1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Hello This Land listeners. This is host Rebecca Nagel, and 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: I am so excited to share with you something that 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,640 Speaker 1: is very near and dear to my heart, something I've 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: been working on for the past four years. My book, 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: By the Fire We Carry, the generation's long fight for 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: justice on Native land. The book covers a twenty twenty 7 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: Supreme Court case that resulted in the largest restoration of 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: tribal land in US history, which if you listen to 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,279 Speaker 1: Season one you might remember as McGirt vy Oklahoma. If 10 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: you liked the story of Season one, the way it 11 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: mixed history with the present day, how it followed a 12 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: court case step by step, and the personal and family 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: history that was woven throughout, then you will like this book. 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: But it is also very different. When I sat down 15 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: to write this book, I started from scratch. I conducted 16 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: two years of research, collected hundreds of primary source documents, 17 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: sued the Attorney General and Governor of Oklahoma to get records, 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,559 Speaker 1: and interviewed over one hundred people. The book includes people 19 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: you haven't met yet and stories you haven't heard, including 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: a whole new Supreme Court case. By the Fire We 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: Carry comes out one week from today Tuesday, September tenth. 22 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: What I'm sharing with you here is the first thirty 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: minutes of the audiobook, So if you like it and 24 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: want to listen to the rest, you can just pick 25 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: up where this podcast left off. You can listen wherever 26 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: you get your audio books, including Audible, Spotify, Apple Books, 27 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: and more. An audible you can also pre order it. 28 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: If paper is more your thing, you can pick up 29 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: By the Fire We Carry wherever you get your books, 30 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: including online sellers and your favorite local bookstore. I hope 31 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: you enjoyed this excerpt of By the Fire We Carry. 32 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. On the outskirts of Nashville talked 33 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: between open pastures and suburban cul de Sacs stands a 34 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: museum dedicated to the legacy of Andrew Jackson. The building 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: was once his home. In July of twenty fifteen, I 36 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,959 Speaker 1: arrived to carry out a family tradition. After going through 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: the main house and paying the entrance fee, I nervously 38 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: guided myself to Andrew Jackson's grave. Our seventh President is 39 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: buried behind a black wrought iron fence and a neatly 40 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: kept English garden, on grounds that betray their former life 41 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: as a plantation staff and period clothing milled about. I 42 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: waited until I thought no one was looking, and then 43 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: I spat on his grave. President Andrew Jackson's signature policy 44 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,279 Speaker 1: was the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples from the territorial 45 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: limits of the United States to west of the Mississippi. 46 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: Fearing that Cherokees would not survive on the land of 47 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: our creation, my ancestors, against the will and government of 48 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: the Cherokee people, agreed to leave. For this, they were 49 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: killed in my family. Andrew Jackson's betrayal is personal. A 50 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: woman had seen me spit. She started yelling. Don't believe 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: everything you read, she screamed. Her statement confused me. What 52 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: was she afraid? I had read the museum text surrounding us, 53 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: the lionizing biographies available in the gift shop, the popular 54 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: version of American history. The fight over truth is so 55 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: bitter because power flows from the dominant narrative, the power 56 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: to shape both public sentiment and public policy. In the 57 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: telling of the American story, Andrew Jackson, like most US presidents, 58 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: is a household name. In contrast, the history of indigenous 59 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: peoples is barely known, and the stories that are popular 60 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: are mostly wrong. Perhaps the woman was afraid of the 61 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: book I would one day write. In the summer of 62 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw 63 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: a post from the Muscogee legal scholar Sarah Dear. It 64 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: was about a court case I had not yet heard of. 65 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: A man on Oklahoma's death row was arguing the state 66 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: didn't have jurisdiction to execute him because he was native 67 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: and the murder happened on the Muskogee reservation. Oklahoma argued 68 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: that reservation no longer existed. Before Muscogi Nation came to 69 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: present day Oklahoma, the tribe's territory spanned what is now Florida, Georgia, 70 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: and Alabama. In the eighteen thirties, the US military rounded 71 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: Muskogee people up at gunpoint and forced them into exile 72 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: halfway across the continent. In a letter to Muscogee leaders, 73 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson promised their new home would remain theirs for 74 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: as long as the grass grows or the water runs 75 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 1: in peace and plenty. That promise was not kept. In 76 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: violation of their treaties, Oklahoma was created on top of 77 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: Muskogee land. Since it became a state, Oklahoma acted as 78 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: if all reservations within its borders were abolished for over 79 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: a century, the Muscogee reservation was denied. While that might 80 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: sound like a reservation no longer exists, that's not what 81 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: the law says. On August eighth, twenty seventeen, the Tenth 82 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: Circuit Court of Appeals, one step below the Supreme Court, 83 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: upheld the Muskogee reservation. This is a big f deal, 84 