1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minky. The Dakota 3 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: people had reached their breaking point. Eighteen sixty two had 4 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: turned out to be a difficult year, and their territory 5 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: lacked the supplies necessary to keep their people alive. With 6 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: the approach of the harsh Minnesota winter, it was clear 7 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: they faced starvation. So the tribal leaders held a conference 8 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: and then asked for assistance, but the US government ignored 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: their cry for help. With little choice left to them, 10 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: the leaders made the hard decision to go to war. 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: The conflict lasted thirty seven days. The fatalities included seventy 12 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: seven American soldiers, twenty nine Citizens soldiers, three hundred and 13 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: fifty eight settlers, and twenty nine Dakota warrior yars. In 14 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: the end, United States Colonel Sibley took in two thousand hostages. 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: Many Dakota people on the reservation fled with their families 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: and little else. Then the US created a Court of 17 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: Inquiry and military commission. The captured Dakota people were put 18 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: on trial without representation. They likely had no idea what 19 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: was happening, since none of them spoke English. On the 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: sole testimony of local white witnesses, three hundred and three 21 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: of the Dakota prisoners were sentenced to death. President Lincoln 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: reviewed the cases and spared the lives of all but 23 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: thirty eight of them. No one pulled the warriors about 24 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,919 Speaker 1: their impending death sentences until December twenty second of eighteen 25 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: sixty two. The following day, the condemned men danced, sang, 26 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: and spent a few precious last moments with their families 27 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: and loved ones. The day after Christmas, lawman and soldiers 28 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: led the thirty eight Dakota prisoners to a scaffold constructed 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: especially for their execution. Despite the twenty five degree weather, 30 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: four thousand American citizens gathered, each cheering loudly. As the 31 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: men stood bound on the platform. The warriors wriggled their 32 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: wrists loose from the ropes just enough, allowing them to 33 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: hold hands with their brethren. In their final moments, they 34 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: chanted together as sack hoods were placed over their heads. 35 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: A drum tapped three times, signaling the executioner to cut 36 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,239 Speaker 1: the rope that would drop all thirty eight trap doors simultaneously. 37 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: The first attempt failed, but after taking another whack at 38 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,119 Speaker 1: the ropes, the doors dropped while the crowd whistled and shouted. 39 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: One rope broke, and the crowd strung the man up 40 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: once more. For thirty minutes. After the execution, the bodies hung, 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,119 Speaker 1: giving the crowd a morbid view some macab museum. When 42 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: everyone had had their fill of viewing the dead, the 43 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: men's bodies were cut loose and buried in a shallow, 44 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: unmarked grave. That night, body snatchers dug the men up 45 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: while doctors drew straws to see which cadaver they'd get 46 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: for anatomy research. One doctor, William Mayo, used a dead 47 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: warrior to teach anatomy to his son's Will and Charlie, 48 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: the same Mayo brothers who would eventually form the now 49 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: famous medical clinic bearing their name. By the end of 50 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, a quarter of the remaining Dakota people 51 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: who had surrendered were dead. The rest were exiled to 52 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: Montana and Manitoba. Years later, the people of the O 53 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: s Age tribe found themselves moved off the tribes land again. 54 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: This time, they scraped enough money together to buy their 55 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: new home, a piece of rocky land in Oklahoma that 56 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: no one else thought much of. Maybe, just maybe, the 57 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: O s Age finally had a chance to be left alone. Sadly, though, 58 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: that wasn't meant to be. