where she was going ?” Rev- “Eey, fellows. we get a preak at
els asked. 2 ast,” Clint Miers called to his companions the district assigned to them.
“qT don’t thi k she was going to leave “phat milkman ought to know whether oF Before Roberts could start the motor, 4
Oklahoma City,” the wom hom he had nt anyone has moved, to any house on his Chevrolet sedan with a blonde at the wheel
heen interrogating declare “Wait a min route. Let’s talk to him.” came up from behind them ‘and turned into
te. Levine ee It seems like she Jac oberts stoPPe: _ the squad cat the driveway of the bungalow. The three
tell me she was moving to, some house overt alongside of the truck. Miers asked Oerke officers leaped out, raced across the street
on North West Twelfth Street. 1 can’t be if he knew of anyone moving into the dis- and surrounded the car Deputies Catron
positive. T think she said Twelfth Street trict. | ,, ‘ ee : and Gordon joined them.
though.” “No, sity the milkman said. Don’t know “What do you men want?” the girl de-
Sergeant evels and his partner raced of any new folks coming 1 as yet. manded. She made no cffort to get out
back to police headquarters ‘and reported of my customer told me yesterday the _ of her car.
heir findings few seconds later an house next door to her had been, rente “Are you Ethel McCabe?” Miers coun-
order crac ed on the short wave radio for stopped b this morning to see if m I. tered. ;:
all available fficers to converse on North could get a new customer. There was no NY 8. Why? ;
West Twelfth Street. : body home. .s Who was the mat with you at the Jack-
“Search every ingle house on the entire “What was the number of that house?” = son Tourist Courts, last night?” :
street if necessary the order ran. pind = Migs asked. ! ‘ Dare you crazy? te qari shrilled. | “T
Ethel McCabe.” ’ Wait a minute. , T’ll have to look it Up never even heard of those tourist courts.
A complete description of the blonde was in my route Kk, Oerke told him. He “pid you rent this house?” , ;
broadcast as 5 also the license number thumbed through his book, and present “Yes. fiance an I picked it out
of the car she was believed to have been announced, The address 18 2921 Nort yesterday. , e are to be married soon.
driving. x bag Ee scout fukn a mplias oan is your future husband now?”
: ‘ SS) eputy a oberts inquired.
Nearly a Score city and aN pose irl may b there by, this time - +> if “He... hes out of town. He's
. she’s the © ho rented the house.” gone to. + to Tulsa on business,” the girl
answered put as § did so she glance
D her shoulder and down the

were availabl
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| was divi

H were assigne

| in the plocks
diction.

Officers Clint
Jack Roberts in one squa
George Catron and Earl Gordon in an-
detailed to that section ¢X-
00 to the 3,000 block.
e after house without

other car were
tending from the 2)

They sea

to search every
which came under th

rehed hous

gested.
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y eo wo CARS RAC

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the driveway The front door was close jances.

“Gordon, you and Catron & around to “Maybe your fiance will be pack sooner

the back. We'll take the front,” Miers sug- than you, exPe + him, lady?” Miers said
“T£ there's 0 one here you guys quietly. “Let's all go inside and wait a

watch on the place while. Maybe he'll show up?”

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REAL DETECTIVE

“He won’t be back until tomorrow or
next day,” the girl said.

“Okay. But we'd like to look the place
over anyway,” Miers told her.

The entire party started up the front
walk. Deputy Catron dropped suddenly to
his knees. “Look here, fellows,” he said
and pointed to a trail of tiny crimson drops
on the sidewalk.

“You and Gordon cover the back door.
Hurry!” Miers snappéds “I’ve got an idea
somebody’s hiding in this joint.”

The two deputies rushed to the rear of
the house. The girl, white faced suddenly
and with hands that trembled, unlocked the
front door. The three police officers
brushed past her and entered with drawn
revolvers. -

The living room, dining room and kitchen
were empty. In a bedroom a young man
lay ‘at full length on a four poster bed.
His. eyes were closed. Roberts grabbed
his shoulder and shook him none too
gently. He sat up abruptly and stared at
the officers,

“Hey, what’s all this?’ he demanded.
Then, catching sight of the girl in the
doorway, he said, “What’s going on
Ethel ?”

“We're looking for a young fellow who
wounded two police officers at Robinson
and Twenty-third early this morning,”
Miers: said sternly. ‘“What’s your name?”

“E, E. Ellis. I don’t know anything
about any officers being shot,” the man
said. “What's the idea of barging into my
house?”

The officers were puzzled. They were
looking for a wounded man. This young
fellow was wearing a clean white shirt and
no coat. There were no traces of blood on
im.
“Is this man your future husband, Miss
McCabe?” Roberts asked.
“Yes. But... I thought he went to
Tulsa.”
“I intended to go early this morning but
we were out late last night,” the young man
answered calmly. “Thought I’d come over
here and get a little rest and go late this
afternoon,’ 4
“What about those bloodstains on the
front walk?” Catron, who had come in the
front door with Gordon a moment before,
asked.
“Has anyone besides yourself been in this
house today?” Miers inquired of the young
fellow.
“No. Not that I know of,” was the an-
swer.
“Shake down the place,” Miers ordered.
In the bathroom Catron and Gordon
found a bloodstained razor blade and some
gauze that also appeared to have been
stained with blood. In a closet off the din-
ing room Roberts discovered a coat. There
was a bullet hole in the left sleeve. It was
soaked with gore. Again the officers con-
fronted the man sitting on the bed.
“Who left this coat here?” Miers de-
manded.
“T’ve got no idea. Never saw it before.”
Miers eyed the youth steadily. Suddenly
he stepped forward and deliberately grasped
his left forearm. The young man flinched
and his face twisted with pain.
“What's the matter with your arm, fel-
low?” Miers asked. His voice was edged.
“Well... I was cleaning my pistol yes-
terday and it went off. I shot myself.”
“Like hell you did,’ Miers growled.
“Webb Campbell shot you. And you’re the
guy who blasted Doug Gates. Get the
cuffs on him boys. We're taking him down
to headquarters.”

per GorDon SNAPPED a pair of hand-
cuffs around the young man’s wrists.

He shook him down but failed to find any

weapon. His pocketbook contained nearly

$300 in cash.

“What did you do with that gun you shot
Gates with?” Roberts asked.

“I tell you I didn’t shoot anybody. I’m
innocent. I...”

“Shut up. It’s hard enough for me to
keep my hands off you,” Miers gritted. He
was a close friend of Doug Gates. It was
-hard for him to control his temper.

“Make a thorough search of the house,
fellows. We’ll find that pistol somewhere,”
Roberts suggested.

Jake Carey found a .38 calibre pistol a
few minutes later. It was hidden under a
small gas heater in the bathroom. Four
empty shells were on the floor beside it.
Two of the chambers were still loaded.
Carey sniffed the end of the barrel.

“It was fired today,” he announced. “I
can still smell the burned powder.”

The dark haired young man and Ethel
McCabe were taken to police headquarters.
A physician was called to dress ‘the
wounded forearm of the suspect. He had
barely completed his task when a sombre
message was received from the Oklahoma
General Hospital.

Douglas Gates was dead; died without
regaining consciousness.

fficers Miers and Roberts, their eyes
cold with anger, took: the man they had
captured directly to the bedside of Webb
Campbell at the hospital. The bandages
were momentarily removed from that of-
ficer’s eyes. Instant recognition flashed
over his scared face.

Maal the man. I’m positive of it,” he
said.

The suspect had been fingerprinted at
headquarters before being taken to the
hospital. When Miers and Roberts re-
turned with him the bureau of identification,
by means of these points, had already es-
tablished his identity,

The young man’s real name was not
E. E. Ellis, It was Ernest Oglesby, an
ex-convict from Texas, a two-time loser.
At the time of his capture he was wanted
on numerous charges in the Lone Star
State as well as in Oklahoma and Kansas.

When confronted with those damning
fingerprints, Oglesby admitted his identity.
Grilled by officers, a likewise admitted, a
short time later, that he fired the bullet
which snuffed out the life of Douglas
Gates.

It was a weird, unbelievable story that
poured from his lips.

Despite the fact that both Gates and
Campbell were dressed in regulation blue
police uniforms, wearing their shields on

. their breasts, and riding in a car plainly

marked in huge letters, “POLICE NO. 42,”
Ernest Oglesby swore he did not know the
men were officers of the law.

“T thought the fellow who jumped on the
back of the coupe was a guy who shot me
four times once down in Texas,” he said
glibly. “I knew that fellow was in Okla-
homa City. He threatened to kill me the
next time he saw me. I thought maybe
the other guy in the car was his pal.”

When Ernest Oglesby went on trial
January 8, 1934 for the murder of Doug-
las Gates which occurred December 2,
1933, the twelve men on the jury in Judge
George A. Henshaw’s district court room
obviously placed no more. credence in his
absurd story than did the police on the
day of his arrest.

Webb Campbell identified him as the
murderer. Tom and Gordon Buroughs did
likewise. E. R. Case and his family testi-
fied he had leaped on their car and forced
them, .at the point of a pistol, to drive him
away from the scene of his crime.

On Pivceasrit 11, 1934, Henry E. Han-
stein, foreman of the jury, stood at atten-
tion in the box after the jurors had filed
back into the court room following a brief

‘ f deliberation.
calm, matter-'

presented the following

4
On January 4,
invited to take a chair
in the electrocution

: . ;
ointed grimly to a :
fall grass at the ede:
flattened grass was si
And, leading away
trail of crushed gr
apparent some he:
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dregeiderson and hi
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He handed the spa
a couple of hand €
dle,” he said, and
The killer's finger
The State polic:
where a crude at
camouflage a new
and branches of
used a shovel w!

Only a foot bel:
something firme!
above. . . 44
“Here it 1s, |
making an ¢
the men knelt
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exposed @ src:
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It was the bi
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Sergean’ :

made a S*

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ai eee
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LOEL, Otto, wh, elec.

TRUE POLICE CASES,

MF E Noun ’ mee, &

“There is no escape.” \

A raging blizzard swept across Highway 66 on the out-
skirts of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Sunday morning
of January 10, 1954. The weather made the roads fit neither
for pedestrian nor motorist to be abroad. Thus it was that
business at the Moderne Motel, operated by elderly C. H.
Bowersox, was booming. Assigning cabins to the group
of sancutary-seeking travelers left the proprietor little time
to take particular note of any of his transient guests. He

Left, grieving husband and son of victim; center, expert H.E. Higgins dusts

’

Juné 9 1 955

That fate had set a terrible trap
for the too trusting matron was
evident by the wounds on her body.
She had been tortured for days,

and again just before death!

_ BY AL CAMPBELL

was, however, later to recall that the man who had signed

his register as O. A. Loel of Los Angeles, California, acted -

rather oddly.

. Loel, a thin, nervous man, drove up at about 11 a.m., in
an old Buick bearing California license plates. He was
accompanied by an attractive, auburn-haired woman, who
remained in the car until her companion was handed the
key to Cabin No, 4. Then the two [Continued on page 80]

Elizabeth Hender

o-=

him out in Waco, Texas, and made off in the
Buick.

His motive for the savage attack upon
Mrs. Henderson he would not reveal. The
reporter asked him his reason for intend-
ing to return to the motel after the slay-
ing.

“If I told you that, it would give away
some of the facts on the defense I am
going to offer,” he said.

When he was captured, FBI agents un-
derstood why he had remained at large
for so long. He had donned glasses, he had
grown a small mustache, and he had re-
moved his false teeth, giving his face a
pinched look. This made him appear
much older than he actually was.

He had been in Florida for some
months, working at various jobs, as far
south as Homestead, below Miami; in
Bradenton, on the West Coast near St.
Petersburg, and in Belleview, Orlando and
finally Sanford. Everywhere his record
was the same. People liked him. He was
quiet, pleasant, interesting when he did
talk.

He had a job in Orlando, driving a truck
for a big citrus company—until he got
drunk while hauling a refrigerator-truck of
oranges to Colorado. He had been in San-
ford for only a short time, but he had a
wide acquaintance in the town.

“Everybody liked him,” said the woman
who ran a restaurant where he ate, on the
south side of town. “He was a quiet fel-
low, never said much. He did a little
electrical work for me. Did a good job,
too.”

Folks who knew the mild, ingratiating lit-

.tle guy could hardly believe he was a vi-

cious killer. And Otto Loel had no record of
criminal violence, except for the motel
horror in Oklahoma City. How reconcile
that with the quiet man whose one and
overwhelming weakness apparently was
booze?

Why did he lie about driving to Syra-
cuse to inform a wife who was not
there of the death: of a son who never
existed?

Why did he set out on the journey ob-
viously with very little money?

Oklahoma City reporters, anxious to find
the answers to the many questions which
remained unexplained, were granted an
interview by Loel. First, however, he
asked to see thei# press cards and cre-
dentials. “You understand,” he said, “for
my own protection I must be pretty care-
ful all the time.”

He talked at random and at length about
his four years in China with the navy.
“I was serving on the Yangtse River patrol
in 1928 when a little Chinese girl gave me
a small hand-carved Buddha. She told me
to keep it and give it to anyone I thought
needed it more. I carried it a while,” he
went on, “then gave it to my wife. A per-
sistent cough she had had for years dis-
appeared. In 1953 I gave it to a woman in
California. She was going to the hospital
for an operation and was sure she wouldn't
pull through. Well, she recovered.”

“You figure all this wouldn’t have hap-
pened to you if you had kept the Buddha?”
someone asked.

“I’m not superstitious. I just wish I had
it back. My luck has been bad ever since
I stopped carrying it. I’ve got to find it
again,” he concluded.

Asked specifically about events on the
murder night, he hedged again. “I have
nothing to hide,” he said. “But I won’t
answer any questions pertaining to that.
You can never-drive a thing like that out
of your mind completely. But you have to
find ways not to think of it, or it will
drive you crazy. I’m one guy who will
never end up crazy.”

The following Monday Captain Baugh-
man received from the FBI agents in Or-
lando Loel’s 6-page typewritten single-

a - —— m

spaced confession which they had obtained
on January 19th, two days after his arrest.

In this signed confession Loel stated that
Mrs. Henderson had suffered a nervous
breakdown, had run out of medicine and
was almost hysterical. A fight had started,
he claimed, because she feared he planned
to leave her stranded in the cabin.

She had picked up his knife, he said, and
threatened to kill him. During the scuffle,
he stated, neither of them uttered a sound.
“We tussled on the bed and finally rolled
off onto the floor. She had dropped the
knife, or I had taken it away from her...
I wasn’t drunk, but I know I must've
stabbed her in my efforts to get her away
from me. When she did not move, I puta
pillow under her head.”

The confession continued: “I wanted to
get away from there,.to clear my mind. I
didn’t want to run and I thought I should
call the police. Instead I drove to the first
town west of Oklahoma City. I went into a
bar, tried to figure out what to do. I decided
to go back to the motel. I was on my way,
when I got lost. I went into the same bar
again and asked directions. I had several
more drinks and I can’t remember any-
thing more till I awoke in Waco, Texas, at
a motel.”

He did not know Mrs. Henderson was
dead, he declared, until June, when he read
in a newspaper in Ocala, Florida, that he
had been charged with her murder. Then,
he said, he decided to keep going. rx x)

Epitor’s Note:

The names Jimmy Cicco, Bud Appley
and Frank Griner, as used in the fore-
going story, are not the real names of
the persons concerned. These persons
have been given fictitious names to pro-
tect their identities.

He Left Me
for Dead

(Continued from page 33)

were?” Captain Giglio asked me pityingly.

I mumbled something about the bend of
the river.

They took me back to the river bend and
I pointed out the place. Ernest’s body still
lay there. Then, while some of the officers
stayed to investigate; I-was rushed to the
new Confederate Memorial Hospital in
Shreveport. For the next ten days I was
unconscious, my condition listed as “ex-
tremely critical.” The doctors found it hard
to believe that anyone could survive such
a bludgeoning. I had. a fractured skull, a
broken left shoulder, smashed elbows and
forearms, splintered bones in my hands
and fingers, and severe head cuts.

Only an automatic instinct made me
throw my arms over my head. That saved
me from the fate Ernest met. I will carry
the marks of that night to my grave. After
all these months I can move only two fin-
gers slightly on one hand. My arms will
never be normal again,

The Caddo sheriff’s office handled the in-
vestigation. They found the splintered club
with which Ernest had been beaten to
death. Splinters found at the spot fitted it.
Ernest’s wallet was still on the blanket.
An armed guard was posted outside my
hospital door, to make sure the killer didn't
slip in and finish.the job while I was
lying there unconscious, ’

It was September 10th when they carried

80 me from the hospital on a stretcher to the

parish coroner’s office. There, for the first
time, I learned how terribly Ernest had
been beaten. The cause of his death was
listed as a crushed skull. His head had been
beaten into the ground until it was a mass
of jelly about three inches thick. Deputy
Coroner Dr. C. S. Boone told me the killer
must have gone back and struck Ernest
again and again, after he had left me for
dead.

After giving my testimony to the coroner,
they took me home to start the long road
to recovery. In spite of my weakened con-
dition I was questioned by the deputies al-
most daily. Deputies Homer Bryant and
Lieutenant Marvin Ezell headed the in-
vestigation. I had to tell them again and
again what I could remember of the night-

- Mare,

Since then they have questioned more
than 500 persons in connection with the
case, but the killer is still at large.

At first the newspapers and several of
the officers wouldn’t believe that the killer
was a stranger to me. They kept hinting
that it was some jealous boy friend of mine
and they implied that I was protecting him,
either out of fear or for some other rea-
son.

I don’t know how they could think that
a’ person could let anyone commit a mur-
der, and take the beating I got, and still
protect the killer. Finally I told them that
I would voluntarily take the truth serum
test. They gave me the test and the officers
said later that it supported my story all the
way.

I am back at home now, living with my
children again. There is no guard for me
and I know that somewhere there is a mad
killer who knows that I am the only living
person who can identify him. Yet, for some
reason, I am not afraid any more, even

when violence strikes again nearby.

On January 4th of this year a 73-year-old
grocery store operator was beaten to death
in his bedroom, about 20 miles north of
here. The safe was robbed, but everyone
knew there wasn’t enough money in it to
lead to murdering the old man with a soft-
drink bottle and beating his head to a pulp.

Could it have been the work of a mad-
man who killed for the love of killing?
There is nothing to connect that unsolved
case with the murder of Ernest Burns, but
it makes me wonder.

As for the motive in our case, the officers
are still in doubt. I left my purse in the car
when I went down to the river bank and
the photographs taken later indicated that
it had been searched.

The officers think the killer might have
found my purse and then slipped down to
where we were. The robbery motive isn’t
too good, because Ernest’s wallet was left
untouched, on the edge of the blanket.

Some of the officers think that Ernest
made the man angry as he chased him with
the club up the hill. But the coroner found
a cut in the back of Ernest's head that
must have been made when the killer
clipped him just as he was climbing over
the gate.

I figure that whatever he used to cut
Ernest was what he had tossed into his car
before he came back and started smashing
Ernest in the face with the club. That
means he was already armed and ready to
strike, at the time.

Seven months have passed and most
people have probably forgotten about the
terrible things that happened that night.
But I haven’t. I never will forget it.

He thought I was dead, too, but some day
I'll see him again and I’ll send him straight
to the electric chair. ¢¢o¢

Xand
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Dr. Fred:
topsy surg:

wm,

The Sadist and the Tortured
Beauty

[Continued from page 42]

carried their luggage inside the one-room
cottage and drew the blinds.

