Sunday, July 23, 2017
Retired School Teacher Kills Three Police Officers
Edward S. Lindley, and his wife
Bertha, (70), were from the Kokomo, Indiana area where Mr. Lindley had been a
math teacher, and school principal from 1921 to 1930. He suffered a stroke,
causing his retirement, and in 1932 started drawing disability from the Metropolitan
Insurance Company. In March of 1933 Lindley had a nervous breakdown, and was
arrested for firing a weapon at one of his neighbors. He was sent to Central
State Hospital for 10 months, and after his release, he and his wife moved near
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on some land they had bought in 1910.
At the beginning of World War 2, the
Lindley’s moved to Moss Bluff in Marion county, and lived there for about ten
years. While there, Edward Lindley believed his neighbors were spies for
Metropolitan Insurance sent to disprove his disability claim. Feeling persecuted, he and his wife moved to
a small house in Ocala.
Next door to their home was a couple
from Long Island, NY. Mr. Lindley
believed they were also spies, and when they moved, he thought they had trained
his new neighbor, Douglas Wingfield to spy on him too. After some items went missing, Wingfield put
a “keep out” sign in his yard, and may have gotten into a verbal dispute with
Mrs. Lindley.
On the day of the shooting, Mr.
Lindley claimed that he shot into the air to get Wingfield’s attention since he
was hard of hearing. Wingfield said the
bullet came within a foot of his head, and he ran to a neighbor’s house, and
called the police.
About 5:30 pm Deputies Bob Hooten,
(56), and Curtis Youngblood, (39), pulled into the Lindley driveway. A witness James B. Williams was a witness to
what happened next. Mrs. Lindley,
carrying a shotgun came out of the house and walked down the driveway to the officers
and met them about 50 feet from the house. She told them to put their guns down
and there would be no shooting. Deputy Wooten grabbed the shotgun away from
her. The witness heard someone yell, “Hey!”, and later Mr. Lindley stated that
he shouted at the officers about four times.
Lindley was standing outside on the west side of the house, and shot
Deputy Youngblood first killing him instantly. Wooten was then shot, and fell
on top of the shotgun he had taken from Mrs. Lindley.
Mrs. Lindley, calmly walked back to
the house, then came back out to retrieve the shotgun from under Wooten’s body.
William’s wife Gwen called the police to report the shooting.
At 5:46 pm, Sheriff Don McLeod, and
Deputy W.G. Ergle, Jr. arrived and
McLeod shouted, for the Lindleys to “Come on out!” This was answered by a
barrage of shots fired from the house. Assistant Ocala police Chief Mahlon O.
Tuck had arrived with other officers, and was standing about 60 yards from the house providing cover for State
Patrolman Sam Oswald as he crept up to a window on the west side of the house
to toss in a tear gas canister. Tuck was hit and killed at that time. Deputy Ergle was hit and wounded as he tried
to get to Youngblood’s body. The firing continued for about an hour until the
tear gas finally forced the Lindley’s to surrender. There were 30 officers involved during the siege and they fired over 1,000 rounds into the little cinder block house.
Four witnesses reported that they
saw Mrs. Lindley in the backyard with a gun during the shooting. She tried to
escape at the rear of the yard, but ran back inside when McLeod yelled at her. Mrs
Lindley waved a white handkerchief and came out, followed a few minutes later
by her husband.
The Lindley’s were arrested and charged
with three counts of murder, and one of assault with intent to commit murder.
On July 25th a hearing adjudged Mr. Lindley to be insane and he was
to be committed to the State Hospital at Chattahoochee. He appeared to be
confused as he was led away for his trip to the hospital. The next day Mrs. Lindley was released on her
own recognizance and returned to Indiana to live with her daughter. The authorities did not believe they had
enough to convict her without her husband to stand trial with her. She promised to return if there ever was a
trial. Before she left, the Lindley’s
bank account of $17,191 was given to the widows of the fallen officers. In 1956, the guns Edward Lindley owned were
auctioned and $499 was raised. This was also given to the widow. The State Legislature voted a payment of $225
per month to the widows for 13 and a half years.
Edward Lindley lived until December
10, 1971 never leaving the Hospital in Chattahoochee. Bertha lived to be 96
years old, dying on June 16, 1980. She
lived with her daughter in Greentown, Indiana.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Unsolved Pensacola Axe Murder, 1926
What is now a segment of W. Hilary St. in Pensacola, once was known as Chipley Alley. It lies just south of W. Garden St. between S. Coyle St. and S. Reus St. It was near the site of the old Frisco railroad freight and passenger terminal building. On the night of July 4, and early morning of July 5, 1926, 410 Chipley Alley was the site of a vicious attack on two adults, and two children by an axe-wielding madman.
Preston
Pickern, a 34-year-old carpenter, and his wife Hattie had spent part of the evening
of July 4th in Cantonment at an Independence Day celebration, where
Hattie won a cake. Two children, 6-year-old
Emmett Simpson, son of Hattie from her previous marriage, and 13-year-old
Lucille Cushings, Hattie’s little sister had remained home.
From Pensacola News Journal
Dec. 31, 1949
A
neighbor, Mrs. Ella Martin was awakened just before dawn, by a low rumbling
sound she could not identify, and got up to investigate. She walked outside and looked through the Pickern’s window.
Seeing the gruesome scene, she ran inside screaming, “Hattie, Hattie!”
She later said that Mrs. Pickern had mumbled something and lapsed into
unconsciousness. In the adjoining room
lay the two battered children, still clinging to life.
Mrs.
Martin called the police and requested they bring an ambulance. The first officer on the scene was Captain J.
R. Simmons, followed soon by Chief of Police William O’Connell. The officers found the room in disarray, and
the walls covered in blood. There was
evidence of a struggle in the adult’s room.