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to 59 00:03:54,400 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: American Shadows. President Jefferson told the O s Age people 60 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: he'd take care of them when the United States purchased 61 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: the territory of Louisiana from the French. He promised that 62 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: they would know the nation as friends and benefactors. He 63 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: addressed the O Sage as his children and said that 64 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: they should consider him their father in Washington. Now, it 65 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: hardly seemed fair that someone else had the right to 66 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: sell their ancestral homeland, but like other tribes, the O 67 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: s Age had little to know rights, and for four years, 68 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: the newly displaced community was left alone. But then as 69 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: the population and needs of the settlers grew, the O 70 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: s Age found themselves forced off of the one hundred 71 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: million acres originally promised to them. Refusal meant becoming enemies 72 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: of the United States. Essentially, they were threatened with war. 73 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: Their entire tribe was pushed into just a fifty by 74 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty five mile plot of land in Kansas, 75 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: faith in the colonists had long vanished, and they just 76 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: wanted to be left alone, But the federal government still 77 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: wanted more land. In nine their reservation was divided into allotments, 78 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: with each tribe member getting a small portion, while the 79 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: rest became open to settlers. The O s Age watched 80 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: to the government destroy the Cherokee when they resisted a 81 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: similar offer. Essentially, all their land had been parceled out 82 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: to any settler who staked claim on it. The men 83 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: and women who came shot and trampled anyone who got 84 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: in their way. Before long, every bit of Cherokee land 85 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: had been taken. With little choice, the O Sage made 86 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: the best deal with what they had been given. This time, 87 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: the government offered a rocky stretch of land in Oklahoma. 88 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: They tossed in what became known as head rights, rights 89 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: to the land, gases, minerals, and oil on it that 90 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: would only be passed on to family members. It couldn't 91 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: be reclaimed by the government. Maybe this time, they reason, 92 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,799 Speaker 1: that'd finally be left in peace. Little did anyone realize 93 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: that the worthless outcrop of land called O Sage County 94 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: was oil rich. By the early nineteen twenties, the tribe 95 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: members would become some of the wealthiest people in the world. 96 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: Each tribe member with head rights was quickly assigned a 97 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: white guardian to help manage their wealth under the false 98 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: narrative that Native Americans were alcoholics or would squander away 99 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: their money. Swindling was rampant, as you might imagine, but 100 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: merely taking a cut of the tribe's thirty million dollars 101 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: that's three eight three million in today's money wasn't enough 102 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: for some, and that's when the murders started rich. Beyond 103 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: their wildest dreams. The o Sage found themselves with a 104 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: target on their backs, and no amount of money could 105 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: buy them protection. Although some would try a death here, 106 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: there didn't raise a lot of eyebrows, especially if the 107 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: victim was Native American. Even when a handful of turned 108 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: into dozens, no one paid a lot of attention. Officials 109 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: quietly labeled most deaths as accidents or suicides, sweeping the 110 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: matter under the rug of bureaucracy. The stories begged for 111 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: a closer look. Though a healthy champion steer roper suddenly collapsed, 112 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: his body convulsive as he suffocated to death. In any 113 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: other place, the corner would have looked for strict nine, 114 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: a woman named Lizzie died from a mysterious illness, causing 115 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: her to waste away, but no one looked for arsenic 116 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: or any other poison, and sure authorities had no choice 117 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: but to label some as murders. It's hard to hide 118 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: gunshot wounds, after all. One tribe member was found shot 119 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: between the eyes. Hunters found another body thrown down a 120 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: ravine shot execution style. But here's where it gets odd. 121 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: Most of the time, the coroners claimed that they never 122 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: found the bullets and thus couldn't trace the guns. In February, 123 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,679 Speaker 1: I remember Henry Rowan's car was discovered down a steep slope. Rowan, 124 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: the father of two, had also been shot in the 125 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: back of the head. Instead of notifying his wife, though 126 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: authorities informed Bill Hale, a white man who claimed to 127 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: be Rowan's best friend. Just weeks before, Hale had taken 128 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: out a twenty five thou dollar life insurance policy on Rowan. 129 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: More deaths followed, ruled as accidents, unknown causes, and suicides. 