GILMER DELVES IN NEW ANGLE

By Hap Haggard

Originally Published In The Tulsa World On Sunday, April 2, 1944

Prosecutor Investigates Insurance On
Former Housekeeper, Killed In Traffic Accident

Sinister Implications Seen

Possibility Considered Now That Girls May
Have Been Pawns In Developing Huge Swindle

Out of the dead past, startling new evidence arose Friday to link dumpy Mrs. Fay Smith, Mistress of the "Hex House," with a drab, half-starved slavey who--before she died in a traffic accident--confided that she too, had been mesmerized and "signed my life away" after applying for a $70,000 in life insurance with the now middle-aged sybarite as beneficiary.

The amazing development, viewed in the light of disclosures by Miss Virginia Evans, one of two newly defiant girls just emerging from some eight years under a similar spell, posed new sinister implications to the County Attorney Dixie Gilmer.

Based on information laid before authorities, Gilmer conceded he had revamped earlier theories and now was proceeding on the possibility that the two girls were pawns in a fake insurance plan with Miss Evans herself chosen as a substitute, in death, in order to collect huge policies to be drawn originally on Mrs. Smith.

"If I had not broken away from Mrs. Smith, and were still under her spell, I would not have hesitated to identify the body of Virginia, or anyone else, as that of Mrs. Smith if she had ordered me to," admitted Willetta Horner, until this week an inmate of the "Hex House" at 10 East 21st.

"I have questioned Miss Evans along that line and from what she tells me, indications point squarely in that direction," Gilmer said.

Pending a more complete investigation, however, Gilmer and his staff worked late Friday on an information alleging three concrete charges; conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money under false pretenses, and subornation of perjury.

At the same time, federal authorities put a federal hold order on Mrs. Smith according to Gilmer as he delved further into a mass of leads in the amazing case.

POLICIES ON HOUSEKEEPER

The World has learned that Mrs. Smith was a beneficiary under three policies on the life of Beulah Walker, $3.50-a-week houseworker who regarded Mrs. Smith as semi-divine. The policies applied for and in force aggregated $10,000, and in applying for them Mrs. Smith represented Mrs. Walker as the owner of large amounts of stock, bonds, and money.

With this glimpse into the past came new information from Miss Evans that sent Gilmer's agile mind searching into previously hidden corners of the many angled case seeking the answers to fresh, sinister questions.

1. Why did Mrs. Smith file a false birth certificate affidavit in Indianapolis, Indiana, which had it been authenticated would have made her age 31 instead of 52 years old?

2. Why has Miss Evans goaded by the Mistress of the "Hex House," sought to the point of risking a petitionary sentence to establish a new identity as "Beverly Fontane," and attempted to raise her age to 32, instead of 30?

3. Why has Mrs. Smith sought since 1936 to obtain polices on herself, some of them under the name of Carolann Meredith Fontane, in which the administrator of her estate would have been the beneficiary to the extent of almost $100,000?

GIRLS COACHED ON TESTIMONY

4. Why were Miss Evans, and her companion in misery, Miss Willetta Horner, coached carefully by Mrs. Smith as to what their actions should be if either of them were to be called upon to testify in court?

5. What part did insurance play in the purported suicide of the late Fay H. Smith who left a $31,000 annuity payable to his widow? Did insurance figure in the death of elderly Beulah Walker, one-time maid for Mrs. Smith or in the later death of another relative?

6. Where is a suicide letter, purportedly sent by Smith to his wife before he stepped into his car and was next seen dead? Why did Mrs. Smith tell reporters, after his body was found, that she had not opened the letter yet, preferring to wait?

When these and other questions are answered, Gilmer may have the solution to the puzzling situation involving luxury-loving Mrs. Smith whose "Hex House" collapsed this week with the unfolding of the almost unbelievable stories of Miss Evans and Miss Horner who jointly contributed thousands of dollars to maintain the strange household over an eight-year period.

And unfolding even now is a take equally bizarre the strange fascination for Mrs. Smith felt by Beulah Walker, killed in 1935 shortly after she moved her residence to the Bliss Hotel on a $3.50 a week. Strangely enough the World found, only a short time before, she was a housemaid, ragged, unkempt and often hungry, according to her then employer.

She told her employer of a Mrs. Smith for whom she felt a great affection and from whom she obtained spiritual solace--the same Mrs. Smith who today faces multiple charges in connection with more recent activities.

Mrs. Walker, her employer in 1933 said according to information made available to the World, "appeared and disappeared mysteriously," left her work in a highly nervous state and would reappear in a few hours strangely composed. She seemed at times to be demented, throwing up her hands and shouting, "Glory be, everybody's alive; everybody's saved," the employer recalled.

Continually, she spoke of "some woman who has a hold on me," and "who mesmerized me," then would become silent upon questioning.

But upon returning from the home of Mrs. Smith at one time, the World has learned, Mrs. Walker announced she "has signed my life away," and then began to appear to be very much in fear of something.