Several hours later, at 7 p.m., the ill-
at-ease guest sauntered into the office.
“T want to pay our rent until Tuesday,”
he said to Bowersox.

Afterward, to the police, the totrist-
cabin proprietor told of his experience
with the eccentric Loel. “He told me he
and his wife were going out and wouldn't
be back until late Monday night. I took
the rent and told him I would go to his
cabin and clean it up, but Loel became
agitated. ‘No,’ he nearly shouted. ‘I don’t
want you going in there and touching
anything! That’s the trouble we had with
maids out in California.’ ”

Accustomed to the peculiar behavior of
some of his guests, Bowersox had
shrugged and watched Loel climb into his
car. The thought crossed the proprietor’s
mind at the time that it was strange the
woman was not in the Buick; but another
matter arose to claim his attention, and
the incident was forgotten.

No further sign of the couple was seen
at the tourist camp throughout the period
for which they had rented the cabin.
When Wednesday morning rolled around,
Bowersox figured that the tenants had
moved on without notifying him. ‘Peering
through the door window, he noticed that,
while no one was inside, the place was in
a state of disorder. Suitcases were on the
floor, with clothes strewn about the room.

Bowersox summoned his wife, and
ig a passkey, the couple entered Cabin

o. 4. :

A musty odor permeated the place. An
empty pint bottle of whisky, along with
several discarded soda-pop bottles, lined
the bureau top. Mrs. Bowersox’s atten-
tion, meanwhile, was drawn to the bed.
She noticed that the counterpane was
missing and that the blankets had been
pulled up over the pillows. The proprietor
reached across and yanked down the
blankets. There were several bloodstains
on the pillow. “I wonder what this
means?” he remarked.

The answer to that question was yet
to come. It was to be a shocker,

The missing bedspread was the object

of Mrs. Bowersox’s search. It was while
the couple were looking for it that they
discovered more bloodstains. The marks
were on the floor alongside the bed.
Getting down on his knees, the motel
owner peered under the bed, From the
light of the morning sun through the
window, he spotted the missing counter-
pane rolled up against the far wall.
Bowersox thought that the coverlet was
wrapped erent some bedding. But he
was soon to realize his mistake when he
caught a glimpse of a woman’s leg pro-
truding from one end of the bedspread.

The knowledge that murder had been
committed within the four walls of this
tiny cabin struck Bowersox with full im-
pact. The murderer, he figured, had
wrapped his victim in the couhterpate,
pushed her body off the bed against the
wall and then shoved the bed over the
corpse.

Without delay, Bowersox escorted his
wife from the room and quickly sum-
moned the police.

Chief of Detectives Wayne W. Har-
bolt, accompanied by Detectives Bob
Hudson and Don Cochran, were the first
to arrive at the scene. They were followed

80 4

by the coroner and members of the Okla-
homa City criminal identification bureau.

When the bed was lifted from over
the woman’s body, it was found that the
redheaded victim was lying face down- |
ward, with her head resting on a blood-'
soaked pillow. She was clad only in blue.

anties and a sheer nightgown. The
atter had been pushed up around her
waist.

Glancing about the room, Captain Har-
bolt saw evidence that a struggle had
taken place. Blood spots marked the walls
and floor. It was Detective Hudson who
found a six-inch hunting knife in the
wastebasket in the corner of the room.
That it was the death weapon was con-
firmed by the coroner, whose preliminary
examination revealed that the woman had
mee stabbed repeatedly in her neck and
chest.

The coroner further declared that the
victim had been dead about three days.
This ‘meant that she had been killed
shortly after the couple arrived at the
motel, The fact that the suitcases on the.
floor’ contained the clothing belonging to
a wotnan and to a man indicated to the
detectives that Loel had fled in great
haste—taking only enough time to stall
the authorities from getting on his trail by
paying for three days’ rent in advance
and requesting Bowersox to stay out of
the cabin,

From papers in the woman’s purse,
Chief Harbolt determined her identity as
that of Mrs, Elizabeth Jeanne Henderson,
31, of 3312 Orchard Avenue in Compton,
California, Putting through a telephone
call to that address, the detective chief
was soon talking with the victim’s hus-
band, Cameron Henderson.

The news of his wife’s' death was a
great shock to the man. “I just can’t
understand it,” he said. “I talked with
Elizabeth at 4 o’clock on Sunday morn-
ing.” Henderson explained that his wife
had first met Otto Austin Loel in a
Compton tavern several weeks before.
The man had. been discussing a trip east
to Syracuse, New York. Elizabeth; who
had, for several months, been wanting to
visit her mother in Newark, Ohio, asked
Loel if she could go along with him on a
share-the-expenses arrangement. His wife
brought the stranger home’ to meet him,
Henderson went on. “He seemed to be a
nice guy to me, and a lot of our friends
out here knew him pretty well.” |

Plans had been completed, and Eliza-
beth and Loel started eastward on Thurs-
day, January 7—three days before her
murder.

Henderson said that the first sign of:

a hitch came when, on that! fatal Sunday -

morning, Elizabeth telephoned him, “She
told me that Loel had lost his money to a
age fee and that they were stranded
in Oklahoma City, without funds. She
wanted me to wire her some so that they
could continue the trip. I wired $35, and
that’s the last I heard from her. :
“She didn’t seem to be upset or worried

‘about anything when she talked to me,”

Henderson continued. “I also talked to
Loel at that time, and he seemed to be all
right. He told me about losing his money
to a pickpocket.”

At the time Elizabeth Henderson first
met Otto Loel, he was telling friends that
he had just been notified his son had been
killed in Korea, and that he was planning
to go to Syracuse to break the news to his
wife, from whom he was estranged.

That fate had set a terrible trap for
Elizabeth Henderson was to be revealed
when police learned Loel’s wife was not
in Syracuse but in Roseburg, Oregon.
The extent of his difficulties with his
mate was shown in an. unmailed letter

police found in Loel’s suitcase in the
murder cabin. The letter read like the
rantings of a madman. Because his wife
had refused to accept his Christmas gifts,
Loel wrote: “For this, I am putting the
curse of the little golden budda upon you.
No one can lift it but I. May your days
be full of pain and your nights hurt you
as much as you hurt the one that loved
you and still loves you. I and I alone can
remove the curse. Laugh if you will but
think back and remember.”

Meanwhile, an autopsy disclosed that
the too trusting Elizabeth Henderson had
been stabbed 19 times! Death had been
caused by stab wounds around the heart.
That the woman had suffered terribly
before succumbing was shown by the fact
that, in addition to the many cuts about
her body, there were four burns on her
left arm which the coroner said had been
inflicted by a lighted cigaret. “Two of the
burn marks on her left arm appeared to
be a day or two old,” he stated, “while
the other two were recent.” This seemed
to indicate that the woman had been
tortured two days before her death, and
again shortly betore she died.

Said Captain Harbolt as he set his men
to work tracking down the killer: “This
is the work of a sadist or sex maniac!”

Believing that Loel was heading toward
New York and therefore would cross
state lines, the local authorities notified
the FBI. A federal warrant against the
fugitive was issued, charging him with
unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Little was known about Loel. From
Compton it was learned that he had been
employed there on occasion as a foundry
worker; that he was 47 years old; liked to
wear fancy clothes; frequented taverns.
The car he had been driving was a 1948
model, dark blue sedan. Although a
nationwide search was conducted, no
trace of the fugitive or his car could be
found. Months went by, and Loel was
listed by the FBI as one of the 10 most
wanted men in America.

One full year passed before the net of

justice closed in on the killer. On January -

9, 1955, police of Sanford, Florida, picked
up for drunkeness one Jack McCoy. As
a routine procedure, the man was finger-
printed, jailed overnight and then re-
leased. Also as part of the routine, the
fingerprint classification was forwarded
to Washington, Quick as a flash, the San-
ford authorities were notified that “Jack
McCoy” was the very much sought killer
Otto Austin Loel. A dragnet was im-

mediately launched, with little hope that’

the fugitive had not already left the state.
But as Loel himself was later to admit,
“There is no escape.” He was picked up
by a knot of law-enforcement officials as
he was attempting to sell some junk he
had collected in a dump where he had
been hiding ever since his fingerprints
were taken. He carried no weapon.

Asked why he hadn’t fled the city be-
fore the FBI report was returned, Loel
replied: “Have you ever tried to do that?
You can’t get out on the highways hitch-
hiking without being picked up. Besides,”
he added, “I was getting pretty tired of
it. I decided, What's the use?”

Questioned about the murder of Eliza-
beth Henderson, the prisoner refused to
comment. He did state that he had come
to Florida after leaving Oklahoma. He
had abandoned his car in Dallas, Texas,
and had made his way across the country.

Loel agreed to waive extradition to
Oklahoma City. There, he will be tried
for the vicious murder of Elizabeth
Henderson. It will remain for a judge and
jury to determine whether he is innocent
or guilty. .

The U.S. Go

a terrible trap
ag matron was
; on her body.
tured for days,

' before death!

AL CAMPBELL

an who had signed
2s, California, acted

at about 11 a.m., in
ise plates. He was
jaired woman, who
on was handed the
itinued on page 80]

urder room evidence.

and the TORTURED BEAUTY

Elizabeth Henderson liked pets and people; she never dreamed there existed a man who could do to her what was done.

COPY: 3 “CE NIS

er of Dee

Moyers. o

wg death -

ile. Tip aia

“He sat in

ed over his:

‘ped forward:

sped. ae

sanity test.

leyes ‘were wild.

Continues Staring:

“Final Episode eit

minutes. after’ last midnight,

Seven - men fram- -El. Reno,’
cluding County Attorney Ay. Fran- .
cis Porta, thé~ prosecutor in the .
case, Were among the 18. Wwitness- :
es of execution.-’ Others from here” 204
were: P. €. - Canon, - ~
H. Morris and Jesse Burge of the ”
First National Bank, -
attempted robbery in
liart was killed; O. -K’ Wetzel,
W.. D: Patterson. ‘and Dr.

chamber.

the-.chair. = As

i atrepped ‘Lovett’s. legs.
chair.. The. death: cap was. “plac-
doomed °
man continued to stare until the
mask -was placed over his ‘face. :
F Executioner Rich Owens step"
| ped to the - “switch.,: The., current.
A*as- turnec-on for! 50 seconds. Dr-
*% J. Munn, prison physician, step-
and texamined © -tite.
man, Dr.-William L..Taylor,. who.
had witnessed every. execution in
the state for 30 years, concurred
in Dr. Munn'’s opinion Lavett Was

head: © The’.

tore ale

Brings ‘Quick Action
Rumors that Lovett was a “ray:
hing maniac” brought quick ‘action
yesterday from prison and. state
, officials. A delegation of ‘Caddo
and Grady county ‘citizens ‘begged ‘
« Acting’ Gov. Robert Burns -to wa
;{10-day stay to permit another. in-
Burns © wireil -
William H, Murray ‘at. St.
; and the governor promptly. replied
that Aavers should dia bint dpc

ass OF Tass eee

sheriff;

‘LOVETT SILENT AS
He MEETS Deal

Beary: ‘Lovett, the’ éonvicted kil:
Foliar, ~is dead;
body is being .@gken : today | t
Chiékasha: at’ the - request’ of
Brother,:. James.” *

The United ‘Press story | cof ‘the
| exeoution follows: -

‘night, the dynamo began to_ hum
- 1A minute later, 18 witnesses, the a
‘}smallest number to. witness. ‘an +
jexecution here .for: many years
filed from the. Sanianeg oftice =

- Lovett,.a dazed. exiracaii con®
he: face, was carried
execution: ‘chamber _by- two. prisons,

into: -the «

a Wander Sam ‘Brown ‘asked- him
‘ it” he: had. any last statement: to

ites donmed man looked at ihe. :
warden, then glanced away... His
He, bit: his» ton-

sistants Pa
to# the:

°His-

in-

“F..

Gov.
Louis -

site of the 9 ~
‘which | Fo-.

P. Bes

ee? y

* Medeee oak

ate

re eae atu te dette F
sanity test. ; /Surns - wired ~ Gov.. ‘ Se
“I AVilliam H. “Murray at. St. Louis - |= sone
and the gorernor promptly replied . ae an
-4 that Lovett —— oe promptly, :
peg | —_—_— . ek: ve
ee ist Final Episode ‘
The, execution of Henry Lovett
was the final episode to what was ©:
described. as -one_of the most
“eold- blooded -.. and unjustified”.
murders in the: jMistors” of . the
state. rs
_ Lovett. entered the First: ation.
al bank at El Reno alone on Nov-
cember 26,. 1930. Two. officers.
three customers and two.bank em- .
‘ployes were:in the puilding.. ~¢>-
.“f mean business,” Terett said
as he waved his gun \ nervously.
Evidently he ‘was surprised.to’find -
‘such a large number of persons in:
the bank: at! the’ uenally slack.
: ; moon hour...) See
I" Dee Follart. ‘El Reno highschool:
4 | wrestling coach, entered the door.
‘He. had. come to get. money to.
* pay his expenses to his home at
i... Westboro, Mo.,..¥ where. he had plan-\.
PS ned to. visit-over Thanksgiving
~~ day... The attempted robbery occur--
red on the.day before the. holiday.
So 3 Fires: At Foliart
>= Turning toward Foliart, . Lovett.
witnesses said. fired at him wich-
out warning. -.Folfart fell to ‘the
° floor, fatally wounded. . , :
“© '-Then the ‘bandit turned anid:
ie ‘opened a barrage of fire. the ‘bul-
“Jets spattering -against the . walls.
es ?J.2M. .Burge, assistant. cashier.
-grabbed.a gun and shot the dai
dit. One of.- the pulleis .struck -
x, the robber. “Lovett fled from the
/bank. George Adams fired. from
= across the street, the bullett- graz-
“tng Lovett’s . head.’ He was _cap
tured in an’ alley near the bank a
=" few moments later:.”“:
>? at his trial Lovett said et ‘did
“not remember what he had done.
‘He; said he:.was “so drunk: with
canned” heat” . he. knew | nothing

Worle ae ae

formally’ sentenced him to- death

cect. chair, aetier:, a

VE OV Ae y82e
“NT Oe YB
rea eV ~Ah 1x4 Re

enlists ine

rap in Cleveland, Ohio several years
before. He was reputed to be a good
woodsman and expert marksman with
any kind of weapon. He spoke Chinese
fluently and liked to patronize Chinese
restaurants. The FBI, which had a
warrant for his arrest for Interstate Flight,
added a line to its flyer on the fugitive
which said: “He has fale teeth, but
sometimes does not wear his dentures,
thus giving his face a sunken
appearance.”

Other information added to his flyer
was: “The fugitive bears a one-half inch
scar on his right thigh, an inch-scar on his
right knee, two scars on his left forearm,
and he has tattoos on both forearms. He
spends much time in bars, drinking beer
for long periods, but never appears to be
intoxicated.”

i wen an intensive nationwide
search for Loel, authorities received not a
single report that he had been sighted, not
even a false report, which was highly un-
usual, because such widely publicized
manhunts almost invariably produce
numerous reports that result in wild goose
chases.

In late fall of that sameyear,1954, the
FBI learned that Loel had worked the
previous summer with a carnival which
toured the South, running a shooting
gallery, but after the season ended he had
vanished without a trace. The federal
agents also were unsuccessful in trying to
confirm their suspicions that a romance
might have developed between Loel and
Betty Henderson. Everyone who knew
the 31-year-old woman put no credence
in such a possibility. Without exception,
they insisted that Betty was a woman of
the highest moral character, who would
never consider embarking on an
adulterous relationship.

The suspect’s Oregon wife, to whom
the unmailed letter found in Loel’s clothes
had been addressed, told officials he had
left her two years before and she had
never heard from him since. She thought
she was his fifth wife, but she didn’t know
who any of his previous wives were, or
where they might be.

More months rolled by, until almost a
year had passed since the motel murder in
Oklahoma City. In various Florida cities,
meanwhile, a man named Jack B. McCoy
had been working at anumber of jobs, in-
cluding auto mechanic and truck driver.
It would be learned later that he had lived
for various periods of time in Orlando,
Sanford, Homestead and Belleview dur-
ing the past 11 months. He claimed to be
from Alaska. He had lost a couple of jobs
because of his drinking, but he seemed to
have a talent for getting another job
quickly and he was never unemployed
for very long.

His latest job loss occurred on Satur-
day, January 8th, when he was fired from
his machinist’s job with a company in
Sanford for being drunk. He took his final

pay and repaired for alocal tavern, where
he did some heavy drinking with a chance
acquaintance.

At 35 minutes after midnight on
January 9th, Officer Herman Harriet of
the Sanford Police Department arrested
two men at the corner of First Street and
Park Avenue, in the heart of the business
district. They were taken to the police sta-
tion, mugged, fingerprinted and locked
up, charged with public drunkenness.
Routinely the data on these two arrests
was sent to the FBI in Washington, D.C.,
but before that the two arrested men
were released on $17 bail each and
ordered to appear in court on the 14th.

Then the report came back from the
FBI. One man checked out as “clean.”
The other arrested man, the one who had
given his name as Jack B. McCoy, was
identified from his fingerprints as one
Otto Austin Loel, wanted by Oklahoma
City police for the January 10, 1954
murder of Elizabeth Jeanne Henderson
in a local motel.

The information galvanized local of-
ficials, who quickly began checking with
everyone who knew Jack McCoy, his
landlady, his employer, fellow workers,
barroom buddies, bartenders and the
like. They quickly found that McCoy was
widely know, universally liked,
respected as “a guy who minds his own
business, never bothers anybody, is a
good worker when he’s sober and an all-
around nice guy.”

But despite these glowing character
references, Oklahoma City’s Captain
Baughman reminded Florida police of-
ficials of Loel’s reputation as “a crack shot
with any kind of weapon” and cautioned
them to be “ready for anything” if and
when they approached the fugitive. San-
ford police were confident that would be
happening soon, because from their in-
quiries they were convinced that Loel
had not left the area and was still hiding
out somewhere in the vicinity. Every of-
ficer in the region had been given a
description of the wanted man and was
on the alert for him. Pressure had been
put on police informants to report any
scrap of information they could pick up
on the man.

It was one of Constable J. Q.
Galloway’s tipsters who finally, on Mon-
day, January 17th, came through with
solid information in an urgent phone call.
After hanging up, Galloway told
Deputies M. R. McClelland and O. G.
Owens, who were in his office at the time,
that they were going after “a fellow who's
just been spotted trying to sell a piece of
scrap iron at the junkyard out near the
city drump. From his description, I’m
betting it’s Otto Loel.”

Before leaving, Galloway alerted the
Sanford city police, who in turn notified
FBI agents who had come to Sanford
after the earlier report that the murder
fugitive was in the vicinity. So it was a
small army of lawmen who sped to the
junkyard, but what followed was a sur-

prising anti-climax to the year-long
search for the fugitive from a murder
charge.

The gaunt, grimy man who stood there

in the rain, quietly awaiting the approach |

of the officers, made no attempt to offer
resistance. Instead he spoke to them
almost casually, saying:

“I’m the man you want. I’m Loel. I

know what you want me for. I'm gladit’s |

over.”

Otto Loel was found to be unarmed,
but after he was frisked he said, in that
same quiet, matter-of-fact tone, “Tf I'd
had a gun, I could have shot your eyes
out.”

After he was booked at the police sta-
tion he led officers to the palmetto
swamp where he'd been hiding out fora
week. The closest thing to a weapon

found there was a small steak knife. ,

Returned to the station house, he was
mugged, fingerprinted and locked up.