130 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: Family members died one after another, sometimes weeks apart, and 131 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 1: naturally people were scared, but reports to local law enforcement 132 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: did nothing. Afraid they'd be next. They left their lights 133 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: on and bought guard dogs, but neither would save them. 134 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: One by one, the dogs met their own mysterious deaths, 135 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: often being left on the family's doorsteps. Barney McBride, a 136 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: wealthy oil man who had befriended many of the Osage, 137 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: went to Washington, d C. To ask the government to investigate. 138 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: After an evening playing pool, locals found McBride's body, with 139 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: a burlap sack over his head and twenty stab wounds 140 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: on the body. The Washington Posts headlines at It All 141 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: conspiracy believed to kill rich Indians tried. Members. Bill and 142 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: Rita Smith moved to a neighboring town, hoping to put 143 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: some distance between themselves and the killers. They had already 144 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: lost part of their family. They settled into a large 145 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: home on a tree lined street in an upscale neighborhood. Bill, 146 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: once outspoken about the murders, grew quiet. A neighbor reported 147 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: hearing the sounds of a blast at three in the morning. 148 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: With the explosion, he said, the earth shook moved as 149 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: if a great earthquake had struck. As people streamed from 150 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: their homes, it became clear what had happened. Someone had 151 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,199 Speaker 1: placed a bomb under the Smith's house, leveling it to 152 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: a pile of fiery rubble. Firemen and neighbors rushed to 153 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: extinguish the flames. In the debris, they found the body 154 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: of Rita, killed by the explosion. Although badly injured and 155 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: covered in serious burns, Bill was miraculously found alive. He 156 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: muttered again and again about how his enemies had gotten 157 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: to him and Rita. Fireman and volunteers searched the rebel 158 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: for Smith's Irish American servant, Nettie, who also lived in 159 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: the house with her small child. In the end, it 160 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: was assumed she must have been downstairs when the bomb 161 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: went off because not enough human remains had been found 162 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: to make an identification. After crying out that someone should 163 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: shoot him now that Rita was gone, Bill faded in 164 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: and out of consciousness. When he awoke two days later, 165 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: he was at the hospital in Oklahoma City. The following 166 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: day Bill Smith was dead. Local attorney W. V. Vaughan 167 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: dug into the murders. After a lot of investigation, he 168 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: got word that O Sage member George Bigheart had key 169 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,719 Speaker 1: information and refused to talk to anyone other than him. 170 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: Time was of the essence. Though Big Heart lay dying 171 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: in an Oklahoma City hospital from suspected poisoning, the attorney 172 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: rushed to meet with him. They talked, and then Vaughan 173 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: stayed with George until he passed away. Excited that the 174 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: case had finally been cracked, he phoned the O Sage 175 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: County Sheriff, telling him that Bigheart had confided valuable information. 176 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: He assured the sheriff that had catched the first train 177 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: out of the city in the morning. The next time 178 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: anyone saw Vaughan, he was faced down next to the 179 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 1: tracks right outside Oklahoma City. Someone had broken his neck 180 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: and thrown his body from the train by The murders 181 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: became so frequent that the remaining O Sage appealed to 182 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: their tribal council. They were not safe, not on the 183 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: tribes lands and not in their homes, and their leaders 184 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: agreed they didn't bother to go to local law enforcement, 185 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:05,599 Speaker 1: though everyone had heard what had happened to Vaughan and 186 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: it seemed that they couldn't be trusted. With no other choice, 187 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: the leaders requested that the Department of Justice investigate the 188 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: murders and prosecute whoever was responsible. Their plea came at 189 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: a time when the d o J had selected a 190 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: brand new director, a man named j Edgar Hoover. Hoover 191 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: looked over the case and summoned a Houston, Texas field 192 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: agent named Tom White. He told the young agent that 193 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 1: he'd need to move his family to Oklahoma City to 194 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: head up the investigation, and that, given the cases history, 195 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: doing so would put them at great risk. Still, the 196 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: agent relocated and got to work immediately. After sifting through 197 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: reports of the deaths, he decided to focus on the 198 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: cases he thought he could most likely solve and bring 199 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: to justice. He ran into a snag, though, the residents 200 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: of o s Age County were afraid that talking would 201 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: get them killed. As White ward over the depths, suicides 202 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:07,119 Speaker 1: that might be homicides, accidents that probably weren't, executions, stabbings, 203 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: and poisonings. He came to the conclusion that he was 204 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: tracking more than one killer and those killers were organized. 