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: Deer wrote in her post. My tribal nation has a 85 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: recognized reservation again. The case would ultimately go all the 86 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: way to the Supreme Court. Their decision would become one 87 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: of the most important rulings of this century for Indigenous 88 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: land and treaty rights. I would spend the next six 89 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: years reporting on the case, first for news articles, then 90 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: a podcast, and eventually this book. I knew, whatever the outcome, 91 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: the case would likely determine the reservation status of my 92 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: tribe too. I grew up with stories of how my 93 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: ancestors sacrificed their lives for the sovereignty and land of 94 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nation. What I felt was the possibility that the 95 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: land they died for would be recognized as Cherokee land 96 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: for the first time in over a century. It was 97 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: a visceral sense of justice. I felt it in my blood. 98 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: This case was fought over the Muscogee Reservation. My personal 99 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: connection to it is through the broader implications it had 100 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: for my tribe Cherokee Nation. This book includes both Muskogee 101 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: and Cherokee history, as well as that of other tribes 102 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: impacted by the eventual Supreme Court decision, including the Chickasaws, Choctaws, 103 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: and Seminoles. As neighbors in our ancestral homelands and Oklahoma, 104 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: the Muscogees and Cherokees share a history that stretches further 105 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: back than colonization. At times we were enemies, at times 106 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: we were allies. Most of the time, our political relationship 107 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: was more complicated because of our proximity. Our history ties 108 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: share many parallels, but they are not the same. Our fates, however, 109 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: remain intertwined. In writing this book, I strove to be 110 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: honest about where I come from and my personal relationship 111 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: to this case, while understanding the limits of my perspective 112 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: and the need to include other indigenous voices in my 113 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: family's telling. My ancestors were heroes for signing our tribe's 114 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: removal treaty. As an adult and a journalist, I have 115 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: tested my childhood understanding against the historical record, and of 116 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: course it is more complicated. I am the descendant of 117 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: white settlers, Cherokee and slavers, and Indigenous people whose history 118 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: on this land stretches back to the beginning of time 119 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: in a world that rewards whiteness. My proximity to it 120 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: makes it easier for me to be heard, which means 121 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: that you are more likely to come across an indigenous 122 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: voice like mine. Brown and black Indigenous writers like Elena Roberts, 123 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: Joy Harjoe and Elizabeth Hidalgo Reese have also contributed to 124 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: the topics covered here. Suggestions for your future reading can 125 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: be found in the PDF enhancement. At the center of 126 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: this case about land and treaty rights are also the 127 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: survivors and victims of violence. The appeals that led to 128 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court decision started with two convictions in Oklahoma 129 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: State Court. It is important to remember those convictions would 130 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: not have happened without a very young survivor, her family, 131 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:55,119 Speaker 1: and the family of one murdered man pushing for justice. 132 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: The story of this lawsuit and its connected history includes 133 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: a accounts of murder, suicide, racial violence, and sexual violence. 134 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: A guide to where those subjects appear in this audio 135 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: book can be found in the PDF enhancement. Please take 136 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: care of yourself while you listen. I wrote this book 137 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: because I wanted the story of this historic Supreme Court 138 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: decision to be well documented. I wrote this book because 139 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: during the litigation, I heard people gloss over the wrongs 140 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: of history, and I wanted to catalog the cruelty of 141 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: what they brushed aside. I wrote this book because I 142 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: believe the American public needs to understand that the legacy 143 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: of colonization is not just a problem for Indigenous peoples, 144 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: but a problem for our democracy. And selfishly, I wrote 145 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: this book because the story lived in my body and 146 00:10:55,559 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: I needed it to come out. Part one, Chapter one, 147 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: The Crime. The Indian Nation Turnpike is a four lane 148 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: highway cutting north to south through the bottom right corner 149 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: of Oklahoma. On a cold day in November, I'm on 150 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: the highway headed south just after Henrietta. The exit dumps 151 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: me onto a shiny two lane blacktop. After a mile 152 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: between the trees and the fence posts, I see a 153 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: narrow opening on the left. Having pieced together the location 154 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: from press coverage, court records, and word of mouth, I 155 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: think I know where I'm going. The legal name for 156 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: the road is North thirty nine point eighty, but everyone 157 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: calls it Vernon Road after the small town. It leads 158 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: to the stereotype of Oklahoma from musicals or westerns or 159 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: just play ignorance is of a land that is flat 160 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: and dry. But that's true only for the western part 161 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: of the state. The fingertips of the Ozarks stretch into 162 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: eastern Oklahoma, and in the spring and summer months, the landscape, 163 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: dotted with hills, rivers and creeks, turns verdant. People call 164 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: it green country. Its fall and the sides of Vernon 165 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: Road are deep and muddy. So I drive down the middle. 