Asked by a reporter why he hadn't
tried to make a run for it, Loel said weari-
ly, “I was just tired of hiding out. And
how far can you get, running? You ever
try that? I decided, what's the use?

“Besides, I haven't had any real food |

for a week. Ive been living all week ona
few raw potatoes and some oranges |
stole from a grove nearby. I don't like
your Florida oranges—they’re just skin
and water.”

Piste that he was tired and ready to .

go back to Oklahoma City “to face the
music,” Loel waived extradition. He said
he would neither admit nor deny the
murder of Betty Henderson. “I have to
think about my defense,” he continued.
He was thoughtful for a minute, then said,
“You can never drive a thing like murder
out of your mind completely, but you
have to find ways not to think of it, orit
will drive you crazy... . I’m one guy who
will never end up crazy.”

In a moment of candor ater,
however, he admitted that during all the
months since the motel room tragedy, ‘]
kept seeing her lying there dead . . ee

Returned to Oklahoma City, he
agreed to be interviewed by reporters
there, but now he would talk about
almost anything except the motel murdet
of a year ago. His favorite topic was 4
small, golden Oriental idol he had picked
up during his Navy hitch in China. He
said he'd carried it for 25 years, but he
didn’t have it now and was desperately
anxious to recover it. He described the
talisman as a hand-carving an inch anda
half high and weighing four ounces. It
was 2,000 years old, he claimed, and a
pretty Chinese girl had given it to him
long ago. Althogh he insisted he wasnt
superstitious, he claimed he'd never had
bad luck while he carried it.

How had he lost his good luck piece?
Loel said he’d loaned it, more than a yeaf
before, toa woman he metina California
tavern who was going into the hospit

for an operation and was fearful that she
was going to die. He knew it had “pulled
her through,” but he left California on his
fateful motor trip before she got out of
the hospital and he'd never gotten his
good luck piece back.

Loel’s background, as recounted for
reporters, sounded like something out of
an adventure novel. He said he was the
son of a sheriff in Waverly, Ohio who was
shot to death when Otto was only five
years old. He spent a lot of time in an
orphanage, enlisted in the Navy when he
was 18, and was sent to China. Four years
after his arrival there he was discharged
for going AWOL. He claimed he went
back to China later, though, and for a
while he had some connection with the
opium traffic. That was when he bought a
Chinese girl who became the first of his
five wives.

Represented by a court-appointed at-
tomey, Otto Loel was brought to trial in
Oklahoma City District Court on Oc-
tober 17th, and it was during this trial that
his story of that ill-starred motor trip with
Betty Henderson came to light.

Loel said that his and her nerves were
on edge all the way from California to
Oklahoma City. “She had had a nervous
breakdown,” he explained, “and she had
run out of her nerve medicine.” He said
she was “hard to get along with,” and
neither of them had slept for two nights
before they reached Oklahoma City.

He was not specific about how they
came to be sharing the same motel cabin,
but there were indications that this was
dictated more by their financial status
than from a romantic motive. Mrs.
Henderson took a shower after they
registered. “She was lying on the bed in
her nightgown.” After he showered, he’d
put on only his underclothing when the
argument started. She had become
obsessed with the unreasonining fear that
he meant to leave her stranded.

“I tried to reassure her,” Loel said. “I
sat down on the side of the bed to put on
my socks and shoes. She said something
to me—the exact words I can’t recall, but
they sounded like, “I'll. kill you.”

“I turned, and I saw she had my hun-
ting knife in her hand. I grabbed her arm
and tried to wrest the knife from her
hand. We tussled on the bed and we final-
ly rolled off onto the floor. In the scuffle
she had dropped the knife, or I had taken
it from her...

“L can’t remember how I got the knife

. .[ know I must have stabbed her, in my
efforts to get her away from me. When
she hit the floor, she did not move. . . . I
took a pillow from the bed and put it un-
der her head . . .

“After I put the pillow under her head,
I took off my undershirt which had been
Npped almost off. I left it there and got

tessed and went outside. I did not take
pthing with me. I wanted to get away
rom there, to clear my mind.”
fy Loel also went into detail about his

ight from Oklahoma City and how he

across

1. Diameter of

a bullet

4. Carol

as a bird”

10. The Mafia

de plume

14. Equip with

a weapon
5. Type of assault
6. Bust

. Bribe 35. Isle, in Paris
Policy 36. Indefinite

. Rancor article

. To pry 37. Organized gang

. Rasp 38. Voucher

. — populi 40. Concerning: Law

. Looks over: Sl. 41. Gambling word

. Stench 42. FBI director

. Concealment move 46. Foul up

. Harass 47. Feuds

SOS PAP WON ss

down

Cartei

Defames
Deposits
Marijuana: Colloq.
Via aircraft

Where King was
assassinated
Prisoners
Carousal

1, “liberty __ death”

. Dismember 31. The: Sp.

. Lager 32. Re-examine in court

. Proof 33. Disguise

. Card game 34. Travail

. Entices 39. Loot

. Mary Hartman 41. Urge payment
possessed it 42. The Cisco

. Thug 43. __ Vegas

|; Cary. 44. Large bird

. Guard 45. Distress signal

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finally ended up in Florida. He claimed
that he didn’t know Betty Henderson was
dead until June, six months after the fight
in the Oklahoma City motel, when he
picked up a newspaper in Ocala, Florida
and read that he’d been charged with her
murder and was listed as one of the FBI’s
Ten Most Wanted F ugitives.

“T killed Mrs. Henderson,” Loel was
reported to have confessed, “whether it
was murder, or homicide, or self defense,
will be up to the courts to decide. There
were extenuating circumstances.” The
latter remark was one he had made
several times before. ;

Otto Loel had made a good
appearance in court, but apparently,
after weighing all the evidence, the jury
was unable to find any extenuating cir-
cumstances in the crime with which he
was charged. There were indications that
they were less impressed by this conten-
tion of the defendant than they were by

the fact that Betty Henderson had died
under an onslaught of 19 stab wounds and
a slashed jugular vein.

After deliberations which lasted seven
hours, the jurors found Otto Loel guilty of
the fatal stabbing of the California
woman and fixed his penalty at death in
the electric chair.

The usual series of appeals was filed
on behalf of the condemned man, but in
due course all were rejected, and on
January 11th, almost exactly three years
after he murdered Betty Henderson, Otto
Austin Loel was executed by the State of
Oklahoma at the state penitentiary at
McAlester. tok

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Frank Addams is not the real name
of the person so named in the forego-
ing story. A fictitious name has been
used because there is no reason for
public interest in the identity of this
person.

Karen Ann and the

Catholic School in Provo, had been a
popular and charming youngster, as well
as an outstanding student, and the com-
munities were shocked and appalled by
her brutal slaying. Residents were not
missing any chance that they might be
able to help track down her killer. All
police leaves and vacations were
cancelled, to assure enough officers being
on hand to check out every tip, no matter
how tenuous it might be.

Of all the information sifted by in-
vestigators, two reports seemed most
Promising. The first came from a woman
who lived near the Coombs apartment.
She reported that she had been awakened
about on o'clock the morning of the
murder by a commotion outside. Peering
out of her window, she had seen a man
leaving the area.

Assuming that he had been roaming
around the neighboring yards, she hadn’t
thought it sufficiently serious to call the
police, but now, in light of what had
happened, she believed he might have
been Karen’s killer.

“This woman has given us a fairly
good description of the man, as to his size
and what he was wearing,” Sheriff Chap-
ple later told reporters. “We now know
more about the appearance of the person
we are looking for.”

The second lead came from a
newspaper correspondent for Salt Lake
City’s Desert News. A reporter from
Ogden, Utah had telephoned the cor-
respondent to suggest a possible suspect.
According to the Ogden newsman, a
patient from a state mental hospital at

Provo had been seen in Ogden on Sun-
day, apparently enjoying a weekend pass
from the mental institution. To get “o
Ogden, which is north of Salt Lake City,
the patient, Elwood Ziff, would
necessarily pass through American Fork.

Rapist

“T know Ziff’s background and I just
can't get him off my mind,” the Ogden
reporter said. “He has hit and raped like
this before. It’s his modus operandi.

“When I heard about the Mechling

‘case, I dropped into the police depart-
ment here in Ogden and asked a couple of
detectives who the attacker sounded like.
Right away, both of them said, ‘Elwood
Ziff.’”

While the: Ogden reporter’s tip was
being checked out, Chief Adams and his.
men continued to process the stories told
by the other suspects. By evening they
had established that Lawrence Tiffany,
the Salt Lake City man, had not been in
American Fork at the time the attack oc-

curred. He was completely cleared of any
connection with the murder of the baby
sitter.

Likewise, no evidence could be found
to implicate the two vagrants who had
been arrested by the H ighway Patrol. Ap-
parently they were telling the truth when
they said they just happened to be “pass-
ing through” when the case broke. As for
what had been construed as their
evasiveness under questioning, that was
attributed to the natural defensive reac-
tion of a person who has come under
suspicion in a crime in which he was not

(from page 43)

- Involved.

Attendants at the American Park
Hospital confirmed that Frank Coombs
had been there with his wife until nearly
two o'clock on Sunday morning. One
nurse recalled that Coombs was helping
her shift a patient from a rolling cart onto
a bed at almost the exact time the rapist
was thought to have carried Karen from
the Coombs apartment.

And a thorough investigation failed to
establish any connection between Wilbur
Townes, the hard-of hearing neighbor,.
and the rape-slaying.

_ ticipated no difficulty

One by one” ¢
Suspects seemed to b

Tuesday, howe
Chapple a long way
the night, the Clark Co
fice in Las Vegas had
report that Darrel
youngman sought in
attempted rape in Pr ove
into custody there. Arm
tion of his car furnished
Chief Adams, Neva
spotted Pouisen eruis
near the Las Vegas a

He had = surre
resistance, and since
waive extradition, Sh
Deputy Clark had}
drive to the gambling
him to Utah. ie

This left Chief A
polygraph tests. The’

row of apartments, pf
Townes, and took him
polygraph examiner *

While he was being
his activities the night
Townes’ reactions were rm
machine. When the test w
aminer reported the sub
solutely no guilty know
crime. Townes was com
of suspicion. pees

Frank Coombs had td
session on the polygraph
pointment for a possible
Chief Adams to set anoth
would take the lie test
wanted to set it up. §

By that time, howeve
of official interest in the¢
ed down to Darrell Pou
Provo from Las Vegas, P
questioned about thea
the girl in Provo and, acet
Chapple, he had admi

Chapple and Deputy Ne

Poulsen had not been
the Mechling murder.
figured that if he did hag
volved in that case, too, it ¥
to allow him to get one this
his mind. Req

Poulsen was ushered —
Chapple’s office at 11 a.m.
even as a Requiem Mass Wi
for Karen Ann Mechling- As
signed a written confession of
rape attacks, the officers pres™
reviewed his record. Like the®
many sex offenders, it retlec®
inadequacies in dealing with
fering from criminal inchna™®

After his first arrest in 195

and ordered to son re ene
Two years later e was
the TATE Industrial School £6
ammunition from the Spring bee
Association, but the §

ond Pauls, grinning broadly.

He inserted two fingers, clowned a lit-
fe and then produced a tightly folded slip
@ paper.

“The winning number,” he shouted,
%s four-two-six!”

Waiter Willie Bobich jumped to his
wet. “It’s me!” he called, charging toward
4e stage. “It’s me!”

“\fy God! I thought he was going to
uv four-two-eight for a minute,”
shispered the inspector. “Thank God he
Sdn't draw one of our numbers.”

They had both received a typewritten
ittery slip upon entering the basement,
tet had been given no inkling of what
4 might win. The actual winner,
jowever, had apparently known in ad-
rance what the prize would be and he
inew what to do with it.

Tearing off what few clothes he was
«ll wearing, he proceeded at once and in
tall view of the audience to enter into
#hat would be later described in court as
«wal contacts with the joyously squeal-
mg tirst prize.

Activity in the audience kept pace and
'§ as rapidly approaching a general free-
for-all which threatened to engulf every
gerson in the room when the inspector

AE pe

- : : - , eo
is cg siaeheale Palace ee
fi sisce Scart mea,

stood up, blew a short blast on his police
whistle and shouted, “Vice Squad. You're
all under arrest!” ,

No one paid the slightest attention.

Later, however, when the excitement
had somewhat abated, there was a certain
amount of nervousness as the inspector
and the sergeant went around taking
names and addresses and informing
Harald Pauls and his wife that they were
charged with contravention of Regula-
tion 428, forbidding prostitution in towns
under 20,000 population.

Some of the nervousness was justified
for a week later, the court in Augsburg
found the Pauls, the Ihrigs and one other
couples guilty as charged Harald Paul was
fined $200 and the others $100 each. Dur-
ing the course of the hearing, it was
revealed that Mrs. Ihrig was always the
first prize, although there had been many
winners.

At last reports, the Staetzling Sex Club
was still going strong although an en-
trance fee is no longer charged, Paula
Ihrig is still serving as first prize in the
lottery and the Pauls are contemplating
an extention to the basement. Mrs.
Blutcher, who has since confessed to hav-
ing made the anonymous telephone call

which set the whole machinery of the law
in motion is content, having learned
finally what was going on in -the
neighbors’ basement, and no _ longer
bothers to look out the window when the
milkman or the electrician or the
carpenter and their ladies appear for an
evening of family entertainment.

The inspector and the sergeant are
back to checking prostitutes’ licenses and
have since lost another man and a typist
from the department. Both are angling
for other jobs, the inspector in criminal in-
vestigations and the sergeant in traffic.

“There no future in Vice any more,”
say the inspector sadly. “It’s a dying
profession.”

ken

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Eda _ Blutcher, Willie -Bobich,
Thomas Fritsch, Karl Humpelmeyer,
Otto Huber, Walter Putzer, Johann
Schaus, Heinrich Wengler and
Leopold Albrecht are not the real
names of the persons so named in the
foregoing story. Fictitious names have
been used in order to comply with
German police regulations.

pessibility, the probers agreed. Loel
might have picked up someone when he
went out Sunday evening and brought
ben back to the cabin. That person might
uve slain both Loel and the woman, left
bss male victim’s possessions in the cabin
® suggest he was the killer, and driven
away with Loel’s body in the car trunk.
But that was speculation. On the ex-
sting evidence, Loel was their prime
®spect, so Captain Baughman ordered
a all-points bulletin broadcast for his
“Test on suspicion of murder. Later that
would be changed to an outright murder
charge.
Papers in the woman victim’s purse
tmntained the name of a male relative
ted as her next of kin and he was con-
‘acted in California. He flew to
Oklahoma City and identified the
femains of the motel murder victim as
-lizabeth Jeanne Henderson, 31, known
to her friends as “Betty.”
He told the homicide probers that
‘ey had met Otto Loel in a tavern in
-ompton, California a few weeks before
= they were introduced by a mutual
nend. Betty got very excited when she
‘ard that Loel was about to leave on a
motor trip to Syracuse, New York. She
Obs a great desire to visit her mother in
10, whom she hadn’t seen in four years.
Came up with the idea of driving east
‘ee Loel and sharing expenses, and Loel
id that was okay with him. Betty’s
‘Nsman was against the idea at first, but
‘nally concluded it was okay after

“Saw Her Lying There Dead” |

(from page 45)

first meeting. Several of their friends who
knew the man vouched for Loel. They
left California on the evening of Thurs-
day, January 7th. Loel promised to take
good care of Betty and drop her off at her
mother’s home in Ohio.

The victim’s relative said Betty called
him long distance on Sunday morning,
from Oklahoma City, to tell him they
were short of money because Loel had
had his pocket picked. He wired her $35.
That was the last he’d heard from her.

Asked by the detectives for a descrip-
tion of the suspect, he said Otto Austin
Loel was about 47, five feet eight to five

feet, 10 inches tall, brown eyes, brown

hair and a sallow complexion. He was
driving a dark blue Buick sedan with a
California registration IN4588. These
details were added to the APB previously
broadcast for the wanted man.

With a couple of days head start, Loel
could well be a couple of thousand miles
away by now, so the Oklahoma City
probers were not surprised when their
bulletin produced no results for several
days. The first “hit” came on January
15th, when police in Shreveport,
Louisiana reported that a hitchhiker had
pawned a pair of sunglasses with gold
frames there and the name “Otto Loel”
was found inscribed inside the case. The
hitchhiker had given his name as
“Fischer” and said he was on his way to
Pensacola, Florida, so a special alert was
sent to that state.

Another hit

was reported in

eeting with Loel a few times after their . McAlester, Oklahoma on that same day,

when another hitchhiker, who had read
news accounts of the motel slaying, went
to police there and told them he and a
friend had caught a ride with the murder
suspect and the woman in Barstow,
California on January 8th. They arrived
in Oklahoma City about 7 a.m. Sunday
morning, where he caught a bus for
McAlester.

Under police interrogation he said
Loel claimed he and the woman had been
married for 14 years, but later, when Loel

got out of the car at a gas station, she told

the hitchhiker and his pal that they were

not married. She also asked them not to .

leave the car “till we get to Oklahoma
City.” the informant added that he’d seen
no evidence of trouble between them,
“but from that remark, I thought she
might be afraid of him. They seemed to
be short of money. He kept stopping and
wiring to Compton for money.”

And on January 25th came word that
Loel’s Buick sedan had been found in a
parking lot in Dallas, Texas. Captain Will
Fritz of Dallas Homicide reported that no
bloodstains or other evidence of a crime
could be found in the abandoned car.

By this time Oklahoma City
authorities had assembled a good deal of

~ information about their fugitive. Otto A.

Loel, they had learned, was 43, a Navy
veteran with extensive service in China
and a sort of jack-of-all-trades who had
worked as a seaman, as a foundry worker,
an auto mechanic and also as an electri-
cian. Fingerprints lifted from the empty
whiskey bottle found in the motel room
were matched to those on his Navy ser-
vice record. Loel had no criminal record,
and only one offense on a drunk driving

Scotty Moore Scheduled to be Executed June 3, 1999
Clemency Hearing Scheduled for May 18

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Scotty Moore, 42, is scheduled to be executed by the state of Oklahoma in
the first few minutes of June 3, 1999. Moore was convicted of the shooting
death of Alex Fernandez, who was working as a desk clerk at the Airline
Motel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the late evening of November 17

or the early morning of November 18, 1983.

The only “evidence” against Moore was the testimony of his cousin Vicki
Caster, an admitted participant in the robbery/murder that cost Femandez
his life.

Caster was told by the district attorney that she would be allowed to

go to another state and escape prosecution only if she agreed to
implicate Moore in her testimony, saying that he was the trigger man. If
she would not testify in this manner, there would be "no deal.” Moore was
convicted based on testimony from a witness who had a direct conflict of
interest and who, therefore, can be considered to be unreliable.

There was no evidence to corroborate Caster's testimony and no physical
evidence points to Moore. Moore has always claimed that he was asleep in a
motel across town. He had no alibi witness, so this testimony never

came out in court.

Moore's attorneys decided not to present a closing argument at the
sentencing phase of his trial. In his appeal, he cited ineffective
assistance of counsel. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against
Moore 2-1, with Justice Brorby dissenting. Brorby found that Moore's
attorneys were “tragically wrong-headed" in this decision.

Brorby made the following statements in his dissenting opinion:

"l can think of no stronger signal to a jury that a defendant's life

is not worth sparing, than the failure of anyone to speak for him. When
nobody in the courtroom stands up and argues for the defendant's life, it
devalues the jury system, the court, and life itself."