205 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: No longer able to handle the case alone, White recruited 206 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,199 Speaker 1: others from out of state as well, a retired sheriff, 207 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: a former Texas ranger, a deep cover operative, and a 208 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: fellow agent from the Bureau. Each man had their own style, 209 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: and they slid into the community quietly one by one. 210 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: The sheriff set up shop as an elderly cattleman, the 211 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: ranger as a rancher, the operative as an insurance salesman, 212 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: and the field agent as somebody searching for relatives among 213 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: the osage. The team suffered a few setbacks early on. 214 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: Testimonies and death reports began to vanish. At first glance, 215 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: not a single piece of evidence from the crime scenes 216 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: had been preserved. Then a breakthrough. The undertaker for gunshot 217 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: victim Anna Brown, admitted to taking a rather odd souvenir 218 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: her skull, and on closer examination it proved enlightening. The 219 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: skull had a single gunshot hole in the back of 220 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: the head, but no exit wound, and to the team 221 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: that meant the coroner couldn't have missed the bullet during 222 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: the autopsy. Without it, determining the precise type of handgun 223 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: would be impossible. The coroner turned out to be two 224 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: doctors brothers. In fact, also present to the autopsy had 225 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: been the sheriff, the undertaker, and curiously, the owner of 226 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: a local trading company. Anyone could have tampered with the evidence, 227 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: but as the team dug deeper into the case, three 228 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: men began to surface as primary suspects. William Hale and 229 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: his nephews Ernest and Brian Burkhardt were well known around 230 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: o s Age County. While the men were wealthy, it 231 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: had been Ernest who had married into money though he 232 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: was White, as the husband of an o Sage member 233 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: named Molly, He and the couple's three children would have 234 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: inherited her head rights should she die. And curiously, Rita 235 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: Smith and Anna Brown had been Molly's sisters, and that 236 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: hadn't been all. It seems that Ernest's mother in law 237 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: had also died a mysterious death not too long before, 238 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: and now Molly herself had fallen ill. The doctors claimed 239 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: she had diabetes and they regularly gave her insulent injections, 240 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: but White discovered that her doctors were the same men 241 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: who had been performing the autopsies. He also learned that 242 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: Bill Smith had asked questions after the deaths of his 243 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: family members. Agents considered that his home may have been 244 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: bombed to destroy evidence, and when White questioned the Oklahoma 245 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: City hospital nurse who last attended Bill Smith, she claimed 246 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: he never mentioned anyone who might have been involved, although 247 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: Smith's lawyer recalled that Bill once said his only enemies 248 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: on earth were the Burkhart brothers and their uncle, William Hale. 249 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: The investigation continued to uncover more corruption in the guardianship program. 250 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: Millions of dollars had been stolen from the very people 251 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: the guardians had promised to protect. Though the siphoning had 252 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: hardly been a secret, Judges and politicians openly promised profitable 253 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: guardianships in exchange for votes. White turned his attention to 254 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: Molly's family. He determined that whoever killed her mother, sisters, 255 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: and brother in law knew exactly what they were doing. 256 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: They killed Anna Brown first, who left all had rights 257 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: and money to her mother Lizzie. From there, figuring out 258 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: the motive became easier. When Lizzie died, it left Molly 259 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: and Rita with incredible wealth. And finally, if Bill and 260 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: Rita died together, their entire estate would go to Molly. 