Deadly Hero: The High Society Murder that Created Hysteria in the Heartland
Page 35
“Letters Plead for Kennamer,” TT, March 11, 1943, pages 1 and 2.
“Kennamer Will Attend Hearing,” Associated Press, TT, March 18, 1943, page 1.
“Phil Kennamer Parole Hearing Set for April,” Associated Press, MDNR, March 18, 1943, page 1.
“Phillips Says Kerr First to Ask Pardon for Phil Kennamer,” Associated Press, TAEN, March 29, 1943, pages 1 and 2.
“Warden Takes Neutral Stand in Phil’s Case,” by Joseph E. Howell, TT, April 13, 1943, pages 1 and 10.
“With Odds Heavily in His Favor, Young Phil Kennamer Will Make Parole Bid April 20,” Associated Press, MDNR, April 15, 1943, page 10.
“Kennamer Out for O.C. Trip,” Associated Press, TT, April 19, 1943, page 1.
“Kennamer to Bid for Own Freedom,” by Walter Biscup, TDW, April 20, 1943, pages 1 and 4.
“Gilmer Denies He Agreed to Ask Kennamer Freedom,” by Joseph E. Howell, TT, April 20, 1943, pages 1 and 13.
“Attorneys Clash Verbally As Hearing Opens Today at Capital for Phil Kennamer,” by John Owen, Associated Press, MDNR, April 20, 1943, pages 1 and 2.
“Kennamers Wait in Seclusion; Phil Calm with Fate at Issue,” Associated Press, TT, April 20, 1943, page 13.
“Kennamer Gains Freedom, Phil Will Seek Army Induction as Paratrooper,” by Walter Biscup, TDW, April 21, 1943, pages 1 and 14.
“Kennamer Freed After Hot Parole Hearing,” by Ray Parr, TDO, April 21, 1943, pages 1 and 2.
“Kennamer Finis,” Editorial, TDW, April 21, 1943.
CHAPTER 27
“Kennamer Freed, Will Proceed to Army Enlistment,” TT, April 21, 1943, pages 1 and 4.
“Phil Kennamer Asks Induction,” Associated Press, TDA, April 21, 1943, page 3.
“Phi Kennamer Inducted into Army,” Associated Press, TDA, May 25, 1943, page 3.
“Phil Kennamer to be Paratrooper,” Associated Press, TAEN, May 29, 1943, page 2.
1944
“Phil Kennamer Killed in Action in France,” by Edward D. Burks, TDW, September 27, 1944, pages 1 and 3.
“Death on French Battlefield of Phil Kennamer Closes Case,” TT, September 27, 1944, pages 1 and 8.
“Parole Justified,” State Capital Bureau of the Tribune, TT, September 27, 1944, page 1.
“Phil Kennamer Dies in France,” Associated Press, MDNR, September 27, 1944, page 1 and 3.
“Phil Kennamer is Killed in France While Fighting with US Paratroops,” TDO, September 27, 1944, page 1.
“For Country’s Sake,” Editorial, TDO, September 28, 1944, page 10.
“Atonement,” Editorial, Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, Texas, September 30, 1944, page 6.
“Phil Kennamer’s Sacrifice,” Editorial, TDA, October 1, 1944, page 10.
“Debt Paid in Full,” Letter to the Editor, TDO, October 8, 1944, page 50.
“Army Reveals Kennamer Killed in Attack on Nazi Gun Nest,” TDO, November 15, 1944, page 1.
“The Parachute F.A. BN Record of Events, ‘D day,’” by Captain Louis Vogel, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team After Action Report.
Jean Loup-Gassend, discussions with author by email March, 2015. (Author: Operation Dragoon: Autopsy of a Battle: The Allied Liberation of the French Riviera August-September 1944.)
Merle McMorrow, discussions with author by email, March, 2015. (Battery C, 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, Served with Phil Kennamer from 1943-1944, and author of From Breckenridge to Bastogne: The Accounts of a World War II Paratrooper.)
SSGT Milton D. Rogers, “How I Saw It,” October 2007. Website: 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 1943-1945. URL: http://www.517prct.org/bios/milton_d_rogers.htm
460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion Unit History, Website: www.ww2-airborne.us, URL: http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/460/460.html
“Operation Dragoon,” Wikipedia, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon
“Phil Kennamer Dies After Heroic Battle,” TT, January 12, 1945, page 14.
Epilogue
Holly Anderson
1. “House Debates Gin Marriages,” Associated Press, MDNR, January 26, 1939, page 1.
2. “Tulsa Legislative Nominee Drops Out,” Associated Press, TAEN, August 12, 1942, page 3.
