1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: You are listening to History on Trial, a production of 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts. Listener Discretion advised, Hello, History on Trial listener. 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: This is the second part of a two part series. 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to part one yet, you'll want 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: to begin there. Thank you for listening. The Fortescue family 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: was used to getting away with things. When Grace Hubbard 7 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: Bell later Grace Fordescue was a teenager, she and her 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: friends roller skated down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, d C. 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: Completely blocking traffic. Another time, she stole a trolley car. 10 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: While others might call these actions criminal, Grace and her 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: family called them pranks, and thanks to her family connections. 12 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: Grace's maternal grandfather, Gardner Hubbard, had founded Bell Telephone alongside 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: Grace's father's cousin, Alexander Graham Bell, the police always looked 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: the other way. Grace's future husband, Rolli, was just as mischievous. 15 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: While a student at Yale, Rolly fired a gun near 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: the head of one of his fraternity brothers. Surprisingly, no 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: one else but Rolly thought this was funny. Rolly was expelled, 18 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: but thanks to his family connections, Roly was a Roosevelt. 19 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: He was soon admitted to the University of Pennsylvania. Grace 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: and Rolly passed their unique senses of humor down to 21 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: their daughters, and in nineteen twenty seven, their eldest daughter, Thalia, 22 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: came up with the best joke of them all. Thaalia's 23 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: future husband, Tommy Massey, was visiting the Fortescues on Long 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: Island that summer, and the lovebirds decided to go see 25 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: a movie. In the nineteen twenties, parents attending movies would 26 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: leave their babies in theater lobbies. If a baby cried, 27 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: an usher would come fetch the parents. Seeing all these 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: abandoned babies, Tommy and Thalia thought of how absolutely hilarious 29 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: it would be to hide one of these babies, making 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: its parents think it had been kidnapped. If you're not laughing, 31 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,399 Speaker 1: neither were the babies distraught parents, who reported the kidnapping 32 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: to the police. The police quickly found the baby and 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: arrested Thalia and Tommy. Surely there would be consequences this time, 34 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: but later that night, a judge who knew Thalia's family 35 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: dismissed the case, calling Thalia and Tommy's crime only a 36 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: quote parlor trick, stealing trolley's, shooting guns kidnapping infants. It 37 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: seemed that there was nothing the Fordescue family couldn't get 38 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: away with. But in January nineteen thirty two, Grace Fordescue 39 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: would test the limits of just how far the law 40 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: would stretch to accommodate a well connected white woman. Grace 41 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: would find out whether a Fordescue could get away with murder. 42 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to history on trial. I'm your host, Mira Hayward. 43 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: This week the Territory of Hawaii v. Grace Fordescue at al. 44 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: When Thalia Massey's rape case ended in a mistrial in 45 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: December nineteen thirty one, Admiral Yates Sterling, commandant of the 46 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: United States Navy's fourteenth District, thought he knew just who 47 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: to blame. I was informed reliably that the vote of 48 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: the jury began and remained to the end. Sterling later 49 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: wrote seven for not guilty and five for guilty. The 50 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: exact proportion of yellow and brown to whites on the jury. 51 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: Sterling was not wrong about the proportions, but he was 52 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: wrong about race contributing to the decision. There had, in 53 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: fact been only one white person on the jury, and 54 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: that man had voted to acquit every time the jurors 55 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: had never been split along racial lines. The truth didn't 56 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: matter to Sterling or to many others. It hadn't mattered 57 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: when they had pushed for the conviction of the five 58 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: defendants who were obviously innocent, and it didn't matter now. 59 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: What mattered was that no one was being punished for 60 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: the alleged assault of a white woman. In the weeks 61 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: immediately following the mistrial, unrest rippled through Honolulu. On December twelfth, 62 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: the Honolulu Times published an article titled the Shame of Honolulu, 63 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: which claimed that women were at quote risk of being 64 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: assaulted and foully raped by gangs of lust mad youths, 65 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: a phrase which echoed prosecutor Griffith White's description of the 66 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: defendants as quote lust sodden beasts. The Times mailed a 67 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: copy to every sailor at Pearl Harbor. That night, gangs 68 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: of armed navy men took to the streets, starting fights 69 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: at random. But not all the violence was random. A 70 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: group of sailors kidnapped Horace Ida, one of the defendants 71 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: Indhlia's trial, at gunpoint. They took Horace to a remote 72 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: location and demanded a confession. When Horace refused, they beat 73 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: him mercilessly using their belts and guns. The beating only 74 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: stopped when Horace pretended to be unconscious. While many condemned 75 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: the kidnapping, Hawaii, Chinese news questioned if the kidnappers quote 76 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: stupid mob mind accorded with the quote the American principle 77 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 1: that a man is innocent until he has been proved guilty. 78 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: Many others celebrated it. Admiral Sterling said that the sailors 79 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: had shown restraint in not killing Horace, who Sterling claimed 80 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: had confessed Horace, of course, had done no such thing. 81 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: The same day that Horace Do was kidnapped, Hawaii became 82 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: connected to the United States by radio for the first time. 83 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: The Massy story was quickly picked up by mainland news services. 84 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: The Navy, hearing reports of these so called epidemic levels 85 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: of crime in Hawaii, started to question if they ought 86 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: to go forward with a scheduled Pacific Fleet exercise, which 87 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: would have brought thousands of navymen and their wives to Hawaii. 88 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: In February, it was estimated that the fleet's it would 89 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: bring Honulou's merchants more than six million dollars in revenue 90 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,239 Speaker 1: or one hundred and thirty five million dollars in today's money. 91 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: The territorial government, including Governor Lawrence Judd, desperately wanted that payday. 92 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: They hoped that convicting the five defendants in a second 93 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: trial would reassure the Navy, but that conviction was looking 94 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: less and less likely. On December twenty ninth, Chief of 95 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: Detectives John Macintosh held a press conference on the status 96 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: of the investigation and revealed that no new evidence had 97 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: turned up. Grace Fordescue, already furious over gossip about her 98 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: daughter which insinuated that Thalia had made the whole thing up, 99 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: was disturbed by Mackintosh's announcement. Under Hawaii law, if defendants 100 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: were not convicted after two trials, the charges against them 101 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: would be dismissed. Grace was determined not to let this happen, 102 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: so she and her son in law, Tommy Massey started 103 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: to think about how they might uncover some evidence of 104 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: their own. The navyman's kidnapping of Horace Da provided the 105 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: spark of inspiration, but Tommy heard from a lawyer that 106 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: a confession from a man covered in cuts and bruises 107 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: wouldn't cut it in court. Grace and Tommy would just 108 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: need to use threats. Of the five defendants, they thought 109 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: Joe Kahahai most likely to cave under pressure. But Joe 110 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: was a big man six feet tall and heavily muscled, 111 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: a former football star and amateur boxer, so Tommy and 112 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: Grace decided to enlist helpers. Machinist's mate albert O Jones, 113 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: or a deacon as everyone knew them, was their first call. 114 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: The Navy had sent Deacon to protect Salia after the 115 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: trial while Tommy went out on c duty again. Deacon 116 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: didn't like Thalia, who he said had quote the personality 117 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: of the bottom of your big toe, but he admired Grace, 118 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: who he called a quote tough old gal. Deacon, who 119 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: claimed to have participated in Horace DA's kidnapping, was only 120 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: too happy to join. Tommy and Grace's plan suggested bringing 121 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: on Fireman for his class Edward j Lord, too, another 122 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: of Eda's kidnappers. The foursome quickly settled on a plan. 123 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: Joe reported to his probation officer at the courthouse. Every 124 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: morning at eight am, the kidnappers would wait outside for 125 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: him and then use a falsified official summons to get 126 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: Joe into their car. Joe had served under a major 127 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: named Ross in the National Guard. Now Ross was helping 128 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: supervise the Guard's territorial police. The summons could be from Ross, 129 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: the kidnappers decided. Grace wrote out the text of the 130 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: summons on a piece of paper, and then, to make 131 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: things look more official, she pasted a newspaper clipping onto 132 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: the sheet. Tommy cut the seal off his Chemical Warfare 133 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: School diploma and added that too, there is something so 134 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: revealing about the ugly arts and crafts childishness of their forgery. 