The Fate of Judge Trueman

During the 1931 tragic events in Milton, the attorney and business partner of Spencer G. “Babe” Collins, was a man named Lewis V. Trueman.  In 1933, Trueman departed the Florida Panhandle for new opportunities out west. He and his wife settled in Ogden, Utah, and in 1943, Judge Trueman was killed at night, at his house, in the presence of his wife, with a blast from a shotgun. Amazingly similar to the death of Aubrey Gainer.

Before Gainer was killed, there was an article in the Milton Gazette informing the town that Trueman, his wife and another local couple were going on a trip to Cuba. A few days after they left, on July 18, 1931, Aubrey Gainer was killed outside his home, in the presence of his wife and daughter.  (See previous blog for details)

There was a book written years ago called, “Secrets of the Old Milton Cemetery”, by B. B. Morrell.  In the book Morrell indicated that there was a “Mister X”, who was the puppet master concerning some of the events of 1931.  He didn’t name the person specifically, but my top prospect for that role would be Mr. Trueman.

Babe Collins owned the Collins Construction Company and he built Hwy 37 from Milton to the Alabama state line, south of Brewton.  Of course it is now known as State Highway 87.  His company was to be paid $100,000 for the project.  Bonds were sold by the First National Bank of Milton, and the work was done.  There was a dispute about the money paid to Collins.  He claimed he was owed $15,000, and the Santa Rosa County Commission who  controlled the payout, believed the correct number to be a little over $2,000.  There was a lawsuit and then a change of venue to Walton County.  Unfortunately, Collins was killed before the case went to court.  Trueman, as the lawyer for the estate, settled the case for the $2,000 offered by the county. Incidentally, the only items recovered in the safe after the arson at the ice factory and Collins’ warehouse, were burned remains of road bonds.

During his time in Northwest Florida Trueman had been active in state politics and from 1928 until he left the area in 1933 he was an appointed aide to the Florida Governor Doyle Carlton.  He was also the lawyer for the Santa Rosa Co., school board, and Vice-President and charter member of the Society of the Bar, 1st Judicial District of Florida.

In early 1933, he and his wife Ora, moved to Ogden, Utah, and by January 1939 he was appointed Judge of the 2nd District Court for the State of Utah.

Judge Trueman Grants Divorce to Mrs. Cox

In February 1943 a pregnant Mrs. Wanda May Cox was granted a divorce in Judge Trueman’s court from her drunk and abusive husband, Austin Cox, Jr.  The Cox’s got married in August of 1942 and he was employed at the Utah Naval Depot as a guard.  Soon after marriage, he quit his job, and instead of searching for new employment, he stayed drunk and became very abusive.  He once threatened to cut Wanda’s tongue out. After the divorce Wanda left town and a couple of months later gave birth to a son.  

On the night of July 23, 1943, during Ogden’s annual Pioneer Days Celebration Cox was drinking heavily with friends and around nine o’clock, he received a phone call saying that Wanda was in town and staying at a local address.  He told his friends he was going to see her.

About an hour later Cox drove up to the home of Mr., and Mrs. Bert Stauffer.  When Bert answered the knock on the door Cox demanded that Stauffer, “Send Wanda out here”.  Stauffer didn’t know Wanda and when he told Cox this Cox called him a liar, and threatened him with a shotgun.  Mrs. Stauffer, and her mother, Mrs. Burton came to the door pleading for Cox to leave. Losing his patience, Cox began firing his shotgun.  Mrs. Stauffer and Burton were killed instantly and Bert Stauffer was critically injured but survived his wounds.  A neighbor, Dale Brooks, heard the commotion and ran out of his house to have his hand shot off.  Mrs. Brooks ran into the yard and Cox killed her.  Another neighbor, Sam Nelson was killed as Cox was walking back to his car.

After driving to the home of Judge Trueman, Cox stood in his front yard and fired buckshot into the house.  The Truemans had just gone to bed when they heard the noise and got up to investigate. Ora Trueman later testified that the Judge looked out a window overlooking the yard and after asking what was going on, was hit with a load of buckshot and died instantly. She was unharmed.