166 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: I'm going parallel to the inner state. Now the hum 167 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: of the highway still audible, but on this road there 168 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: is no traffic. After two big curves and a hill, 169 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: the road stretches out flat and straight in front of me. 170 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: The gravel is the color of faded rust, a burnt 171 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: orange teetering on beige. I pass a Muskogee cemetery on 172 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: the left, then a little yellow house before reaching a 173 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: spot on the road between the cow pastures and the 174 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: trees that looks like any other spot except for one thing, 175 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: a large metal, white cross. The cross stands with a 176 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: lean in the ditch. Garden stones have been placed in 177 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: a circle around the base. The white paint is chipping 178 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: and rust curls around the edges, but in faded letters, 179 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: I can still read the name George Jacobs. It was 180 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: a few days after the murder, in the summer of 181 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine when the Jacob's family came to his house. 182 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,439 Speaker 1: Over twenty years later, when we speak, Anderson Fields Junior 183 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 1: can't remember exactly who it was, maybe a sister and 184 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: a nephew. Probably through smalltown talk. Anderson figures the Jacob's 185 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: family heard he was the one who found George. They 186 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,319 Speaker 1: wanted to put up a cross where their loved one 187 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: had died, and they wanted Anderson to show them the place, 188 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: and so he took them. At the time, it was 189 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: an otherwise nondescript section of dirt road except for one 190 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: undeniable mark. Blood. There had been so much of it 191 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: it stayed for months. Even after it rained, you could 192 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: still see that spot, he told me. After a while 193 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: it started to look like an oil stain. The cross 194 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: commemorates George Jacob's life, but it also marks the exact 195 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: location of his murder, a fact that would become crucial 196 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: evidence in the appeal of his killer. That appeal would 197 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: eventually go all the way to the Supreme Court. Under 198 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: US law, tribes occupy a precarious legal status, which often 199 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: makes it difficult for them to bring cases on their 200 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: own behalf. As a result, many of the most important 201 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: legal decisions about tribal land and sovereignty come from surprising 202 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: places like this one, which started in ninety ninety nine 203 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: as a small town murder. The account of George Jacobs's 204 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: death that I present in this chapter is based on 205 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: trial transcripts, along with interviews I conducted with witnesses, police investigators, 206 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: family members, and members of the community. August twenty eighth, 207 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, was Patrick Murphy's last day as a freeman. 208 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: It was a Saturday, his day off. He didn't have 209 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: big plans, just helping his cousin move some furniture. Patrick 210 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: woke up, took a shower, and pulled a beer out 211 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: of the chilled six pack waiting in his cooler. He 212 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: drank it all six while he waited for his cousin 213 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: to show up. Patrick's heavy drinking is important context, but 214 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: it's hard to talk about without conjuring stereotypes about Native 215 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: Americans and drinking. According to national data, rates of heavy 216 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: or binge drinking among Native Americans and white people are 217 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: about the same. The widespread myth that Native Americans are 218 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: genetically predisposed to alcoholism has been thoroughly debunked. Except for 219 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: a small sliver of road, the view from Patrick's front 220 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: porch was trees. That summer, Patrick was working in Henrietta 221 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,359 Speaker 1: as a line lead at a factory that built filters 222 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: for the military. He was thirty years old and had 223 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: three children from a previous marriage who were supposed to 224 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: be staying with him for the weekend, but were at 225 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: his mom's place a few hundred yards down the hill. 226 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: His girlfriend was staying there too. They had been fighting. 227 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: Patrick's trailer, as well as his mom's house, sat on 228 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: the family's land, a spot relatives still call the home place. 229 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: It was all cousins that stayed down there, one aunt 230 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: told me, even the generations that came and went before 231 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: Patrick were buried in the yard. Tucked into a curve 232 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: of the North Canadian River, people call the small community 233 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: the Bottoms, Some call it the whole. The name you 234 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: might find on a map if it's marked at all 235 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: is Ryle. Ryel is a Muskogee or Creek An English community. 236 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: The last treaty Muskogi Nations signed with the US government 237 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty six reserved over three million acres for 238 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: the tribe, spanning eleven counties in Oklahoma. Some parts are urban, 239 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: containing the city of Tulsa and its surrounding suburbs. But 240 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: the southern half of Muskogi Nations treaty territory, including Ryall, 241 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: is rule and these isolated communities lies the heartbeat of 242 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: Muskogee culture. It's where elders still speak the language, where 243 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: Creek Methodists and Baptist churches stand, and where on Saturday 244 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: nights people still dance at Muskogee ceremonial grounds. Ryall was 245 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: small enough that the Murphy kids could walk everywhere between relatives' houses, 246 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: to the Ryal School and to the local Creek Baptist 247 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: church Hickory Ground Number one. When the grown folks were visiting, 248 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: children were not allowed to listen or interrupt, so they 249 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: played outside. The cousins spent those days cutting through the 250 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: woods to the ball field, the basketball court, or another 251 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 1: relative's house. They built makeshift go carts and raced them 252 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: down the big hill that led to the river bottom. 