135 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: To me, it's a symbol of how lightly, almost gleefully, 136 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: they considered kidnapping a man. On Friday, January eight, Joe 137 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: Kahaa and his cousin Eddie Ulie set out for the courthouse. 138 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: Joe always tried to be punctual for his probation meetings 139 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: and to dress well. Even though Joe knew the charges 140 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: against him were false, His father, Joseph Senior, had encouraged 141 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: Joe to find the silver lining. These probation meetings meant structure, 142 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: and structure could be good for a restless young man. 143 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: Joe had just turned twenty two and his future stretched 144 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: before him. After a brief check in with William Dixon, 145 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: Joe's probation officer. Joe and Eddie headed out into the sunshine. 146 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,439 Speaker 1: Eddie noticed a white woman pointing at Joe. It was 147 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: Grace Fordescue, signaling Deacon Jones, this was their man. Deacon 148 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: hurried after Joe. When Joe and Eddie got close to 149 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: the curb, Deacon grabbed Joe's arm and pulled him toward 150 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: a car idling at the curb. Tommy Massey sat at 151 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: the wheel disguised as a chauffeur. Deacon Wade the summons 152 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: in front of Joe's face, saying, get in the car. 153 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: Major Ross wants to see you. Joe got in the 154 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: back seat and waived for Eddie to join him, but 155 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: Deacon shoved Eddie away, flung himself into the back beside Joe, 156 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: and slammed the door. The car sped off. Eddie, stunned, 157 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: was immediately suspicious. Major Ross and the rest of the 158 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: Territorial police were based just across the street. There was 159 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: no reason to send a car for Joe with a 160 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: pit in his stomach. Eddie remembered how Horace da had 161 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: been kidnapped the month before. He sprinted into the courthouse 162 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: building and reported that his cousin had been taken. Two 163 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: hours later, at ten twenty am, Officer Thomas Kakua and 164 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: Detective George Harbottle, one of the detectives who had first 165 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: reported to Thalia Massey's house on the night of the 166 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: alleged assault, were chatting on the side of Wylai Avenue 167 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,599 Speaker 1: when they saw a blue Buick drive by a bee on. 168 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: The lookout alert for a blue Buick thought to be 169 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: involved in the kidnapping of Joe Caabai had just blared 170 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: out of Harbottle's patrol car radio. The two officers stared 171 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: hard at the car, noticing that one of the rear 172 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,079 Speaker 1: window shapes was pulled down. What were the occupants hiding? 173 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: Kikua and Harbottle set off in pursuit, following the buick 174 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: towards the coast near Hanama Bay. Harbottle pulled past the buick, 175 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: giving Kikua a chance to glance into the rear seat. 176 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: What the officer saw there horrified him. Harbottle signaled the 177 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: Buick's driver, a grayhaired white woman, to pull over. Instead, 178 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: she sped off after pulling a passing patrol car into 179 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: the chase. Harbottle managed to force the buick off the road. 180 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: The waves of the bay crashed against the shore. As 181 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: Harbottle approached, the buick gun drawn and ordered its occupants 182 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: to get out. The driver, grace Fordescue, and the passenger, 183 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: Tommy Massey, slowly left the car. Edward Lord was seated 184 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: in the back. As he swung the rear door open. 185 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: What Officer Kaikua had seen through the window became visible 186 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: to Harbottle, a bundle of white sheets, a human leg 187 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: poking out from the bottom. They had found Joe Cahahaai. 188 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: On Saturday, January tenth, Joe Kahavay's body was laid out 189 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: at the n Uannu Funeral parlor. The twenty two year old, 190 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: so vibrant in life, was silent and still in death. 191 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: His father, Joseph Cahahavai, Senor, and his mother Esther and 192 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: stepfather Pascual Anido sat by Joe's body all night as 193 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: thousands of mourners came to pay their respects. One of 194 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: those mourners was David Kama, a Hawaiian man. Four years earlier, 195 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: David's brother, William, a police officer, had been murdered by 196 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: an American soldier David knew better than most what Joe's 197 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: family was experiencing. With tears streaming down his face, David 198 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: spoke to Joe, saying, poor Cahahaai. These Howleyes murdered you 199 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: in cold blood. They did the same thing to my 200 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: poor brother. The Howleies shoot and kill us Hawaiians. We 201 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: don't shoot Howley's, but they treat us like this. Never mind, 202 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: the truth will come out. You were not wrong. If 203 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: you were, they would not catch these murderers. That is 204 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: why they were caught. Thank god they were caught. Poor boy, 205 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: God will keep you. We will do the rest. David 206 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 1: Comma was right about catching the murderers. Grace Fordescue, Tommy Massey, 207 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: Edward Lord, and Deacon Jones were all in custody. But 208 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: as for the rest, that was not so straightforward. The 209 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: killers had been charged with murder and the evidence seemed conclusive, 210 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: but there was the Navy to contend with. Only hours 211 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: after the murder, Admiral Yates Sterling showed up at police 212 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: headquarters and demanded custody of the prisoners. Sterling's demand had 213 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: no legal grounds. A recent agreement between the Navy and 214 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: the territorial government gave the civil authorities jurisdiction over murder cases, 215 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: no matter if the suspects were military or civilian, But 216 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: the territorial government was afraid of further upsetting the Navy. 217 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: Attorney General Harry Hewitt said he would agree to Sterling's 218 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: request on the condition that the Navy gave them access 219 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: to the suspects at any time. Sterling agreed to Hewitt's 220 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 1: terms and transferred the prisoners to the USS Alton, a 221 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: decommissioned ship used as a hotel for dignitaries visiting Pearl Harbor. There, 222 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: the four killers lived in luxury. At the same time, 223 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: the four surviving defendants from the first trial, horas Ida 224 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: Ben Ahaquello, David Takai, and Henry Chang sat in the 225 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: city jail. The police had told the men that the 226 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: jail was the only place they could protect them and 227 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: preserve order. Unlike the Navy's prisoners, who had meals cooked 228 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: for them by the officer's mess the men in the 229 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: city jail were told that their families would have to 230 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: bring food for them if they wanted to eat, and 231 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: the police weren't shy about exploiting the men's vulnerability. They 232 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: soon began conducting interrogations, trying to get the men to 233 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: turn on one another and give evidence in the rape. 234 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: On January twentieth, twelve days after Joe's death, Officer D. W. 235 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: Watson interrogated Ben Ahaquelo, telling him quote, all the howlies 236 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: on the mainland are blaming the Hawaiians. Ben, and these 237 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: people that killed Joe, blame you, fellows. They got one 238 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: Hawaiian and Ben, you are going to be next. They're 239 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: going to get you. Joe got off easy. They just 240 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: shot him. The next time, Ben, they're going to torture you, fellows. 