Deadly Hero: The High Society Murder that Created Hysteria in the Heartland

One Thanksgiving night in 1934, a young man from a well-known medical family in Tulsa was shot dead inside his car in the city's most exclusive neighborhood. Within days, the man charged with the killing turned out to be the son of one of Oklahoma's most powerful figures, and the case quickly drew national attention. The suspect, a gifted but unstable young man, offered a tangled account: he said he acted in self-defense and to shield a wealthy debutante he loved from afar. Prosecutors painted a very different picture, arguing that he had orchestrated the whole affair to make himself a hero in her eyes and win a place in her powerful family.