261 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: William Hale it seems controlled the Burkhart brothers and they 262 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: did everything he asked. If Molly died, an entire family's 263 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: immense fortune would go to Ernest Burke Heart. Something needed 264 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: to be done, and quickly. White asked for rest warrants 265 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: for Hale and the Burkharts, and the Department of Justice 266 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: issued them on January four of nine. During the interrogation, 267 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: ringleader William Hale refused to talk, but Ernest did. He 268 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: claimed he hadn't wanted to blow up Bill and read 269 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: his home, but he had trusted his uncle's judgment, and 270 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 1: that Hale had hired a bootlegger to do the job, 271 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: the same man used to kill Henry Rowan. That hitman, 272 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: a guy named John Ramsay, later admitted to the killings. 273 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: Confronted with the statements, though Hale still refused to talk. Instead, 274 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: he's simply shrugged, a cavalier attitude, no doubt, But considering 275 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: how many people Hale had in his pocket, it's hard 276 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: to be surprised. Hale sat in his jail cell smiling. 277 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: I'll fight it, he told the agents, But Agent White 278 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: and others had no idea just how far Hale would go. 279 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: Justice often moved slowly. Tom White's investigation took three years 280 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: and thirteen agents before William Hale and the others ever 281 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: stepped foot in a courtroom. Even then, progress proved difficult. 282 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: While crimes on Native American land fell under federal jurisdiction. 283 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: Those that happened on tribal land that had been sold 284 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: to white people had to be tried at the state level. 285 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: Hale had already proven his reach, Trying him in a 286 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: state court appeared riskier than federal prosecutors chose the one 287 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: case they had the best chance of getting conviction. On 288 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: the murder of Henry Rowan, Hale naturally hired the best 289 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: possible law firm, paying for hitman John Ramsay's defense as well. 290 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: His lawyers were every bit as unscrupulous as Hale and self. 291 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,360 Speaker 1: One of the attorneys claimed federal agents had tortured their 292 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: clients into a confession, and the dirty tactics didn't stop there. 293 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: Witnesses were encouraged to lie, The defense questioned the drinking 294 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,680 Speaker 1: behaviors of others valuing their testimony. Some jurors were bribed, 295 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: and many credible witnesses were threatened. The corruption angered Hoover 296 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: and White so much that they pressured the Justice Department 297 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: to prosecute Hale's lead attorney. And then the prosecution got 298 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: another break. Ernest Burkhardt slipped a note to investigators, fearing 299 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: he might soon be bumped off, He offered testimony in 300 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: exchange for protection. Tom White shared that fear, despite round 301 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 1: the clock guards and moving their key witness, he feared 302 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: someone might still slip Burkhart poison. The hearings moved along 303 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: until March, when the judge suddenly determined that since the 304 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: case involved head rights, it wasn't strictly involving doable land, 305 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: and therefore the trial must be held in a state court. 306 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: The federal government appealed the decision. The odds that the 307 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: prosecution would get a conviction in o Sage County began 308 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: to look dismal at best. Everyone in town showed up 309 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: for the trial. Oh Sage chiefs wore traditional headdresses and 310 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: ranchers for their cowboy hats. Everyone grew silent when Ernest 311 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: Burkhart entered the courtroom. Things got worse for the prosecution 312 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: after that, a whole lot worse. William Hale's lawyer asked 313 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: to speak with Burkhart in private. Despite the prosecution's objection, 314 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: Ernest left the stand, returning with Hale's lawyers twenty minutes later. 315 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: The defense then asked they be granted a day to 316 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: talk to the prosecution's key witness, and the judge agreed. 317 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 1: When the court resumed the next morning. Hale was all grins. 318 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: Burkhart took the stand and recanted his confession. In Hale's 319 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: own trial, the one for the bombing of Bill and 320 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:05,959 Speaker 1: Rita Smith, Hale's attorneys pushed for an acquittal. The defense 321 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: continued to insist that federal agents had tortured and beat 322 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: suspects to gain confessions. Hale took the stand and said 323 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: that Agent White had put a gun to his face 324 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: and threatened him with the electric chair. He added that 325 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: other agents had then put a hood over his head 326 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: and attached a device with a clock to it. The 327 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: story made the newspapers back in Washington. Hoover naturally demanded answers. 