“Put simply, at the time Mr. Moore's counsel made this decision, they were
failing to act as “the ‘counsel’ guaranteed ... by the Sixth Amendment.”
Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687. Our system allows for poor decisions by trial
attorneys; it does not, however, allow for tragically wrong-headed ones. "

",.. the devastating effect of some errors simply should not be
overlooked. An attorney's failure to argue for his client's life during

the sentencing phase of a capital case is that type of error. The absence
of argument for the defendant in this situation leads inevitably, |

believe, to a breakdown of the adversary system and a flawed trial.”

"In conclusion, | would find counsel's performance in this case to be
deficient. Counsel's decision to waive argument during the sentencing
phase denied Mr. Moore his day in court and denied the jury an
opportunity to weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances on a

Saturday May 18, 1996 America Online: Galba33

ynnected that what
mn

g had joined a
operative” colony
re and hundreds of
ysusands of dollars
practical test the
ialism originating
ellamy’s novel of
ing Backward. “It
roved a successful
<cept for govern-
enee,” he claimed.
s, in Kansas, Fur-
shed a paper in
union labor and
: principles of the
arty “as a step
iplete nationaliza-
ry industry.” He
secretary of the
al committee after
)klahoma in 1889,
irman of the terri-
1uon in 1892. The
inter he served as
ithe Board of Relief
ia City, organized
igh his efforts, and
‘. he took an active
ommonweal Army

The Common-
he territory, some
. elected him gen-

wrote a great deal
spapers on all sub-
2g no argument nor
om one. For nine
ad “investigated
‘s and the discover-
sychical Research
n. New York and
brought him in con-
omenon known as
e “got or mastered
ig the sick without
s or medicine.”
rn statements of
ible people—city,
officials, school
s. and farmers—he
ous diseases almost
after they had been
le by regular physi-

d people through his
ilt forces, spiritual-

od, or the devil, no

OLp WEST

one could say. But he was a force to be
reckoned with. He became involved in
Milligan’s plight because he held
“nothing is good but that which takes
pain, discord and deformity out of the
world” and bitterly opposed capital
punishment.

Oklahoma Territory had been over-
run with murderers and thieves and so
ravaged by such desperate gangs as thé
Daltons, Doolins, and Starrs that almost
the entire populace thought it the most
unlikely place to inspire sympathy for

the likes of Milligan. Yet, inspire sym- _

pathy Furlong did. He and his commit-
tee of more than a hundred descended
upon Judge Scott and Governor
William C. Renfrow, importuning them
to intercede with executive power.
Judge Scott stood firm. Milligan had
been indicted, tried, and found guilty
by a jury of his peers who had decided
he must pay with his life, and upon that
verdict, Judge Scott had no choice but
to pronounce judgment of death on the
gallows. The supreme court had
remanded the cause for execution and

him into the’ eép.

the ‘Kickwpoo' cori

WINTER 1995

_Renfrow, after some soul- —

everything had been done except
legally carry out the judgment:
Therefore, it was his solemn duty
to refuse to make any recom-

mendations to the executive
department. In turn Governor

searching consideration of
the case, refused to grant
clemency. —

Furlong was not to be
thwarted, however. On
January 9, Governor
Renfrow was suddenly
called to Washington on a
territorial matter, which left _
Secretary of the Territory
Thomas J. Lowe acting gover-
nor. On January 10, Furlong and
his committee swept down on
Secretary Lowe at Guthrie, and at
eleven o’clock that night,
Furlong announced that he
had in his pocket a paper

’ Courtesy of the Author

signed by Lowe granting the Secretary of the Territory Thomas J. Lowe, pres-
condemned Milligan a sured by Dr. Furlong and his committee during

sixty-day respite.

Governor Renfrow’s absence from Oklahoma,

The Oklahoma signed a sixty-day respite for the condemned

January 11 blasted
Acting Governor
Lowe for his “sympathy
with mawkish sentiment. that
| operates to defeat the plain
| provisions of the statute. We
do not care to discuss the
merits of capital punishment
at this time. It is enough that
such is the law in this terri-
‘tory...and unless our offi-
cials intend that its penalties
shall be wholly inoperative it
is the refinement of cruelty
to prolong the agony of the
poor wretch, who will ulti-
-mately have to meet his
doom.”

On January 19, Robert J.
Phillips died in his Guthrie
jail cell, removing him from
the contest. But doubt that

. Milligan would be the first
to decorate a territorial gal-
lows increased tenfold. With
Lowe’s signature hardly dry,
Furlong turned to the Third
Territorial Legislature, then

Courtesy of the Author in session. No retroactive
Oklahoma State Capital, January 19, 1895.

law could be passed that

State Capital of Milligan.

would alter Milligan’s judgment, but
during the sixty-days’ reprieve, Furlong
worked unceasingly for repeal of the
death penalty “to save this new land
from the stain of legal murder.”
Though a great many members of the
legislature opposed the statute, most
lauded his convictions. Encouraged,
Furlong took the stump and wrote
extensively on the subject for the press,
propounding the same points argued in

-.every state law-making body since and

not entirely relegated today.

An overwhelming majority of the
populace stood for capital punish-
ment. The editors of the State Capital
summarized their sentiments on
February 23:

When you have sufficiently elimi-
nated hell from religion and hanging
from the law you have lost all
restraint on the dangerous classes....

“Whosoever sheddeth man’s
blood, by man shall his blood be
shed” was made by God when the
world’s human code was handed
down in imperishable record. Does it

thirteenth,
n what he
sitting on
one foot,
| indiffer-
reakfast—
ou.” The
restaurant
gs, which

ntered the
1 warrant.
ely, then
gone.” Dr.
cell door,
rough the
that could
has been
ke a man.”

rch 13 pro-

i dressed
y a large
he enclo-
d jammed
ys....One
ieezed in

the cook

required
en to free
vas minus
f wearing

elve jury-
he enclo-
Attorney
‘igenbaum
esent. At
ie in with
vas placed
to receive
2sts of the

Furlong,
Rev. A.J.
{who] has
welfare of
s the only

ed hangman
er’s federal
kansas, fur-
execution of
wards made
fit.

OLD WEST

When the jailers came to pinion
Milligan’s arms, he laughed lightly
and said: ‘Well, you’ve come to har-
ness me up.” At 12 o'clock he was
led from his cell preceded by his
friends and the jailers walking by his
side and behind him. He walked to
the scaffold and up the steps not in
agitated or frightened manner in the
least. There was not a more com-

posed person, as far as outward
appearances, within the jail yard than
John Milligan. by

When he was on the scaffold,
Sheriff DeFord asked him, “John,
have you anything to say?” Milligan
answered “Not a word.” His legs
were quickly bound....His friends
then sang a hymn. Just before the
black cap was drawn over his head he
told them Goodbye.

Up to this time, Milligan had | renee
borne himself like a man not afraid to’ es {
meet death and rather courted it. But
as the rope was placed about his neck:
he commenced to weaken visibly. Dr.
Dustin called to him to “be brave as

you will soon be on the throne of
God,” and some gentleman in the
crowd was overheard to remark:
“There'll be a hell of a roar at the
other end of the route when John
finds out the matter has been misrep-
resented to him. The words were
barely pronounced when the signal, a
falling handkerchief, was given and
Milligan dropped through the trap.

Weems rer ct toe ot re

{1 Go Down in the History of This \
: r Territory as ey ‘

Courtesy of the Author
The scaffold scene—the execution of John Milligan.

Though Milligan’s neck requested. The rope used in the execu-
was broken instantly, he was tion was returned to Fort Smith, but
allowed to dangle twelve the famed George Maledon sent it
minutes before the physi- back as a present to DeFord. It was
cians pronounced him dead. exhibited in the sheriff’s office for
The body was cut down and years until cut into remnants by ever-

it S placed in a coffin, then _ persistent souvenir hunters.
Courtesy of the Author . turned over to Milligan’s yee
Oklahoma State Capital, March 14, 1895. friends for burial as he had

ere er ee a

WINTER 1995 ? 25

Oklahoma to attempt to repeal the ~

law of God? Is not the Bible wiser
than that sickly sentimentality, which
forgetful of old men, women and
innocent children struck down for no
offense, tries to increase the number
to the disgrace of the community by
rendering it safe for a human wild
beast of prey to continue his depreda-
tions?

“No murderer can enter the king-. .
dom of heaven” so there is no need of
holding him for repentance. Justice
demands that he be started on to eter-
nal punishment as soon as possible,
that no more lives be taken by his
vicious and beastial hand...Let
murderers hang, be they
black, white, or red, or let
us cease paying taxes on
a travesty of protection
of human life.

To Furlong’s credit, the
bill passed the senate,
however, the usual filibus-
tering and the number of
other bills crowded it out in
the house, and near the
close of the session, it
was defeated. Pointing
to the senate’s
support of
his ideas,

Furlong again appealed to Governor
Renfrow to save Milligan’s neck. The
governor took no action.

The respite expired on March 12,
and to avoid possible legal contingency
that failure to execute Milligan imme-
diately might void the judgment, the
condemned man was ushered into court
and resentenced to hang at twelve noon
on March 13.

During the supper hour on March
12, Milligan managed to smuggle a
handle of a broken broom into his cell.
About eleven o’clock the other prison-
ers were aroused by the smell of smoke
and discovered splinters from the stick
ablaze on his bed. They jerked the

smoldering blankets through the
bars, dousing them with a
pail of drinking water.
Then the excelsior mat-
tress burst into flame.
The jailer and guards
came running, extin-
guished the fire, and
placed Milligan in an
adjoining cell. His last-
ditch effort to cause
excitement and again
3 effect an escape had
ben failed.

Courtesy of the Author

Early the morning of the thirteenth,
Sheriff DeFord asked Milligan what he
would like to eat. Milligan, sitting on
his cot and lazily swinging one foot,
replied with his usual stoical indiffer-
ence, “Well, this is my last breakfast—
I’ll leave the choice to you.” The
sheriff crossed to a nearby restaurant
and returned with ham and eggs, which
Milligan “devoured entirely.”

At nine o’clock Deford entered the
cell and read him the death warrant.
Milligan listened attentively, then
remarked, Well, I guess I’m gone.” Dr.
Furlong then stepped to the cell door,
grasped Milligan’s hand through the
bars, and said, “Everything that could
be done to save your life has been
done. Walk to the scaffold like a man.”
Milligan promised to do so.

The Times-Journal of March 13 pro-
vided this final report,

At 10:30 he washed and dressed
for the execution....Already a large
crowd had gathered outside the enclo-
sure in the rear of the jail and jammed
the adjacent roofs and alleys....One
overzealous spectator squeezed in
between the high fence and the cook
house and lodged there. It required
the work of three strong men to free
him, and when he got out was minus
several necessary articles of wearing
apparel...

Promptly at 11:15 the twelve jury-
men were admitted into the enclo-
sure....Assistant County Attorney
L.W. Keys and Doctors Feigenbaum

‘and Waite were also present. At
11:30 the undertaker came in with
Milligan’s coffin, which was placed
at the side of the scaffold to receive
the body. The invited guests of the
condemned man were Dr. Furlong,
Rev. Harper, T.W. Dustin, Rev. A.J.
Gross and Mrs. C.C. Cail [who] has
taken a great interest in the welfare of
Milligan’s soul [and] was the only
woman present.

George Maledon, the famed hangman
for Judge Isaac C. Parker’s federal
court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, fur-
nished the rope used in the execution of
John Milligan, and afterwards made
Sheriff DeFord a present of it.

OLD WEST

When the
Milligan’s a
and said: “W
ness me up
led from h
friends and |
side and be
the scaffold
agitated or
least. Ther:
posed pers
appearances
John Millig

When h
Sheriff De
have you a!
answered
were quich
then sang
black cap \
told them (¢

Up to
borne hims
meet deatt
as the rope
he comme:
Dustin cal
you will s
God,” an¢
crowd w
“There'll
other end
finds out |
resented

barely pri
falling ha
Milligan d

Oklahoma

WINTER 11

going to church twice on Sunday, re-
gardless of everything else, I asked if
they had said why they weren’t going
to church last night?

The pastor said, “Yes. Mrs. House
wasn’t feeling very well, so Uncle Joe
decided to stay at home with her. It’s
the first. time they’ve missed in
months.” ;

Though. it had no direct bearing on
the present conversation, the motive
of the killing presented itself sudden-
ly to my confused and puzzled mind.
Uncle Joe was known to be quite
well-to-do, and he didn’t believe in
putting his money in the banks. No
one knew exactly where he kept it,
but everyone thought it was some
place in the house.

HE killer, probably someone well

acquainted with the House family,
had taken advantage of its Sunday
habits and apparently had planned to
get the money while the old couple was
at church. That evening, however, they
had not gone to worship services and
thus upset the thief’s plans. The killer
had entered the house and found the
old couple there. Knowing they recog-
nized him, he had killed them in or-
der to escape. The whole theory
fitted together nicely except one fact.
Why had he brought the ax? Had
it been to chop up the floors and
walls looking for the money Uncle
Joe was supposed to have hidden
there? Or had the killer with the
ax been some enemy made by Uncle
Joe in his days as head of the police
force?

I turned to Reverend Hooker again.

“Did the couple say anything else
that was in any way significant?”

He thought for a moment, his brow
deeply furrowed, then he said, “I re-
member my wife saying something

. about Mrs, House telling her that she

was afraid.” Then, speaking quickly,
he added, “My wife is right out here
in the car. Wait just a minute and I'll
go get her.” ;

“Sure,” I agreed. “Do that.”

While he was gone, I mingled with
the crowd, trying to pick up more
information. One of the men, a tall,
slender fellow with high cheekbones,
named Richard Horton, said:

“I saw Mr. House yesterday eve-
ning about five o’clock. He and Rev-
erend Hooker were out in the back
yard digging in the dirt, it looked
like. They stayed out there quite a
bit, talking to one another.”

“Did everything seem to be all
right?”

“Yes, as far as I could tell.”

Another man, Tom Morris, of
medium build and dark, black hair,
said, “I talked with the old couple
in their store Saturday night. They

were joking and cutting up then as
they always did. Didn’t seem to be
a thing wrong with them then.”

House, after retiring from the police
force, had purchased a small, subur;
ban grocery store. He and his wife
had operated it since that time. It
was located next door to their five-
room home.

After I finished talking with Morris,
Constable Anderson came walking up
to me with another man. “This is
John Myers, the city sanitary officer,”
Anderson said. “He’s the one who
discovered the bodies this morning.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

Myers, a short fellow with a narrow
face and slicked-down hair, said, “It’s
been my custom for a long time: to
stop by Uncle Joe’s store every morn-

.ing to call the Police Station to see if

there were any calls for me.”

“Yes, go on,”

He swallowed hard and continued.
“This morning, the store wasn’t open
yet. It was the first time that ever
happened. I wondered if something
was wrong, so I went over to Uncle
Joe’s home and looked in the window.

I saw at once what had happened so
I telephoned the police.” ~
uot you have any explanation for
“No. None at all, unless it was
someone trying to get his money. A
lot of people knew that he kept quite
a bit. of cash some place around the
house.”

UST then, Constable Anderson

touched me on the arm. “I found
another thing the killer used that ax
for. The floor and walls in the closet
have been chopped up. The murderer
must have found the money there, be-
cause I discovered this old-sized dollar
bill lying in ‘the closet on the floor.”

“Huh? He must have known just
where to look!”

“Yes. Nice friend of the family, no
doubt!” -

Reverend Hooker returned with his _
wife. I drew them to one side. Con-
stable Anderson kept the crowd back
so we could talk confidentially.

“Now, what is it you know about
this?” I asked the minister’s wife. I
could tell she had been weeping over

é >
and go down a fire-escape into a chapel
where we would kneel again to intone
more prayers between six and seven.
In the dining-room at eight o’clock we
would kneel once more to give thanks
for breakfast.

Steaming laundries would swallow
us then. But we sang feebly at our
work. At noon time there was lunch
and more prayers before we returned
to our laundry Hell. Prayers went
with the evening meal, too.

“No!” The cry burst fro e. The
nerve of the man! After al misery
he’d caused me. After he’d deliberate-
ly prevented Bill from coming to my
aid.

Shapiro’s smile faded. But there
was no anger in his eyes. Just sadness.
He said gravely: “Your relatives ap-
proved of everything we did, Frances.
After we intercepted your first letter
we knew—”

He paused. He seemed loath to go

« .

aw Ave aa Wada, 460 O41UUiIU Ve

quite plain to you what Israel did,”
the Prosecutor continued hastily. “He
framed you neatly when he palmed
off Paul Vario on you under his ring
nameorMike Marino. After you
posed With Vario for that Coney Island
photograph, there was no longer any
need for the gang to use violence. They
were confident the picture would be
conclusive evidence you did not know
who did attack you. In fact, they un-
doubtedly will use that photograph

aLlack Ime 1looke¢ e.
positive of Vario

Accordingly, when additional efforts
to obtain corroborating evidence failed,
the indictment against Romano was
dismissed. But Vario Was reconvicted
on January 1 and resentenced
to serve ten to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile Andrew Asaro and Vito
Manzella, the two who drove me to
the spot where I was attacked, have
sey paroled, their debt to Society
paid.

She’d been

They Were Killed While They Prayed (Continued from Page 27) -

We were, we had to admit, almost
back where we had started.

“Bob,” I said quickly, turning to
Sheriff Lackey, “you and Joyner arid
Ambrose take the ax and scout around
all the neighbors. Maybe you can find
out whom it belongs to. Maybe some-
one will recognize it.”

“Sure thing,” the Sheriff said. “We’ll
see what we can do.” And he and the
two police officers left the house. 2

Going to the kitchen door, I found
that Chief Reed had finished making
the cast of the shoe print and had
been examining the back yards of all
the neighbors’ homes. '

“Find anything important?” I asked.

He shook his head.

Reed and I spent the next hour
looking around and through the house
and talking with neighbors and friends
gathered at the home. But we didn’t
move forward an inch in our investi-
gation of the case. Then Constable
Anderson returned with Uncle Joe’s
son, Tom.

“Here he is,” Grady said. “I found
him downtown in a cafe.”

The son, his eyes wide, came to me
and grabbed my hand. His body was
quivering with emotion. “Oh, Watson,”
he pleaded, looking me straight in the
eyes. “I just found out about it. It’s
terrible . . . awful!”

“Take it easy, Tom.” I glanced at
Grady. His jaws were set firm. His
face was motionless. Reed, his head
half-bowed, was looking at us out of
the corner of his eyes.

To Uncle Joe’s son I said, “Tom, I
understand you’ve been living here
with your dad and stepmother re-
cently. Is that right?”

H* NODDED his head, didn’t say a
word. He was biting his lower lip
to keep from sobbing.
“Did you come home last night?”
He looked up at me, and with a
pleading desperation in his voice he
said, “I wish I had. Then maybe this
wouldn’t have happened.”

“Where were you?”

“I was visiting a friend -of mine—
Tom Morris—here in town.” —

“Do you visit him quite often?”

He hesitated, looked at me queerly,
and for the first time he seemed to
realize the predicament he was walk-
ing into.

He shook his head.

“Where were you last evening—be-
fore you went to Morris’ place?”

His eyes brightened suddenly. “Come
to think of it, I was down at the Police
Station talking to Ralph Joyner. That’s
right. I remember now.”

I wondered if Tom was telling the
truth. He seemed to be, and his alibis
apparently were air-tight. Turning to
Police Chief Reed, I said, “Ott, go
along with Tom and check on his
statements. Go see Morris—he was
here just a while ago—and find out
when Tom came to see him, how long
he was there and so on.”