241 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: It's gonna be hell. But even under this enormous pressure, 242 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: which each of the men faced in turn, they all 243 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: continued to swear their innocence. On board the USS Alton, 244 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: Flowers sent by supporters filled the decks, admiring letters poured 245 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: in from across the country congratulating the killers. It's hard 246 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: to understand this, but, as David Stannard writes in his 247 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: book on the case, Honor Killing, quote the unwritten law, 248 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: the belief that a man has a right to kill 249 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: another man who has assaulted his wife was still widely 250 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: subscribed to by Americans, especially when the rape victim was 251 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: white and the rapist was not. Some people called this 252 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: honor killing, others called it lynching, and oftentimes the victims, 253 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: like Joe Kahai, were only suspected of a crime, not 254 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: proven to be guilty. This kind of killing was not 255 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: just about individual justice. It was also about maintaining a 256 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: white supremacist power structure through a campaign of terror and violence. 257 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: Many white Americans, if they thought about Hawaii at all, 258 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: had thought about it as an idealized, exotic paradise where 259 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: friendly Native Hawaiians obediently served white tourists. But now these 260 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: same white Americans saw the territory as a place in 261 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: need of racial subjugation, thanks to articles like the one 262 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: in Time magazine on jail Danuary eighteenth, which called Hawaii 263 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: quote a restless purgatory of murder and race hatred fueled 264 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: by quote the lust of mixed breeds for white women. 265 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:17,959 Speaker 1: Editorials throughout the country supported Joe's killers. They also advocated 266 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: for a crackdown on Hawaii, arguing that its territorial government 267 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: was too much in thrall to native Hawaiians and Asians. 268 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 1: This was good news for Navy officials like Admiral Sterling, 269 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: who had long called for military control of the territory, 270 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: but it was a nightmare to Hawaii's Hawley elite, who 271 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: liked the current status quo. Responding to the calls for 272 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: martial law or a government reorganization, one territorial senator said, quote, 273 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,120 Speaker 1: we must show that we need no legislation in Washington. 274 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: We must show that we can clean up our own situation. 275 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: To that end, the territorial legislature passed two new bills, 276 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: one which made rape a capital offense and another that 277 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: removed the corroborating evidence requirement for rape convictions. Politicians hoped 278 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: that this would stave off criticism of them being too 279 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: soft on crime, But there was one crime that many 280 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: prominent Howleyes did not want punished, and that, of course, 281 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: was the killing of Jo kah By. The pressure that 282 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: these power brokers exerted became clear in the grand jury 283 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: hearings in late January, when, despite the obvious case against 284 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: Joe's killers, the predominantly white grand jury initially voted nine 285 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: to twelve not to indict. The case could have ended there, 286 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: but Judge Albert M. Christie refused to accept the jury's 287 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: report and told them to deliberate, again reminding them that 288 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: it didn't matter quote whether from some inner feeling of 289 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: your own, you might have committed the same crime. But 290 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: it was not just sympathy blocking the indictment. Many of 291 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 1: the jurors were clearly frightened of the consequences. When jury 292 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 1: even asked Judge Christie if quote, in case the grand 293 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: jury is discharged, has any member of the jury the 294 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: right to show the records as to how he stood 295 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: as a protection for himself and the community in which 296 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: he lives. It was only on the second day of deliberations, 297 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: after the jurors on editorial in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, 298 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: which argued that indictment was inevitable given the evidence, that 299 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:22,199 Speaker 1: the grand jury finally voted to indict. Even then, the 300 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: vote was only twelve to eight and several jurors resigned 301 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: in anger. Grace Fordescue, Tommy Massey, Edward Lord, and Deacon 302 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 1: Jones would be tried for the murder of Joe Kahahabai, 303 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,120 Speaker 1: but many worried if the grand jury had been this difficult, 304 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: what would happen at trial. Grace Fordescue, for one, felt 305 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 1: confident about the trial. She still seemed to be treating 306 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: this as one of the Fordescue family's famous pranks. In 307 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: her first official interview, given to The New York Times 308 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: on February seventh, the report described her as joking and 309 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: laughing with Tommy Deacon and Edward. Perhaps Grace was right 310 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: to relax. Her family connections had always come through for her, 311 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: and this time was no exception. Not long after the indictment, 312 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: Grace's brother in law managed to recruit one of the 313 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: most famous lawyers in America, Clarence Darrow. We've met Clarence 314 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: Darrow before in our episode about the Leopold and Loeb trial. 315 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: In that case, Darrow had defended unsympathetic wealthy clients on 316 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 1: a murder charge. But there was a major difference between 317 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: that trial and this one. This time, the murder victim 318 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: wasn't white. Clarence Darrow had long thought of himself as 319 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 1: a champion for racial equality. How could he justify defending 320 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: the killers of Joe Cahavai. But as in the Leopold 321 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: and Loeb trial, Darrow had a compelling reason to join 322 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,880 Speaker 1: the Fordescue case. Money. The Great Depression had wiped out 323 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: the Darrow family's coffers after two exhausting years touring the 324 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: country as a speaker, Darrow had managed to make enough 325 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: money to pay off his adult son's debts, but he 326 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: and his wife Ruby were barely keeping themselves afloat. He 327 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: told grace Fordescue that he required forty thousand dollars in 328 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: payment plus expenses for context Babe. Ruth's salary in nineteen 329 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: thirty two was only seventy five thousand dollars. Grace Fordescue, 330 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: despite her aristocratic pretensions, had no money of her own, 331 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: but fortunately she had dozens of wealthy friends, all eager 332 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: to help her out, not to mention the enlisted men 333 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: at Pearl Harbor who collected seven thousand dollars for her. 334 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: Soon enough, the money was raised and Darrow came on board. 335 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: He then immediately tried to back out, stung by his 336 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: friend's fury at his decision, But in the end Darrow 337 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:53,479 Speaker 1: wanted the money and he wanted to see Hawaii. George S. Leisure, 338 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: a New York attorney and darrow superfan, agreed to join 339 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,159 Speaker 1: the case for free in exchange for a chance to 340 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: work with his hero. Leisure and Darrow would be facing 341 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,920 Speaker 1: John Kelly, the recently appointed Honolulu City and County Attorney. 342 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: The forty six year old Kelly, a native Montanan, was 343 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: a brilliant, tenacious lawyer, but this would be his first 344 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: case in his new role and it would not be 345 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: an easy one. Kelly was glad to have the assistance 346 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: of Barry Ulrich. Ulrich had been hired by the Honolulu 347 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce to assist Kelly with the retrial of 348 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: Thalia Massey's alleged rapists. When the Chamber realized that the 349 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: murder trial would come first, they pulled their funding for Ulrich, 350 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,719 Speaker 1: but Ulrich decided to stay on in an unofficial, unpaid capacity. 351 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,679 Speaker 1: Darrow Leisure, Ulrich, and Kelly would be battling in the 352 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: court room of Judge Charles S. Davis. After the grand 353 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: jury proceedings. The defense had filed claims of bias against 354 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: Judge Christie. Christie strenuously denied any bias, but said that 355 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: in order to prevent any appearance of impropriety in the 356 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: upcoming trial, he would step aside. The forty two year 357 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: old Davis was his replacement. On April fourth, jury selection began. 