□ me a sooner. Oil was flowing faster and faster from the Osage wells, and the “bead rights” were as good as a diamond mine in a man’* back — that is, if a man could get control over a few of them. There was old Lizzie Q. She was a full-blooded Osage worth may.. $330,000. Lord knows how much more she would be worth m another few years. That old squaw had three “head rights” herself; and her daughters held one and one-sixth “head rights” each. Now, Hale mused, suppose old Lizzie Q. should die. And just sup- pose that two of her daughters, Anna Brown and Rita Smith, should die along with Rita’s husband. Who would inherit all that money, maybe half a million dollars or more? The answer was simple. The fortune— most of it, anyway— would go to the third daughter, Moflie. And Mollie was married to Hak’s nephew, Ernest Burkhart. Then if Mollie should die, there would be no- trouble handling Ernest. He was a weak-wille^ chucklehead anyway. Hunters fotirid Anna Brown’s decomposed body-ia a ravine near Fairfax in May, 1921. She had been shot in the head. Her estate was worth $100,000. Old Lizzie Q. died two months later, apparently of natural, causes; her estate was divided between Rita Smith and Mollie Burkhart. And just as the verse said, now there were only two little Indians. Hale was a methodical man. He was in no hurry about rounding up Lizzie Q.’s family estate. Before any more moves in that direction, there was another murder job to be done. Anna Brown had a cousin— a picturesque full-blooded Osage In- dian named Henry Roan Horse who liked to wear his hair down his back in plaits. On February 6, 1923, Roan Horse’s body was found out- side Fairfax, slumped in the front seat of his car. Henry’s brains had been blown out for reasons known best to Hale. Two months later, while Hale was at the Texas Fat Cattle Show, Fairfax was shaken by the explosion which killed Bill and Rita Smith and their maid. After this, there remained only one little Indian Mollie Burkhart. But the blast that shook Fairfax also shook the Osage Tribal Coun- c3 to action. In desperation, the Indians appealed to Washington. A lawyer composed their resolution, which said: whereas, several members of the Osage Tribe have been murdered and many other crimes committed against members of the tribe rr . . . resolved that the Honorable Secretary of the Interior requested to obtain the service* of the Department of Justice in capturing and prosecuting the murderers of the members of the Osage Tribe. ... ^ red ... t ... be I erior be I iciir*#* m I ■ ' ' V, ' J ‘ 7; . - -'4. ■ Jk • f: ■h: Page ?i5 of " The FBI Story A Report to the People" by Lon Whitehead ■m •- > •* 3 '<>. A 33 34 35 36 37. 3B 5 39 *0 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 46 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 53, sa 59 *r~~ W: .. f . 4 ." * *2 ■ • v «*4* . .*••• The appeal was relayed to the FBI and the order went out launch; lag an investigation that was to last for three years and become or jof the classic manhunts in FBI history. I FBI agents moved into Fairfax and found an almost impenetrai wall of fear. People were afraid to talk and witnesses who might have given Information had long since disappeared. There were rumors, which sent the agents off for days at a time on false leads. Someone, they knew, was deliberately “planting” stories to confuse their search. But the hunt continued. M No one in Fairfax paid any particular attention when four strangers drifted into, tpwn one by one, a cattle buyer, an insurance salesman, an oil prospector and an Indian herb doctor. They went about their business, minding their own affairs. Weeks passed without a break in the case. But then a signal was passed and the font strangers met one night in the badlands to pool their information and plan their next moves. The ^cattle buyer** was the oldest, and he was the FBI agent in charge for this special under- cover detail. After hearing the reports, he summed them up: “‘Here’s where we stand: Anna Brown was killed on unrestricted [non-government] land and so were Bill and Rita Smith. We have no jurisdiction there. Bat Henry Roan Horse was killed on restricted [government] land — and that's our case. If we can break that case, 1 figure we’ll find all the kilters.