253 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 1: Only when called did they return home. Patrick was raised 254 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: by his mother, a full blood Muskogee woman. His father, 255 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: a black man, hadn't been around much. At Ryals school, 256 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: Patrick was a star athlete. By the time he went 257 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: to high school in Dustin, a little ways south. He'd 258 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: honed in on basketball. A lot of cousins would move 259 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: north to Henrietta or even further to places like Okmulgi 260 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: or Tulsa. But after playing basketball for two years in 261 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: junior college, Patrick moved back to Ryll. By the time 262 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 1: Patrick was sitting on his front porch that hot August morning, 263 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: he had lived back home for almost a decade. Through 264 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: an opening in the trees, he watched a car pull 265 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,120 Speaker 1: into the driveway. It was Mark Taylor, the cousin he'd 266 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: been waiting on. Patrick threw a cooler of beer in 267 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: the back of his green Chevy pickup truck, and both 268 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: men piled in. After the cousins moved frontier and ate 269 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: some barbecue. It was about six or seven o'clock on 270 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: a long, hot summer day. The sun still sat high 271 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: in the sky, they decided to go driving around, not 272 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: unlike the days they had spent roaming the hills of 273 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: Ryal as kids on foot, except now they were roaming 274 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: the back roads of Macintosh County by truck. George Jacobs 275 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: was older than Patrick but from the same community. Since 276 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 1: it was all family down there. George Jacob's grandma and 277 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: Patrick Murphy's great grandma were sisters, which made them cousins 278 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: in a way. In his half century of life, George 279 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: had seen a lot, including a tour in Vietnam. After 280 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: growing up in Ryal, he moved to Tulsa, where he 281 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: worked as a mechanic rebuilding motors. There he lived in 282 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: a second story apartment above his older sister. She remembered 283 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: George coming downstairs every Saturday morning and saying it's time 284 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: to eat after cooking breakfast. George was a younger brother, 285 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: an easygoing guy who was always willing to help anyone 286 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: if he could. She would later say. The Jacob's family 287 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: did not want to speak about the case. One relative 288 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,399 Speaker 1: told me it was still too painful. Their comments about 289 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: George are taken from court transcripts and victim impact statements. 290 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: George Jacobs spent that Saturday, also driving around with his cousin, 291 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: also named Mark. George and Mark Sumka met up that 292 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: morning on the Okfusky Okmolgi County line and decided to 293 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: drive around in George's black Dodge Sedan. It was a 294 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: normal thing to do on the weekend, back roading, visiting 295 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: friends and dropping in on relatives. Until nightfall, the Dodge 296 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: Sedan would be under back and forth along the four 297 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: lanes of the Indian Nation Turnpike and the braided curves 298 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: of the North Canadian River. One of their last stops 299 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: was George's mother's house, where George grew up down in 300 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,439 Speaker 1: the North Canadian River bottom. The house sat at the 301 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: dead end of the same county road that went past 302 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: the Murphy Place. The matriarch of the Jacobs family was 303 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: a lifelong member of Hickory Ground Number one Baptist Church 304 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: and a homemaker who liked a garden, canned fruit, and 305 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: handstitch quilts. But she was in her seventies now and 306 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: the house was getting run down. That day, George told 307 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: his cousin he was thinking about moving back home. He 308 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: wanted to help his mom fix the place up. When 309 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: night fell, George and Sumkea took back roads down to 310 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: a little country bar. At about eight thirty or nine pm. 311 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: They sat down and ordered sandwiches. Mister G's Bar sat 312 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: in an old rock building that had once been the 313 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: post office for Vernon, Oklahoma. The handful of streets in Vernon, 314 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: which is about nine miles south of Ryal, are named 315 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: after the southern states from which its early residents fled Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. 316 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: As Oklahoma was becoming a state, black people saw it 317 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: as a potential oasis from the violence and segregation of 318 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: the South, and they founded over fifty all black towns there. 319 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: Vernon is one of thirteen that still exists. In its heyday, 320 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,679 Speaker 1: the town hosted a grocery store, a hardware store, cotton 321 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:03,719 Speaker 1: gin cafes, a syrup mill, and a hotel. Today, the 322 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: only public establishments left in Vernon are churches. By the 323 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: time they finished their sandwiches, George was pretty drunk. After 324 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: Sumka helped him into the passenger seat of the Dodge sedan, 325 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: George passed out. Sumka took the keys and drove back 326 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: north on the only road out of town, Vernon Road. 327 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: By the summer of the murder, Patrick and his girlfriend, 328 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: Amy had been together for five and a half years. 