“Sure,” Ott said, then turned to
Tom. “Come on, Son. Let’s get going.”

After lunch Grady and I went to
my office. While there I received a
phone eall,

A high, tense voice said, “I don’t
want to get mixed up in this, Mister,
but I have something I think might
help you. Last night about midnight I
saw Richard Horton down at Jack’s
pool-room, spending money right and
left, and he was higher than a kite.
Horton ain’t got that much money.
Something’s fishy about it.”

: “Who did you say? Richard Hor-
on?”

But the informer already had broken
the connection. I turned to Grady.
“That’s queer .. . Richard Horton.”
Then I told him what my mysterious
informer had just said. It had been
Horton who had told us about seeing
House digging in the back yard.

“Well, let’s go see him,” the Con-
stable suggested. And we did. We
found Horton at his home, still eating
lunch.

“Sorry to bother you, Richard,” I

_ January ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES Goes on Sale Friday, December 13

A PO i i Et it it a ee

een i heen itt tn st None a ae ee

aeeaated ieee ete ee

AD—8

known what had happened. She most
likely was in the middle of her prayer
when the slayer’s deadly ax descended
on her head, splitting it in half.

I honestly can say that I never have
seen a.more horrifying sight than I
did that Monday morning, November
28, 1932.

Turning away from the death room,
I walked into the kitchen where Police
Chief Reed and Sheriff Bob Lackey,
who had just arrived, were examining
a bloody ax.

“That what did it?’ I asked. We
all were speaking in hushed voices.

Lackey nodded his head. “The rat
who murdered ’em must have worn
gloves, or he wouldn’t have been so
careless with the death weapon.”

“Where did: you find it?”

“In here by the kitchen door, out
in plain sight.”

Turning .away from the officers, I
remarked, “Better get it to Bob
Shackleford and let him test. it for

prints just the same.” Then I walked
outside to look for clews. Shackleford
was the finger-print expert at the
State Penitentiary at McAlester.

Just outside the kitchen back door
something caught my eyes at once.
The screen on the kitchen window
had been cut recently. That, then, had
been the way the killer had gained
admittance to the home.

But, in the soft ground underneath
the window, something even more in-
teresting came quickly to my atten-
Acer There was the plain print of a
shoe! ‘

UICKLY I knelt down and ex-

amined it more closely.
“By gosh! It’s a véry individual

kind of a shoe too!” I muttered to
myself. “That’s better than ever.”
The heel'was not so distinctive, but
the sole of the shoe had been tacked
on by an amateur. Some of the tacks
were bent over, others were misplaced.

Joe. House: Was the treasure hidden in his
home motive enough to cause a double-murder?

The shoe, I knew at once, would be
easy to match with the print—if we
could find the shoe!

I called the Sheriff and Reed and
showed the print to them. They were
as happy as I over the find.

While Reed was making a plaster
cast of the print, I got Patrolman
Ambrose and Officer Joyner to follow
the trail of footprints. “Stay with it
as long as you possibly can,” I told
them. “There’s a chance it may lead
us to the killer.”

bes done, Sheriff Lackey and I
began a closer examination of the
bloody, double-edged ax.

“What do you want to do with the
thing first?” Lackey asked. “Find out
where it came from?”

“That can wait,” I replied, looking
carefully at the bloody handle. “Let’s

Detectives found the screen on the
kitchen window here had been
cut, and reasoned that this was the
killer’s means of gaining entrance

get it to Shackleford first and have. .~~.

him test it for prints. You take it to
him. I'll see what I can find out
around here.” - te

Walking to the front of the home
where the crowd still was gathered,
I was met at the steps by Reverend
W. D. Hooker, pastor of the church
the Houses attended. He had. been
talking with Constable Anderson.

“Is it true that Uncle Joe and his
wife are dead?” he asked, softly.

I nodded my head. “Yes. According
to the Coroner, they were murdered
last night about. nine o’clock.”

‘“Just about the time I was finish-
ing my sermon,” the minister said
meditatively. “My, but it’s terrible.

- Just to think—yesterday they were

laughing and joking so with us.”

“You saw them yesterday after-
noon?” I asked quickly.

“Yes. My wife and I were over
calling.”

“What time did you leave?”

“It must.“ have been about six
o’clock, I guess.” ‘:

Remembering that Uncle Joe and
his ‘wife had the reputation of always

wrt tert ni eli ib ica on co tnt eclaama

Tom Morris: He played
host to a man In trouble

From the small earnings
of this little grocery,
Joe House faid aside

ath of their friends. Her eyes enough for a rainy day |

ed and bloodshot.
n’t know that it will help,” she
okenly, “but yesterday while I
king to Sister House, she made
‘emark about always locking

‘me recently. I knew that they only hope they find some finger-prints Anderson shook his head, and moved sum of money which Uncle Joe kept
had left it opened before, sq. on that handle.” closer to us. Turning back to the hidden in his home, And, it was also {
her why they locked it now. “They won't.” Anderson muttered, neighbor, [ said, “When was the last plain that he knew exactly where to ;
? replied, ‘Well, Joe and I have taking a big chew of tobacco. time you saw Tom?” look for it. It stood to reason, then,
ist_a little bit suspicious re- I had a feeling he was right. “Saturday evening.” that the murderer had been quite

Then she caught herself, and Grady and I just had started to turn “Grady,” I said, Jerking my thumb well acquainted with Uncle Joe and
the subject immediately.” back into the’ house when Richard toward the Constable. “You know what his wife. But who, among their friends,
was all the information Rey- Horton, one of the neighbors who said that means!” would commit such an atrocious crime
ooker’s wife could give us, so he had seen Reverend Hooker and “Yes,” he said, “and I’m on my way for the money?

t. Uncle Joe House talking about five to pick him up right now. If he’s in a

minutes later, the ambulance o'clock in the evening on the previous town [’ll have him back here, never WHEN Sheriff Lackey returned
and the bodies were removed day, walked up to me again and in- fear. We certainly want to get that from the penitentiary, he had dis-

umphrey Funeral Home. quired: : young man’s story.” appointing news, . j if
Grady,” [I Said, turning to. “Have you seen Tom House yet to I knew Grady meant it, and when “The killer wasn’t ‘so dumb,” he a4 |
e Anderson, “we've got a ask what he knows about this?” he had departed to look for the 32-year announced. “Not a finger-print on the ‘
aid trail to start on, it looks “Tom?” [ asked, surprised, “Joe’s old son of the dead man, I turned back handle at all. The rat must have worn j i
at do you think?” boy? Is he in town now?” ‘into the house, hurried to the closet gloves.” } }
k Id like to know where that “Sure,” Horton spoke up. “Didn't where the Constable had found the The two patrolmen, Joyner and Am- < ui
from.” you know that? Why he’s been back dollar bill. brose, returned at almost the same :

find that out as Soon as Sher- for at least a week, living here in the The small room was hacked and cut time with similar bad news. They had :
'y gets back from the peni- house with his dad and stepmother,” up, as he had said, Without a doubt, followed the peculiar shoe print for

We know it wasn’t Uncle I turned quickly to the Constable. the killer had come to the home for hearly a mile, but finally had lost’ it
3 is still in the back yard. I “Have you seen him, Grady?” only one burpose—to get the large (Continued en Page 42)

eh enmntnieerar btrrerpiaincaniee cage ae en en ee

jesperado.
oT, arrow.

; the officers.

yotor, whipped
headed south

ran acted in a
sotted down the
ed up the stolen
n the seat and
sma license plate.
Jim?” he asked
efnger down the
” replied the
- and some woman
lay at noon an
jeit in that coupe
rhe woman came

volet sedan. Here,

; out of curiosity.”

- to Campbell. “y

DARING

Ys.
une,

CARS
BSH. CAATORELL

ect. .at Robinson ar
t venue ond

“RIGHT: Dounlas Gates, city po!
5 y nolicerrman

A BO VE> The chee elie

: t, sel rrlannto

ing’s. fatal gun battle Uireea pohce es pig
lice ond a

Northier

LEFT: BELOW: Ernest Oglesby, 3 ake” gan

shots at Gates.

ed Campbell Tells

ie proche nee young policeman

sora rr Oklahoma City G

em soapy hioed that poured “tre re ee ' :
@pen the Dering man » is \ ne

red. glass, Webb Caraphr i!
conkia t see because :
tne doen me |
picked off th»

wand tha «a
are

fala rece
. bacic, Camp

DETECTIVE

Fatal Gun Battle on

Dramati
{ ‘
Re 2th iy

‘the fury of «8 dozen hele > ;
Y Tie Fes

tog victim, above, and
the gunman, left, shot
it out at the intersection
shown in the diagram-
matic sketch repro-
a here from 4a
ocal newspaper clip.

5? atl ueelaablicoa

Behind the seat of the bandit’s stolen coupe,

car, were used by the murderous burglar in stealing the auto from a garage, in several

don’t know when this man came back but
he was here this morning. The woman
and the sedan were gone then. I don't
know what time she left”

Campbell interrupted Miller with a
sharp gasp. His finger stopped halfway
down the board. “Here it is, Doug!’ he
called to Gates. “The tag on that coupe
is the one missing from a sedan stolen at
Weatherford last month and found south
of El Reno on Highway 66. The car was
abandoned and burned.”

Gates waited no further. He started the
patrol car, spun around the end of the
line of pumps on two wheels and sped off
in determined pursuit. The coupe was
already blocks away. The policeman
gunned the engine and gained a block.
‘At the state capitol building the coupe
headed west on Northwest 23rd _ street
and increased its speed.

Gates rounded the corner with a squeal
of tires as he jammed the accelerator
foorward. Traffic at Robinson avenue
forced the shiny coupe to slacken pace and
the police car quickly overtook it.

Gates pulled up abruptly to the left of
the coupe where he could command a full
view of the driver’s door. Camphell slid
quickly out and went to the left side of the
blue car.

The man at the wheel glanced up in
frightened amazement. Apparently he
hadn’t figured on being investigated by
the law.

“Ts this your car?” Campbell asked.

“Yeah,” the stranger grunted.

As Campbell peered into the coupe, he
was utterly unprepared for what hap-
pened in the next split-second.

With a sneer, the driver meshed the
gears. The engine roared and the rear
tires spun hotly against the pavement toa
lurching start.

As the rear deck of the coupe brushed
past him, Campbell threw himself forward
and leaped. He slammed his left hand
firmly onto the spare tire and the mo-
mentum jerked him across the back of the
car. His right hand whipped his service
revolver from the pocket of his winter
coat.

As he lay flat on his stomach and
pointed his revolver through the rear
glass at the back of the driver’s head, he
commanded, “Stop, or T'll shoot !”

Already the coupe had crossed the in-
tersection. The driver slowed down and
headed for the curb. “T’'ll stop,” he called
out.

Even as he spoke, he suddenly swung
the car diagonally across the street.

police found this automatic and cartridges. The pinch bars and sledge, also in the

safe crackings and other criminal “jobs.”

Then the man in the seat spun around
and fired a slug of lead over his left shoul-
der and through the back glass at the po-
liceman.

The bullet hissed just above his cap
pill. Splintering glass flew back into his
face, lacerating his forehead and eyes and
spilling blood down his cheeks. But
Campbell didn’t think of that. He clung
to the spare wheel and the gun in his right
hand roared.

The driver yelled in pain and his left
hand leaped upward from the wheel. The
coupe, out of control, swerved to the left.
Crosswise in the street it darted straight
into the left side of a machine coming
from the opposite direction.

The two cars crashed against the south
curb, The impact threw Campbell from
the deck into the center of the pavement.
He staggered to his feet, trying to clear
the blood from his eyes.

He cleared his right eye enough to dis-
tinguish blurred figures. He knew Gates
had driven the police car across the inter-
section and was behind him somewhere.

Then revolver shots blasted both from
the direction of the blue coupe and Gates’
position.

Campbell’s eyes cleared. He saw the
man jump from the wrecked coupe and

Policeman
arrow, dur}

atari mee RNS OCLR CFE TESTER

run straight for a Willys sedan occupied
by a man, woman and some children.
Their car had just approached the scene
from the north on Robinson avenue.

Campbell could have killed him easily
frommwhere he stood, but he realized the
peril of shooting toward a carload of in-
nocent persons.

The gunman mounted the running-
board, his right hand leveling the pistol
and his other clinging to the door handle.

“Get it in gear, mister,” he yelled to
the startled driver. “Get going!”

Then he swung inside, hooked his arm
over the back of the front seat and aimed
the gun straight at the man’s head. The
woman and the children, also in the rear
compartment, cried out in terror.

The gunman said nothing. Gears
hummed and the sedan sped south on Rob-
inson avenue at a high rate of speed.

The police cruiser was parked in the
tangle of wrecked cars. There was no
time to get it clear for use, Campbell re-
alized as he ran forward.

Then he froze in his tracks. The left
cruiser door sagged open. Gates lay
slumped in the driver’s seat, resting
against the other side of the car with his
back against the door. A smoking re-
volver remained in his hand on his lap.
His police badge had been smashed by a
shot. Another bullet spread crimson from
his left breast. He was still breathing.

Campbell whirled as two youths clam- es
bered from the car into which the blue ie
coupe had smashed. i

“Get Gates to the hospital—quick !” he | |
told them. ee

Another man in.a De Soto sedan was : |
approaching the intersection on Robinson
avenue, headed in the direction in which
the gunman had made his getaway.

Campbell ran for the sedan as it pulled i

lso in the Policeman Webb Campbell was blinded by bullet-splintered glass from this window, __into the intersection. He opened the door

nal “jobs.” arrow, during the daring chase which started at the tourist camp shown below. and leaped in beside the wide-eyed driver.

: He issued brief instructions. The man im-
| mediately headed south at a fast clip.

Mt abou! Despite the pain, Campbell, gun ready,

s at the po-

ve his cap
ack into his
ind eyes and
-heeks. But
, He clung
» in his right

and his left
e wheel. The
ed to the left.
ected straight
ine coming

(

inst the south
ampbell from
the pavement.
trying to clear

enough to dis-
He knew Gates
icross the inter-
im somewhere.
asted both from
oupe and Gates

ed, He saw the
.cked coupe an

C40.

OGLESBY, E
» Ernest, whi
» white, elec. OKSP (Oklbhoma Co.) J
-) on January 4, 1
» 19556

i Okiabom

}
}
f

SPAGES—.

[Gates cert
= ES GETTIN

a, Jd OF Scout
SWOT BY GGL

}
OGLESAY C+
Pie nen tne
RAS* ‘
RA Sm. Cats
a ALY

STR ,

=
+
_
= ame
So

perado.

gunfire with a des
arrow.

when he sat at the wheel of this patrol car to exchange b
left, and another crashed against the cruiser door,

s fatally shot
padge,

ouglas Gates wa
struck the policeman’s

outlaw’s bullets
e direction of the officers.

er’s tire and trying to keep warm. He straight in th
pell’s side an Then he accelerated the motor, whipped
into Lincoln boulevard and headed south

along an Okla-
came to the cat on Camp
he door. The of
at a swift speed.
ht the man acted in a

RUISING slowly
homa City street on the dawn pa-
h Douglas leaned familiarly on t
d his invitation to come
Campbell thoug
so he jotted down the

Policeman D
One of the

trol, scout car offhcers
Gates and Webb Campbell surveyed the cers had accepte
quiet town as it was slowly awakening inside and get warm when they heard a
that cold Sunday morning of Dec. 2. motor suddenly roar to # start in the auto suspicious manner,
d the light sedan toward the camp. license number. He picked up the stolen
i Probably it was only one of Miller’s car board which lay of the seat an
aking an early departure. checked it for the Oklahoma license plate.
: “Who was that fellow, Jim >” he aske
ger down the

Gates directe
northwestern section
‘ng along Linc

the state capitol building.
ched a tourist

f patrol district,

d north of customers ™
of the rapidly accelerated
Miller as he ran his forefin

Yet, the whine
ively put Campbell on the
row of listed tag numbers.
” yeplied the

engine instinct
“He didn't give a name,
“Pe and some woman

none Oe

‘As the officers approa
park with its TOW of gasoline pumps 1 alert.
front, Gates suggested, “Might as well The car quickly crossed the concrete
drop in a minute and have 4 word with strip outside the park and headed into the Alling station man.
our friend, Jim Miller.” Campbell nodded street. It was @ shiny, new Chevrolet checked in here yesterday at noon and
as Gates swung the gray Ford tudor in coupe, blue in color. Tt looked as if it ha took cabin No. 3. They, leit in that coupe
between the oface and the bank of pumps. just rolled off a salesroom floor. dark, _ late in the evening. The woman came
he concrete stocky man was at the wheel. As the car back after that ina Chevrolet sedan. Here,
less than 15 feet away, he I jotted down its number out of curiosity.”
nd looked He passed a slip of paper to Campbell. “
DARING ;
DETEC1

The car rolled to a halt on t
drive. rolled past,
twisted his head abruptly 4

Miller w ng a custom-

as outside repairi

TROE DEETHUE
Tot ¥ (932

Pao’

artment of the
the morning of

Marshal J. D. Ramsey of Davis,’’ he began.
“He first asked for Sheriff Johnson, then said he
would give the message to me. He wants some of
us over there right away to investigate the death

auto accident on the Price’s Falls Road.”

“Oliver?” I asked, taking a minute to recall
the case. “Why, isn’t that case closed? The
doctor reported she died of a concussion of the
brain as a result of an automobile accident, the
coroner agreed, and she was buried almost a week

What is-there to investigate now?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.’ Samples
responded. “But Dee Ramsey seems to have
some more dope on the case, and asked for some
of us to get over there as soon as possible.’’.

As I had known Marshal Ramsey to be a com-

tent and capable police officer for many years,
it took me only a moment to'make up my mind.
I told the Under-sheriff I would go over to Davis
with him and see what was up.

As we speeded over the nine miles of pavement |
that connect Davis and Sulphur, I mentally re- |
viewed the case. Ten days before, we had re-
ceived a report at Sulphur, the county seat of ©

Murray County, of an auto accident just outside
of the town of Davis, south on the Price’s Falls
Road. J. D. Ramsey, the Town Marshal, had just
returned from his noonday meal on November 3rd,

and was standing on the main street when a car, »

eens peed Pul-
: : Jen and J. D. Dixon
Fi agg sion ool soa “t foremen on & near-by

highway project,

most brutally cold-blooded came to an abrupt
crimes in all Oklahoma stop before him.
criminal history “Dee, there’s been

}
H

hie

Hearst Eesti

By Deputy Sheriff.