3. “Holly L Anderson,” Ancestry.com, URL: http://records.ancestry.com/holly_l_anderson_records.ashx?pid=3009196
William “Dixie” Gilmer
“Gilmer, William Franklin,” by Carolyn G. Hanneman, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Culture and History, Oklahoma Historical Society website, URL: http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GI008
J. Berry King
“Notable Notes on Business and Finance,” Column, by J. Willis Baker, Financial Editor, TDO, October 28, 1962, page 78.
“Former State Attorney Dies, Rites Tuesday,” TDO, November 26, 1962, page 4.
Henry B. Maddux
“Hudspeth’s Albuquerque City Directory,” 1950, page 425.
“New Risk Manager,” Albuquerque Journal, September 3, 1952, page 10.
“Henry Bailess Maddux,” Ancestry.com URL: http://records.ancestry.com/henry_bailess_maddux_records.ashx?pid=179204357
“Henry B. Maddux, 52, Insurance Man Dies,” Albuquerque Journal, January 5, 1953, page 4.
“Funeral Held for Former Resident Henry B. Maddux,” Roswell Daily Record, Roswell, New Mexico, January 7, 1953, page 16.
Austin Flint Moss
“Noted Oklahoma Criminal Lawyer Plans Retirement,” TDO, March 9, 1943, page 5.
“Flint Moss Dies in Long Beach,” Associated Press, TDO, December 18, 1943, page 2.
“Deaths: Austin F. Moss,” The Long Beach Independent, December 19, 1943, page 34.
Charles Stuart
“Services for C.B. Stuart Set Monday in Harding Hall,” TDO, October 31, 1936, page 18.
"Resolutions of Respect for and in Appreciation of Honorable Charles B. Stuart," Chronicles of Oklahoma, June 1937, pages 228-137.
Judge Franklin Kennamer
“Kennamer Funeral Will Be Thursday,” Associated Press, TDO, May 3, 1961, page 12.
“Franklin E. Kennamer, 1879-1960,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=100130973
“Pauline Fox Kennamer, 1908-1955,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=67818590
“Opal Kennamer, 1904-1989,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=100131008
Edna M. Harman
“California Death Records,” Ancestry.com, URL: http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
“Edna Harman 1930 Census Record,” Year: 1930; Census Place: Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Roll: 1934; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0058; Image: 447.0; FHL microfilm: 2341668
Sydney Born
“The Truth About Tulsa’s Kennamer-Gorrell Case,” Part Three, by Chief of Detectives Thomas J. Higgins as told to C.F. Waers,” The Master Detective, August 1935.
Virginia Wilcox
“Virginia Francis Wilcox Hagar,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=121177999
“Jack Robin Snedden,” FindAGrave.com, UR: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13662914
Philip Kennamer
“Trans-en-Provence,” First Airborne Task Force website, URL: http://1stabtf.com/monument/trans-en-provence-monument.htm
“Sister of Kennamer Plans to Publish ‘Inside Story,’” TDW, August 26, 1947, page 3.
“Phil Kennamer Services Friday,” TT, May 5, 1948, page 31.
“Philip Milholland Kennamer, 1915-1944,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53200131
Alice and Dr. John Gorrell Sr.
“John Franklin Gorrell Sr. 1881-1961,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11374441
“Alice Bair Gorrell, 1885-1959,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11374458
“Benjamin Franklin Gorrell, 1919-2000,” FindAGrave.com, URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63368898
John Robert Gorrell, private discussions with author in August 2014, and April 2015.
Author
Jason Lucky Morrow is a Gulf War veteran and award winning newspaper reporter who now researches and writes vintage true crime stories for his blog, HistoricalCrimeDetective.com. His focus is on obscure but significant criminal cases that are nearly forgotten and have not been adequately explored in decades. Mr. Morrow has lived and worked in Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Romania, and Oklahoma where he currently resides in the Tulsa area with his wife, Alina.
Visit HistoricalCrimeDetective.com for more vintage true crime stories and follow along for new story updates on our Facebook page.
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[1] Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November until it was changed in 1941 to the fourth Thursday of the month.
[2] Now Oklahoma State University.
[3] Not to be confused with Gorrell’s address of 1205 Linwood Boulevard.
[4] A twenty-four-story, art-deco-style high-rise built by Waite Phillips and completed in 1928.
[5] Oklahoma didn’t need the 18th Amendment to outlaw alcohol. Prohibition was accepted as part of the state constitution in September 1907, two months before it became the 46th state in the union. Oklahoma never did get around to ratifying the 21st Amendment, and the sale of distilled liquor was illegal statewide until 1959.
[6] At the time, an IQ of 120 placed him in the 91st percentile.