329 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: Her name has been changed here. According to Amy, Patrick 330 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: would get jealous over little things like if Amy talked 331 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: to other people at work, if she read a book, 332 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: Patrick would ask her what was more important, my book 333 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: or him? She remembered, but the biggest thing that made 334 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: Patrick jealous was George Jacobs. Amy had dated George for 335 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: three years, and they had together that summer. Their daughter, Megan, 336 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: was nine years old. As an adult, Megan remembered going 337 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: outside when Patrick would beat her mother. The Thursday before 338 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 1: the murder, Amy had gone into town to apply for 339 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: a job. When she got home, Patrick accused her of 340 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: going to see George. According to Amy, she and George 341 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: no longer spoke, but Patrick didn't believe her. He told 342 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: Amy she should go back and live with George if 343 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: she wanted. As the fight escalated, Patrick threatened to kill 344 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: George Jacobs and his entire family. He said he was 345 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: going to get them one by one. Driving around that Saturday, 346 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: the first relative Patrick and Mark Taylor dropped in on 347 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: was a young man named Billy Jack Long. Billy Jack 348 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,479 Speaker 1: was the baby of all the cousins, and that summer 349 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: had just turned eighteen. He wanted to go out riding 350 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: with the older men. There's no room for kids in 351 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: this truck, Taylor replied, knowing he and Patrick had been drinking, 352 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: but Patrick and Billy Jack insisted. He looked up to 353 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: Pat a whole lot, Taylor later told me, and I 354 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: sure wish Patrick hadn't drug him down that road. Later, 355 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: as the three cousins watched a neighbor robe Calves, Taylor 356 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: remembered he had told his wife he would watch their 357 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: kids that night. He went home, leaving Patrick and Billy 358 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 1: Jack to meander through the dark night without him. Catherine 359 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: King spent that Saturday painting duck decoys at a factory 360 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:42,120 Speaker 1: in Olkmolgi County, and after she got off, her eyes 361 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: along with everything else, needed rest. She was asleep when 362 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: Patrick's loud truck motor in the driveway woke her up. 363 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: Lifting the blinds with one hand, she looked to see 364 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: who was there and recognized the green Chevrolet she and 365 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: Patrick used to work together. Next to Katherine in bed 366 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: was her boyfriend of three years, who, in the complicated 367 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: relationships of their close knit community, was George Jacob's son. 368 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,160 Speaker 1: Through a crack in the kitchen door. She asked Patrick 369 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: what he wanted? Is he here? Patrick replied it wasn't 370 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: a friendly question. Catherine told Patrick that if he didn't leave, 371 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 1: she would call the police. But her fourteen year old son, Kevin, 372 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: wanted to go out drinking and riding around with the 373 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: older men. People who knew Kevin called him bear. At first, 374 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: Patrick wasn't sure he wanted the kid to come, but 375 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: Kevin offered to bring his own thirty pack. Patrick would 376 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,640 Speaker 1: later say he let Kevin tag along so he could 377 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: save money on beer. With Patrick behind the wheel, Kevin 378 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: King and Billy Jack Long piled on to the long 379 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: bench seat. Patrick knew a country bar he thought would 380 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: let the teenagers drink. It was a little south of 381 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: where he lived, somewhere in the small town of Vernon. 382 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: By the time Patrick turned left on Vernon Road, it 383 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: was pitch dark. He couldn't see the road curved left 384 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: then right, or the view from the top of the 385 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: hill before it stretches out straight and flat. He could 386 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: only see the rhythm of trees and fence posts through 387 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: the moving patch of headlight beams on the unlit dirt road. 388 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: Patrick saw another car coming toward him When the car 389 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,679 Speaker 1: got close, Patrick recognized it. It was George's black Sedan. 390 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: Mark Sumke, who was still behind the wheel, had known 391 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: Patrick since the first grade and slowed down to say hi. 392 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: The two cars stopped in the middle of the road, 393 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: their windows parallel. Patrick asked Sumka who else was in 394 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: the car. When Sumka said it was George Jacobs, Patrick 395 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,160 Speaker 1: told Sumka to kill the engine. Scare Simka took off 396 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: on the narrow road. Patrick swung his car around and 397 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: sped up. He passed the sedan, then made a sharp rite, 398 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: cutting Smka off with his truck. Simka slammed on the 399 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: brakes and a cloud of dust. Three figures jumped out 400 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: of Patrick Murphy's truck. Before Sumka could put the car 401 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,920 Speaker 1: in park, Kevin and Billy Jack pulled George Jacobs out 402 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: of the passenger seat and started punching him. Bewildered Sumka 403 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,120 Speaker 1: ran around the corner of the car, but Billy Jack 404 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: punched him in the face. Hard blood gushed from Samka's 405 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: nose and he fell to the ground. The sounds of 406 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: the fight and the red glow of tail lights dimmed 407 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: as he went unconscious from the blow. When Sumka came too. 408 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: He was alone. Afraid, he started running away from the 409 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: men and the fight and into the dark. He hid 410 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: about one hundred yards away, breathless and bloody. But as 411 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: he stood there, his fear turned to worry. What about George. 