Cox eluded the police dragnet until just after midnight when he drove up to the police station.  Lt. John A. Smith, Assistant Provost Marshal of the Ogden area, was there helping to direct the search for the shooter.  He looked up in time to see Cox coming through the door brandishing the shotgun and yelled an alert.  Several officers rushed into the room and one was slightly wounded by Cox. Smith and the other officers subdued Cox with a blow to the head.  During the scuffle, Cox screamed, ‘Why in the hell don’t you shoot me? Come on get it over with!”

In the 1940’s justice was swift.  He was found guilty at trial and sentenced to death.  A higher court delayed his execution for eight months until June 19, 1944.

At dawn, Austin Cox, Jr. was executed by firing squad at the Utah State Prison.  As his death warrant was being read he fought his restraints and stuck his tongue out.

Judge Trueman was buried at Aultorest Memorial Park in Ogden on July 27, 1943.  His wife Ora moved to Pensacola and lived there until her death in October of 1965.

Mostly compiled from numerous articles published in the Ogden Standard-Examiner, 1943-1944.

The Killing of John Wesley Penton

John Wesley Penton

(Thank you, Anne Penton Pinckard)

In May of 1891, the ex-Sheriff of Covington County, Alabama, John Wesley Penton, was living in Milton Florida.  It was well known in the Milton area that Penton was wanted in Alabama for fleeing an 1889 life sentence for murder.  The folks up in Andalusia knew where Penton was living too.

There had been an arrest attempt in 1890, that resulted in the severe beating of two officers from Pensacola, who had made the trip to Milton to capture Penton.  Until May of 1891, there had been no further attempts.  

In late April, or beginning of May, the Governor of Alabama, Thomas Jones, demanded that Florida extradite Penton back to Alabama.  Governor Francis Fleming issued a writ of extradition to all the County Sheriffs in the State of Florida. Sheriff Thomas J. Watts, of Washington County, Florida appointed two special deputies to accompany him to Milton. They were, J. S. Ball, the Chipley Fla. town Marshall, and J. R. Shoemaker, a Chipley businessman.

In Alabama, W. D. Cheatham, an Agent for the State of Alabama from Montgomery, Robert Charlson and D. S. Jackson, both of Birmingham took a train to Pensacola, and then on to Milton, arriving about 4:30 pm.  At 5 pm they met the three from Washington County, and a man named Harry Adams from Troy, Alabama.  

Following a consultation at the Railroad Depot, Shoemaker, and Adams walked to town to see if they could spot Penton.  The remaining five posse members boarded the train as if returning to Pensacola.  About a mile or so out of town the conductor slowed the train and the officers jumped off and concealed themselves in the woods waiting for sundown.

After dark, the officers made their way along the track back to the depot, and met Adams and Shoemaker who reported that they had seen Penton in a bar and observed him while having a drink. The officers walked to the town square to see if they could spot Penton. Around 9 pm Cheatham and Adams entered the bar, followed shortly by Charlson and Jackson.  The other three officers secreted themselves close by to provide back up.

Shootout in the Streets of Milton

Not seeing Penton in the bar, Charlson and Jackson stepped out of the bar onto the sidewalk out front, followed a few minutes later by Adams.  Cheatham was still in the bar speaking to the bartender.

The Street was crowded with people, and across the street a man was selling goods by torchlight.  Adams scanned the crowd and spotted Penton in the street talking to another man.  He pointed him out as the man with the long beard.  Cheatham joined the others on the sidewalk, and they planned their approach.

Cheatham and Adams were going to approach Penton from the front, and Charlson and Jackson were going to make a circuit and approach from the rear, all converging at the same time.  As they approached, Penton suddenly started walking toward Adams.  Adams called for him to stop, and said he had a warrant for his arrest. The officers began pulling their pistols.