328 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: White and the other agents reassured the Bureau director that 329 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:37,119 Speaker 1: the entire story had been fabricated. Finally, the prosecution caught 330 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: a break. Bootlegger and hitman Kelsey Morrison stepped forward. He 331 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: had become tired of the lies, he said. He told 332 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 1: the courtroom how he and Burkhart had gotten Anna Brown 333 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: drunk before driving her to a ravine, where he admitted 334 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,880 Speaker 1: to shooting her with a gun that William Hale had supplied. 335 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,439 Speaker 1: It was a paid job netting him sixteen thousand dollars 336 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: in cash. His next confess should on the stand revolved 337 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: around killing Bill and Rita Smith. After refusing the job 338 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: once he said the deal was sweetened. He had been 339 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: told that with the Smith's deead, Molly would inherit everything. 340 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: Hale had promised that this windfall would enable Burkhart to 341 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: pay him well. In May, the Supreme Court overruled the 342 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: state judge, placing the trial back in federal court. When 343 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: the trial resumed, all witnesses for the prosecution remained under 344 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: heavy federal guard but protecting star witnesses was only half 345 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: the battle. Finding jurors who hadn't been approached by Hale 346 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: proved difficult enough, but as inhumane as it sounds, and 347 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: the eyes of the white residence of Oklahoma at the time, 348 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: killing a Native American was no more serious than animal cruelty. 349 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: Burkhart became increasingly nervous. White noticed this, but so had 350 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 1: the man's uncle, William Hale. On June eight, Ernest and 351 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 1: Molly's four year old daughter died suddenly. While officers led 352 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: Burkehart into the courtroom, he slipped prosecutors another note telling 353 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: them he was ready to testify. He claimed that going 354 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: to his own lawyer would certainly have gotten him killed. 355 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: The courtroom sat in stunned silence. When burke Heart approached 356 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: the judge, he dismissed his defense team and entered a 357 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: guilty plea. He told the courtroom how he had given 358 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: the order to a man named Asa Kirby to blow 359 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: up the smith house. He stated that the allegations of 360 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: beatings and corsion had been an outright lie, and once 361 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: on a roll, Burkhart just kept going. He began to cry, 362 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: telling the courtroom he promised to only tell the truth. 363 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: He said his uncle had planned to poison Henry Rowan's moonshine, 364 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: something had done many times to other Native Americans. The 365 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: plan had changed, though, and he recalled how angry his 366 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: uncle became with Ramsey, shot Rowan in the back of 367 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: the head and kept the gun instead of leaving behind 368 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: to make it look like a suicide. Adding to the statement, 369 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 1: bootlegger Matt Williams testified that Hale had talked about his 370 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: plans to bump off Henry Rowan. He said hailed also 371 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: as to his lawyers off. Federal prosecutors would have jurisdiction 372 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: in a murder case on Native American grounds. Hale had 373 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,959 Speaker 1: been boasted that his lawyers assured him that the federal 374 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: government had no jurisdiction. An insurance examiner testified that Hale 375 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 1: once told him had planned on killing Native Americans for 376 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:33,119 Speaker 1: insurance money. But despite all this shocking testimony, the jury 377 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: failed to reach a verdict even after five days of deliberation, 378 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: as it turned out a large portion of the jurors 379 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: had been bribed, so a retrial was set in Oklahoma City. Finally, 380 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: after four trials, Hale and Ramsay were found guilty of 381 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: murdering Henry Rowan and were sentenced to the Federal penitentiary 382 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: at Leavenworth, Kansas. Ernest Burkhard admitted to having a hand 383 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: in eliminating his wife's entire family and was sentenced to 384 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: life in prison for his crimes. Molly Burkhart recovered from 385 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: being poisoned by the phony insulin. She divorced Ernest and 386 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: lived another ten years, passing away in nineteen thirty seven. 387 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: Her three surviving children inherited the remains of the family fortune. 