412 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: By the time he walked back toward the headlight beams, 413 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 1: it was too late. He saw George lying in the ditch. 414 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: That night, Anderson Fields Junior was getting ready for bed 415 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: when his two sisters and niece arrived from out of town. 416 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: They told him there was trouble on Vernon Road. The 417 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: women had seen a group of men fighting and it 418 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: looked like one of them wasn't okay. Anderson grabbed his 419 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: shotgun and hopped in the back of the truck. The 420 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: three women sat in the cab. When they got to 421 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: the haphazardly parked cars on Vernon Road, Anderson could see 422 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: someone lying in the ditch. He asked if the man 423 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: in the ditch was all right. When the other men 424 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: turned to face him, Anderson could see blood on their clothes. 425 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: He tapped the truck to signal for his knee used 426 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: to pull away. They drove back into town, where Anderson left. 427 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: The women got a friend and called the Sheriff. When 428 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: Anderson returned to Vernon Road, the men were gone. The 429 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 1: black Dodge sedan was still parked on the road with 430 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: its headlights on. In the light, Anderson could see the 431 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: man still lying on the edge of the ditch. He 432 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: tried to talk to him, but the man didn't respond. 433 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: Blood was gushing out just about from everywhere he remembers. 434 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: Anderson thought he was still alive because he could see 435 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: bubbles in the blood oozing out of his neck as 436 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: if he was still trying to breathe. But by the 437 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: time the Macintosh County Sheriff arrived, George Jacobs was dead. 438 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: It was late sometime after midnight when Special Agent Iris 439 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: Dally got the call. A decade long veteran of the 440 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation OSB, Dally's job was to 441 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: collect the forensic evidence at the scene of the crime. 442 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: The rural crime scene wasn't near a house or building, 443 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: so Dally wasn't given an address, just directions to drive 444 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: a mile south of Highway nine on Vernon Road on 445 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: the unlit road. She didn't note any landmarks or watch herodometer. 446 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: She just drove until she saw police tape and cars. Later, 447 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: Dally remembers when she made her report, she used those 448 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: initial directions one mile south of Highway nine to pinpoint 449 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: the location of the crime scene. Normally, as an investigator, 450 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: Dally had to order Sheriff's deputies out of her workspace, 451 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: but tonight was different. The Sheriff's department had blocked off 452 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: the road, but the deputies were huddled on the far 453 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: side of the tape. They pointed to the spot, still 454 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,480 Speaker 1: illuminated by the headlights of the Dodge Sedan and told 455 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: Dally the crime scene was that way. As Dally walked 456 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: down the dark road toward the car, she could see 457 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: a body lying in the ditch. In front of the 458 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: car was a large pool of blood from the trails 459 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: across the gravel. Day could tell the victim had been 460 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: stabbed there and then dragged to the ditch. In the 461 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,239 Speaker 1: middle of the pool was a fleshy object. Seeing it, 462 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: Dally understood why the Sheriff's deputies wouldn't go near the scene. 463 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: The fleshy object was male genitalia. George Jacobs had been castrated. 464 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 1: Smears of blood obscured smaller injuries on George's face, but 465 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: Dolly could see the victim's stomach was cut and his 466 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: throat was slit. A medical examiner would later declare George 467 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: Jacob's cause of death was exanguination. He bled to death. 468 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: The men were still standing out on Vernon when Patrick 469 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 1: warmed Sumka. If he said anything, he would kill him. 470 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 1: The four of them, Patrick, Murphy, Kevin King, Billy Jack Long, 471 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: and Mark Sumka squeezed in to Patrick's truck. He took off, 472 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: leaving skid marks in the orange gravel. The drive continued 473 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,360 Speaker 1: in the dark as a truck curved north on Vernon Road, 474 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: past the cemetery and up the hill until it turned 475 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: right on Highway nine. As they headed east over the bridge, 476 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,600 Speaker 1: they could see the painted lanes of the Indian Nation 477 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: Turnpike below them. Mark Taylor, Patrick's cousin, was watching TV 478 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: on the couch while his kids slept when he noticed 479 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: headlights in the front window. When Patrick stepped out of 480 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: the cab of his truck, Taylor noticed he looked different 481 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: from just that afternoon. I killed George Jacobs. Patrick told him, 482 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: shut up, said Taylor, don't bullshit me. But Patrick looked 483 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:07,720 Speaker 1: back at him, serious and cold. Billy Jack nodded. Everybody 484 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: looked a little bit shocked, Taylor remembered. Sumka looked terrified. 485 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 1: I didn't think he was alive, said Taylor. He looked 486 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: so pale. Taylor told the group to leave. He didn't 487 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,919 Speaker 1: want to be part of any trouble. He warned them 488 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: that if they ever got caught, they would never get 489 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: out of prison. The men decided to go on to 490 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,479 Speaker 1: Kevin's house, where George Jacob's son, who was dating Kevin's mom, 491 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: was still sleeping. On the drive, Patrick told Sumka he 492 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: was going to do that son of a bitch the 493 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: same way he'd done the other son of a bitch. 