ARL ROWE
urray County, Oklahoma be
As told to

a bad auto accident out on the Price’s Falls Road,” Pullen
had shouted. “Car went off a bridge, and I think the woman
is burt pretty bad.”’ ’

Marshal Ramsey had rushed to the scene of the accident,

partment of the
2, the morning of

1932, after an.
n so quiet and

holiday, I found only about three and @ half miles south of Davis, arriving
isly awaiting me. a few minutes after he bad received the report. He found
ples hastened to the first report of the accident did not indicate its severity.
into his subject, S A Model-T Ford roadster had gone -off of a small woodén
al had happened. bridge, about fifteen feet long by ten feet wide, that served
stance cal) from j to bridge a shallow creek that drained the surrounding pasture
vis,’ he began. * and. When Ramsey arrived, Claude Oliver, twenty-eigh
on, then said he years old, and his nephew, George Oliver, ten years his junior,
Ie wants some of : were bending over the figure of a young girl. Her head was
stigate the death bleeding profusely and an old blanket under her unconscious
vas killed in the‘ form was literally soaked with blood. The girl was Della
lls Road.” . © Ring Oliver, Claude’s fifteen-year-old bride of only a few
minute to“ recall F months.
ise closed? The « ‘
oncussion of the 5 Te telephoned Wynnewood for our doctor to come!”
vile accident, the * George told the Marshal. Claude’ sat beside the un-
ed almost a week — eonscious form of his wife, sobbing softly.
ve now?” 3 “You didn’t need to do that,”’ Marshal Ramsey replied
mine.” Samples |. after a quick examination. “This girl is d a
seems to have 4 During the next hour, according to Ramsey’s report, several
d asked for some (passers-by, including two Negroes, stopped and offered to render
3 possible.’’. © aid, but on being assured there was nothing they could do,
isey to be a com- drove on about their business. ;
- for many years, : Ramsey’s formal report further stated that Claude Oliver,
ake up my mind. his bride, and his nephew, George, had started out for a morn-
goover to Davis B ing ride to Price’s Falls, as young Mrs. Oliver had complained
Fs ofa headache, and they felt the invigorating autumn air
niles of pavement | might help her. As the car neared the scene of the fatal
ir, I mentally re- — secident, George Oliver, who was at the wheel, said he lost
fore, we had re- - control of the car and it had hurtled down the hill, missed
e county seat of > the right edge of the bridge, and. plunged to the creek bottom
ident just outside —% below. Della Oliver, being on the right hand side, had re-
. the Price’s Falls Bs ceived not only the weight of the two men falling on h
Marshal, had just | but also the force of being dashed against the rocky creek
on November 3rd, bottom. The two men told how they lifted the girl out of
street when a car, jee the carand took an old blanket from the turtle back to spread
ant ea Pul- f= som the creek ne veal
L . D. Dixon, . im order to give her as muc .
remen on a near-by * comfort as possible while sid Della Oliver, bride of but
° ; ; a few months, whose tragic
ghway project, | was being summoned. George death appeared to be just
me to an abrupt : Oliver then ran a quarter of a another one, of the many
op before him. Boma to the home of Jim Brass- _—fatal accidents on the Okla-
© field, a farmer living near-by, | homa highway, until. . -

‘Dee, there’s been —

and telephoned to Wynne-
wood for their family phy-.
sician. The doctor had re-
sponded as. promptly as_ the
twenty-five mile drive would per-
mit, examined the girl, and declared
her dead as a result, of a fractured skull,
received in ‘the auto accident. Her
body was returned to Wynnewood and
she was buried there ‘three days later.

I believe I am safe in saying auto accidents
are probably more numerous in this county than in
the average of this size and population, as U. 8. High- .
way No. 77 passes through the county on a direct route
from the North to points in Texas and California. ‘Then
too, Platt National Park, Price’s Falls and the Cedarvale
Mountain resort, all spots of unusual scenic beauty, are located
in the county, so that the heavy tourist travel coupled with the

~natural dangers of driving the curving, treacherous roads of
the Arbuckle Mountains, all tend to contribute more than

our share of dangerous, and often fatal accidents,

WHEN I first heard of the death of Claude Oliver’s bride,

I naturally shared the sorrow of many other residents of
this section, for the Olivers were a well known family of re-
spectable cotton farmers, who had lived in the vicinity for
many years. While they would not be considered wealthy,
none of the Olivers had ever been in any kind of trouble that
came to the attention of the Police. ‘That’s why Samples and
I were both surprised that another investigation into the

death of Claude’s bride had been requested—especially after

the- complete report on: the accident by Marshal’ Ramsey.

Yet, every experienced peace officer knows that even the
simplest “open and shut’ cases often take peculiar turns,
and we were both anxious to get to Davis and talk to Marshal
Ramsey. We found Ramsey at the place Samples had agreed
to meet him, and after exchanging greetings, the Under-
sheriff asked:

“Dee, what’s on your mind? We thought that Oliver
car accident was all over, now you want to investigate further.
What is there left to investigate with the girl buried?”’

“That’s what I don’t know myself,” the Marshal re-
sponded. “I have known these boys, Claude and George
Oliver, for many years, and they have always seemed to be
pretty good boys. I was the first one out to their accident
and helped them all I could, but now something has come
up that has got me to wondering. I’d rather not say anything
about my hunch until you two have looked it over. I’ve
been thinking the case over, and I think there’s more to it

than appears on the surface, but I’d rather have. your opinion
before we go too far. Maybe I’m wrong, and I wouldn’t
want unjustly to accuse any of my friends.”

“But didn’t your report say an insurance ‘investigator
had been in here last week, and approved the claim on Della
Oliver’s insurance?” Samples asked next.

“VES, and that’s what has got me worried,” the Marshal

responded “—another life insurance investigator was
down here yesterday from another company. The one that
was in last week represented a small policy, about $350—
you know, the kind you pay so much a week. The fellow
here yesterday was investigating for the Aetna Life Insurance
Company, on a $5,000 policy.”

I whistled softly. Five thousand dollars is a whole lot of _

insurance to be carried on the fifteen-year-old wife of a man
dependent on his income from part-time work in the cotton
fields and other odd jobs. On the other hand, it is the business
of insurance men to sell insurance, and buying too much
life insurance does not constitute a crime.

“A five thousand dollar policy doesn’t make a criminal,
Dee,” I said. “What else makes you suspicious of this car
accident?”’

“Nothing at all,” he replied frankly, “I just thought it

wT Jae

would be a ¢
again.”’

The three «
The car, of c
the —_ in
very much.
to satisfy the
Ramsey, and
suspicion. I
auto acciden:

WE pullec
side of
as we startec
rolling fields :
the rocky cr
rails. Certai
“The car
his hand fro:
“Its right wh
there?’”’

“e,

a cease seep

ays. “He does
to favor you,

man to buy,
ig to buy, you
ur case. Quite

and it shall be
it that for au-

to represent to
is in progress
t “would make

-o add a little
ke “. . . Xavier
He once took

as like a great
tually is,” the

1 to “emotional-
dancing, rather
ng that it’s the
. the cow.”

ll remain, some-
nis private life is
vthing about his

ced with:
emorized
gain until
vund mem-

1e manual begins:
vritten, compiled,
‘t is dedicated to
vho feel that re-
and bequeathed

ver worked, it be-
st of three federal

s Post Office, and
the close-mouthed
ag for evidence of
newspaper adver-
ne found guilty of
s subject to a fine
of five years!
» FTC, which al-
oes of one famous
erest showed clear-
ad its books on the

ced agency was the
snue Service. Reve-
wnything either, just
records in Denver.
because the Better
,e has recorded ap-
ints and inquiries
Denver in the past

1, District Attorney
ag financial records
eral agents from the
are checking every-
» studios. The grand

hut will be back.
hes will be, no

worried eyes
ts, soft music
ocused. on the

at happnes. ;
now-wiser eyes. For
it may be the piper
a

a chonnncPinatine feat

siptln iiaainninel is te aN TOL E C ELE

OLIVER, Chawdte kndidororec whs
OLIVER, Claude & george, whites, elec. OK (Murray) Aug. 25

» 1933

The

Perfect
Murder

No. 18

CEILING ZERO ON MURDER

m Claude and George Oliver weren’t
greedy. That’s why they deliberately. let
the insurance lapse on thé car Claude
owned, so that no. one would suspect an
insurance fraud. After all, half a loaf
was better than none.

Claude, 31; and his nephew, George, _
t. driving, with his uncle on the outside

20, were inseparable pals, and
didn’t change at all when Claude. sud-

denly married Delia ‘Ringer—she was .

just added on and nef became a trio;
Claude, George and Delia, People in
Davis, Okla., got used to seeing the
three of them—always the three of
them—driving around — together in,
Claude’s broken-down jalopy. Drove
mighty fast too. They sure ought to be
more careful, people would say.

That was what the boys wanted .

people: to remember.

Because to Claude and George. Oliver,
Delia was nothing but a dollar sign.
- That was why Claude had convinced

his bride the nicest thing she could do |
was take out an. insurance policy ‘for

$5000, one with a double indemnity
clause in-case she died in an accident
and with him as beneficiary. ;

One, day the trio drove to the. btidge
just outside of town. Delia never had a
chance. George beat her over the ead
with a tire iron and Claude bashe her
face in with a rock, the blood spewing
down on the seat and car floor.

“Then the murderous pair worked the -

car over near the bridge rail and pressed

the starter, sending the car over the .
side. It landed upside .down in the -

jagged gully below.

The story the boys told, the police
was simple: hin sa

They should have checked the steer’
ing mechanism. They knew it was
faulty. They’d been going kind of fast,
downhill and on a curve, when the.steer-
ing gear gave way. George had been

of the front seat and Delia in the
middle. Claude and George had leaped
to safety but Delia had been trapped.

That’s all there was to it, the boys
said. And. they ‘even produced a local

cotton-picker, bribed with $50, who

claimed he’d witnessed the accident.
‘And George and Claude began count-

ing their insurance. loot. Unfortunately

for them, there was little to be. done

_ with money on death row at Oklahoma.
“State Prison, which was where they
wound up.

The boys hadn’t panned their acci-
dent well enough. Though Delia’s ‘face

and skull were battered, there were no

bruises on her arms—and a person.

plunging off a bridge in a speeding. car

generally throws harids up to shield the:

face.

But ‘that fact. wag merely suspicious.

What really convinced the jury was
the victim’s blood. Blood had stained
the car seat and the floor, but: the car
had landed: upside, down, and Délia’s
body lay on her back on the car’s ceil-
ing. And there was virtually no blood
e the ceiling, where’ it ‘all should have

een. ,

cuted August 23, 1933.

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE, October, 1960

Claude: and George Oliver were exe.
ot

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FILLING STATION MAN
THREATENED BY PAIR
Two Suspects Are Held By
'. Lawton Police For
. Investigation

ie;

tt et mrs fe

Two unmasked bandits
robbed Charles Kilborn, base-
Iine filling station operator,
Six miles south of Lawton
Wednesday night, and escap-
ed under gunfire with $12 or

$15 in currency.
Two Men Held

police Thursday as suspects inthe
Yr’ Suey.

_ Kilborn was forced. to lie on the
floor of the “fil ng station while
one of the bandits searched his
pockets for the money..

| As the unwelcomed visitors left
one of them jerked the receiver
loase from the telephone, disrupt-
ing the service.

‘As the two fled in a Chevrolet
coupe. Kilborn fired a shot after
them but apparently did not strike
either of the bandits.

Ordered Gasoline

The men drove up to the station’
supposedly seeking gas. After or-
dering five gallo ons of gasoline
ag nich was put in the tank, one of
Pyjanen ndaied if Kilborn had any
ap wanuy in the station.

: was the station opera-
epiv., As Kilborn started be-

ed a *. pee
nier one the: WsI-

gun ee
vd Paeeea

he
sit
od

Lea
re,

s
OL

Shenae
my back

hands,

me to raise
told offieers.
wnen forced to he on the

uae

eee a
“yond the eounter while the
reneqd nis elothes for

t 404 <4

to the nearest

led local officers

oh search tried immediately
wr Peuulted te the <snsparcts’
oy: nan Pred Kin-
darig-- (50 -nierht,
ous roped one of the

4 ie epte oer ge , a | Fon.

Two Lawton men were held by.

Se ee ee ee ae ed Li Sus ee NY bt Ml Mars
+ {fen tk mee dam Sf eens Bh mee mee theme 5 erie Seg

=
ae

“

Dl heme Ff eh mee fee FF meg

Awaits
oath
£

: Last

ln His
Cell As
Hour Nears

SOR:

"AILESTER March 23

hws aeade
198 (UP)—Charles “Latimer 29-
year-old Lawton bricklay rer, today
anxiously awaited in death cell
any word that would save him

from his fate.

Only an 11th hour celemency
act iby Gov. W. H. Murray would
save the doomed man from death
in the electric chair shortly after
midnight.

He was condemned in the dis-
trict court at Lawton in the slay-
ing of his wife, Marie, on the.
streets of Lawton the afternoon of
Dec. 15, 193)

In ‘Death Cell

The doomed man was escorted
between two guards to the death
cell 18 steps from the electric
chair last night. Deputy Warden
Jess Dunn said the prisoner was

‘holding up well.

Latimer insisted the slaying was
accidental, that his wife grabbed
the gun and that it discharged by
accident.

He refused an early breakfast
and passed the early - morning

(See page 5, No. 3)

en nue niepice
Fat m :
St Epaiky Es at 1“
paGhe gohoag ks Deady ted
be? Bor L5 x Li Ae Baw ae Sad Swe Sa 8
a ee a
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La ee at
Liiitial aed ew io ge ky
Congressional aseaders In
: ray Oats ea ee:
Parley Today. AWWith
Roosevelt
Be se Mateh 235
(UP) = de, {Gg 3 tion ot COC PRS-
ston leaders, ie ae been
maine. of eee ates and ili
agricullire mniitteos Callal on
President ha Ler 4 hi
faurny redial qin mo omow poring

oo. en saree ee

Charles Latimer

Here’s Slat

Case A

ARE

He.

mg the Charlie Latimer
MUPrdey CASE

Dee, Lage e flo eae {
ie iff at ae We es Mets oe fas st
PALEY, SS
Dee] Dy 1981 Appeared
by | lie c.

Tae BLD eA pa ey
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Placed ay P oawithan!
breaitel

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the

Brief

major
vents occurring dure

eee

TIMER SCHEDULED TO DIEIN |
‘LECTRIC CHAIR LATE TON WIGHT

Thursday night.

eon

Lawton | Man Sh

lo f cone 6
lidite At P; ison’
HARLIE LATIMER is ae

uled to walk the “last mile”

Shortly after midnight Latimer
is to die in the electric chair at
McAlester at the state peniten-
hiary,

Society has demanded his life
as a forfeit for that of his youth-
ful wife, Marie, whom he has been
convicted of slaying: Dec. 15, 1981.

All Hope Lost

No hope of a last minute re-
prieve was held by his relatives
and attorneys. Word was received
Thursday that the governor would
not interefere.

At 12:01 o’clock Latimer will be
led from the death cell, starting
on his “last mile” journey,

An opportunity to say his last
words on earth will be given Lati-
mer after arrival in the execution
chamber. “Do you have anything
to say,” Warden Sam Brown will
ask.

After this, the man will be led
(See page five, No, 1

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4

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Rg as
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Promises Extermination of
Nation's Internal
' Enernies
URGES FRIENDLI> oe
WITH SOVIET R es STA
Demands Germa anys Place
In Sun: Praises Plan
of Mussolini

BERLIN, March 23. (UP)
—Chancellor Adolf Hitler
demanded revision of Ger-
many’s foreign debts today,
explaining that otherwi
the nation could not lift th
existing ¢ ur reney. restr!
LiOns:.

To Exterminate Enemies

Addre essing re: icnisth,
convened to act on
ing him es ost supre:
al Las h “phe nised “

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2

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tne

athe Mice (933.

ae ee sbofeaht

“CCéT~tz~¢ uo (eqoud

—

a8ar

‘Saegab: =
Elizabeth Henderson met man at a bar,
accepted his offer to drive her East.

| HIS ZIGZAG TRAIL LED THROUGH A
|. DOZEN CITIES, ENDED IN A SWAMP

es
? n

He N ONE WAY, Otto Loel’s appearance was not deceptive
4: —he looked like a bum, and that’s exactly what he

low-cheeked shell of a man with vacant eyes and shaky
hands. He looked older, but he was in his early forties.

_ But there was more to him than that. He was an ex-
traordinary character, and a dangerous one. In 1954,
when Loel was on the FBI's list of ten most wanted
‘ criminals, a circular on him included this array of facts:
A native of Ohio, he served in the Navy for several
~. years prior-to World War II, chiefly-in China. He speaks
~. Chinese and likes Chinese food. He carries a gun and is
a an excellent marksman, and may carry a knife. He is a
» heavy drinker, frequents bars and likes to talk about his
b, experiences. At various times in his life he has been a
© sailor, lumberjack, mink rancher, gunsmith, police chief,
© opium smuggler, gun-runner. He likes Western clothes,
*. bright shirts and big hats. He is in the habit of not wear-
fing his false teeth...
b Loel’s fondness for drink was equalled only by his pas-
-sion for women. He'd been married at least fiye times, the
i first time to a Chinese girl bought from her parents. In
=many ways this was his most successful. marriage.
~ He was born in Wayerly, O., in 1910. When he was but
five years old his father, county sheriff, was killed, and a
~ few weeks later he found himself in an orphanage. As he
» grew older he proved to be a problem case. At the age of
».14, after he'd threatened a supervisor with an axe, his
Smother took him back in her care.
& He worked. at a bakery, an iron foundry, then joined

if
yee

two main pas-
O.
chasing women. :

ae: Pog

was. Years of drinking had reduced him to a skinny, hol- ;

the Navy at 18. He took up drinking as a serious avoca-
tion at about the same time. He was assigned to duty
with the Yangtze patrol in China and proceeded to chalk
up a spotted record. He brawled with officers, deserted
ship several times, and was shipped back to the States.
Court-martialed, he was fined and given a bad-conduct
discharge.

This turn of events didn’t seem to faze him in the least.
He returned to’China as a civilian, got busy in the drug

trade and bought a pretty young Chinese wife. The mar-.

riage lasted about three years. In 1936, when war be-
tween China and Japan broke out, he deserted his wife
and returned to America. He was then 26.

Four years later he married a 28-year-old woman who
had run through five previous husbands. She was an
energetic type, too much so for Loel’s tastes. “She was a

good woman,”-he once .said, “but too ambitious. She al- .
’ ways wanted to go, go, go. I had to take two full-time

jobs to please her. Then she started stepping out on me
and I divorced her.” ies

His marriage to No. 3 lasted a year. It seems she also
was full of pep and set too fast a pace for Loel.

When he was 38 he married a dope addict who had
served a jail term and had been divorced several times.
“She kept using dope,” Loel commented about her. “It
was embarrassing to me. I divorced her after five or six
months.” _ ;

About two years later he made another trip to the
altar, this time to a 31-year-old divorcee. They separated
after a few months, she moving to Oregon and he staying
on in Compton, Cal., where they had been living. One
would imagine that Loel would take the break-up in
stride, but he didn’t. He became mad as a hornet when
she returned a Christmas gift. On December 31, 1953, he
wrote her a letter, which he neglected to mail. Later it
was to become a strong piece of evidence against him in
a murder. It read: '

“I am ‘putting the curse of the little golden buddha
upon you. No one can lift it but I. May your days be full
of pain and may your nights hurt you as much as you
hurt, the one that loved and still loves you. I and I alone
can remove that curse. Laugh if you will but think back

-and remember. Ever lovingly yours, Otto.” . .

E WORKED AT odd jobs and spent most of his time

in the bars of the Southern California city. It was

in one of them that he met the next woman to figure in
his life, Mrs. Elizabeth Jeanne Henderson. She was a
slim, dark-eyed brunette of 31. On January 7, 1954, they
drove east in Loel’s car.- ~~ ~
‘According to Cameron Henderson, his wife accompa-

nied Loel only’ because she. was homesick for her native’

Ohio and didn’t have the money for train fare. Elizabeth
had been ill recently and that had increased her desire to

_ spend some time with her mother -and old friends in

Newark, O. She had been saving for the trip but had not
been able to accumulate much.