Penton quickly produced his own pistol and fired two shots, one hitting Adams in the shoulder. The officers returned fire, and closed on Penton taking his arms and keeping him between them.  The shots Penton fired alerted his friends and they began to fire at the officers.  Cheatham and Adams had Penton between them moving him up the street away from the torchlight, while Charlson and Jackson followed them with covering fire.  The other three officers joined the fight, one of them having a double-barreled shotgun.  The shotgun cleared the street as the officers made their way toward the depot.  During the melee, Penton was hit in the back.  He screamed, “My God, I’m shot!” and slowly sank down to the ground.  The officers commandeered a cart, loaded Penton and hurried to the depot. Penton may have lived about 10 minutes after being wounded.

In the midst of the gunfight, Shoemaker, and Jackson got separated and had been set upon by friends of Penton.  They were knocked down, and Jackson’s hand was damaged when someone wrenched his pistol away from him.  When they made it to the depot, the other officers were relieved to see them alive. After wiring for a special train, the officers put Penton’s body in the depot, and set up guard while waiting for the train.

The City Marshal of Milton, took the side of Penton and his friends during the fight and immediately after tried to arrest the officers.  Sheriff Watts told him there was a warrant and they were legally authorized to make the arrest. When the Marshal persisted a fight ensued and the Marshall was knocked to the ground.  He made no further attempt at arrest.

Where was the Santa Rosa County Sheriff?

The Sheriff of Santa Rosa County was William Jackson. During the gunfight he was conspicuously absent.  He knew Penton and knew he was wanted in Covington county for fleeing a life sentence.  Presumably he had also received the writ of extradition from Gov. Fleming

An inquest was convened in Pensacola and determined that Penton died of gunshot by an unknown person.  Nobody knows who fired the shot that killed him. It was determined to be a .45 caliber shot from a pistol from some distance.  Penton’s body was returned to his family.

As the officers from Alabama were buying tickets to return to Montgomery, they were arrested without resistance for murder by Santa Rosa County Sheriff Jackson. The officers quickly got an attorney and filed a writ of habeas corpus and were released.  They were back in Alabama by Sunday afternoon.

Penton’s history

John W. Penton was born in Alabama even though the newspaper claimed North Carolina.  During the Civil War he served as a Private in the 1st Florida Regiment. (After his death, his wife Josephine and his children moved back to Andalusia, where she drew his war pension and ran a boarding house.)

In the 1880 census, Penton is shown as a “Retail Grocer”, but by 1884 he had gained some local notoriety when some U. S. Marshalls traveled to Andalusia to arrest some timber “depredators”.  The marshalls were attacked by Penton and some friends and ran out of town. He was soon elected Sheriff of Covington County, and was serving his term when he killed Robert E. Crumpler.

Penton Kills an unarmed Man

On June 18, 1888 in the late evening, Sheriff John W. Penton shot and killed Robert E. Crumpler.

Penton tried to collect a fine and court costs in a judgement obtained in Chancery Court against Crumpler.  Crumpler had appealed to a higher court and was advised by his attorney not to pay until the court had made a decision.

Just before dark, Crumpler’s two mule team with a wagon of lumber was driven into town by an employee.

Sheriff Penton took possession of the two mules and led them over in front of Prestwood’s Barroom and leaned against a column of the porch, holding the bridle reins.  When Crumpler learned of this he went to confront Penton.  When he accosted the Sheriff, Penton kicked him hard in the side, and Crumpler staggered away.  After gaining control he approached Penton again and Penton shot him in the throat, with the bullet going through the windpipe.  Crumpler died later that night.  (His headstone shows his date of death as the 19th of June, so it was probably after midnight.)

The Inquest

Penton surrendered to authorities on the 20th, and soon after a coroner’s inquest was held.

From the Montgomery Advertiser dated June 27, 1888:

            We the jury, summoned to hold an inquest on the body of R. E. Crumpler, lying dead at the residence of Mrs. Frank Smith, in the town of Andalusia, State of Alabama, upon our oath, after examining all the testimony, state and present that the deceased R. E. Crumpler, came to his death from a pistol shot in the hands of John W. Penton unlawfully on the 18th day of June, 1888 in the town of Andalusia, given under our hands this, the 20th of June, 1888.