358 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: The lawyers immediately encountered a hurdle. No one wanted to 359 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: serve on the jury. Aware of the stakes this case 360 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: had for Hawaii, and concerned about the impact the wrong 361 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: verdict might have on their lives, many jurors tried to 362 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: get out of serving by claiming to have fixed opinions 363 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,159 Speaker 1: on the case. Fed up after hearing this excuse repeatedly, 364 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,879 Speaker 1: Clarence Darrow asked one juror just when he had formed 365 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: his fixed opinion night before last, right after being summoned. 366 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: The juror replied. Finally, after seven days of jury selection, 367 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 1: a panel was formed. To be more precise, it was 368 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: actually more like three and a half days. Throughout the 369 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: trial court would adjourn at twelve each day, out of 370 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: consideration for the seventy five year old Clarence Darrow's well being. Darrow, 371 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: out of consideration for this consideration, spent most afternoons on 372 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: the beach. On April eleventh, John Kelly delivered the prosecution's 373 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: opening argument. Watching Kelly's adroit presentation, in which he declared 374 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,399 Speaker 1: that the crime was premeditated and discussed the evidence you 375 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: would use to prove this, you wouldn't have guessed that 376 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: the prosecutor was panicking, But Kelly had recently received bad 377 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: news when he and Darrow had first met in late March. 378 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: Darrow had rejected the suggestion that he was considering an 379 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: insanity defense, but on April eighth, Kelly read in The 380 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 1: New York Times that Darrow had hired two famous psychiatrists 381 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 1: to testify. Kelly was furious with himself for falling for 382 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,239 Speaker 1: Darrow's charade and was scrambling to find experts of his 383 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: own who could get to Hawaii in time. For now, 384 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: all Kelly could do was present the best case he had. Fortunately, 385 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: for him, that case was a very good one. Kelly's 386 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:51,479 Speaker 1: first witnesses, including Joe's cousin Eddie Ulie, and various police 387 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: officers who had arrested the defendants, laid out the timeline 388 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: of the abduction, murder, and attempted disposal of Joe's body. 389 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: Kelly used these witnesses to bring in a plethora of exhibits. 390 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: There were the pictures of grace Fordescue's bedroom with the 391 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: sheets missing from the bed and the sheets found wrapped 392 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: around Joe's body which were missing, laundry tags, and the 393 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 1: laundry tags a prison matron had found in grace Fordescue's 394 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: coat pocket. There was the coil of rope found in 395 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: Grace's house, which had a unique purple strand interlaced in it, 396 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 1: and then the identical rope found around Joe's body, And 397 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,439 Speaker 1: then there was the gun. The murder weapon had not 398 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: been found and never would be. Thirty years later, Ballia's 399 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: younger sister, Helene would tell a reporter, Peter Van Slingerland, 400 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: that she'd helped hide the gun, throwing it into a 401 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 1: pool of quicksand at an out of the way beach. 402 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: So John Kelly had to make do with what he had. 403 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 1: A thirty two caliber bullet casing and the magazine clip 404 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,919 Speaker 1: for a thirty two caliber automatic with one bullet missing, 405 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: both found on Deacon Jones after his arrest. The clip 406 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: had been and the fake summons used to lure Joe 407 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: into the car. At trial, Kelly produced thirty two caliber 408 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: slug taken from Joe's body and showed that it fit 409 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:14,119 Speaker 1: perfectly into the clip. Throughout the course of three days 410 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: and twenty five witnesses, the prosecution meticulously painted a picture 411 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: of the crime. After abducting Joe from outside the courthouse, 412 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: the defendants had driven him to Grace Fordescu's house, where 413 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: they'd interrogated him at gunpoint. At some point one of 414 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: them shot him. The lack of injuries on Joe's body 415 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: and the angle of his bullet wound. City and County 416 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: physician doctor Robert B. Faus testified, indicated that there had 417 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: been no struggle and that Joe had been sitting when 418 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 1: he was shot. Then the defendants had wrapped Joe's body 419 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: in the sheets from Grace's bed and driven him towards 420 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: the coastline, where they planned to dump his body into 421 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: the sea. With his last witness, Kelly, imbued this evidentiary 422 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: picture with emotion. On the warning of Thursday, April fourteenth, 423 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:07,439 Speaker 1: Joe's mother, Esther Anito, took the stand. Esther identified Joe's 424 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: bloodstained clothing, describing how she had mended and cleaned each 425 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: garment as the image of a mother lovingly laundering her 426 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: son's clothes, unaware that he would soon die in them. 427 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:26,200 Speaker 1: Hung over the courtroom. The prosecution rested. On Friday, April fifteenth, 428 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: Clarence Darrow began the defense's case. Darrow was famous for 429 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: his courtroom speeches, but to everyone's surprise, he waived his 430 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: opening statement and moved straight into testimony, calling Lieutenant Tommy 431 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: Massey to the stand. It didn't take long for Darrow 432 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: to begin asking Tommy about the rape case. John Kelly 433 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: immediately objected. Throughout the trial, Kelly had fought to keep 434 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: the rape case out, arguing that quote, as a matter 435 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: of law, Joseph Kajahavai could be as guilty as any 436 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,199 Speaker 1: man could be, and still that does not provide an 437 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: excuse for killing him. Darrow, of course wanted the case 438 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,919 Speaker 1: in and now he argued that it was necessary as 439 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 1: part of an insanity defense for quote the one who 440 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 1: shot the pistol. Judge Davis allowed Darrow to continue. At first, 441 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: Darrow didn't make it clear just who the one who 442 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 1: shot the pistol was. Instead, he had Tommy tell the 443 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: story of Thalia's alleged assault. In Tommy's account, Joe kaha 444 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 1: Bai had been the ringleader, and Thalia had not been 445 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: the only one traumatized. Tommy himself suffered for months, unable 446 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: to eat or sleep, so concerned was he about his 447 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: wife and so angry about the rumors that claimed Thalia 448 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: was making it all up. With this history established, Darrow 449 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: now revealed to the court that Tommy was the killer, 450 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: well not the killer, per se in Darrow's words, quote 451 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: the gun was in his hand when the shot was fired. 452 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: Whether he knew what he was doing at the time 453 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:05,479 Speaker 1: is another question. According to Tommy's subsequent testimony, the answer 454 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: to that question was no, he did not know what 455 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: he was doing. Tommy described abducting Joe and interrogating him. 456 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 1: Tommy said Joe had refused to confess until finally, after 457 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: being threatened with a beating, which Tommy claimed was only 458 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: a bluff, Joe admitted, quote, yes, we done it, And 459 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: then Tommy said his mind went blank. He could not 460 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: remember anything from that moment until the moment he came 461 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: to an hour later on the side of the road 462 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: being arrested. He did not know how he had gotten there. 463 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: He did not know what had happened to Joe or 464 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,719 Speaker 1: to the gun. John Kelly wasn't buying it. For the 465 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: rest of the day. On cross examination, he pushed Tommy 466 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:50,959 Speaker 1: on the story, trying to get him to slip up, 467 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: but Tommy maintained his composure and claimed to remember nothing. 