494 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,319 Speaker 1: At about one o'clock in the morning, Kevin sneaked back 495 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: into his house and tried to get George's son out 496 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:54,320 Speaker 1: of bed, but his mom was awake. Catherine told Kevin 497 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: that nobody was going anywhere. Kevin tried to go back 498 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: out to the truck, but she through the front door. 499 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,959 Speaker 1: The fourteen year old listened to his mom and came 500 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,800 Speaker 1: back inside. After dropping off Billy Jack Long, Patrick headed 501 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: to his mom's house, where his girlfriend, Amy was sleeping. 502 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: Patrick woke Amy up to tell her what happened. If 503 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 1: the boy's done the job right, George Jacobs was dead, 504 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: he said. Patrick handed Amy a trash bag of bloody 505 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,400 Speaker 1: clothes and told her to wash them, but she refused. 506 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: Then he asked her for a lighter. Minutes later, from 507 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: the bedroom window, Amy saw flare in the dark night. 508 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: Patrick watched the rush of gasoline fueled fire, died down, 509 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: got back in his truck and drove down the hill 510 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: to his trailer. He parked his truck out front, went 511 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: to his bedroom, took off his pants, boots and watch, 512 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: and got into bed. At about five or six o'clock 513 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: that morning, a Macintosh County Deputy sheriff pulled up to 514 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: patrick trailer, where the green Chevrolet was still parked in 515 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,919 Speaker 1: the drive. He didn't knock on Patrick's door or try 516 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,879 Speaker 1: to go inside. He was there just to make sure 517 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: nobody left. While OSBI waited for a search warrant. Word 518 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,920 Speaker 1: travels fast in a small town, and a few people 519 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 1: connected Patrick to the truck out on Vernon Road. Before 520 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: the night ended, OSBI had their main suspect alone in 521 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: his patrol car. The deputy sheriff watched the sunrise over 522 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,399 Speaker 1: the eastern hills of Ryal At about eleven am. Two 523 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:39,480 Speaker 1: OSBI agents, another Macintosh County Deputy Sheriff and a policeman 524 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,720 Speaker 1: from M. Skoge Nation arrived with the warrant. When police 525 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: entered his home, Patrick Murphy was still asleep. Megan Jacobs 526 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: woke up that night to a bad dream. She had 527 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 1: a feeling something was wrong. In the dream, her father, George, 528 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 1: dropped her off without saying goodbye or I love you. 529 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:06,400 Speaker 1: When Megan got up, she walked down the hall and 530 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:11,960 Speaker 1: saw her mother with Patrick crying. Amy's eyes were red 531 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: and wet. The look in Patrick's eyes made Megan want 532 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:21,239 Speaker 1: to run. The next morning, Megan saw police cars surrounding 533 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:26,280 Speaker 1: Patrick's trailer. The morning after the murder, that Jacob's family 534 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:30,560 Speaker 1: gathered at a relative's house. There, an aunt took Megan 535 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:34,239 Speaker 1: by the hand and led her outside. They walked down 536 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:38,799 Speaker 1: the driveway until they were alone. Georgia's sister turned to 537 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,720 Speaker 1: her niece and told Megan her dad wasn't coming back. 538 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 1: He had been killed. Megan's vision went blank and her 539 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:51,440 Speaker 1: head fell backward. Her aunt caught her before she hit 540 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:57,280 Speaker 1: the earth. In theological way grief works, Megan sometimes blamed 541 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:01,920 Speaker 1: herself for her father's death. Maybe she thought if she 542 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: had stayed with George that night. None of it would 543 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:08,120 Speaker 1: have happened in her nightmares. Patrick would come back to 544 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:13,839 Speaker 1: kill her and her entire family, just like you said. 545 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,080 Speaker 1: If you turn right on Highway nine away from Vernon Road, 546 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,919 Speaker 1: the black top crosses the turnpike and cuts straight through 547 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 1: fields and ranches before arcing north. The otherwise tamed landscape 548 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 1: is dotted with hills of bushy trees. After twenty minutes 549 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: or so, the state highway curves back south, where it 550 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:40,480 Speaker 1: lands in the small town of Ufaula, the Macintosh County seat. 551 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 1: It was here that Patrick Murphy sat in jail for 552 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: the three seasons he awaited trial. Four months after the murder, 553 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,080 Speaker 1: Oklahoma issued a Bill of Particulars seeking the death penalty 554 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,440 Speaker 1: for both Patrick Murphy and his eighteen year old cousin, 555 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:02,440 Speaker 1: Billy Jack long N was only fourteen when he followed 556 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:07,240 Speaker 1: Patrick to Vernon Roade that night. Some reporting and court 557 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,840 Speaker 1: records have said that Kevin King was fifteen at the 558 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,479 Speaker 1: time of the murder. During the federal trial, his mother, 559 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 1: Katherine King, clarified that he had not yet turned fifteen 560 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: and was only fourteen. It would take over two years 561 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,720 Speaker 1: for Oklahoma courts to decide whether he should be tried 562 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,960 Speaker 1: as a juvenile or as an adult. In two thousand 563 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:35,440 Speaker 1: and two, Kevin King was charged as an adult, pled guilty, 564 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: and was sentenced to forty five years in prison. Billy 565 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:44,280 Speaker 1: Jack Long would also plead guilty in exchange for life 566 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,560 Speaker 1: in prison with the possibility of parole. That left Patrick 567 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,960 Speaker 1: Murphy to face Oklahoma's death penalty alone. But of the three, 568 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:57,400 Speaker 1: Patrick is the only one still alive. Both Billy Jack 569 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:02,520 Speaker 1: and Kevin died in prison. The Macintosh County court room 570 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:06,320 Speaker 1: is a mismatch of drop ceilings and fluorescent lights hanging 571 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:11,080 Speaker 1: low Overordnate wood paneling. In the spring of two thousand, 572 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 1: eight months after the murder, the trial of Patrick Murphy began. 