H. B. O’Neal

Jno. F. Thomas

J. J. Wiggins

W. B. Baker

Richard Tillis

P. J. Gantt

On Friday, and Saturday, the 25th, and 26th of June, Judicial proceedings before Justice M. V. Hare, resulted in a verdict of Guilty of First Degree Murder, and Penton was refused bail.  The verdict was appealed to Probate Judge Malachi Riley, who rendered his judgement of Second Degree murder, and fixed a bond of $2500, which was paid promptly.   (This must have been the indictment because Penton actually went on trial in March of 1889.)

At the Penton trial in March of 1889, Penton was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree and sentenced to life in the state penitentiary.  Penton had been forewarned about the verdict and did not show up in court to hear the verdict and could not be located.  A reward of $250 was offered for Penton’s arrest and delivery to the Sheriff.

He moved to Milton with his family because he had other family there and was familiar with the area.  He lived openly with no attempt at deception and many people including local authorities knew he was a wanted man.

Milton was an exciting and dangerous place at one time.  Sheriff Jackson was a one termer and was replaced with the first 4 year stint of Long John Collins.  I haven’t found the name of the Milton Town Marshal who tried to arrest the Alabama contingent before they could get out of town.   

I would like to know where the shootout occurred, but cannot pinpoint it at this time.  I’m thinking it might have been on or near Oak street, but that is speculation.

Grave of John W. Penton

Milton Cemetery

Milton, Santa Rosa Co., Florida

The Trial of Cecil B. Penton

After the murder of S. G. Babe Collins, the investigation of the Gainer murder came to a halt.  There were also few leads in the Collins killing.  Long John Collins was an older brother of Babe Collins, and had himself been a  two term sheriff of Santa Rosa County.  He had also been Postmaster, and Mayor of Milton at one time.  He was frustrated with Sheriff Mitchell’s lack of progress, and kept digging into his brother’s murder on his own.

For some reason, he strongly suspected Cecil B. Penton for the killing.  Just after the Collins murder, Penton had caught a ride with a newspaper truck delivery driver to Marianna, Fl, and then he traveled on to Jacksonville.  The driver later testified that as they passed through Milton, Penton lowered himself down in the seat, and pulled his hat low over his face.  He told the driver that “they” were after him about the murder. Long John traced him to Jacksonville, and then later to Sarasota, FL.

While Penton was in Sarasota, he was arrested, and convicted of burglary.  He was sentenced to a 2 year stretch, at the Raiford State Prison.

Long John Collins, who had long suspected Penton of involvement in the murder, found out about Penton’s prison sentence, and paid a visit to the warden, Leonard F. Chapman.  After telling the warden his suspicions, they agreed to place informants with Penton.  

When Penton left Milton, he went to Jacksonville, and visited an old friend named John M. Rollo, who was also from Milton. Rollo was also now in Raiford on a robbery charge.  He was called into the warden’s office and told that he was going to be placed with Penton, and to get him to confess.  Two other informants were also recruited to back up Rollo’s story.

In the last election for Santa Rosa County Sheriff, Joe T. Allen defeated Sheriff Mitchell in a close election. The lack of progress in Mitchell’s investigation of Collins’ murder was a factor in his loss.  Sheriff Allen welcomed the effort of Long John Collins, and in November of 1933, he and Collins drove to Raiford with an arrest warrant for C. B. Penton in the murder of Spencer G. “Babe” Collins.  Penton was brought to the warden’s office and Allen took possession of his prisoner.  In handcuffs, and leg irons, Penton was driven back to Milton, and then taken to the Escambia County jail for safekeeping.

In January 1934 a Milton Grand Jury was presented evidence in the Penton case, and refused to indict.  On the second try on May 31st, a different Grand Jury, seeing the same evidence voted to indict Cecil B. Penton for the murder of S. G. Collins.

In his second floor cell at the Escambia County jail, Penton wrote a note to Attorney John Lewis Reese, asking for representation, and dropped it through a window to the alley below.  The note was found by a trusty named Norvie Lee Brown, and delivered to Reese.  (One would think that Penton would have had representation before the indictment. It was a different time for prisoners in the 1930s.)