468 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: It was only the next Monday when court resumed that 469 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: Kelly finally got under tommy skin. Mister Massey, Kelly asked, 470 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: have you ever been implicated in a kidnapping plot before 471 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 1: this case, No, Sir, Tommy said, what about the summer 472 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty seven when a baby went missing from 473 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: a movie theater. Tommy immediately became defensive and tried to 474 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,040 Speaker 1: deny the story. When he finally admitted to having been 475 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: arrested for kidnapping, he claimed that Thalia had just taken 476 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: the baby for a little walk to try to soothe it, which, 477 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: sure Tommy's evasiveness on the kidnapping question didn't look good, 478 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: but that was about the only point Kelly got over 479 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: on him. The rest of the cross examination was uneventful. 480 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: With their next two witnesses, the psychiatrist's doctor Thomas j. 481 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: Orbison and doctor Edward H. Williams, the defense hoped to 482 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: give some scientific legitimacy to Tommy's amnesia claim. Both doctors 483 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: claimed that Tommy suffered from a glandular condition that caused 484 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: him to experience temporary insanity, which they called dementia, triggered 485 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: by the extreme emotions brought on by sale as assault. 486 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: Annie Lowry, a columnist for Hirst, summed up many people's 487 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: skepticism about this testimony when she asked in an editorial quote, 488 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: do people with dementia take a mother in law into 489 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: sailors along as a usual thing? But the actual testimony 490 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: of the psychiatrists was less important to Darrow than the 491 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: opportunity they offered. On cross examination, prosecutor Barry Ulrich asked 492 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: doctor Williams, quote, isn't it true that insanity please are 493 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: used to introduce evidence that could not be brought in otherwise. 494 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: Doctor Williams responded that this did happen sometimes, but never 495 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: thinks to doctors only lawyers. Ulrich, sliding his eyes toward 496 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,680 Speaker 1: the defense table, said, as in this case, this case 497 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 1: doesn't come into argument at all. Darrow exclaimed. Ulrich had 498 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: clearly hit a nerve. This was exactly what Darrow was 499 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 1: doing in this case. Introducing the insanity angle allowed the 500 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: defense to discuss the rape case in the context of 501 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: Tommy Massey's psychologue background. The rape case, in turn allowed 502 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: the defense to appeal to the jury's sympathy for the 503 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: Massy family and speak to the unwritten law of avenging 504 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: one's wife. Darrow could deny his strategy all he liked. 505 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: His next witness confirmed just what he was doing. It 506 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: was Thalia Massey. John Kelly objected to Thalia telling the 507 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 1: story of her alleged assault. Judge Davis instructed Thalia to 508 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: limit her testimony to things she said to her husband 509 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: that might have affected his mental state. Darrow was undaunted 510 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 1: by this limitation, walking Thalia through the entire story. When 511 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: Kelly objected, which he did frequently, Darrow would argue that 512 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: it went to Tommy's state of mind, and Judge Davis 513 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: would allow it. After telling the story of her alleged 514 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,959 Speaker 1: assault in emotional detail, Thalia described how Tommy had cared 515 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: for her, depicting him as a devoted husband distraught over 516 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: her suffering. During a brief recess, she stumbled into Tommy's 517 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: arms and he soothed her as she nuzzled her head 518 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: head into his neck. Her testimony was enormously moving, many 519 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 1: watching pride. On cross examination, John Kelly took things slow, 520 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: asking Thalia about minor details of her story. Then, several 521 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: minutes in, he asked Thalia if Tommy was always as 522 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: kind to her as she'd testified. Of course he was, 523 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: Dahlia replied, pulling out a sheaf of papers. Kelly then asked, 524 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: did you have a psychopathic examination at the university last summer. Yes, 525 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: Thahlia acknowledged, I went to see Professor Kelly. Professor Lowell 526 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: Kelly was the psychologist Thalia had briefly consulted with the 527 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: previous summer. Under his care, she had filled out a 528 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: long survey about her marriage, detailing how much she and 529 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,440 Speaker 1: Tommy resented each other, how unhappy their marriage was, and 530 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 1: how poorly they treated one another. Now, Kelly passed a 531 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,959 Speaker 1: copy of this survey to Thalia and asked, is this 532 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: your handwriting? There came a transformation, wrote a New York 533 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: Times reporter watching in the courtroom, quote from the pathetic 534 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: looking figure into a woman who, with low voice but 535 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,279 Speaker 1: blazing face, turned on the prosecutor. Where did you get this? 536 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,720 Speaker 1: Thlia asked, I'm asking the questions, not answering them. Kelly 537 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 1: shot back, has her husband always been kind to you? 538 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: Thalia stared Kelly down, saying, don't you know this is 539 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: a confidential communication between doctor and patient. You have no 540 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: right to bring this into the courtroom. And then she 541 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: began tearing the paper, slowly at first, and then more frantically, 542 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: until it lay in shreds beneath her hands. It was 543 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: quite the display the white women in the audience began 544 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: to applaud John Kelly, less impressed, dismissed Thalia from the stand, 545 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: saying quote, thank you, missus Massey, at last you have 546 00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: shown yourself in your true colors. After getting Judge Davis 547 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: to strike Kelly's dig the defense rested, but the case 548 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 1: was not quite over. The prosecution had several rebuttal witnesses. 549 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:11,439 Speaker 1: John Kelly had managed to get psychiatric experts of his own. 550 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 1: The first two experts testified that they did not believe 551 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,200 Speaker 1: that Tommy was insane and disputed Williams and Orbison's conclusions. 552 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 1: Their testimony didn't add much. The third expert, doctor Joseph Catton, 553 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: was a different story. A personable, well spoken psychiatrist with 554 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,320 Speaker 1: a knack for explaining complicated medical concepts. Catton quickly caught 555 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,600 Speaker 1: and held the jury's attention. He provided them with a 556 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: new narrative of Tommy Massey's actions. He was not insane, 557 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: Catton argued, he was just angry. For all of Catton's 558 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 1: persuasive powers, the final witness made the biggest impact. This 559 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: was doctor Robert Fauss, the City and County attorney. He 560 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: had already testified earlier in the case, but was back 561 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:00,880 Speaker 1: to provide some important medical evidence. Previously, use had explained 562 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: that the bullet had penetrated Joe's pulmonary artery, causing massive hemorrhage, 563 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 1: but Kelly wanted Faus to explain what exactly death in 564 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,280 Speaker 1: this manner would look like. In your opinion, he asked 565 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,240 Speaker 1: how long after Khahabiah was shot would it take before 566 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:22,360 Speaker 1: death would ensue. After Joe was shot, Faus testified he 567 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: was likely conscious for three to five minutes and lived 568 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: for fifteen to twenty minutes in total. In other words, 569 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,720 Speaker 1: the defendants had time to call for help. When Barry 570 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,440 Speaker 1: Ulrich delivered the prosecution's first closing argument the next morning, 571 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: he was quick to invoke Faus's testimony, saying, quote, Obviously, 572 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,479 Speaker 1: the defendants had no way of knowing he was going 573 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,320 Speaker 1: to die, that the bullet had pierced a vital spot. 574 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,959 Speaker 1: They had a telephone, There are plenty of doctors in town. 575 00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: Why didn't they do something if they didn't want him 576 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,919 Speaker 1: to die? They let him die because they wanted him 577 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 1: to die. The defense has told you a lot about 578 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:08,359 Speaker 1: the presumption of innocence. What presumption of innocence did they 579 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,759 Speaker 1: give that Hawaiian boy? After reminding the jurors of the 580 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: evidence of premeditation, like the multiple loaded guns the defendants 581 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,720 Speaker 1: had brought or the rope they had on hand, Ulrich 582 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 1: reminded jurors of the stakes, saying, far more hangs on 583 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: this trial than the fate of these four defendants. Our 584 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:32,720 Speaker 1: power of self government is being questioned you, jurors, the judge. 