** The others agreed. Months passed. The four strangers often met under the stars in the Osage hills to exchange information and each time they met they had a bit more information about the circumstances surrounding the mur- ders. Gradually the picture was taking form. And the man in the pic- ture was William K. Hale. Finally, the agent in charge told his men: “Hale is our man without a doubt. He had a $25,000 insurance policy on Henry Roan Horse’s life. And it looks as if he was working to get the estates of Lizzie Q. and her daughters centered in the hands of that nephew of his. But we have to prove it” Prove it they did. The wall against which they had pounded so long crumbled slowly but steadily. From the badlands came a tip that a cer- tain convict in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary knew something about the murders. The agents found that the convict, who hated Hate, was ady to talk. He said, “Go see Ernest Burkhart. He can tell you every- ing you want to know.** • This dovetailed with other information collected over the months! te agents confronted Burkhart with what they had, and what they suspected^ Hale's nephew was the weak link. He broke and told the 4 . , .-'7 //St Page 117 of "The FBI Story, A Report to the People n by Don Whitehead € y, ; \ *‘’M 12 JU- !•*&*&?£ 14 V?-** 15 '^ri • ■ agents how Hide had dominated him all his life. He named die killers F Henry Roan Horse and the Smiths; and he said his uncle had plotted e murders. One by one the kilters confessed, in each case they pointed the fin-j ger at Hale. And the story unfolded of how “Ace" Kirby had been | double-crossed after be blew up the Smith home. J But Hale fought hack in one of the bitterest criminal trials ever held in the Southwest. He boasted when arrested that he could raise a million-dollar bond if necessary, and he must have spent a chunk of. Tit# r*Ai « d rrw^m KattW or^r# War r%.t M4V4IVJ • AUW wMjMwr«*« .y t vuttl^VA Ut i /lit/MJ, perjury and threats against witnesses. * . X. * Bid Hale's battery of lawyers almost succeeded in winning freedom for him. The Federal District Court held in his first trial that the gov- ernment had no jurisdiction, but the U. S. Supreme, Court reversed this decisidn. The second trial ended in a hung jury after a defense witness gave perjured testimony. The perjurer was convicted. Hale was convicted on the third trial, but still the fight hadn't been won. The verdict was set aside on the ground that the trial had been v;y' fsy.y 'WM immm l.u 1KH1 111 LUC WlUUg UiaUH.1 ana uy nfljc was cuuviciea sentenced to life imprisonment. 1 It was January 26, 1929. In Osage County, the Indians’ Tribal Council assembled again. And this time they adopted a resolution voicing “our sincere gratitude for the splendid work done in the matter of the investigating and bringing to justice the parties charged with the murders of . . . members of the Osage Tribe of Indians. . . .” 1 The bloody reign of the “King of the Osage Hills" had ended. The FBI had~ closed one of the most fantastic cases in its files. . ... k mr- : ■ . y Page lie of "The FBI Story, A Report to the People” by . .y.;, Don Whitehead 1 released from prison on parole in July, 1947 . Pw* r\m n /inn QO^ M i C < » » i ■ ^« n « ■ « ■ ■ *» * ' -- 7 " •• r , 8 « ‘ ■» . LJ '* rf v- ■ - )* ■ u jj|. • '* - " • ’ ***&'% t ' 12' vv>^: . - V< c yj : c . ^ September 3j 15 #v* . f^oater-J- 14 jfer 17 *T Mi tt ? Roe^-S^S 5 office of director fEDERAt RUREAU Of l,,t * T '* ATI ° lK „,TEO STATES OE-ARTHERT Of AUST.CE ea 4:20 I fhrougb operator ft-t Hfi C' 'h % ! i \ & • :« = 23 u^r 25 %&. / 24 ■$?> •' 2 7 ;«< ' **.-■*- ■*? . ■ 3 w vt* ' >. " ' 3#IS< : , ’■ v 22 * •-;:••• 33 '"'••• 34 i3$^V > *• 5$ Jb., / ■ . '": T* < >9 ^ - : >0 '5 . fhone #©* REMARKS Hr* Tolson — — Tr , *r. BoirdWteZ' Hr. *Ub>>V* -==?-- i nr. Bel ■«»' j nr- Harbo — — 4 Mr. -’j nr* parsons fy / Hr. Rosen . — 7 ^f/ Hr. Ta»» — y Hr. Jones — nr. SUoo-^V Hr. Hinterfvj T*l*« *°°* Hr. noil©*** 1 — ’ nts*^ ol,>c6 nus^** 1 ** - — — — lii C When advised of th * ^^^Bigman asked to { V absence l*t>m tie city. advised that .. 1 l speak with Mr. city . Miss Bigman , F^en IstdU^^ s P ea k with Mr. Kicbois and , i • J i: ./ ss)k#/>£/. |; b . . had a caii^fronTW alter WincheU ^ , | Miss Bigman bad bad * V\ Mr Nic hols and find | teUing ber to get in tou / teriai be has been j 1 out why be h ‘*"% s e “7 c «es. Mr. Nichols told ber f waiting for re t.heO % J ' WincheU to the New * the material was mailed to - York office on August l«l. • 1 ' She then looked thru . said she had just go ... ke wa a away - and mail bad not been opened urti^le she -wp found the letter. \ \Cf* ■ 'yjVf^ - ■-L. • i. J f*. * ■•* ' r -- r.«^;^S ?« f • ‘iP** * ■ *' : jV. ,. fy'p? ■ • >•»> ■' . i W«* ■J ^ • ■; • _ ^ ; ,fiti~ - -iof BBroboss : 146 st? j? S7Q 1 °S ■ 4 :H , SEp/l T9W ? ^^ I , ’ » / KTCFSS 1 -J— KKKt f . wm. Vv. NEW YORK MIRROR DAILY AND SUNDAY i...
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