388 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: But the story was far from over. After the trials 389 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: were over, so too were the murders. Well, mostly, you 390 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: see some of the killers had never been caught, while 391 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: others weren't brought to justice at all. Burkhart hadn't been 392 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: the only one to marry and kill for head rights, 393 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: and it's easy to wonder just how tolerant American citizens 394 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,639 Speaker 1: would have been if those murders had taken place in 395 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 1: mainstream suburbia. William Hale never served time for his part 396 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: in killing all of Molly's family. The murder that sent 397 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: him to prison had been that of Henry Rowan. Even then, 398 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: he served just twenty one years, and when he was 399 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 1: set free, he moved right back to os Age County. 400 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: Brian Barkhardt was acquitted as part of a deal with 401 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: the prosecution for his testimony, and his brother Ernest spent 402 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 1: just ten years in prison for his part in murdering 403 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: his wife's family. Appallingly, Governor Henry Bellman granted him a 404 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: full pardon. Years later, hitman Kelsey Morrison was sentenced to 405 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: life in prison, but was paroled in Asa Kirby, the 406 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: man who bombed Bill Smith's house, didn't even make it 407 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: past the trials, though after he gave his testimony. He 408 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: was shot and killed during a store robbery after a 409 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: convenient tip off to the store's owner by William Hale. 410 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: Just like the Dakota before them, the O s Age 411 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,959 Speaker 1: had found themselves with nowhere to turn. Everyone, it seems, 412 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: was out to get them. Bankers and lawyers, businessmen and undertakers, 413 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: doctors and the local authorities. All of them had conspired 414 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: against them, and those that hadn't simply turned a blind 415 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 1: eye consent by silence if you will. As you might imagine, 416 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: the case had a long reaching effect. One O Sage 417 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: descendant said, it's in the back of our minds. You 418 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: just have it in your head that you don't trust anybody. 419 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: The Bureau of Investigation, which later became the FBI, had 420 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: to unravel a lot of leads. Just getting the cases 421 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: to trial took an enormous amount of work from Agent 422 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: White and the others, and while they did their best 423 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: in some instances, they spent more time working on the 424 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: cases than the perpetrators spent behind bars for committing those crimes. 425 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,879 Speaker 1: And if what passed is justice for the O Sage angers, you, 426 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 1: well it should in the end, though, what made the 427 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: investigation so difficult, aside from how Native Americans were viewed, 428 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: was the cover up that swept it away, with much 429 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: of evidence ignored or destroyed. It's honestly a miracle that 430 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,400 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice had enough to try the five 431 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: cases they did. But if the story of the O 432 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: s Age tragedy has larger lessons to teach us, maybe 433 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 1: the most obvious one on the list is also the 434 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: most hopeful. Even looking back more than a century later, 435 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,160 Speaker 1: we can try to bury the truth, but one way 436 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 1: or another, it will always find its way back to 437 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: the surface. There's more to the story. Stick around after 438 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. Before 439 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: the FBI's creation and Hoover's work in standardizing the field 440 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: of law enforcement, investigators were on their own. Most have 441 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: limited training, little resources, and without higher authority and inquiries, 442 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: they could be bought off more easily. But there's more 443 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: dissolving a case than interrogating suspects and field observations. When 444 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: we turn on any crime show today, there are the 445 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: people behind the agents in the field who are instrumental 446 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: in solving a case or making a charge stick. We 447 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 1: know that field as forensic science. It wasn't one of 448 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: Hoover's men who started that field, though, no the founder 449 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: was a fifty one year old millionaire named Frances Lee, 450 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: who had three grown children and six grandchildren. The road 451 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: leading up to Lee's career had been a long one, 452 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: stretching back to early childhood. Lee was born in eighteen 453 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: seventy eight, the youngest of three children born to John 454 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: and Francis Glessner. Eldest brother, John George, was born in 455 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one, and a second brother, John Francis, died 456 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: in infancy in eighteen seventy four. It was common practice 457 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: to name children similarly at the time. The family enjoyed 458 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: immense well their far there being the vice president of 459 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: International Harvester with the best education money could buy, The children, 460 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: by all accounts, became intellectual forces to be reckoned with 461 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: and right from an early age. The two remaining siblings 462 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: shared other family traits as well, perfectionism and attention to detail, 463 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: which they later attributed to their mother, Francis, a talented 464 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: seamstress and needleworker. As a teen, Lee became fond of 465 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes novels and decided to follow Dr Watson into 466 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 1: a career in medicine, with sights set on attending Harvard. 