585 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 1: The people of this territory are on trial, charged with 586 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: not being able to govern ourselves. No, twelve people in 587 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: the territory are charged with a greater responsibility than you. 588 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: But Ulrich was certain that the jury would meet that responsibility, 589 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:52,720 Speaker 1: concluding quote, the defendants are guilty. It is a plain 590 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: and obvious fact. They not only admit it, they proclaim it. 591 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,839 Speaker 1: The eyes of the world are upon Hawaii, and you 592 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,600 Speaker 1: must answer that challenge. We ask you to convict these 593 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: four defendants of murder. George Leisure was up next. He 594 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: had clearly trained in the Griffith White school of closing arguments. 595 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:18,640 Speaker 1: His brief argument brimmed with overwrought phrases and dramatic imagery. 596 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: By the end, he'd worked himself up to the point 597 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:26,439 Speaker 1: of justifying Joe's death, saying his death was just under 598 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: the laws of God and a direct consequence of his 599 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,920 Speaker 1: own acts. Do you suppose the cruel appetite of this 600 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,919 Speaker 1: man would have been satiated by one drunken debauch. No, 601 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,920 Speaker 1: his next victim might have been your wife or sister. 602 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,359 Speaker 1: Clarence S. Darrow was left to do clean up after 603 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 1: this charming performance. Fortunately, he was a closing specialist, known 604 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:54,160 Speaker 1: for his epic arguments. Like Leisures and Whites, Darrow's arguments 605 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,760 Speaker 1: were often based on emotional appeals, but they were less crude, 606 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: as David Stanner describes it. Quote at the core of 607 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: Darrow's courtroom technique with his insistence that a rigidly, narrow 608 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,680 Speaker 1: minded and punitive approach to the law was foolish and cruel, 609 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: that true justice demanded an understanding of the facts as 610 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,799 Speaker 1: they appeared to the defendants at the time they did 611 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,320 Speaker 1: whatever it was they were accused of doing. And while 612 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,879 Speaker 1: for the most part I sympathize with this philosophy, it's 613 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: hard to apply it in this case. But Darrow did 614 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,680 Speaker 1: his best. He portrayed the Massies and Grace Fortesquieu as 615 00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:34,720 Speaker 1: beleaguered victims attacked on all sides by the ravages of fate. 616 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,279 Speaker 1: Like Barry Ulrich, he reminded jurors of the stakes for 617 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,759 Speaker 1: all of Hawaii, but Darrow took a different angle. Convicting 618 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,000 Speaker 1: the defendants. He said, would quote place a blot upon 619 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,280 Speaker 1: the fair name of these islands, that all the Pacific 620 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,440 Speaker 1: seas would never wash away. He urged jurors to listen 621 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:59,800 Speaker 1: to quote every instinct that moves human beings, every feeling 622 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:03,839 Speaker 1: that within you. You can't fight against it. If you do, 623 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:07,640 Speaker 1: you will fight against nature. You are in a position 624 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:11,440 Speaker 1: to heal. Darrow concluded, you are not a people to 625 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:17,200 Speaker 1: take and destroy. I ask you to be kind, understanding, considerate, 626 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:23,160 Speaker 1: both to the living and to the dead. John Kelly 627 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,759 Speaker 1: had the last word. Acknowledging everyone's exhaustion, he promised to 628 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:32,920 Speaker 1: be brief, and he was. He attacked Tommy Massey, saying, quote, 629 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,440 Speaker 1: the best you can say for Massy is that he 630 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,480 Speaker 1: lied like a gentleman and had a very convenient memory. 631 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:42,160 Speaker 1: The defense must take you for a bunch of morons. 632 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: Is there going to be one law for strangers in 633 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 1: our midst and another for you and me? And if 634 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:51,720 Speaker 1: Tommy Massey got away with this, what was next? Kelly 635 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,960 Speaker 1: asked if the serpent of lynch law is allowed to 636 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:59,600 Speaker 1: raise its head in these islands, Kelly warned, watch out. 637 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 1: He emphasized the cruelty of the killing, saying, quote, three 638 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,239 Speaker 1: able men and a cold, calculating woman let that man 639 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: bleed to death in front of them, inch by inch. 640 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:16,040 Speaker 1: They let him die. They dragged him into the bathroom 641 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:20,080 Speaker 1: like a dog and let him die. If the defense 642 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,280 Speaker 1: wanted to appeal to sympathy, Kelly would do the same. 643 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:29,239 Speaker 1: Mister Darrow has spoken of mother love, Kelly said, repeatedly. 644 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 1: He has spoken of missus Fordescue as the mother in 645 00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:37,280 Speaker 1: this courtroom. Well, there is another mother in this courtroom. 646 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:43,360 Speaker 1: Has Missus Fordescue lost her daughter? Has Massey lost his wife? 647 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,560 Speaker 1: Kelly gazed at Esther and Pascual Anito and Joseph Cahajave 648 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: Senior for a long moment, then turning back to the jury, 649 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 1: he asked one final question, where is cahaha I? Judge 650 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,720 Speaker 1: Davis gave the jury careful and thorough instructions. He explained 651 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,239 Speaker 1: that they could find the defendants not guilty or in 652 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:09,319 Speaker 1: Tommy's case, not guilty by reason of insanity if they 653 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: wished to acquit. If they decided to convict, they could 654 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 1: find the defendants guilty of first degree murder, which required premeditation, 655 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 1: second degree murder, which required malice a forethought, or manslaughter, 656 00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:26,520 Speaker 1: which required neither premeditation nor malice a forethought, only unlawful killing. 657 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,280 Speaker 1: At four thirty pm on Wednesday, April twenty seventh, Davis 658 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:35,759 Speaker 1: dismissed the jurors to deliberate. The jurors had technically been 659 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,160 Speaker 1: sequestered throughout the trial, but they were not completely cut 660 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,280 Speaker 1: off from the outside world. The hotel they'd been lodged 661 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,960 Speaker 1: at was filled with reporters, and the jurors, many of 662 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,120 Speaker 1: whom had connections to the Navy or to Hawaii's powerful 663 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:53,000 Speaker 1: sugar companies, knew all too well the potential consequences for 664 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,520 Speaker 1: themselves and their families should they not make the right decision. 665 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,800 Speaker 1: With all of that in mind, they embarked on their deliberations, 666 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:06,680 Speaker 1: which rolled through Wednesday evening into Thursday, and then Friday. 667 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 1: By Friday afternoon, Judge Davis was becoming concerned that no 668 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:15,440 Speaker 1: verdict was forthcoming. He told Kelly and Darrow that he 669 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,160 Speaker 1: planned to check in with the jurors if they told 670 00:43:18,239 --> 00:43:20,759 Speaker 1: him that a verdict was unlikely, He would dismiss them 671 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:24,719 Speaker 1: and declare a mistrial. Clara and Starow pushed back. He 672 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,960 Speaker 1: and many others had heard rumors that the jury was 673 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:31,880 Speaker 1: currently ten to two for acquittal. He didn't want to 674 00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:33,919 Speaker 1: cut them off before they got all the way there. 675 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,960 Speaker 1: At four pm, the jurors filed back into the courtroom. 676 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:42,359 Speaker 1: In response to Judge Davis's question, Jury Foreman Johnstone told 677 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:44,720 Speaker 1: the court that he believed they would reach a verdict. 678 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:48,680 Speaker 1: Davis sent them off to do so. Their decision came 679 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:52,239 Speaker 1: only an hour later. By the time everyone had made 680 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,600 Speaker 1: it back to the courtroom, it was five thirty pm. 681 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,800 Speaker 1: The bailiff ordered the four defendants to stand. Dalia stood 682 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,520 Speaker 1: up beside them. The bailiff told her to sit. Foreman 683 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 1: Stone handed the jury's verdict to the court clerk, who 684 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:09,839 Speaker 1: passed them to Judge Davis. Whence the judge had read them, 685 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:13,840 Speaker 1: he indicated for the clerk to read them aloud. The 686 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:19,320 Speaker 1: defendants each received their own individual verdict. Tommy Massey's came first, 687 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:24,320 Speaker 1: then Grace Fordescu's, then Deacon Jones and Edward Lords. Each 688 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:29,480 Speaker 1: verdict said the same thing. In the death of Joe Kahahaai, 689 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:37,080 Speaker 1: we the jury find the defendant guilty of manslaughter. Leniency 690 00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:43,839 Speaker 1: recommended the guilty verdicts, though they might seem inevitable to us, 691 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,920 Speaker 1: given the facts of the case, came as a surprise 692 00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:51,280 Speaker 1: to almost everyone in nineteen thirty two. Like Clarence Darrow, 693 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,480 Speaker 1: most people had expected an acquittal or a hung jury. 694 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:58,520 Speaker 1: They had expected the seven white jurors to block a conviction, 695 00:44:59,719 --> 00:45:02,640 Speaker 1: but interviews with the jurors revealed that the deliberations had 696 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:06,200 Speaker 1: been more nuanced than that. While the jurors had initially 697 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:09,800 Speaker 1: voted along racial lines, seven to acquit, five to convict, 698 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,160 Speaker 1: none of the jurors believed that Tommy Massey was insane, 699 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,239 Speaker 1: nor did they believe that Joe Kahavi's killing was justified. 