osageind19c_djvu.txt

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^ •* , anSlnna Brown, and that dale vou3d net h ritate to 1:111 i. e rort of ^E k g BK ZEMf 

9 ~ A J - Jchilafon. A short tiiuu prior to his murder- D. ilh had y â– * c 

-allKbatton with- Ilele relative to a f 6, 000. GO indebtedness which SMtn ••?, 
elalned ms due him by Hale. Shortly after this altercation, on t :e nig; 
or Barch 10, 1923, the house of William E. Snath was blown no by MvcM# -• 

13 '-five-'j^allon kef. of nitro-glyc =*rin e.xploled iriucr it, blow!*..;* tho h.. i rr,j! to 

14 / .• ' atoms and hilling Rita Smith, wife of W. E. Smith, and « 2 tlk . bra oka-hire, 
fppj ' a' white servant jirl inst.aataneouhly, r.od horribly nicngling the body of 

16 , William E. Smith, vho lived a few hours, however, and stated his b -.Lief 

i that Hcle had ived him killed. * 

It.-was develop -id through 'investi ration by Bureau sront;; tart 
Villtcm K. Halo had'hir d Jonti Ruj;u>v*y ar.d Ami â€Acc ! ’ Kirby to ; urdar ‘ 

William E. Smith and Ms wife end VAd subsequently prid Rru.rey appro . t-L,at riy 
$1000.00 for porfortiiT': the -njurdor* Thooo facts ware- proven by mea..r of â–  "v >v!' 
a confession obtain-^ from John ftsmsoy hiurel^-, -^s wall as t**e cor.f seion of. 

Ernest Bhrkhsjft, who pointed out Smith’s huusd tO Karcev and Kirby, . v '-’-iv -tv 
acting under instructions from Iftle, and whe sought cut Fta: acy or the day • 


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of this iuirder to inform him that William K. Hale and Hoar; Grammar, .n 


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order to allcy v Hr / >.cion, v»er<; going to Fort Worth, Texas, to a cautlcmen^s 
• conference, end that Will iar. 1. .Smith and Ms -vi M rh.'Mi to \.urdar,.d that 
night. It d* velonc-d further that William K, Hale ir.u attempted to hire ; 
the notorious outlay;, A1 Spcaocr, to co.aj.it tile murder, but Spencer 
rofus d, stating that while ir a 3rd no c.mpunci.ioa at i\>b>“ Lr z A train w r 
blowing & safe and killing in lividuals in or on on at.tai.ct, he had net sunk 
so low as to murder h.clplosa Individuals for iaoji«'-;> . Aft -r Spo-nccr’c 
refusal liale attempted to hire f, B3.ackie n Thcr.psdn, Dick Srt-gg, and Ms â–  

. father, John Gregg, tc muraor William S’ ith and Ms fa. fly, all of whom 
refused. 

1 WillirjL K. Hal*.; b ca^e afraid that "ac-P* Kirby, who rarticipAt^a 

in the murder of 'the Smith fsualy as set cut above ar.d v*ho uclu^lly placed 
the five-gnMon cih of ib tro-g*Jyc*rin under « h e Fifth h use and o<. 4 It off, ' 
would make knorn coxa ration with tneso murders, nn.i acccMi .fly 

persuaded Kirby to .atte.ipt tan robbery, of ;.. groc. ;p; stc. r>~ ;r thu 
OklaacLoi State line, ascuri.r.g Kirby that the ovca.r ui in . rvucory sic ro 
possessed c rfain valuable gens. The -.wner cf the st are yt s in tuiv. informed ..;M 
of the exact h^ur of tho c >nt^.n?.ated ixoeery and ns Kirby forced e^rcnce 
..into the groc c.y at re through the w?.ii d^nv, greMM b.d.* v l J h novoral louas of .y 
buckshot from a s':*., ty* a, thereby rwmovivg a vitn-.ss who c uld nave aap.licc.tc d ' 

. Ra3.p and his associates. 


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to the solution wf the nurders, thcrnclvoa, f-acau 
^■^^aponts discovered that*' noli ie Burkhart, ful3 — Mjou 0 sc.ec Indian wife cf 
® 'y Erhept Burkhart, who clone remained between Willian Hale *c nephew, i>mest . 

& ** Burtonrt, and the f .>rtune of the Lizzie Q. feriiy, at the ttx IV. . 

““ Govemnent ccsanencod its iiiVostisation of tho cnce-v.es dying f v’hat 
^f'dTwac believed to be slow poisoning, It is an o.~tai£i$bid fact that as c~* r. :bc 
•J ’• 5 as she wp.s gotten Wo 'of the control of Burkhart and ?1; she irr.odiatcly 




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/regained *her- health 

In Conducting invests cations 




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the Federal Bureau of Investigation posrd as an Indian medicine ..jan in un 
" ; undercover investigation, elairdng t n be in search of relatives who had. 