Reese tried to visit Penton, and was turned away by Escambia Sheriff Hampton E. Gandy, who stated that he didn’t think anyone in Santa Rosa County knew Penton was in his jail. Reese had to go see Judge Leo L. Fabisinski, and threaten to get a writ of habeas corpus, before he was granted permission to speak to Penton.

The Penton trial started on June 12, 1934.  Judge Fabisinski presided, with the Prosecution E. Dixie Beggs, John M. Coe, and J.T. Wiggins presenting the state’s case, with Reese, assisted by young lawyer James N. (Cotton) Elliot, 25 years old.

The State’s case depended largely on the alleged jailhouse confession to John Rollo, and the two other informants.  Rollo’s testimony was that Penton told him that he was at a filling station, about a mile down the main highway from the site of the murder.  He was picked up from there by someone else, and drove to the location across the bayou bridge where Collins, and Estes were talking.  They passed by Estes’ house, and turned the car around, and approached Collins slowly as he was starting to cross the road.  After shooting Collins he tossed the shotgun in the river as they crossed the bridge back into Milton.  Penton told Rollo there was someone with him but didn’t divulge his name. Rollo also testified that after the murder he was running a cafe in Jacksonville, and Penton came in and ordered a piece of pie, and a glass of milk trying to pay with a hundred dollar bill. Rollo mentioned the Collins killing, and Penton said, “Yeah, they are after me on that”.  Rollo denied being promised anything by the state for his testimony.

The other two informants to present testimony corroborating Rollo, did not show up for court.  The Judge called a recess, and asked Sheriff Allen to see if he could find them.  The informants, Wesley Herndon, and Levi Ivy, were in hiding.  Allen used an informant to track them down hiding in some bushes next to the highway.  They told the Sheriff that as they were hitchhiking to town a car full of masked men pulled up to them and warned them not to testify.

These two men were weak witnesses.  Reese was able to show that when Penton allegedly confessed to Herndon, he was actually in solitary confinement.

Another witness, W.O. Eiland was a newspaper delivery truck driver for the News-Journal, and he stated that Penton caught a ride with him to Marianna, offering him two dollars as payment.

The most important information during this trial was the time the shooting occurred.  Collins was killed around 8 pm. This was verified by Sheriff Mitchell’s original investigation, and witness reports, and Dr. Thames estimate of time of death.

C. B. Penton’s story was that he was at the filling station owned by Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Bell at the time of the Collins killing.  The Bell’s testified that he was there from the early afternoon visiting the Bell’s daughter Lucille, until right around dark he jumped into a Ford Model A, and was gone for about a half an hour. When he returned, he stayed until just after 8 pm when Caleb Cox came by the station with the news that Collins had been shot. Penton and Cox drove out to the murder scene across the Bayou bridge, then drove back into Milton, stopping at The Pool hall  owned by Leon Barnes. Barnes testified that Penton came in not long after 8 pm, and went to the rear to the bathroom.  He seemed fidgety, and didn’t shoot pool, but Barnes did not see any powder marks left on someone when they fired a shotgun.  Penton left after a few minutes.

The defense called Ernest Carson to the stand. He was a meteorologist from Pensacola, and stated that it was dark by 6:22 pm on Sept 11, 1931.  The alibi was that if he left the Bell’s station shortly after dark, and was gone for only a half hour, he could not have been on the road in front of Estes house at 8 pm.

After closing statements, the jury retired to deliberate.  Reaching no decision that night they adjourned.  The next morning they reached a decision, and announced a not guilty verdict.

It’s my feeling that Penton was actually guilty in the Collins shooting.  I talked to a lifelong resident once, who has since passed away, that an older brother of his was on the street close to the bridge coming into Milton, and he heard the shot, and then saw a car speed into town with three people, and he identified one as being Penton.  I don’t believe we will ever know for sure who all was involved and who devised the plan for revenge.  I think Collins, and possibly his lawyer L. V. Trueman were behind the KIlling of Aubrey Gainer, and in the future I will have a good story about Trueman, and his eventual (karmic?) fate.  Milton was an incredibly interesting town back in the early part of the 20th century.  

From Milton Gazette.  Pity there was no caption with the names of the Posse members.

The Bandits captured near Milton

From the Milton Gazette.