[7] Anti-mask laws penalized individuals who covered their faces for political or religious purposes.
[8] The 2014 equivalent of $277 million, when adjusted for inflation.
[9] She was in a different room in the house and wasn’t aware that John had left Charlie behind and then returned to pick his friend up.
[10] Oldest to youngest, they were Opal, Juanita, Franklin Jr., and Phil.
[11] In 1934, the word dictator did not have the same negative connotation it has today.
[12] It is unclear when John and Phil agreed to meet at the Crawford Drug Store, but it most likely occurred during Thanksgiving evening when John got up from the table to answer the telephone in the hallway.
[13] No relation to Wade Thomas.
[14] Wagoner is forty miles southeast of Tulsa.
[15] This could not have been Ted Bath, and the statement is confusing as to whether Gorrell meant a close friend of his, or a close friend of Kennamer.
[16] The 2014 equivalent of $870, when adjusted for inflation.
[17] It cost one cent to play—the 2014 equivalent of eighteen cents.
[18] Tribune reporters were not allowed because Kennamer was angry with them for the stories they wrote about him and his turbulent youth.
[19] Besides getting to the weapon before John returned from the hospital, claiming “the holster flew off” was the only logical way he could account for putting the gun back inside and leaving it on the seat. Leaning across John’s body to retrieve it would have begged the question: Why?
[20] This turned out to be Preston Cochrane and Pat Burgess. Burgess was a young reporter for the Tulsa World, and Cochrane was an ex-employee of the paper. Burgess introduced Kennamer to Gorrell in September, when Burgess sought out Gorrell for repayment of a small loan, and Kennamer tagged along.
[21] The oak tree is still there and is called the Creek Council Oak Tree.
[22] The 2014 equivalent of $106 to $176, when adjusted for inflation.
[23] GJE doesn’t follow the 3-2 pattern. However, GJE was the code used for his alias, Douglas Montgomery Blair, on prior occasions, but with a different cipher. Cochrane was hoping to obfuscate his connection to the notes, and he knew Kennamer would understand GJE.
[24] Kennamer would later assert that it was the Tulsa World who inserted the word Sweetheart in both messages “to inject an element of eroticism into the case.”
[25] The 2014 equivalent of $443,000, when adjusted for inflation.
[26] Now the 14th District.
[27] An Associated Press article from 1939 gave a much lower figure for Murray, with 920 pardons and paroles. Without knowing the methodology that was used, it’s hard to know which figure is accurate.
[28] Earlier, he had said he met him through Pat Burgess, but since Burgess was unlikely to testify, he now said it was Cochrane who had introduced him.
[29] Burgess, Cochrane, and Snedden later denied this meeting ever took place.
[30] Richard Oliver told police the only people in the apartment at that time were himself and Jess Harris.
[31] In his previous story, Kennamer said Gorrell had wanted to buy an airplane from Huff.
[32] The 2014 equivalent of $173,000, when adjusted for inflation.
[33] The flooring, judge’s bench, gallery benches, attorney tables, juror chairs, wall clock, and door molding are all the same today as they were in 1935.
[34] In reality, this did not happen, and the rich and the politically connected were able to obtain seats in the first two rows. It is unclear how they were able to do this.
[35] At that time, the Oklahoma Legislature’s interpretation of the 1907 state constitution gave them the legal means to prohibit women from serving on juries because it specifically stated that juries were to consist of “twelve men.” In 1942, a constitutional amendment was passed that allowed women to hold state office. However, they would have to wait another nine years, until 1951, before they earned the right to serve as jurors. Instead of “men,” section 19 now calls for juries to consist of “persons.”
[36] Ponca City is one hundred miles northwest of Tulsa, with Pawnee approximately in the middle.
[37] It was a nine-shot revolver, but that didn’t sound as sexually suggestive as six-shooter.
[38] She quickly became just as famous as her father as a book author, columnist, celebrity reporter, game-show panelist, Broadway musical producer, and crime reporter covering some of the biggest trials of her time. She later got entangled in the Kennedy assassination, with a purported interview of Jack Ruby. She was also a harsh government critic. Her sudden death in 1965 led conspiracy theorists to claim she was murdered to silence her. Her father outlived her and died in 1982 at the age of ninety-three.
[39] The 2014 equivalent of $1,700, when adjusted for inflation.
[40] The 2014 equivalent of $4,300, when adjusted for inflation.
[41] This was the first and last mention that Gorrell attended Knox College, and it had never before been brought up by his father on the witness stand, who said his son had attended the University of Tulsa and Oklahoma A&M before attending dental school. There was also no statement, either confirming or denying, that he wrote this letter to Wright.
[42] The agency changed its name from Bureau of Investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935.