An axe
covered with hair and blood was found in the children’s bed. The axe was
delivered to fingerprint expert Robert Forrest, and after extensive examination,
he could find no usable prints. A shoe was also found in the house that showed
a defect in the sole that matched shoeprints found outside in the unpaved
alley.
As the
rumors spread through the local community, a crowd began to gather to view the
scene of the crime. All four victims were transferred to the hospital. Mr. Pickern was near death and was only
given a few hours to live. His wife Hattie was unconscious with severe gashes
to her head. At this time, the children
were reported near death, but a few hours later they regained
consciousness. They both could not
remember what happened. They had been attacked while asleep and had no memory
of the assault.
The police
canvassed the neighborhood, questioning neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. They discovered that bad blood existed
between Pickern and a man named Taylor. As recent as June 28th,
members of Pickern’s family had appeared as witnesses against Taylor. Taylor and other members of his family were
brought in for questioning. (I haven’t been able to find out what the problem was between the
families.)
The authorities, being
concerned about a growing lynch mob atmosphere, beefed up security at the jail
in case they were attacked by vigilantes.
Preston J. Pickern died from his injuries at one pm on July 5th.
His wife, Hattie was still in a coma.
Hours
after Pickern died, Justice of the Peace, Judge Dan S. Nee summoned an
inquest. On Wednesday, July 7, a six-man
jury met a Nee’s office. Neither the
police nor the Jury could figure out a motive for the attack. Robbery was
discounted because the Pickern’s were not wealthy, and nothing was known to be
missing from the house.
Eleven
suspects were picked up and held for the investigation, but ultimately none
were charged with the crime. Chief O’Connell
told the press, “This case is being thoroughly investigated and we expect
sensational developments any minute.”
Police
talked to a man named J. H. Perkins, a train dispatcher for the St. Louis and
San Francisco railroad. He told officers he had seen a man from the railroad
yard the night of the murder. “I first saw him coming from the direction of the
Pickern house. He entered several yards and searched through some wood piles. I
saw him in one yard swinging an axe in his hands, then I saw him go toward the
Pickerin home.” He described the man as
being burly with black hair.
The
Coroner’s Jury heard all this testimony, including from the eleven
witnesses/suspects being held, but all the evidence was considered weak, and
circumstantial. With no new information coming to light, the hearing was
postponed.
On
Thursday, the eighth of July, the Governor of Florida, John Martin arrived in
Pensacola for the grand opening of the newly constructed Escambia Bay Bridge.
An estimated 10,000 cars crossed the bridge in the first 12 hours it was open.
The next
day, Hattie Pickern came out of her coma. She remembered seeing a man. She did
not know who he was. She remembered waking up when her husband was attacked,
and she believed she struggled with the assailant, but with no identification,
the investigators were at a loss.
Chipley
Alley was now known locally as, “Axe Murder Alley”. All but 3 of the eleven suspects were
released.
During the
investigation of the crime scene, police did find three, five-gallon kegs of homemade
liquor. The Federal authorities joined
the investigation to find out the origin of the illegal booze. After a brief probe, they determined that the
illegal whiskey had nothing to do with the attack.
On July
28, Judge Nee resumed the inquest, calling 23 witnesses, including Captain
Simmons, and Hattie Pickern. Mrs.
Pickern took the stand and related all she could remember from the night of
the attack. After she concluded without
revealing any new information, a man stood and approached the witness
stand. When asked if she recognized him,
Hattie said no, she had never seen him before.
The man, (whose
name was never revealed in court, and referred to as, “Mr. X” in the papers.),
asked her, “Is it not true that you accompanied me on a party at Bayview and
had a pistol which you used to shoot a spider on a tree?” Confused, Mrs. Pickern said, “No! I never
did such a trick and besides I don’t know you.
I have never seen you before!”
After Hattie stepped down, the stranger swore under oath that she had
accompanied him to Bayview and fired a pistol at a spider.
(This whole testimony is bizarre, to say the
least. Not only is any such occurrence irrelevant
to the case, but what exactly was she being accused of? Why was this witness
not identified? I don’t believe this
would ever be allowed in a courtroom today.)
After the testimony, the jury verdict predictably was that the crime was, “committed by
party, or parties’ unknown.”
In 1950 a
man named Robert Raymond Lassiter, in Greenville, South Carolina, confessed to
the murder of Mr. Pickern. He was arrested and brought to Pensacola but was
determined to be insane and sent to the state hospital in Chattahoochee until
he could be found sane enough to assist in his own defense.
In February
1959, it was determined that his mental condition had deteriorated, and there
was going to be no prosecution. The only
evidence against him was his own confession, and he claimed no motive other
than being drunk and only remembered attacking one person. He was released
into the custody of his family, who were going to put him in a private
institution.
This crime
is still unsolved, but some new information has been shared with me that sheds light on this case. I will update the story very soon.
Preston Pickren's body was transported to the Godwin Cemetery in Bratt, located in the northern part of the county. (See picture below.)
Preston Pickren's body was transported to the Godwin Cemetery in Bratt, located in the northern part of the county. (See picture below.)
Hattie got
married to Aulice McKenzie in February 1928, but divorced in 1930. She lived
until 1950, passing away in Pensacola.
Lucille
Cushing married Lloyd Williams and passed away in 2006. She was buried at
Pensacola Memorial Park.
In a December 1949 interview with the Pensacola Journal, Hattie said that Emmett had died in WWII while serving in the U.S. Navy.
It
seems that it wasn’t very hard to get away with murder in the Florida Panhandle
in the early part of the 1900s. I think
that unless there were credible eyewitnesses, or someone was caught
red-handed, there was little chance of prosecution.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)