1931 Statewide Pursuit, and Capture of Criminals in Milton

         

    In March of 1931, four wanted desperadoes on a state-wide crime spree were captured by a posse comprised of police officers and citizens from different Panhandle communities.  After spending the night in hiding in the Mulat swamp, six miles west of Milton, the trapped criminals surrendered to Deputy Sheriff Wade Cobb of Milton, Deputy Alex Cooper of Washington County, and Roscoe Rollins, a civilian from Chipley. 

                The quartet on the run were two men, Leonard “Tex” Hayes, Bert Oglesby, and two women, Fay Harris, and Mabel Wertz.  The women were from St. Louis, Missouri, and the men from Oklahoma.

                The crime spree started in Jacksonville on Wednesday night, March 4, when two police officers recognized an Oklahoma license plate reported to be on a car used in a hold-up on Feb. 25^th.  Officer Wilbur Blizzard was shot, and patrolman H. V. Branch was clubbed.  The bandits fled to the west and abandoned their car at Lake City.

                Early Thursday morning, they seized a truck in Wellborn, FL, twenty miles west of Lake City, and took two hostages, father and son, D.C., and J. L. McDonald.  They continued westward with their hostages two hundred miles to Chipley.  Officers in Chipley had been forewarned by authorities in Live Oak that the bandits were probably heading their way, and were on the lookout for them.

                Nearing Chipley the bandits were engaged in a gun battle with the local officers badly wounding Posse man Gillis Malloy, and Deputy D. J. Brock, who were later transported to a hospital in Dothan, Alabama.  Both eventually recovered, even though Malloy was hit at least 6 times.  There were also 40 convicts, and their guards who were near the shootout and ordered to lie down by the bandits.  The quartet seized a car from a motorist and headed back to the east for seven miles, before taking another car, and eventually turning back to the west.  The McDonalds got away from them during the gunfight and were not injured.  One of the male bandits was using a “riot” gun, and one of the women was using a small automatic pistol, and Deputy Brock believed (mistakenly) that he had hit her with one shot.

                 Reports were coming in from all over with the bandits being spotted heading to Panama City, Dothan, Ala., and Pensacola.  Later, it was learned that after taking a car from a motorist, the bandits sped east to Cottondale, turned off on a side road and went north, then got back on the main road to DeFuniak Springs where they obtained eight gallons of gasoline and continued on toward Pensacola.

                  

                The bandit car was seen speeding across the Blackwater River bridge into Milton, and the final pursuit began.  Deputy Sheriff Wade Cobb, Mack Williams, and other citizens, including the Mayor of Chipley, R. H. Rollins, and Deputy Alex Cooper from Washington County, gave chase and the bandits turned off the main road at the Rozier farm, and after three miles on the backroad abandoned their car and went into the marsh on foot.  A perimeter was set up and the bandits spent the night in the swamp.

                Recognizing the hopelessness of their situation the four surrendered, by Mabel Wertz shouting, “Don’t shoot, we’re coming out!”  As they came out Hayes made a move like he might be reaching for a gun, but Deputy Cobb had him covered with an automatic rifle.  Wertz had a handbag under her arm and unsuccessfully tried to prevent the deputies from taking it.  Hayes and Oglesby were disarmed and a rifle was found in the woods.  The only wounds noted on the bandits were a slight cut on Oglesby’s ear probably caused by a flying piece of glass in the Chipley shoot-out. 

                Santa Rosa County Sheriff Henry Mitchell and Escambia County Sheriff Mose Penton were attending the state Sheriff’s convention at Sarasota.  They drove all night Thursday and arrived in Milton Friday morning.  The prisoners posed for photographs and answered some questions from a Gazette reporter. 

                The prisoners were transported back to Washington County Friday afternoon and formally charged with highway robbery, assault with intent to murder, and kidnapping. 

                A large crowd had gathered in Chipley when the convoy of three cars arrived, and it was thought that an attempt would be made against the men who had shot and wounded the two Washington County posse men.  There was no attempt.  Sheriff Mitchell and Sheriff Farrior of Washington County appeared in front of the crowd at the courthouse and talked to the assembled crowd.  Sheriff Mitchell described the events, and complimented Sheriff Farrior for his assistance, then appealed for the crowd to go home and let the law take its course.  He received a large round of applause.

