The Strange Death of William Jennings Wells 4: Questions

20 QUESTIONS regarding the death of William Jennings Wells - 7/8/1937

The only, DOCUMENTED AT THE TIME, detailed report of the incident and its aftermath that I have found, SO FAR, is from the Newspaper coverage of THE OWENSBORO MESSENGER, and THE OWENSBORO INQUIRER ( begin here ), and it DOES raise many questions.

So let's play 20 QUESTIONS!

Well, actually many more than that. :-)

1. Why is the death of a simple farmer given such front page treatment and
followed over several days?

2. Why are the addresses of the 2 witnesses SPECIFICALLY reported, BUT those
of the victim and perpetrator only given VAGUELY?

3. Why did Orville Faught return home by a longer route, instead of just turning
around and returning the shorter distance home?

4. Orville said the headlight snapped off. The sheriff said there was a dent
in the fender and the light was damaged. They can't both be right, can they?

5. If the light snapped off Orville MUST have stopped briefly to retrieve it
and put it back. If so how could he miss seeing a body?

6. Considering the damage, either way, how could he honestly say he didn't
know he hit someone?

7. Witnesses claim the truck almost stopped, then started ahead again. This
indicates an impact of some sort. Yet Orville claims he didn't know he hit
something. It's obvious that, at the least, the headlight DID NOT snap off
as he claimed, because he didn't stop long enough to get out of the truck to
retrieve it, and the Sheriff said it was damaged NOT missing. Why the
contradictions?

8. Were the witnesses REALLY bystanders happening on a scene by accident, or
in cahoots somehow with Orville?

9. Who were the 3 unidentified folks in the photo?

10. Why was Business Man George Medley there and identified in the picture?
Was he just at the Kentucky Inn, maybe a passerby, or was he called, or even maybe
aware of what could have been a planned encounter with Granddad?

11. Was Granddad just a victim of an incident of harassment gone terribly
wrong? If so, why?

12. Why, after covering this story for days, is there no newspaper mention
of the case ever being dismissed or even tried, with or without a verdict?

13. Why is Orville's occupation never mentioned?

14. Why is Orville’s bond paid  by L. N. CECIL? And who IS he, anywho?

15. Why did the witnesses call the Coroner instead of waiting for the
Sheriff to get there and do it? That's HIS job after all.

16. For that matter, was it the witnesses when they called for an ambulance,
someone at the Inn, or the Coroner who called the Sheriff?

17. Is it me or was it rather convenient that " THEY and THEM" at the Inn knew
exactly who owned the truck?

18. Who exactly were "THEY and THEM", anywho?

19. Why does the time of death on the Death Certificate differ from the time
of the incident as mentioned in the newspaper story?

20. The incident is said to have occurred at ABOUT 8:45 PM. The Death
Certificate SPECIFICALLY states that " DEATH OCCURRED at 8 PM due to a
crushed skull. Accidentally struck by truck. Auto."

They can't both be right, can they? And Why is "AUTO" mentioned on the death
certificate in ADDITION to truck?

21. Also on the death certificate, by the way, is a section for CONTRIBUTORY
CAUSES. It is blank except for the number 210.  What does it mean?

Sherlock Kundurazieff :-)

Mr. Kiril Kundurazieff

Grandson of William J. Wells

MARCH 2002

***AFTERWARD***

So there ya have it: The story as I know it in October 2005.

If you have any other questions, I didn't think of, please leave a comment.

If you have any knowledge of the Kentucky Inn, or any of the other businesses in this story, that I might find useful, please leave a comment, or contact me by e-mail.

If you have suggestions on how I can proceed in trying to locate further public, or other, information/records that may still exist somewhere, leave a comment, or contact me by e-mail.

If you are related to any of the players in this saga, and may be able to shed some light on the story, please contact me by e-mail.

Read Part 5.

Comments

[Linda Willet of Michigan]

I want to tell you I have had such a great time reading the story about your Grandfather Wells. I linked here from the Kentuckiana list. It was very interesting to read. I have family from Kentucky(Patton) so I tend to read everything I can about the area. Wiish you all the luck in your endeavor and hope someone can shed some more light on it for you. Am looking forward to reading more.

[Richard Beisigl]

When Oriville said his light snapped off, he may have ment it went out, instead of falling off.

[Patti]

Before you try and guess or speculate any further, get a copy of all the police reports as well as the court records.

This is all public record and could shed new light to the case.

When the Union was trying to get established hundreds of individuals where murdered & hurt.

How vocal an individual was determined what happened to him.

The Ludlow Massacre is a prime example of how money & power gets there way.

[Glenn Taylor]

I am currently president of Glenn Funeral Home and the grandson of Delbert J. Glenn.

I read with interest the story of your grandfather's death and while I wasn't born until 1949, I do have access to some records you might find of interest.

I looked up the funeral account in our old records and learned that the charges, including opening and closing of the grave, the casket, a shirt, a tie, and socks, and all services totaled $208.42.

The funeral was held at 2:00 p.m. from the home, as you noted.

While you surely have the following, I will include it in the event that you might not:

Date of birth: September 24, 1897
Age at time of death: 39 years, 9 months, 14 days
Birth Place: Cannelton, IN
Wife: Ina (No maiden name on records)
Father: John Wells
Mother: Mary Hesson (Or Wesson) in long hand

The bill was paid in full on August 16, 1937, but there is no record of by whom.

My office is now across the street from Elmwood cemetery. Would you like me to check to see if there is a marker for him? If so, I will take a digital photo of it and send it to you.

You might find some strange irony in knowing that my grandfather was the oldest of 6 children. His mother died when he was 12 and his father was murdered when he was 14.

The accused was acquitted.

It is unlikely that he would knowingly take part in the cover up of a murder given his own life experience.

An inquest by jury is a rather uncommon occurance now as it was then.

One was usually held for the very reason of making the ruling itself part of public record and precisely so the coroner would not be accused of improper behavior.

It is important to know that the calling of a jury is and was strictly at the discretion of the coroner, who always had the right to make a declaratory judgement.

The result of the juried inquest in this case was referral of the case to the grand jury, at which point the issue was out of the hands of the coroner.

Further, my wife's sister is married to Ronnie Wells who is a son of the late Ewing Wells. The family has always been in farming.

I wonder if there is a connection there.

As to why there was so much coverage, you have to realize that there was not much happening in Owensboro, KY in 1937 so any story was news.

It is interesting that today there would be no photographs as you described, the media being, as difficult as it is to imagine, even more prurient than it is today.

I would look forward to hearing more from you.