467 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: That wasn't to be, though Harvard opened its doors to 468 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: only one of the Glessner children, eldest sibling, George. Lee 469 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: married shortly after finishing school, settling down in Chicago and 470 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: raising three children. Happily. Ever after wasn't in the cards, though, 471 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: and the marriage fell apart in nineteen fourteen, and then 472 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: tragedy struck when George passed away from influenza complications in 473 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: ninety nine. The rest of the family soon followed, mother 474 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: Francis in nineteen thirty two and father John in nineteen 475 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: thirty six. With nothing left in Chicago and the children 476 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: all grown up, Lee moved to the Cottage, a private 477 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: residence on the family estate in New Hampshire, and this 478 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: was the pivotal point Lee, who inherited a hefty fortune, 479 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: finally reconnected with Harvard, donating two hundred and fifty thousand 480 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: dollars a cool four point six million in today's money, 481 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: But it came with a catch. The money was to 482 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: help establish the Department of Legal Medicine, the forerunner to 483 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 1: forensic science. To assist students, Lee created the Nutshell Studies, 484 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: a series of twenty miniature models that depicted real challenging 485 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: cases spanning homicides, accidents and suicides. Each set had been 486 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 1: meticulously crafted, right down to the very last detail. Light 487 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: switches and door locks were fully functional. The nuts shells 488 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: contained small trash cans filled with beer cans, hand rolled cigarettes, 489 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,479 Speaker 1: and pencils made of toothpicks. Ligature marks and blood splatter 490 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: were intricately painted on the doll victims. Even skin colorations 491 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: such as those associated with rigor mortis were included. It 492 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: was with these tiny details that specialists that the FBI 493 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: usually solved a case. Lee believed that investigators often only 494 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: found clues to support hunches, ignoring key information such as 495 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: social and financial status, possible frame of mind, and a 496 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: time of death by the seminars were highly sought after 497 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: participants were given a flashlight, a nutshell model resting behind 498 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: a plate of glass, and ninety minutes to deduct what 499 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:49,720 Speaker 1: had happened. Whereas witness statements could be inaccurate, Lee believed 500 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: the scene had all the potential to expose the guilty 501 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: and clear the innocent, and that bias often led to 502 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: missteps that may permanently harm the investigation. New Hampshire State 503 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: Police granted Lee an honorary post that was completely unheard 504 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: of in nineteen forty three the title of captain an 505 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: educational director. What's more astounding than the nutshell models is Lee. 506 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: You see, Francis Glessner Lee was a woman. Harvard didn't 507 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: allow women to attend their medical school until nineteen forty five, 508 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: a full half century after she went looking for her education, 509 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: and her honorary post as captain in New Hampshire came 510 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: at a time when women weren't permitted to have their 511 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: own beats on patrol, much less rise to the top. 512 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: Those tiny dioramas are still used to teach at both 513 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: Harvard and the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore to 514 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: this day. Francis Glessner Lee is considered the mother of 515 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: forensic science, and thanks to her, modern investigators have a 516 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,440 Speaker 1: chance to do what Agent Tom White and his team 517 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: never could, follow every clue on the trail to the truth, 518 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: no matter how hidden it might be. American Shadows is 519 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle 520 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,280 Speaker 1: Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, and produced by Miranda Hawkins 521 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, 522 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,799 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit 523 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: Grim and Mild dot com. For more podcasts from My 524 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 525 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.