                By Monday, Sheriff Mitchell received letters, and photographs from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Dallas, Texas, and other places.  A detective from Tulsa, Jack Bonham, was particularly interested to know if Mabel Wertz, who was also known as Dammerel, was still with Oglesby.  Bonham said that Wertz was from a nice family in St. Louis, but had married a criminal named Doc Dammerel, who was now serving time in the Oklahoma Penitentiary for highway robbery.  Oglesby was wanted in Oklahoma for escaping from the State Prison.  According to a letter found on Wertz, she was the mother of two children.  The letter was from her mother, begging her to give up her association with Oglesby and come home to the children.

                Hayes and Oglesby had escaped from jail in Springfield Missouri, by taking a gun from a jailor and forcing him to open the outside door of the jail.  As they escaped the jailor fired a rifle at the escapees, hitting Hayes and another escapee in the neck, and Oglesby in the shoulder.  Detective Bonham in his letter, said that Wertz had smuggled in the gun for the jailbreak.  A car that was stolen by the escapees was abandoned in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

                Sheriff Marcel Hendrix of Green County, Springfield, Missouri, was anxious to get Hayes and Oglesby.  They were wanted for numerous robberies in Missouri, and Oklahoma, and for breaking out of jail in Springfield on January 27^th.   Sheriff Mitchell received the following telegram from the Springfield Sheriff Friday night:  “See you have Burt Oglesby, Tex Hayes, Mabel Dammerel alias Mabel Wertz, and Fay Harris.  I am much interested in the capture of these men as they and four others broke out of jail here January 27^th.  One of their partners was recaptured and sentenced to 40 years today, and another got twenty-five years.  If you do not have a strong case I am anxious for these men.  Positive they will receive Ninety-nine here.  Will extradite.”   Sheriff Mitchell informed the Missouri officials that the prisoners had already been turned over to Washington County.

                Hayes and Oglesby were indicted as principals, Wertz, and Harris as accessories.  All four pled not guilty to the charges in front of Circuit Court Judge C. D. Jones.  States attorney L. V. McRae said all four would be tried jointly.  None of the four displayed any anxiety over being held for trial.

                On April 2, 1931, after changing their pleas to guilty, Hayes, and Oglesby were sentenced to 20 years for robbery and 10 years with assault with intent to commit murder.  The sentences were to run concurrently.  The two women were sentenced to 10 years for being accessories to the robberies, and to five years for being accessories to the assaults.  Judge Jones denied the couple's request to be married before sending them to prison.

                At the time of his arrest, Bert Oglesby was on parole from an eight-year sentence for car theft and burglary in Oklahoma.  Governor Murray revoked the parole upon learning of the Florida crime spree.  C.E.B. Culter, pardon, and parole attorney said there would be no attempt to return Oglesby to Oklahoma if he was prosecuted in Florida.

                In October of 1931, Oglesby’s brother Jack, 22, and his sister Zelma M. Woodmansee, attempted to mail arms, and ammunition to Oglesby at the prison in Starke, FL.  Mrs. J. Young, Postmistress, at Starke, 12 miles from the prison, testified that she had received a package containing two pistols mailed from Tulsa.  Oglesby and Woodmansee pleaded not guilty when arraigned and were released on a $5000 bond.  They were later found guilty, and sentenced to prison. 

                The two women, known as the “bobbed-hair bandits”, were paroled from the state prison in Raiford on November 27, 1935.  They were released on December 22^nd, to the county judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The length of their parole was six months.  They were eligible for a full pardon after their parole was completed.

                Bert Oglesby died in prison of pneumonia and Typhoid on July 2,1932, and his body was shipped back to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Mabel Wertz Damrell died in Los Angeles, California in March of 1952, and is buried in the same North Hollywood cemetery where Curly Joe of Three Stooges fame, and the wrestler Gorgeous George are buried.  No further information could be found on Tex Hayes or Fay Harris.