0- X- r\ "! «•> -.ws H.-.X 1 »■ - 'X/ lOrT 3 Ot ~f 


Special Agent yf : t; :h ; 


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««_ '4moVod to Oklahoma several years boih.ro. He and 
7 _ *' Fairfax, consisting mostly of £w< setoned water, and vac 

Indians, visited in their heroes, att. udod their corcaonials, thereby 
^ " gaining nuch useful infurmfci m, Not only did t..c ayout acting as a 
^ medicine nan in actually dispensing tho sweetened *vat :r the 
JJ' ; "hfiain their confidence and cooperation, but i’ll- sc served as a 


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main: s 
Indian 

.nedicine yr\n . in the inn^r circle an 1 tribal councils, h el piny then to nake 
plaiyi for tho actiinistraticn of thoir tribal problems and government. 


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Another Special Ayent of the- Federal Bureau of Inves tiyati n, 

'll? *i ti ■? »: vi i yr- r\r> ~ cnl n - *•> ’ r.'V.V'i |'i“ 

— iw ' ~i . ■- i t*j V . v. — 4.V/1. - £ . ... - - w i~- w.4. 

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resold life insurance of a 1<. pit lilt ^ character, thereby ga?nin 


entrance he 

the homes of influential citizens and gathering useful information, which 
the citizens refused to give, to governrwnt arentc openly because of their 
foar of William h. Halo. In cojncction with this sal"' of life insurance, 
of -course, infor 2 . 1 r.ticn about tho personal habits and thor typos of 
-infoHiation .available t r ' insurance conpanics would la obtal.e d, a;d 
frequently, tills information would have a direct bear!; * on the different 
angles of the case under investigation. This ayari contacted Vh'.115.aa K. 
Ha3^ hi.Hgel f under his nxise of an insurance sole Siam, and ala- r l succoe io 
in scllifc hia a policy. 




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Still another Spoci:!. Agent of t)ie Federal Bureau of Invest 
Jo part of a pi*" in Texas cov.-i.ian, and established close association 
^ 7. withpmai* of Hal..: *s intimates and onployees, all ox vfior. urlx-Dwingly >VMy - 

55 bji^^tributbd usef^xl inf ^matiai. Tho ^ents of tm Federal Bureau cf In— 

^ ' :Vohtigation who were working undercover on this case often net in renote 

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vhS^rouc places in the Osc.se cour+rv, such tV wood* previously ._ 

A astt*::" place ;/ A1 bpr. er air Ids «**utia* * , ang, a «. ly-nd 
yherc many murders aid robberies hid been' plotted , Two -.v*a‘ • • 3 - ■ 


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teral Bureau of Investigation, together with a lioufonaut of <f*o 
fye* fSVfato'TSureau of Criminal Identif i nation cf GMuhoinu, : u:>on one occrcion 
Up for two nights and days with a turn let witness bcfer-- c It a ini-.-; 
" d a ptatOTTient from him* The interesting incidents occur, ins in ‘the in- 
v / vest is at ion and. the trial of the guilty parties involved in these mur- 


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â–  ders are too niraeraus to mention. 






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Burt La. -«v 


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■j ’’bonus’* confession caused bureau ngente many 


*1^ hours of weary Woiff, tun . n h’s rexeasc into custody of the zl l 


proved 


be'& glutton, who ate tu..oone steak ana French-fried potatoes three 
aVor * times a day. Upon hie first visit to a cafeteria vdth agonus, upon 


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reaching the cashier .'-as, found to have- .'our nice :s of pie and three 

♦pieces of cukc upon Ids tray and ccmplalr.ui of that he had no roor.- r *:. ; $ T | 

for & meat disif. ' “ u. ■ ^ y 

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Dewey S ; Al7b ® mat; M • ) Go< ;nrmnt witness, testified tc the fact' 
that he was hirfdty William K, Hvle to mrder -KrJLscy I'orrison’s wife. He . 
wi'c released from Lhe Syracuse, .‘Visas, Jajl to wstify, anc while being hold 
at Guthrie, Oklahoma, with osh.-r Material witnesses who had been transferred 
from uhc Kansu- State Penitentiary, ne wat ‘left in a jail cell of which all 
the bars were found to havs Men partly saye.i* He showed his appreciation 
by breaking out the sawed v urs and war subsequent. ty located by Bureau 
agents clad only \* Ms underclothing, attempting, to hide in a barrel at 
.a pressing' shop at Paw hue ha, Oklahoma, where he was having his suit pressed. 

JFle gave as his reason for the jail break that he intended calling or. a lady' 
friend, who, incidentally, was his ex-wifo, Cecilia ligheart, full-blood 
Qsugo woman. 

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On another occasion Sclph walked out cr: a drunker: jailer, taking n. 
with him the jailer's pistol, and afterwards stole an art .mobile, in which . 
he made his escape. He was recaptured by Bureau agents au a subsequent data 
.and returned to testify at the trial of Hale, Dewey Sclph’s next attempt “ -•# 
/;V to escape, after having beer returned to the- Arkansas State Penitentiary 
.u to complete a sentence there, resulted fat . !.ly for him. 

While the trial was actually in progress a Bureau agent obtained 
In:. ormation to the infect that HOr was rcedvi.-o: letters from a witness who 


had oerjured himc^l 


Ac 11 ani located in the boaclouhi) g t,.o letters iron the .v it ness staui.g 


:+ trial and intended 

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haa perjured himself in Bale's fc...