700 00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:20,680 Speaker 1: Whether or not he was guilty, The jurors who wanted 701 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: to acquit felt bad for the Massies and did not 702 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:26,480 Speaker 1: believe that the killing was premeditated or committed with malice 703 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:30,279 Speaker 1: of forethought. On the second day of deliberations, a compromise 704 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 1: was reached manslaughter. By the time Judge Davis summoned the 705 00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:37,839 Speaker 1: jury to the courtroom on Friday afternoon, the jurors were 706 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:41,720 Speaker 1: eleven to one in favor of conviction. The holdout. Juror 707 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:44,560 Speaker 1: finally agreed for conviction as long as a request for 708 00:45:44,680 --> 00:45:48,680 Speaker 1: leniency was included in the verdict. As juror Theodor Char 709 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:53,200 Speaker 1: put it about the compromises they made, quote, Cahavai was killed, 710 00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:56,840 Speaker 1: and we could not allow ourselves to be swayed by emotions. 711 00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:59,880 Speaker 1: Law and order must prevail for the sake of the 712 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:04,839 Speaker 1: best interests of Hawaii. Many people in Hawaii agreed with Char. 713 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:08,840 Speaker 1: The verdict is regarded here as in strict conformance with 714 00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:12,240 Speaker 1: the law, perfectly supported by the evidence, and the best 715 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:14,920 Speaker 1: thing that could happen in the islands, wrote the Chicago 716 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:20,200 Speaker 1: Tribunes Philip Kinsley. Reactions were much less measured. On the mainland. 717 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,880 Speaker 1: White commentators were furious and convinced that the verdict proved 718 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,960 Speaker 1: the need for martial law in the islands. Write or 719 00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:30,320 Speaker 1: why are your representatives in the Senate and the House 720 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:35,800 Speaker 1: to do what they can? Implored NBC radio broadcaster Floyd Gibbons, 721 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,560 Speaker 1: not only to knock down that verdict, but to make 722 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:42,640 Speaker 1: life safe for our American women in Hawaii. Congress was 723 00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:46,439 Speaker 1: way ahead of Gibbons. Within hours of the verdict, more 724 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:50,000 Speaker 1: than a hundred congressmen had signed a petition urging Governor 725 00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:54,360 Speaker 1: Lawrence Judd to pardon the convicted killers. Afraid that Congress 726 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:58,200 Speaker 1: would impose martial law or perhaps a boycott of Hawaiian products, 727 00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:03,760 Speaker 1: jud began to con sitter his options. On Wednesday, May fourth, 728 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:06,719 Speaker 1: the defendants appeared in front of Judge Davis for sentencing. 729 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,200 Speaker 1: Though the jurors had included a request for leniency in 730 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:14,560 Speaker 1: their verdict, leniency was not within Judge Davis's power, even 731 00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,680 Speaker 1: should he wish to grant it. The law in Hawaii 732 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,399 Speaker 1: mandated ten years of hard labor for manslaughter, and this 733 00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:25,040 Speaker 1: is what he sentenced each of the defendants to. In turn, 734 00:47:25,960 --> 00:47:29,640 Speaker 1: you'd expect this sentence to sober Grace, Fortescue and the others, 735 00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:36,520 Speaker 1: But as confused onlookers noted, the defendants seemed delighted. The 736 00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:40,560 Speaker 1: reason for their happiness soon became clear. Forty minutes later, 737 00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:44,919 Speaker 1: at a press conference, Governor Judd announced quote, the four 738 00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:48,640 Speaker 1: defendants were sentenced this morning, in accordance with territorial law, 739 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:52,160 Speaker 1: to ten years in prison. Acting on a petition of 740 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:56,400 Speaker 1: the four defendants, joined by counsel for the defendants, and 741 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:59,920 Speaker 1: in view of the recommendations of the jury, I am 742 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:05,799 Speaker 1: commuting the sentence to one hour. The remainder of the 743 00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:10,320 Speaker 1: defendants so called sentence, was spent taking pictures and chatting 744 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 1: with the reporters behind Iolani Palace. Clarence Darrow made a 745 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:17,880 Speaker 1: point of thanking the press, who quote, have given this 746 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,920 Speaker 1: case wide publicity so that it went before a jury 747 00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:24,000 Speaker 1: of one hundred million people, most of whom are not 748 00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:27,400 Speaker 1: hampered by absurd rules of law and do not believe 749 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:31,800 Speaker 1: statutes are better than human beings. Many in Hawaii, however, 750 00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:36,359 Speaker 1: were furious at Judd. Princess Abigail Kavana Nakoa, who had 751 00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:41,040 Speaker 1: helped ben Ahaquelo's mother Aggi find a good lawyer, declared, quote, 752 00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:44,640 Speaker 1: with this commutation, the verdict of a jury composed of 753 00:48:44,719 --> 00:48:49,080 Speaker 1: men with intelligence, sound judgment, and good character, with the 754 00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:53,480 Speaker 1: facts and the law before them, becomes a farce. Three 755 00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:57,800 Speaker 1: days later, Clarence Darrow was on board Esteemship waving goodbye 756 00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:02,120 Speaker 1: to Honolulu. With him were Grace Fordescue, and Tommy and 757 00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:06,200 Speaker 1: Thalia Massey. There had been a brief kerfuffle during boarding 758 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:09,160 Speaker 1: when a Honolulu police officer had tried to serve Thalia 759 00:49:09,239 --> 00:49:12,160 Speaker 1: with a subpoena to testify in her rape Case's retrial, 760 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,960 Speaker 1: but a helpful Navy officer held the police officer off. 761 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,760 Speaker 1: Though many people had wanted to see the rape case retried, 762 00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:23,840 Speaker 1: including the defendants who wished to clear their names, Darrow 763 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:28,080 Speaker 1: had counseled Thalia not to testify again. He later claimed 764 00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:31,400 Speaker 1: he'd done so to protect both Thalia and quote the 765 00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:35,000 Speaker 1: island that I had learned to love. But perhaps he 766 00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:39,359 Speaker 1: had doubts about Thalia's story. Even then, if he did 767 00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:43,680 Speaker 1: doubt Salia, he had good reason to. Several months after 768 00:49:43,719 --> 00:49:47,600 Speaker 1: Thalia left Hawaii, John Kelly convinced the territorial government to 769 00:49:47,719 --> 00:49:51,359 Speaker 1: hire the Pinkerton Detective Agency to conduct a new investigation 770 00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:55,359 Speaker 1: of her case. The Pinkertons undertook a three month investigation 771 00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,840 Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen thirty two, interviewing hundreds of 772 00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:03,480 Speaker 1: witnesses and review all available evidence. In the end, they 773 00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:08,000 Speaker 1: concluded that quote it is impossible to escape the conviction 774 00:50:08,239 --> 00:50:12,640 Speaker 1: that the kidnapping and assault was not caused by those accused, 775 00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:16,880 Speaker 1: as they quote had no opportunity to commit the kidnapping 776 00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:21,560 Speaker 1: and the rape. Moreover, quote, we have found nothing in 777 00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:24,480 Speaker 1: the record of this case, nor have we, through our 778 00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:28,600 Speaker 1: own efforts, been able to find what in our estimation 779 00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:33,280 Speaker 1: would be sufficient corroboration of the statements of Missus Massey 780 00:50:33,760 --> 00:50:38,440 Speaker 1: to establish the occurrence of rape upon her. In other words, 781 00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:44,320 Speaker 1: none of it was true. Governor Judd tried to suppress 782 00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:48,359 Speaker 1: the Pinkerton Report, but John Kelly forced his hand. On 783 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:52,400 Speaker 1: February thirteenth, nineteen thirty three, Kelly filed a motion to 784 00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:56,720 Speaker 1: dismiss the charges against the four surviving defendants, Horace Ida, 785 00:50:56,880 --> 00:51:01,480 Speaker 1: Ben Ahaquello, Henry Chang, and David ta Kai. Kelly attached 786 00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:04,479 Speaker 1: a summary of the Pinkerton Report to his motion. Soon 787 00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:10,160 Speaker 1: the report's conclusions were national news. Thalia publicly attacked the 788 00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:14,320 Speaker 1: Pinkerton Report, seeming to enjoy the renewed spotlight. She spun 789 00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:18,560 Speaker 1: elaborate stories to reporters of a vast Hawaiian conspiracy against her, 790 00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:22,719 Speaker 1: which no one took seriously. A year later, Thalia was 791 00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,840 Speaker 1: back in the news, this time because she and Tommy 792 00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:30,480 Speaker 1: were divorcing. She told reporters that Tommy had initiated the divorce, 793 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:33,959 Speaker 1: which was granted on February twenty third, nineteen thirty four, 794 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:39,239 Speaker 1: the same night Thalia attempted suicide. She would attempt suicide 795 00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:42,560 Speaker 1: several more times over the next year. For the rest 796 00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:45,480 Speaker 1: of her life, she moved across the country, supported by 797 00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:48,440 Speaker 1: an allowance from her mother, and racking up a variety 798 00:51:48,480 --> 00:51:52,840 Speaker 1: of criminal charges, mainly for public drunkenness, drunk driving, or 799 00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:57,439 Speaker 1: once for severely beating her pregnant landlord. Thalia Massey died 800 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,760 Speaker 1: from an overdose of barbituates on July seven, nineteen sixty three. 