Authorities will have available information that Smith, who lost his job as salesman for the Williamsport Wire Rope Company turned insurance salesman and that the first business, he wrote was a $10,000 policy on Mrs. Walker with Mrs. Smith as beneficiary.

Other information to be placed in their hands shows that Mrs. Smith made an application for a $10,000 policy. There in existence at that time a $25,000 policy on Beulah Walker with Carolann Smith as beneficiary, and another $10,000 application was pending.

Investigation resulted in the $25,000 policy being cancelled and the pending application was denied. During this time the other $10,000 policy lapsed and because of trouble over the other policies the insuring company refused to allow it to be reinstated, the World has learned.

$31,000 ON HUSBAND

The World learned that when Smith purportedly shot himself, he had in force, $31,000 in insurance payable to his wife. His insurance was set up as an annuity, which pays Mrs. Smith $120 a month.

In later years, Mrs. Smith lived in a $90-a-month apartment at the exclusive Sophian Plaza. Authorities also are checking reports she recently received $3,750 from a policy on a relative.

It was based on these peculiar events that Gilmer determined to delve more deeply into the possible cash aspects of Mrs. Smith's association with the two girls, and to some extent, with 12-year-old Bobby Gene Folger, her sister's child.

Almost immediately Gilmer struck pay dirt, announcing he had established that Mrs. Smith had attempted in vain to take out $12,500 in policies on the boy still bewildered from events that occurred before his eyes during his stay in the "Hex House."

And from Miss Evans came the disclosure that she had been forced by Mrs. Smith to take steps towards building a new identity, which was that of "Beverly Fontane," an orphan, two years older than she was, with but one living relative: Mrs. Smith who had meanwhile assumed the name "Carolann Meredith Fontane" and was to name the latter beneficiary in insurance policies issued by her new employer.

In one final, irrevocable step, Miss Evans related, she burned every scrap of identification that would have revealed her true name. Into the fire went three social security cards, her income tax notices and records, and a pawn ticket.

I even wrote to Pryor to get the form for a delayed birth certificate, Miss Evans admitted. "I told them in my letter I was 32, which is two years older than I actually am. And I chose Pryor because I knew that all the county records had been blown away in that terrible cyclone."

All during this period, she declared, Mrs. Smith was talking to her of the advisability of taking out life insurance. From time to time, she recalled, Mrs. Smith would talk of "leaving Tulsa and starting all over again."

Significantly, Mrs. Smith had adopted the name "Mrs. Carolann Meredith Fontane," and had actually obtained a delayed birth certificate from Indiana, establishing her as "Carolann Orphman Meredith," and as a much younger woman.

"All the time, I was getting older not only on records, but physically. I was aging rapidly, I know now," Miss Evans said.

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

When difficulties were encountered in obtaining the birth certificate at Pryor, Miss Evans said that Mrs. Smith stormed at her.

"Do something! Do something! Get a Bible or fix up some records!"

She said she knew, somehow, that she might face court action on the attempted hoax, but also knew that "I would have gone to jail then and not opened my mouth against her." (Mrs. Smith)

The line of questioning indicated the authorities reasoning as to the possible mechanics of a purported insurance fraud. It was evident officers suspected that had Mrs. Smith been successful in obtaining large policies on herself, that Miss Evans--an organ," with only one relative--would have turned up missing.

There was no question in that event, but that Miss Horner would have come forward and identified the body of her erstwhile companion as that of Mrs. Smith, if such a demand had been made by the Mistress of the "Hex House," it was believed under this theory.

And with Mrs. Smith safely in the background--perhaps ready to reappear in one of her many aliases--the rest would have been easy, investigators agreed.

As she was being questioned, comprehension dawned on the features of Miss Evans.

I don't believe I would have ever left that house alive, she shuddered.

OTHER NAMES READY

From Miss Horner came further disclosures regarding the variety of names. She said she signed Mrs. Smith's application for an Indiana birth certificate as her sister "Charmion Folger."

"After it was all over with, and she had her certificate, she came around to the question of a name for me," Miss Horner recalled.

She said Mrs. Smith for a time considered the use of "Willetta Duthee," or "Willetta Duthee Sherman" who was to be 20 years old. Then the plan changed to the use of "Donald Sherman," and then "Merie Donald." Then it finally emerged as "Janet J. Sherman" who was only 14--and application was actually made to the Illinois authorities for a birth certificate under that name.

And a ration book was issued to "Janet J. Sherman," Miss Horner declared.

Later, application was made to Oklahoma City for a certificate to be issued to "Janet D. Sherman"--this one born in 1926. All of the applications were made by mail, Miss Horner recalled.

Asked why Mrs. Smith had so many name changes on tap, Miss Horner pondered.

'TOO MUCH PRESSURE'

"She told me at one time there was just too much pressure on her as Mrs. Smith," Miss Horner recalled. Her mistress' true maiden name was Carolann Carey, she said.

She said she thought Mrs. Smith carried a $2,000 policy on her, and had been named as beneficiary, but wasn't exactly sure.