Loel, according to the husband, had told Elizabeth that
he was driving east to Syracuse to visit his wife. His
story was that they were separated but that he wanted to
make a try at a reconciliation. When Elizabeth heard
this, the thought struck her that perhaps she could travel

‘ with Loel and share expenses. She made the suggestion,

sizing him up.as a hard drinking but harmless chap, and

by eet, eee

OF pm

he nodded and said the scheme sounded all right to him.

Elizabeth had her husband meet Loel and after. that he
gave his consent. “I thought he seemed dependable,”
Cameron Henderson later told police. “He said he was a
naval construction worker at Long Beach. I was very
confident that Elizabeth could take care of herself in any
kind of situation. I was very much in love with her.”

Loel’s version contradicted this. He told police: “She
and I were drinking buddies and decided to go east and

~ live together. She wasn’t happy with her husband. We

made up that story about taking her to visit her mother.”
Whatever the explanation, Loel and Elizabeth left town
in his car on Thursday, January 7. On Sunday morning
Cameron Henderson received a call from his wife.
“Tt was 4 in the morning here,” he said when ques-

tioned by police, “and she said it was 6 there. They were |
‘in Oklahoma City. She said Loel had been robbed of his

money and hers, too, and she asked me to wire $35. She
didn’t seem upset or worried, but she may have been
covering it up. I talked to Loel at the same time, and he
told me about losing the money to a pickpocket. I wired
the money, and that’s the last I heard.” ~

Three days later, on Wednesday morning, the manager
of an Oklahoma City motel called the police. He had
found a murdered woman in one of his cabins. ’
- Wayne W. Harbolt, chief of detectives, and several of
his men hurried to the scene. The manager led him to
Cabin No. 4. The half-nude body lay on the floor and was
jammed between the bed and the wall. The face had been
slashed and pummeled, and the torso was a mass of knife
wounds. There were burns on the arms that appeared to
have been made with a cigarette. The woman had. fought
hard for her life—furniture. was overturned, sheets torn,
pillows on the floor.

A letter in a suitcase tentatively identified the woman

—she was Elizabeth J; Henderson of Compton, Cal. A call

was put through to her husband.

‘Further examination of the cabin produced other vital -
evidence. The killer, it appeared, had become rattled and

The vagabond was hollow-cheeked and dirty
when the FBI caught up with him in Florida.

Loel in his younger
days—his choice of
jobs was as varied as
is choice of wives.

had left in a rush. In a wastebasket the officers found a
stained hunting knife and bloodstained underwear. And
in the closet hung a man’s suit containing all kinds of
papers identifying the owner, including the threatening
letter he’d written his wife but had never addressed or
mailed. Fingerprints cinched the identification—the killer
was a man named' Otto Loel.

The manager said the couple had checked in at 11 a.M.,
January 10, registering as Mr. and Mrs. Otto Loel of Los
Angeles.

“That same evening, about 7, the man stopped by at
my office,” the manager told the investigators, “and said

he wanted the cabin until today, Wednesday. He paid for ”

it and said it didn’t have to be cleaned until they left. He
said, ‘We don’t want to be bothered by maids or anyone
else until it’s time to: check out,’ Then he drove away and
I haven’t seen him since. ,

“I thought his request was kind of funny but we fol-
lowed his orders. This morning I went over to clean up
the cabin and I found the woman.” ;

Asked for a description of the man, the manager said:

’ “He was thin, five-eight or five-ten, and 150 pounds.

Brown hair, brown eyes, sallow.complexion. He had false
teeth. He talked like they didn’t fit him good and he had
to be careful or they’d fall out, I'll bet he doesn’t wear
them half the time.” Sg ;

|G thread CHIEF Harbolt phoned Compton and

talked with Cameron Henderson, learning about
Elizabeth’s trip east with Loel. Brokenly, Henderson said
he was sure his wife would not have willingly stopped at
the motel with the man. No, he and Elizabeth had loved
each other. Loel must have forced her intostaying with him.
A description of Loel’s car—a dark blue 47 Buick—
was broadcast all over the southwest. California: authori-
ties were contacted and they produced some information
on Loel. There were no records to show he had ever

worked for a naval construction company in Long Beach,.

as he had told Cameron Henderson. A Compton employ-
ment agency had him listed, however—he once had ap-
plied there for work as a foundry molder. Acquaintances

in Compton said he was a heavy drinker and inveterate |

liar. Despite his unkempt, seedy appearance he was a
convincing talker. He had-no police record in California
but had been arrested in 1947, in Medina, O., for drunken
driving. er, ; .
His car bore California plates—IZ 5448.
The report from California’ police concluded with

the information that his wife (No. 5) was said to be

z e ,
Telia 00 et cl 7 ges yaaa

living in Rc
contacted th«
Loel was wa

~~ ful informati

“T lived wi
said. “I askex

. and I sent hi

Next day,
Henderson h:
she and Loe!
was a stab
wounds were
before she w

Murder cl
and the FBI
lead develop:

~ and went to °

Loel from B:
“He told m
formant told
years and th:
on Friday n
awhile and ]
woman said
neighbors trz

-~ car till we ge

“Maybe sh

stayed in the

of other hitch

“was near the

where she w:
the car when

*. The man ¢

—

haut 2

vg, Sa

— ek te

am ahn

aan ee eee

nna

he ig Ree iH

ote, j—he had t main pas-
les, dritkn and gim™ng women.

NO)
—h
was.
low-cl
hands.
But
traord
when
crimin
An
years
Chine:
an ex:
heavy
exper!
sailor,
opium
bright
ing hi
Loe
sion f
first i
many
He
five :
few v
grew
14, ai
moth:
He

younger
oice of
aried as
* wives.

found a_
ar. And
<inds of
r»atening
assed or
re killer

11 AM.,
al of Los

od by at
and said
paid for
' left. He
r anyone
way and

. we fol-
clean up

ger said:
) pounds.
had false
id he had
.sn’t wear

.pton and
ng about
erson said
stopped at
had loved
gwith him.
7 Buick—
a authori-
formation
had ever
ong Beach,.

nemploy- -

e had ap-
uaintances

inveterate .
he was a’

California

or drunken -

uded with

said to be

"@ living in Roseburg, Ore. Harbolt phoned the city and
: contacted the woman. She gasped when Harbolt told her
e Loel was wanted as a murder suspect. She had no help-
ful information. ex
“I lived with Otto in Compton until a month ago,” she
said. “I asked him to bring me here to my sister’s house,
and I sent him back to Compton alone.”
Next day, Thursday, the autopsy was completed. Mrs.

Po eR
(eer. 4 a Ep 5

a Henderson had died Sunday afternoon, a few hours after .

she and Loel had registered at the motel. Cause of death
- was a stab wound in the heart. Eighteen other knife
<%= ©wounds were counted. The skin burns had been inflicted
“before she was killed. if . :
3 = Murder charges were sworn out against Otto Loel,
and the FBI entered the case. Friday afternoon a new
_ lead developed. A man in Toledo, O., read about the case
and went to the police. He and a friend had ridden with
~ Loel from Barstow, Cal., to Oklahoma City.

“formant told Toledo police. “Said they’d been married 14
> years and that their name was Loel. They picked us up
on Friday night—I remember that. After we'd driven
© awhile and Loel was out of the car for a minute, the
» woman said to mé, {’m not married to him. We're just
' neighbors traveling togethers But please don’t leave the
> car till we get to Oklahoma. City.’

“Maybe she was scared of him. Me and my buddy
stayed in the car. At Amarillo, they picked up a couple
_ of other hitchhikers. I was the first to leave the car—that
was near the edge of Oklahoma City, near that motel
three guys were still in

“He told me he and the woman were married,” the in-_

When he no longer
could hold a job,
i Loe! retreated to
| a swamp. Officer

examines lean-to. fea

McAlester, Okla—to the Toledo police. They got in touch
with Chief Detective Harbolt. That night the Toledo
man’s friend was questioned. He said he was unaware of
the murder as he had not read the papers lately, but he
willingly gave what information he could.

“Loel picked us up on Friday night, January 8,” he —

said, “and we drove almost all the way without stopping.
One time I had to lend Loel two dollars for gas. He told
us he’d been robbed and was going to have to go back to
Compton. He let us out of the car and we started walking
down the road. Later he came back and picked us up and
said he’d decided to go on.

“They stopped in Amarillo and picked up two other

guys. Those two were still in the car when I got out at 7

o'clock Sunday morning. Loel stopped the car in front of
the Western Union office in Oklahoma City. I’m sure of
the time because I caught the 7:45 bus to McAlester.”

Though the stories of the two hitchhikers cast no light.

on the murder, they established one thing: Mrs. Hender-
son had been afraid of Loel.

The Oklahoma City officers concentrated their efforts
in an attempt to locate the two other hitchhikers, one of
whom was said.to be a sailor. ,

Loel’s trail next was picked up in the small town of
Sentinel, Okla., an area Loel had passed through several
days before on his way to Oklahoma City. A deputy
sheriff saw the Buick but it got away before he could
stop it. He was able to spot the plate number, however.
Roadblocks were set up but the Buick was not seen
again.

This development made the Oklahoma City officers
wonder if Loel were heading back to California. They
alerted officials in all states to (Continued on page 71)

papers TSS ee ST

Le se is <7
Father. on | Stand ;

mony,* “Dr. M Ee Gregory. ‘of “Okla-
‘homa ~~ City was” ‘placed ~ on “thie
ma stand. wae RR a
be He said he had ‘specialized ‘for
“p12: “ot the. 2B. “years ‘of ‘his- ‘practice

‘schools on’, ‘that subject,’ “and: that |
ché- hady ‘beer: ‘associated , with a
number | of ie ade Sali

Vee

-Remember”

:The. questions - meal ee ote :
me, they~. applied tothe + cdse= of,
: Lovett. His answer was the ‘same
< y to both questions. ~~

went to- the Rock. Island aes]. wire Sie od Phas & :
oe sald “and “mét ve Sedur} Lanes Vy, State: Evidesice Pa a = rather Oklehoma’ -City attorney, *
‘Pollowing™ is- “the essence ot “the: pasa Tepresented ‘the; Aetendant. NY +R

.. Two* seye> wit!

| the: First National. hank, ‘on, No- : $2: hing. “When court reconvened at ®
vember 26. and‘ ordering. the: em- |f--<8 ‘7, °Mr- Rinehart: gave his first»*s
I ployés ithe” ‘the® “vault. As He herd- : ‘argument for thé ‘state. This was
fed -the “group toward” “the: “vault, |p - oo. followed by the ‘defense argument,
‘f Dee: | Foliart. “entered : Sig Dealt : . and the case conéluded by County’ “

3 Attorney, Porta’s , ‘ringing plea to? 2

; Ci m : =Ebandit:: cas "to .the, “cashier *s|P

‘was. sick: and meeded: a places to, window, tot"s "gee" through and. fired

‘ie. down,:- they; conducted . him, “$0 twice : t Burge: and F. soe ied
- ho ‘ byt * od

= Ore

Hey “George. Adams shot a
: : fell” wad 5 , Was ses. oy S oe . He:, spoke? ts ‘pointedly ” om

; | holdups with. firearms, and ended’ :
up with: the: reverberating demand:
for the. death: ‘sentence. ~ os

aeons ‘into El: “Reno: “teas 4 e
Hore; ‘of 4 looking” the. banks Nover, ;
d ands desidingsta rob the ‘First N

‘Hee testified hat ‘several ‘years.
“ago ‘he fell froma windmill’.and -
‘injured™ his‘: ‘head;: ‘and that later
he-~was thrown’ ‘from’ a jhorse,:: ‘Te-)
-ceiving » ,another head‘ injury.
‘These injuries, \caused: him- *con-.
stant Popeveratr and often caused

ia eee objections were ‘starte:
a> county’ sectorney, Bad t
Apbjections: : dustalned

san, thea ob baad
mination, Ban

ie . “3 ‘Nov: 25," the. "day betore th ates’
a. only es r 2 nis 5 yaa RaN axe. Smee tempted robbery,* Lovett told ithe"
: ‘ $ : oe ‘jury © “hes: had; * been‘

24 as,’ ‘far as El ‘Rano! ‘ He was ga :

ing. to, Chickasha, and intended.

tot ‘Gatch:,a ‘freight, he _testitied.
‘aoa 35 Cents ° YL NG

certain eric. of, the ‘day ot “the
_| robbery ‘he ‘said ‘he’ did. no!
“He said be? hada “gun, 47238 ¥en %

c plagle ‘action. Coltz. “revolyer.. oi : ; sab ppt Be pan ; a See sore
_a.,.40 ‘frame,’ ‘and ‘that “he got. it Re PE STE ie Pe peciag “F(Coatinued on, nese, 2
ina trade, at Oklahoma: City. $e pe Kan © *
>, That’ was in Qetober, he testified. %

roy § ‘few days. ; after he, traded’ for

“When quizzed at “length “on
_ where he’ ‘spent the afternoon’ pré- dg
“ceding the bank .robbery, “he said.
he was walking’ around town.

“Throughout. the - remainder. of
‘the. cross-examination | he ‘“con-
tinuously “declared “hé did ‘not ‘re- |--
member when “asked about inci- |.
dents on Noy.-'2T, the day thet

bank robbery ‘was attempted: “*

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a ee PS eae “ony $ IN'TOA®
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_ SINGLE COPY 8 CENTS"

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NFENDANT LM

“AS JURY VERDI:
AS READ IN G0URT

“Remember” of Bank.

. Henry Lovett, 38, of ‘Chickasha, '
was given the death penalty by a

“ district court jury which reported:
at 20:21-a. m: Wednesday. >,
The ‘jury “reported . it’ ° found i

« Tuesday, .
»The man was ¢
der in the ‘death

the” insanity
of the

rey hue 1
.attended the trial :"’.
Throughout, . the courtroom’ was.-:
packed. - At.’.the ~night session... ;

“Tuesday, the room was filled with

| Spectators . until court wag -ad-) )
4 journed at 11:45p. m. - ct Ra ee
s+.) Shows ‘No. Emotion "0.
Lovett gave no outward indica-

“x4 tion of. emotion when the verdict

ai was read. Tuesday ‘night, from

45 Lovett sat at the
table, outwardly at least quite
-jcalm. Only occasionally he Tran
fj his hands through his hair,’ and
them he appeared mapre tired than
wa worrled,. 0 of tants WG Yat
3 4 -His face was stoic as he heard
we eaey the verdict read... A small man,
re with a slender face, he ‘was

dressed in a -colored shirt; work
trousers, a coat and a bow tie.
He appeared a bit hagard as a
result of recovery from the wound
he received during the attempted :
holdup and the time spent in the .
county jail awaiting trial, wed
ae Rinehart Aid 9").
J. A. Rinehart, El Reno’ attor-
| ney, was associated with County

po See eigk ocak poe ineyeA. Francis: Porta in tha
SIE OBES eae AO Neve A, Francis: Porta in. th

FERRER as rd

: a m\ Views DAAXy
rN Ne nas ev Be

Ra. ep Os: 3, \V3\

[Doomed Man In.

Good.

Spirits During For-

“mal Sentencing

‘tenced ‘by’ District: Judge Lucius. 23/6

Babcock: Tiirsday morning. and ¥:

ecution.*. ; _-

“Uncle Jimmy” .-Mathers, . Okla-:
homa: City, attorney, for the ,de
fendant, filed notice of appeal, and:
was allowed 60 days in- which’ to.

file. casé-made. ~~“: 3

.-Transeript Ordered .°

Lovett. was convicted by ja “dis-.
trict court jury Jan. 28 of murder-
ing Dee_ Foliart, assistant’ coach, -

yin an’ attempted robbery = of the:

Birst National bank Nov. 26. The
death penalty was assessed by the-
jury after A.. Francis’ Porta, coun:
ty attorney,.made’a plea for it.
- iF- Lovett..in. Good. Spirits--:
“The doomed..man appeared* in

Za ‘the best of spirits. Thursday morn-
ing.” While awaiting action of the.

court, he joked with the county:

a attorney ‘and often smiled. He did:

‘not appear downcast ‘at any time~;

‘during the sentencing.

‘+. When the court asked -i¥ there"

was - any. reason: that. . sentence>

|should not be pronounced at that

time, Lovett said,:“I ain’t guilty.

pea

2! don’t remember.” > .-i

Rotor
es

|” The. appeal, if filed, will delay.

rexecutiqn. .. April 17:. however~

the governor orders a stay of ex-:-
ecution pending settlement of the

appeal, the county attorney stated.

- Henry Lovett was formally’ sen-)y

“Upon petition. of, the defendant-:.
‘|the court. ‘ordered. a transcript: of.
;the.case be made for.the supreme:
“| court at the state’s expense...

Stands as’ execution date - until.

Ry
aA,
ee,

‘April 17 set: as the. date of, ex-:k

RENEE STO a8 NI

seas:
x
=

pire pain

. ra TaTey

—y

ot YEN Vitae S aly

ponte

Fe
: iti

Make Last

While te attorneys made.a
‘Jast-minute > plea’ - of. insanity,
‘Henry Lovett’ Thursday spent his
last day calmly -in’a stuffy cell in
geath row at the. state Region:
tiary,: McAlesters.-
oS One minute atter iniduight: ‘he
will die in the ‘electric chair lo-
cated in a chamber adjoining his
«cell, The 29-year-old forme?
. Chickasha farmer, is sentenced. to i
death for the ‘slaying of Dee Foi-
“dart, El Reno highschool coaca iu
_the ‘attempted robbery of: the
’ First National Bank Rona Novem-

bacon, eggs, toast, coffee and:
: Blass: of -.orange “juice, according
-y'to ‘United Press. dispatches fram] .
‘MeAlester. His “hunger strike
‘which caused ‘Warden. Sam Brown i
“te send him to’ the- hospital: tor
“several. days was. forgotten. The
e hunger, strike, officials explain;
- ed, ‘was not an Dacowse haben to “cheat
‘the ehair.”’ ee :

~ Alone - and. ‘composed in “death
- “TOW, Lovett: for= the Sicaren
. @sys has spent most this time
“reading the Bible, : He has made
Do last requests. to officials. .
He spent today reading the
Restores gers “conferring « with}.
Fames, peniten-

ft ome Dullet’
vite ‘ropbery.

“brother, Alva,
knew at Chick-
‘asha, called. /o “him:*: Shs sae
‘ ‘He still ‘ingisted~his story told
on the witness ~siand. “was. “ther
true’ ‘account. of the ‘slaying. He
said = he+ emembered nothing; af
the robbery. or. shooting. ° He said
*or-canre:to. Eben ~ ‘from. finerat
ang, : the-“night’’ of “Nov> 25;
“930, _the night.’ before the rob- q

: “ell
“sn “Awith two men who were
“drinking solid alcohol. ‘He took
_two.‘drinks, remembered nothing
until he was shotdown by a bank
employe and: a Vigilante. :
i StaterContention

’ The ‘state contended he enter-
‘ed the bank alone, commanded
-bank officials-to stand back; that
-he meant Dbusiness.

-‘Foliart walked into the hank,
Lovett whirled, fired and Foliart
_cyunipled to-,the floor, fatally
wounded. eae

“His original « death warrant,
‘signed by Judge Lucius Babcock,
- Set date for: death April 7,
: jo mein. appeal to the criminai :
-coort of appeals, date of execu- Pass
4 tion was postponed. On July 22, =
“the criminal® court of appeals
. upheld the district court verdict, ~~
“and Gov. Wiiliam ‘H. Murray and: pe ee.
“Acting Gov. ‘Robe rt Burns ‘de-*
clined executive clemency, |

fully informed basis. This is a breakdown in the adversary process that,
| believe, renders the resulting death sentence unreliable. ”

",.. [would grant the relief requested by Mr. Moore and send this case
back for re-sentencing.”