801 00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:05,960 Speaker 1: Tommy Massey remarried after his divorce and continued on with 802 00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:09,920 Speaker 1: his navy career, but in nineteen forty he started displaying 803 00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:13,880 Speaker 1: erratic behavior. Eventually sent to a naval hospital, Tommy was 804 00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:17,759 Speaker 1: diagnosed with manic depressive psychosis. He was discharged from the 805 00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:20,600 Speaker 1: Navy later that year and lived in San Diego for 806 00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:24,680 Speaker 1: the rest of his life. On January eighth, nineteen eighty seven, 807 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:30,440 Speaker 1: exactly fifty five years after Joe Kavy's murder, Tommy Massey died, 808 00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:35,320 Speaker 1: aged eighty eight. Whether or not symptoms of Tommy's mania 809 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:38,359 Speaker 1: and psychosis had been present in nineteen thirty two and 810 00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:41,759 Speaker 1: played a role in Joe's kidnapping is unknown, but they 811 00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:45,960 Speaker 1: certainly did not play a part in Joe's murder, because, 812 00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:51,080 Speaker 1: despite the defense's claims, Tommy Massey was not the shooter. 813 00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:56,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty six, journalist Peter Van Slingerland interviewed Deacon 814 00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:59,960 Speaker 1: Jones for his book on the case, Something Terrible Has Happened. 815 00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,360 Speaker 1: Deacon seemed delighted to reminisce over the crime and to 816 00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:08,440 Speaker 1: provide Van Slingerland with his version of what exactly had happened. 817 00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:13,319 Speaker 1: On January eighth, nineteen thirty two, according to Deacon, he 818 00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:16,480 Speaker 1: and Tommy Massey had driven Joe back to Grace's house. 819 00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:19,719 Speaker 1: While they waited for Edward and Grace to arrive, they 820 00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:23,600 Speaker 1: were driving in another car. Deacon and Tommy interrogated Joe. 821 00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:28,520 Speaker 1: Although Deacon claimed that quote, I didn't fear the black bastard, 822 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:33,360 Speaker 1: he still kept his gun trained on Joe. Then, Deacon explained, 823 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:37,680 Speaker 1: quote Massey asked him a question, and cahahabe lunged at him. 824 00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:41,720 Speaker 1: I say lunged. Somebody else might say he just leaned forward. 825 00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:47,160 Speaker 1: And then Van Slingerland asked, I shot him, Deacon said, 826 00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:52,400 Speaker 1: echoing Darrow's insanity defense. Van Slingerland asked, did you know 827 00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,200 Speaker 1: what you were doing when I shot that son of 828 00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:57,960 Speaker 1: a bitch? Deacon replied, I knew what I was doing. 829 00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:02,080 Speaker 1: Deacon also explained that it had been Clarence Darrow's idea 830 00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:05,640 Speaker 1: for Tommy to take the blame, since quote Tommy had 831 00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:08,800 Speaker 1: a motive and the reason. After all, it was his wife. 832 00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:13,719 Speaker 1: Having already been convicted for manslaughter and served his sentence. 833 00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:18,360 Speaker 1: As it was, Deacon Jones would face no consequences for 834 00:54:18,440 --> 00:54:23,520 Speaker 1: his confession. Grace Fordescue, too, seemed free of any pangs 835 00:54:23,560 --> 00:54:27,480 Speaker 1: of conscience. After leaving Hawaii, she wrote her own account 836 00:54:27,480 --> 00:54:30,200 Speaker 1: of the murder and the trial, which she titled and 837 00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:36,280 Speaker 1: I wish I was making this up quote the Honolulu Martyrdom. Later, 838 00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:39,840 Speaker 1: with her financial troubles ended by a large inheritance, Grace 839 00:54:39,920 --> 00:54:43,160 Speaker 1: built a mansion in Palm Beach, which she called Ile 840 00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:48,120 Speaker 1: Home because it was decorated in a Hawaiian theme. Grace 841 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:51,920 Speaker 1: Fordescue died on June twenty fourth, nineteen seventy nine, in 842 00:54:52,040 --> 00:54:57,839 Speaker 1: Palm Beach. Joe Cahajave's friends and co defendants, Horace Da 843 00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:01,840 Speaker 1: Ben Ahaquelo, Henry Chang, and David Takai, did not have 844 00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:05,720 Speaker 1: the luxury of moving on so completely. After the initial 845 00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:09,040 Speaker 1: burst of news about the Pinkerton Report, stories about the 846 00:55:09,080 --> 00:55:13,960 Speaker 1: report's conclusion had been intentionally suppressed, leaving many people unaware 847 00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:18,520 Speaker 1: that the men had been comprehensively exonerated. Ben Ahaquillo was 848 00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:21,240 Speaker 1: the only one to ever speak publicly about the case, 849 00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:24,799 Speaker 1: granting an interview to the Honolulu Star Bulletin in June 850 00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:28,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight. My family has carried the burden of 851 00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:32,480 Speaker 1: this for thirty five years, Ben said. He explained that 852 00:55:32,520 --> 00:55:35,080 Speaker 1: he'd tried to keep the story from his children, but 853 00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:38,560 Speaker 1: that they had learned about it from friends. Another defendant, 854 00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:42,319 Speaker 1: David Standard, writes quote was urged on his deathbed to 855 00:55:42,320 --> 00:55:45,560 Speaker 1: tell the truth about what really happened. Some of Joe 856 00:55:45,640 --> 00:55:50,760 Speaker 1: Cahahavai's family members changed their last name to avoid painful associations. 857 00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:55,560 Speaker 1: Though the Massy case is replete with tragedy, it has 858 00:55:55,600 --> 00:56:00,360 Speaker 1: its inspiring moments too. Despite pressure from the mainland press 859 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:04,120 Speaker 1: and despite interventions of the local Howy elite, including a 860 00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:09,080 Speaker 1: police captain who manufactured evidence, a prosecutor who suppressed facts, 861 00:56:09,400 --> 00:56:12,799 Speaker 1: and a governor who commuted a sentence, the juries in 862 00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:17,320 Speaker 1: both trials stood by their own consciences, refusing to punish 863 00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:22,520 Speaker 1: innocent men or exonerate guilty ones. The events of nineteen 864 00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:26,800 Speaker 1: thirty one and nineteen thirty two, writes David's Stannard changed 865 00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:31,399 Speaker 1: Hawaii permanently. In the nineteen twenties, Life for most non 866 00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:34,920 Speaker 1: whites in the islands had been a nightmare, especially for 867 00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:38,360 Speaker 1: those laboring on the plantations or locked away in the slums, 868 00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:42,360 Speaker 1: pitted against one another as they struggled to survive. In 869 00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:46,200 Speaker 1: the midst of the Massy Fortescue turmoil. However, and especially 870 00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:49,880 Speaker 1: after the killing of Joe Kahahavai, krack started to appear 871 00:56:50,040 --> 00:56:55,640 Speaker 1: in what for years had been a monolithic social order. Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, 872 00:56:55,719 --> 00:57:00,000 Speaker 1: and Filipino community leaders began meeting and finding more common 873 00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:05,320 Speaker 1: ground than ever before. This new interracial solidarity ushered in 874 00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:09,279 Speaker 1: political reforms, labor victories, and a sense of community in 875 00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:13,160 Speaker 1: the islands. The changes wrought by the Massy Fortescue trials 876 00:57:13,239 --> 00:57:17,400 Speaker 1: are not comprehensive. Native Hawaiians are still fighting to regain 877 00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:20,840 Speaker 1: the lands stolen from them by the American government, for example, 878 00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:27,080 Speaker 1: but they are profound. In the weeks after Joe Kahahaai's funeral, 879 00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:31,840 Speaker 1: rain storms battered Oahu. Nineteen thirty one had been a 880 00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:36,480 Speaker 1: dry year. January of nineteen thirty two saw ceaseless rain 881 00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:41,400 Speaker 1: in the hills. The dry red soil found itself lifted 882 00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:45,840 Speaker 1: and carried downhill, where it slid into streams, coloring them 883 00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:50,760 Speaker 1: a deep red. In Hawaiian, this rain is called Uacoco 884 00:57:51,560 --> 00:57:56,400 Speaker 1: blood rain. These red waters, spilling over the banks of rivers, 885 00:57:56,880 --> 00:58:00,440 Speaker 1: carried with them the memory of violent death, but they 886 00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:05,280 Speaker 1: carried promise to enriching the earth so something new and 887 00:58:05,480 --> 00:58:12,000 Speaker 1: beautiful could grow. Thank you for listening to History on Trial. 888 00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:15,640 Speaker 1: To see images of the people and places in this episode, 889 00:58:15,920 --> 00:58:20,000 Speaker 1: check out our instagram at History on Trial. My main 890 00:58:20,040 --> 00:58:23,800 Speaker 1: sources for this episode were David E. Stannard's book Honor Killing, 891 00:58:24,360 --> 00:58:28,760 Speaker 1: Race Rape, and Clarence S. Darrow's Spectacular Last Case, as 892 00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:31,920 Speaker 1: well as the trial transcripts published by the University of 893 00:58:31,920 --> 00:58:36,840 Speaker 1: Minnesota Law Library's Clarence Darow Digital Collection. For a full bibliography, 894 00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:39,320 Speaker 1: as well as a transcript of this episode with citations, 895 00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:43,800 Speaker 1: please visit our website History on Trial podcast dot com, 896 00:58:43,840 --> 00:58:50,000 Speaker 1: where you can also subscribe to our newsletter. History on 897 00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:54,040 Speaker 1: Trial is written and hosted by me Mira Hayward. The 898 00:58:54,080 --> 00:58:57,760 Speaker 1: show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising 899 00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:02,840 Speaker 1: producer Trevor Jung and executive ducers Dana Schwartz, Alexander Williams, 900 00:59:03,200 --> 00:59:06,840 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, and Mira Hayward. Learn more about the show 901 00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:10,880 Speaker 1: at History on Trial podcast dot com, and follow us 902 00:59:10,920 --> 00:59:15,120 Speaker 1: on Instagram at History on Trial and on Twitter at 903 00:59:15,440 --> 00:59:20,640 Speaker 1: Underscore History on Trial. Find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by 904 00:59:20,720 --> 00:59:25,000 Speaker 1: visiting the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 905 00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:26,080 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.