Volume 15 , Issue 10

NW Oklahoma Mysteries

In 1910, Oklahoma had been a brand new State for three years. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this Old Opera House Murder took place back in era of prohibition, bootleggers and when women were possessions to be protected and with very little rights -- nor could they sit on a jury.

For those just now tuning in, Alva's first homicide of 1910 was the first murder in this small, rural community of Alva, Woods County, in northwest Oklahoma.

9 November 1910, the day after election day, heated races across the State, not just in Northwest Oklahoma. One of those local races was Sheriff Hugh Martin, Jr. facing re-election in a heated race for Sheriff of Woods County, NW Oklahoma. He lost that race by one vote. Martin ran again in 1923 and won that office back.

From the transcripts of the testimonies, Justice N. L. Miller would leave his office at various times during the day keeping close tabs on the election results at both the republican (located on the north side of square) and democratic headquarters (located on the westside of the downtown square).

Meanwhile, back at the office, Miss Mabel Oakes, twenty-three year-old daughter of George and Carrie Oakes, was in Justice Miller's office, in the old opera house, across from the southeast corner of Alva's downtown square. Miller and others would periodically drop in and out of the office during the day, on this particular day of 9 November 1910.

Around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Miller walks into his office and allegedly finds Miss Oakes body laying in the small back room of the old opera house. Miller goes to his front office door, sees Mr. Oakes and another guy walking along the east block on the east side of the square. Miller hollers and motions across the street towards Oakes to come quickly to the office. Oakes, hesitantly, hurries over to Miller's office with his friend following shortly behind. Miller and Oakes enter the office and back to the small room where Mabel's body is laying out on a piece of carpet.

George W. Crowell, vice-pres. of the First National Bank and president of Crowell Bros. Lumber Yard, testified that the afternoon of November 9th, 1910, after 3 o'clock p.m., Crowell walked over to the old opera house where Sheriff Martin opened the door and called Crowell in and told him, "We want you to be one of the jury-men at the inquest." Other jury-men were selected off of the street that day and impaneled by Judge Lawhon for the coroner's inquest -- T. B. Roby, J. T. Herold, Geo. W. Crowell (foreman), R. B. Dugan, C. R. Moore, W. M. Goebel.

The alleged cause of death, Miss Oakes' death was presumed to be caused by strangulation with her own scarf wound two or three times tightly around her neck and the ends tucked behind her back. The defense attorneys continuously objected to questions, answers as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. The Court continued to overrule most of those objections and the defense duly excepted.

The State's opening statement admitted to the circumstantial evidence. No one actually saw Miller commit the crime. It does make you wonder what was really behind this crime? Was it strangulation by another or self imposed? Did Miss Oakes succumb to one of her fainting spells while alone? What would your verdict have been if you could have been able to sit on the jury back then? If you were a woman, you would not be sitting on the jury in 1910. As to coroner's Inquests, was it a practice back then in 1910 to select the jury-men for the coroner's inquest directly from the people on the street.

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