Moore, who suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and depression,
has been an active campaigner for the civil rights of inmates

incarcerated on H-Unit at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester,
Oklahoma. He played a key role in drawing Amnesty Intemational's (Al)
attention to H-Unit, which led to the subsequent report "Conditions for
Death Row Prisoners in H-Unit, Oklahoma State Penitentiary.” Moore has
also helped other inmates with legal or other assistance when they were
unable to help themselves due to illiteracy, lack of education or
deteriorating mental health.

One inmate helped by Moore was Ronald Williamson. Moore documented
Williamson's serious and untreated mental illness (manic depression) and
brought it to the attention of Williamson's attorneys. 12 years after

his original conviction, Williamson was freed when DNA evidence
exonerated him. He had spent 9 years on death row as a result of
ineffective defense and overzealous prosecution.

CLEMENCY HEARING

Location: Joseph Harp Correctional Center, approximately seven miles
east of Lexington and 1/2 mile north of Highway 39.

Date/Time: Tuesday, May 18, 10:00 am

The Pardon and Parole Board will hold a clemency hearing for Scotty
Moore on Tuesday, May 18, at 10:00 am.

One of Moore's attomeys, K. Leslie Delk, is asking for letters to be

written to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board and Govemor Keating on
Moore's behalf. The following points may be helpful when writing a

letter to the Board/Govemor.

express sympathy for Alex Fernandez and his loved ones (and ail victims
of violent crimes);

the only evidence against Moore was the testimony of an admitted
participant in the crime, Vicki Caster;

his attomeys did not argue for his life during the sentencing phase
of the trial;

Moore was sentenced to death by a jury which was not in a position to
evaluate the mitigating and aggravating circumstances;

Moore has been an exemplary prisoner, providing help to fellow inmates
(especially those with mental health problems and/or lacking education);

urge that the Board grant clemency and that his death sentence be

Saturday May 18,1996 America Online: Galba33 Page: 2

commuted.

The jetters should either be sent to the individual Pardon and Parole
Board members or to the Board's main address. Letters should also be
sent to Govemor Keating.

Addresses:

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board
4040 N Lincoin, Suite 219
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5221

Saturday May 16,1996 America Ontine;: Galba33 Page: 3

e Red Riddle «

By Chief of Police |
THOMAS J.
ABBOTT

McAlester, Oklahoma

As told to JAMES R. SILLETT

NOTE: To the late Ott Reed, then Chief of Police of Mc-
Alester, belongs the major portion of the credit for solving
Oklahoma's most gruesome .murder case. On June - 16th,
1933, Chief Reed udliitedeedt bis services to Federal operatives
to assist in the identification and arrest of Frank Nash, escaped
| outlaw, at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The following morning, be,
I} | with three brother aiiters, was slain by gangsters’ bullets in
| the infamous Kansas City Union Station Massacre.
The passing of Chief Reed was a serious blow to the south-
| west, and particularly to the city of McAlester, where bis acu-
men and integrity had won the respect of all citizens —Ed.

ia | cALESTER, Oklahoma, a farming and mining com-
munity of approximately fifteen thousand popula-

| tion, county seat of Pittsburg County and site of

| the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, is located one hun-
* dred and twenty miles due east of the state capital,

/ aa ’ ff -

nosey
7

of OKLAHOMA’S
.| ATROCITIES

(Left) With this axe, found in the corner of the murder room, two

persons were killed. On the bed lay the scantily clothed body of Mrs.

House with her face hidden. Wedged between the wall and the bed
was her slain husband

On to the porch of the Joe House residence (Jower Jeft) walked an in-
quiring neighbor. Utter silence met his knocks~—the silence of death

(In band) At left is the actual shoe of the murderer; at right the
plaster imprint of his foot found beneath the window of the slain
couple, which detectives hoped would pin the crime on its perpetrator

A few miles east of McAlester are the former haunts of Belle
Starr, southwestern bandit queen of several decades ago. To
the north and east lie the notorious Cookson Hills, alleged hide-
out of Clyde Barrow and Charles “Pretty “Boy” Floyd, out- s)
laws of this decade. i? ta flagrant criminal activities in
counties adjacent to Pittsburg County, McAlester had been
remarkably free of major crimes, until November, 1933,
brought to light the most vicious murder in Oklahoma history, «
a history rife with bloodshed and the law of the gun.
Early Monday morning, November 28th, 1932, John Meyers,
city pound-master, called at the small neighborhood grocery
store operated by Mr. and Mrs. Joe House, an elderly couple,
popular in civic and church circles. Meyers stepped to the
store porch. The door was closed and locked.
“Too early,” thought Meyers, as he paced across the lot to
the home occupied by the couple, whistling blithely all the
while. .

Oct. 6, 1998—
OKLAHOMA:

Tulsa County killer Tuan Nguyen will likely be the next inmate the
state puts to death.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday rejected Nguyen's final appeal.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson wasted no time Monday asking

the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set an execution date for
within 60 days.

Edmondson said he anticipates that Nguyen will to be put to death
sometime in December.

"Nguyen will certainly be the next one, absent some extraordinary
appeal,” Edmondson said. "At this stage, when we've said the other
ones are going to go, they have gone.”

Nguyen was convicted and sentenced to die in 1986 for the 1982 stabbing
deaths of his estranged wife, Donna, 21, and her cousin's children,
Joseph Jerome White, 6, and Amanda Jo White, 3.

Donna and Tuan Nguyen, who had been a Vietnam refugee, were staying in
Tulsa with Donna's cousin, Myra White, and her family. Donna Nguyen
asked Tuan Nguyen to leave, saying she was seeking a divorce after

years of abuse.

Donna Nguyen and her son, Nathan, remained in the White home, along
with the Whites and their 2 children. Tuan Nguyen moved in with a
nearby friend.

On May 24, Nguyen entered the White home and stabbed his wife 26 times.
Her body was in the living room.

Nathan was left unharmed in a playpen near her body, but Nguyen also
stabbed Joseph 17 times and Amanda 22 times. Their bodies were found in
bedrooms upstairs.

Nguyen fled Tulsa but was apprehended in June 1986 in Arizona after a
domestic disturbance with a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl with whom he was
living, had impregnated and also abused.

Nguyen was given a life sentence for his wife's murder and received 2
death sentences for the murders of Joseph and Amanda White.

He will be the 12th inmate executed since Oklahoma reinstated the death
penalty in 1976.

“As 6 of the past 11 convicted murders who have been executed in
Oklahoma since 1976 were, Tuan Nguyen was a multiple killer," Edmondson
said. "After more than a decade of appeals, it appears that Nguyen's

death penalty for murder of a young woman and two innocent children is
about to be carried out.”

Crgngen)

Sunday October 6, 1996 America Online: Galba33

Page: 1

Nguyen is sane.

Gibson wrote back saying, "I do not have good reason to befieve that —
Mr. Nguyen has become insane.”

(source: Tulsa World)

Sunday December 4,1886 America Online: Galbag3 Page: 2

The last inmate put to death was Greer County killer Stephen Wood, who
was executed Aug. 5 after he dropped his appeals.

There are 150 inmates on death row. Of those, 147 are men at the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

The other 3 are women who are held at the Mabel Bassett Correctional
Center in Oklahoma City.

Between 15 and 20 death row inmates are in their final stages of
appeals at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Edmondson said.
2 ate at the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.

Oklahoma uses lethal injections to carry out executions.

Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected Nguyen's appeal of his 1986
conviction.

Other Oklahoma death row inmates denied appeals by the Supreme Court
were:

Don W. Hawkins Jr., convicted in the 1985 drowning death of Linda Ann
Thompson, who was kidnapped from a shopping mall parking lot in
Oklahoma City.

Lewis E. Gilbert fl, convicted in Cleveland County in the 1994
shooting death of Roxie Lynn Ruddell, a security guard at Lake
Stanley Draper.

Jimmy R. Slaughter, convicted in the 1991 stabbing and shooting
deaths in Edmond of ex-girlfriend Melody Wuertz and her daughter,
Jessica.

Yancy L. Douglas, convicted in the 1993 drive-by shooting of Shauna
Farrow, 14, in Oklahoma City.

(sources: The Tulsa Wolrd & The Daily Oklahoman)

WHAT MHA HI IAIN IMI IRINA RAR IS AIAN AAS IAA NAA IAAI SINAN ANIA NAIA AIAN AS NAS IIAN

WASHINGTON (state):

Attomeys representing the mother of triple-murderer Jeremy Vargas
Sagastegui, scheduled to be executed next Tuesday, have filed
motions for a stay of execution in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

Cayetana “Katie” Vargas is trying to persuade the court to allow
her to step in and make decisions for her son, who she claims is
mentally incompetent.

Sagastegui wants to die and has remained steadfast in his desire to
be executed since initial court proceedings began almost 3 years ago.
He was found mentally competent to waive his right to an attomey and
to refuse filing all appeals.

Vargas wants the court to give her legal standing as "next friend,”
which would allow her to file motions on behalf of her son and appeal

Sunday October 6, 1996 America Online: Galba33

Page: 2

lower court decisions.

The motions were filed yesterday, after last week's state Supreme
Court decision that denied similar motions. The state Attomey
General's Office, as it argued last week, says Sagastegui is mentally
competent and urges that Vargas’ requests be denied.

Both sides expect the district court will rule on the decisions
quickly.

In the meantime, Vargas has also asked Gov. Gary Locke to grant her

son clemency and give him a lesser sentence. The Clemency and Pardons
Board, which will make a recommendation to Locke, reconvenes on
Thursday.

Sagastegui was sentenced to death for the murders of 3-year-old
Keiven Sarbacher, the boy's mother Mellisa Sarbacher and Lisa
Vera-Acevedo in a small town east of Kennewick in Novembe 1995.

(source: Seattle Times)

RHERRRAREEREK ENE ERR NII RRCHER ERR EERE RERERURRIR RRIEHE REE RER ER RAR IRENA RRER

ARIZONA:

The US Supreme Court let stand the death sentences of 3 Arizona
convicts.

On Monday, the high court offered no comment in refusing to hear the
appeals of Ronald D. Schackart, Jesse J. Gillies and Darick L.
Gerlaugh, each convicted in a separate case.

Schackart, 35, was convicted of murdering longtime acquaintance Charla
Regan at a Tucson motel in 1984. Prosecutors said he asked her to the
motel to talk about his personal troubles.

Regan was raped at gunpoint, hit in the face with a gun, strangled and
had a sock stuffed in her mouth, prosecutors said.

Gillies, 37, was convicted of killing Suzanne Rossetti with the help of

a friend in 1981. Prosecutors said Gillies and co-defendant Mike Logan,
raped and killed the woman after she offered them a ride to the stables
where she worked.

Rossetti had bought the men a 6-pack of beer after they helped her get

her keys out of her locked car at a Phoenix convenience store.
Prosecutors say the woman died after Gillies and Logan pushed her from a
cliff in the Superstition Mountains and bashed her with rocks.

Gerlaugh, 38, was sentenced to death after prosecutors say he and fellow
hitchhikers killed a man who offered them a ride between Phoenix and
Chandler. Proseuctors say Gerlaugh had his 2 companions hold down Scott
Schwartz while he ran over Schwartz with his car.

When Schwartz seemed to still be alive, Gerlaugh and 1 of the other
hitchhikers stabbed the victim in the head and neck more than 30 times,

Sunday October 6, 1906 America Online: Galba33 Page: 3

N AN EXPE
cat the Jack
within th:
Capitol at
black-haired
drink from 2 |
passed it to
anion.
“Better ge
baby,” he sus
The girl's
mirthless sn
the whiskey
“Okay, |}
anybody sec
be careful.”
She open
From it sh:
pistol, a lor
revolver, 2
tomatic slr
the young
“AL loa
“Unhuh
The ma
cottage le:
new Che
looked ar:
no one \
Then he
seat and
When
the blon
pinch ba
He put
of the ¢
“You
junk p:
asked <
“Sur
The
laughe:
pull a
“That
sedan
be rig
In
at th:

alf way
his left
nly on

ipbell’s
1. The
Jagged
ito the
3 eyes.
totally
lass, he

trigger

s thud-
‘r. He
impact
his car

- throt-

The girl opened a bottom drawer
and from it took a .% pistol, 2
38 revolver and a .20 sawed-off
shotgun which she handed to him.

tle. The little coupe bucked and jumped.
It swerved suddenly toward the middle
of the street. Before it could be brought
under control it crashed headlong into

the rear of a passing car.

Campbell was thrown heavily to the
pavement by the crash. His pistol was
knocked from his hand. With the blood
streaming from his lacerated face and
eyes he groped blindly around on the

pavement until he again found his re-
volver. He staggered to his feet and
tried vainly to level his pistol at the
coupe. He could not see and did not
trust himself to shoot for fear of hitting
passing motorists.

| ene Doucias GATES had been
following closely behind the coupe.
He slammed on the brakes of the squad

car, snatched his own revolver from its
holster and started to clamber out on the
right hand side of his machine. There
was a cold fury in his heart and a de-
termination to shoot it out with the man
who had wounded his partner.

But Gates was denied an opportunity
to fire one single shot. Before he was
clear of the squad car, the left hand door

(Continued on page 78)
57

mints

TREAT

4
{
if

tas girl opened
‘and from it to
BR revolver ar
shotgun which +

ly missed crashing into a light: truck
ahead of him.

Webb Campbell scrambled: from the
squad car and ran to the right hand door
of the coupe.

“Just a minute, bud. Is this your
car?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s mine,” the young man
answered.

At that instant the traffic light changed

The burglar tools seen
above were found in the
coupe abandoned by the
slayer of Officer Gates.

The automatic pic-
tured here was found
in the killer’s ear after
the spectacular duel.

its holster and, pressing the muzzle

closely against the glass window in the

rear of the coupe, he yelled at the driver
to pull over to the curb.

In the rear view mirror the young
man could see the revolver in the hand
of the officer.

“Don’t shoot. I’ll stop,” he shouted
and pulled his car toward the right hand
curb about half way between Robinson

The front end battered in by the
the new coupe used by the killer i

This sawed-off shotgun and shells were part of the arsenal ‘in
the car abandoned by the killer when it collided with another.

eollision with another car,
Ss seen in the police garage.

with his right hand. Wheeling half way

around, he fired point-blank over his left
shoulder at the officer hanging grimly on
to the rear.
The bullet missed Webb Campbell’s
head by a mere fraction of an inch. The
rear window was shattered. Jagged
splinters of glass flew’ squarely into the
officer’s face and into both of his eyes.
Dazed with pain and almost totally

tle. The
It swer\

2 sti
and the cars ahead of him moved on. . Boulevard and Harvey Street. blinded by those cruel slivers of glass, he wii c
He slammed the coupe ,in second gear In an effort to retain his precarious managed to level his pistol and to trigger the rear
and stepped hard on the accelerator. balance on the rear of the car, Campbell two shots at his assailant. Camp’
‘The car leaped forward. relaxed his vigilance for the fraction of The second of these quick shots thud- aveme!
Webb Campbell sprang on’ the rear a moment. Triumph glinted in the dark ded into the left arm of the driver. He nates
bumper as it passed him and hooked eyes of the driver. He bared his teeth. slumped for a moment under the impact treami!
his right leg securely behind the spare With incredible swiftness he snatched of the bullet then he slammed his car ° nn he
tire. He jerked his service revolver from the .38 calibre revolver from the seat into gear again and stepped on the throt- eyes

j
i
“ reall

eae at

in a crowded
street ends
A bullet irom this .38 ealibre

Police Special revolver snuffed
out the life of Officer Gates.

cat the door
that opens

to Eternity

N AN EXPENSIVELY furnished cottage
cat the Jackson Tourist Court, almost
within the shadow of the State
Capitol at Oklahoma City, a stocky,
black-haired young man took a deep
drink from a bottle of corn whiskey and
passed it to his attractive blonde com-
panion. : :
“Better get my ‘pets’ for me now,
baby,” he suggested.
The girl’s full red lips curled into a
mirthless smile. She drank and corked
the whiskey bottle.
“Okay, hon,” she said. _ “Don’t let
anybody see you put ’em in the car. You
be careful.” ‘
She opened a bottom bureau drawer.

From it she took a .45 calibre automatic Officer Webb Campbell (left, above) was blinded by splinters of
pistol, a long barreled .38 police special glass when a bullet crashed through the car window. Officer Doug

revolver, an ounds received in the gun battle.

tomatic shotgun. She handed them to
the young man.
“All loaded?” he asked.

“Unhuh.” ;
The man opened the side door of the

cottage leading into the garage where a
new Chevrolet coupe was parked. He
looked around very carefully. Made sure
no one was observing his movements.
Then he stuffed the pistols behind the
.seat and laid the shotgun ‘on the floor.
When he came back out of the garage
the blonde handed him two chilled steel
pinch bars and a heavy sledge hammer.
He put them in the rear compartment
. of the coupe. e0N
“You got all our clothes and other
junk packed in your sedan, baby?” he
asked a moment later.
“Sure. I’m a fast worker, hon.”
The flashily dressed young ‘an

laughed uproariously. He took another
pull at the whiskey bottle «: id,
“That ain’t no lie. Listen. if
sedan and go on ahead to tl il
be right behind you in the coups. Sec?”

‘In the driveway of the filling station
at the entrance to the Jackson Auto

da sawed-off .20 gauge au- Gates (right, above) died from w

Courts, Police Officers Douglas Gates
and Webb Campbell, members of the
stolen car detail, sat in their light squad
car. Their eyes were glued intently on
the early Sunday morning traffic. Camp-
bell had a board in his lap on which was
pasted a list of the numbers of all cars
reported as having been stolen recently.

The dark eyed blonde in the Chev-
rolet sedan drove out of the tourist court
and headed down Lincoln Avenue with-.
out a backward glance. :

“Hey! Look at that Chevvy,” Gates
called, nudging his partner. “That’s the
car that’s been driving into stations,
having the tank filled and driving off
without paying for the gas. ’ Sure it is.
Look at that crooked bumper and the
dented fender.”

“Your right, Doug. Get going,”
Campbell answered.

Gates stepped on the starter and the

motor of the squad car came to life.

Before he could mesh the gears and pull
out of the filling station driveway, a new
Chevrolet coupe shot in front of them
and turned into Lincoln Boulevard.

Campbell glanced automatically at its
number .. . 479-985. Tt had a familiar
ring. He looked quickly at the list of
stolen car numbers in his lap and tensed
with excitement.

“Forget the girl in the sedan, Doug,”
he ‘said. “That coupe yonder is a
stolen car. » Its: number is listed on the
board, Hurry! Step on it, fellow.”

The man in the coupe made an ab-
rupt turn on Twenty-third Street and
headed west. The squad car raced in
pursuit. The driver of the car glanced
over his shoulder and increased his
speed. He weaved in and out of traffic
in a dangerous manner. A moment
later he ran through a stop light.

“That guy knows we're after him,”
Campbell grunted.

“We'll get him in a minute,” Gates

way.

At the intersection of North West
Twenty-third and Robinson Boulevard,
traffic was held up by a stop light, com-
pelling the man in the coupe to stop. His
brakes squealed in protest. He narrow-

Metadata

Containers:: Box 32 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 13
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Charles Lattimer executed on 1933-03-24 in Oklahoma (OK)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: July 3, 2019

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