"But she got nearly $150 a month from her husband's insurance policy," Miss Horner knew.

The late Fay H. Smith--Mrs. Smith's only marital plunge as yet known--was found shot through the heart in January, 1934, presumably a suicide. Mrs. Smith thinks it was murder, according to Miss Horner, yet never made her suspicions known to the police.

Smith had been missing 24 hours when found near his car. A note was found in his pocket, saying a letter to his wife would be found in their post office box. Mrs. Smith, however, did not divulge the contents immediately, explaining that she preferred to wait.

But Miss Horner recounted that the "Hex House" owner scouted the suicide theory. (Incidentally, so did a number of insurance investigators when the applications began pouring in for more coverage, with Mrs. Smith as beneficiary.)

"Her theory is that Mr. Smith always carried a satchel containing something very valuable, that someone in his organization wanted very badly," Miss Horner recalled. "There was friction between him and another company employee," she told us.

"Then he called her one evening he would be home right away and got in his car. She said, she had been told by a reputable Tulsa oilman that he saw two other men jump on the running board of his (Smith's) car as he started off. They drove into the woods, and a fight ensued. Mr. Smith won, and started away--but was shot in the back. She has told us that the undertaker who buried him told her the shot was into Mr. Smith's back. She says that the murderer used Mr. Smith's own father's gun, which he had gotten while the Smiths visited the home farm after his father passed."

Asked what explanation Mrs. Smith gave for not notifying the police, Miss Horner explained: "She just said that they wouldn't bring her husband back to life."

Old newspaper files indicated that Smith first phoned his wife he'd be home at 5:40 p.m. one Monday afternoon--while Mrs. Smith first notified police, he was missing at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday. The body was found at 5:00 p.m. that day.

MARRIAGE LICENSE

Old newspaper files also divulged another interesting angle. A marriage license was issued November 8, 1941, to Richard B. Fontane, legal age, Tulsa, and Carolann Meredith Smith, legal age. No return was ever made, however, and the license itself was found at the "Hex House."

The license was applied for by Ruth B. Fontane--whom Assistant County Atty. M.S. Simms said was Miss Evans--then still under the "hex."

Gullible society editors had struck hard at the bait and reveled--a year before the license was ever issued. Accounts of the "wedding ceremony" were carried on November 16, 1940, as performed by "the Reverend E.A. Memer in the home of the bride's uncle, Charles Phillip Meredith."

The Reverend Memer wasn't listed in the 1940 city directories.

County Attorney Dixie Gilmer and office aids worked late Friday night preparing charges against Mrs. Smith, which they said would be filed early Saturday. In a habeas corpus hearing Thursday District Judge S.J. Glendinning refused to grant a release to the woman still held in the county jail but directed Gilmer to have charges filed not later than 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

THREE CHARGES PLANNED

Gilmer said he was holding to his original plans, which would call for three charges-conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money under false pretenses, and subornation of perjury. The office was continuing to check a mass of leads to reach the basis of the strange case.

Federal authorities were continuing to delve into the possibility of charges of using the mails to defraud, while officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue were studying the income tax angle. No federal action had been taken Friday, however.

Meanwhile, one speculation which had roused intense interest fizzled out Friday as officers dug deep into the yard of the "hex house" to unearth the much-discussed buried casket.

The casket as the girls had said contained only the body of a dog. A preliminary excavation on Thursday had unearthed the body of dog wrapped in a sheet and contained in a paper clothes box. Mystified by the absence of the coffin officers reopened the hole as a crowd the size of a Fourth of July picnic gathering looked on eagerly.

VAULT SIX FEET DOWN

Six feet underground was found a large steel vault which was hoisted out of the hole and forced open. Inside was found a white casket. Not knowing what they were about to find, but expecting almost anything, the officers pried open the coffin, to find only the body of a second dog.

County and city authorities, incredulous at the story of the dog's casket, watched the proceedings eagerly, see the possibility of a major break in the case should the coffin actually contain something other than the body of the pet.

Meanwhile, efforts of Mrs. Smith to transfer her property Friday were foiled. She signed an agreement with Harold McArthur and Luther Lane, her attorneys, by which she transferred all of her property, real and personal, to them as security for attorney fees.

NOT RECOGNIZED

Sheriff A. Garland Marrs refused to recognize the agreement, pointing out that the court had named him receiver of the property to be held in custody until final disposition should be made of a civil suit for $10,000 by Miss Horner.

Officers Friday continued the tedious task of sorting and invoicing all the property of Mrs. Smith, which included, besides household effects, an astonishing hoard of valuable jewelry, clothing, silver, perfumes, cosmetics and other knick knacks, running into thousands of dollars. Marrs said no appraisal was intended for the time, but that the inventory was being taken preliminary to the storing the "loot."

The sheriff declared himself mystified by the strange affair, adding that "It's the most peculiar thing I've ever run across in 40 years in this kind of work, and I thought I'd seen everything."

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