573 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 1: Patrick sat at a long wooden table with his lawyers. 574 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,359 Speaker 1: He listened during the proceedings but kept his head down. 575 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:29,360 Speaker 1: The state's evidence was damning. Mark Taylor testified that Patrick 576 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,319 Speaker 1: told him in the hours after the murder that he 577 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:38,440 Speaker 1: had killed George Jacobs. Sumca, George Jacobs's cousin, described what 578 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: he had witnessed on Vernon Road that night. It all 579 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:46,000 Speaker 1: lined up. The district attorney told the jury there was 580 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 1: one piece of evidence, however, that didn't When OSBI crime 581 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:56,319 Speaker 1: scene investigator Iris Dally took the stand, the prosecutor introduced 582 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: State Exhibit number thirteen. It was a map on it 583 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:04,080 Speaker 1: about a mile south of Highway nine on Vernon Road. 584 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,799 Speaker 1: Dally placed a black star to mark the location of 585 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 1: George Jacobs's murder. Other witnesses also described the location of 586 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,760 Speaker 1: the crime scene. Anderson Fields Junior said it was between 587 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: a quarter and a half mile south of his house. 588 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 1: A police officer with muskoge Nation said it was two 589 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:27,920 Speaker 1: miles north of town. If anybody had plotted these points 590 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,719 Speaker 1: on Vernon Road where people said the crime occurred and 591 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:35,360 Speaker 1: what Dally marked on her map, they would have realized 592 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: someone was wrong. Patrick's court appointed public defender had a 593 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:44,480 Speaker 1: busy year. He was going through a divorce and trying 594 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 1: four capital cases, including Patrick's. According to Patrick, his attorney 595 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 1: spent less than an hour with him to prepare for trial. 596 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,120 Speaker 1: The defense attorney told the jury Patrick had been too 597 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,760 Speaker 1: drunk to form the criminal end and necessary for first 598 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:06,200 Speaker 1: degree murder, an argument that implied his client did murder 599 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 1: George Jacobs, and one he did not have Patrick's consent 600 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:15,480 Speaker 1: to make. To this day, Patrick maintains his innocence. He 601 00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:18,480 Speaker 1: claims that while he was on Vernon Road that night, 602 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:21,839 Speaker 1: it was Billy Jack Long and Kevin King who killed 603 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:26,040 Speaker 1: George Jacobs, not him. When Patrick got up from the 604 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:30,880 Speaker 1: long wooden table to take the stand, his lawyer allegedly whispered, 605 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,120 Speaker 1: it's your ass. You better get up there and save it. 606 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:39,080 Speaker 1: Patrick's testimony was a disaster. He couldn't keep track of 607 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:43,600 Speaker 1: the details, so he kept contradicting himself. At the very 608 00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,640 Speaker 1: end of the four day trial, it was the Jacob's 609 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:51,160 Speaker 1: family's turn to speak. George's older sister, who lived in 610 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: the Tulsa apartment below him, read a victim impact statement. 611 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,200 Speaker 1: It hurts like hell now. I couldn't eat. I lost 612 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,520 Speaker 1: twelve pounds in one week after the murder of my brother, 613 00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,359 Speaker 1: she told the jury. They will never suffer hurt like 614 00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:12,280 Speaker 1: I do. No one knows the pain, hurt, lonely, lonesome 615 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:17,440 Speaker 1: feeling within. At every family gathering, she could feel George's 616 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:21,880 Speaker 1: absence and the trauma of his violent death. I just 617 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:26,080 Speaker 1: hope and pray that these killers get the most severe punishment, 618 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:31,959 Speaker 1: she said, There is no mercy for them. After deliberating 619 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,920 Speaker 1: for a few hours, the jury came back from a 620 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:40,359 Speaker 1: small piece of paper. The foreman read, having heretofore found 621 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:45,279 Speaker 1: the defendant, Patrick Dwayne Murphy, guilty of murder in the 622 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:51,200 Speaker 1: first degree, we fix his punishment at death. One day, 623 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,799 Speaker 1: that fall or winter, no one can remember when, just 624 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,080 Speaker 1: that it was cold, Patrick rode in the back of 625 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:02,080 Speaker 1: a police car to the shore of Lake Eufauala. He 626 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:06,799 Speaker 1: was getting baptized. The pastor who officiated the outdoor ceremony 627 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: remembers Patrick taking it very seriously. The Christian God provides 628 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:15,960 Speaker 1: a kind of total redemption that is rarely available here 629 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:20,279 Speaker 1: on earth. Many would say for someone like Patrick, it 630 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:25,120 Speaker 1: shouldn't be offered. Yet in his faith, Patrick found hope, 631 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: hope that sustained Patrick the decades it took for his 632 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,240 Speaker 1: case to meander its way to a historic legal victory. 633 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:37,720 Speaker 1: Had Patrick given up, that victory would not have come. 634 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:42,720 Speaker 1: That fall or winter day in Eufaula, Patrick waited waist 635 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:46,839 Speaker 1: deep into the muddy lake. He held his breath as 636 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:51,359 Speaker 1: his head plunged below the cold water. It would take 637 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,640 Speaker 1: a long time, twenty years to be exact, but Patrick's 638 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:59,319 Speaker 1: case would grow beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. 639 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:05,960 Speaker 1: Like Oklahoma, thunderclouds in spring, it billowed. Eventually, the storm 640 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:12,640 Speaker 1: would envelop Oklahoma, Muscogee Nation, the Trump Administration, members of Congress, 641 00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:17,319 Speaker 1: the oil and gas industry, the governor, tribal leaders, and 642 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:22,200 Speaker 1: the United States Supreme Court. At its beginning, however, the 643 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:27,160 Speaker 1: conflict was simple. The State of Oklahoma wanted to execute 644 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,520 Speaker 1: Patrick Murphy for the murder of George Jacobs, but Patrick 645 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:32,919 Speaker 1: wanted to live.