Ep 35 Jake & Clara Hamon pt 2

In this episode of the Curious Cousins podcast, Episode 35, the hosts discuss upcoming tours and attractions in Oklahoma. They also continue the discussion from the previous episode about the Jake Hammond Sr. and Clara Smith Hammond murder case. They talk about the charges filed against Clara and her mysterious disappearance. A reporter named Sam Blair finds Clara in Mexico and she agrees to tell her side of the story. Clara claims that the breakup with Hammond was mutual and describes an argument they had before his death. Hi, I'm Jess and I'm Tiff and we're your Curious Cousins where we talk about everything kooky and spooky in the state of Oklahoma Welcome to episode 34. Part 35. Welcome to episode 35. Yes, part 2. Welcome. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. I'm about to go out of town this week. I know. I'm pretty excited. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary. Very nice. Congratulations. Thanks. Well, do we have any business? No, I don't think so. I did notice that Tulsa Spirit Tours, which we've talked about a lot, they have their upcoming late spring, early summer schedule, I think, about to come. And they had a new Rose District tour. And I really want to go on that. Yeah, that will be a lot of fun. Do you want to go with me? Of course I will. And of course they have their pub crawl. I know, and that was a lot of fun. I want to go on another one. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. So I highly recommend that because I'm sure tickets will probably go pretty quickly. I did watch a TikTok video. I don't know. I should have paid attention to who it was that posted the video. But it was like the best things I've done in Tulsa since I've been here for two weeks. And one of them was go to Empire Spice. Oh, yeah. They were like, the pizza's delicious and the garlic knots. And I wanted to be like, and the ghost. Hello. I'd like to go back there, too. Me, too. My niece, Eva, who was on the show, they had their prom at Caine's Ballroom. Yes. And I told her, I was like, okay, keep your eyes and ears out for any spooks that might happen. Because it's supposed to be haunted. And she's like, really? And I was like, yeah, I want to know. But I haven't heard from her, so I guess nothing happened. That's a story on the street. For sure. Well, and we still want to do the tunnel tour. I know. We still need to do that. I know. I had to be like this summer sometime when they don't have school. Because now it's the school year. It's like winding down. Everything is just, it's going so fast. Yeah. Everything is just happening at once. Yeah. It always works out that way, huh? Yeah, yeah. It's okay. All right. Well, are you ready to get started? Yeah, because I've been thinking about this for a few days now. And I'm kind of annoyed with the way that you left me. Well, on a cliff. I did. This is part two of the Jake Hammond Sr. And the Clara Smith Hammond murder case, I guess we can call it. Okay. I don't know what we want to call it. So let's do just a little quick recap. Okay. Last week, just so that we have a little refresher. Jake Hammond. Yes. He was a lawyer. Okay. So it begins. Jake Hammond was a lawyer, entrepreneur, oil tycoon. He was a lawyer. Jake Hammond was a lawyer, entrepreneur, oil man, railroad owner, sketchy politician. On November 21, 1920, he was having dinner with some associates when he decided to go up to his lover's slash assistant's hotel room and try and comfort her because they broke up and she was supposed to be leaving the next day. And they broke up because he got a job in Washington, D.C., and he needed to be, quote, more legit. Yes, because his estranged wife was coming back from Chicago with their two children. They were supposed to be a happy little family. Right, because if we remember, his wife was cousins with Florence Harding, the future First Lady. So when Hammond came back down the stairs into the dining room, he collapsed, and then it was made known he had a gunshot wound to the abdomen. When he went into surgery, it looked like he was supposed to make a full recovery. Everything seemed to go well. However, on November 26, 1920, Hammond passed away from his injuries due to dilation of his stomach, which caused dilation of his heart. So now, remember, before he died, he told the doctors and the authorities that he accidentally shot himself while he was cleaning his gun, and we were at, well, what happened to Clara? That's where we left off. Did I miss anything? I don't think so. He wasn't the most stand-up guy. What did you call him again? Richard Noggins? Yes, that's right. As you can imagine, before Hammond succumbed to his wounds, there was at least one person, according to one source, who definitely did not believe this whole I accidentally shot myself account that Hammond was shouting. That's what he said, though, right? He did. That man was the county attorney for Carter County, Russell Brown. Within a day of the shooting, Brown charged Clara Hammond with assault with the intent to kill. He brought those charges. He also filed charges against both Jake Hammond and Clara Hammond for the crime of immorality. It's really kind of unclear what actually prompted Brown to file these charges, but the filing of the shooting charge against Clara, it had to have been based on the very slimmest of hearsay evidence. However, the charge of immorality, the couple had this long-term relationship going on that was in no way a secret. It was very public. Hammond flaunted that affair with no thought of anything. Just now they're getting charged with that? Why? I think it's thought that Brown may have added that charge for the simple fact for how it would play in the news headlines. That sells newspapers. It really does. Because of the condition that Hammond was in after the incident, we'll call it the incident for now, Brown never attempted to serve a warrant on Hammond. Clara was actually nowhere to be found. Brown thought that she had probably taken the northbound Santa Fe train from Ardmore to Kansas City to head to California. I did mention in the last episode that she had written in her diary that she was going to California. She wanted a fresh start and she was ready to start over after her breakup. Brown had actually alerted the authorities at Guthrie and Ponca City just to make them aware. Clara was never located. However, her luggage did arrive in Kansas City the very next day. It was very soon evident that even without a suspect in hand, Brown had more than just a local case of interest. He knew that this was going to be national news. With all the people, the higher-up people involved. The charges, combined with the backstory of this assorted affair between Hammond and Clara, this became the perfect recipe for scandal and intrigue. It created this explosion of nationwide publicity. This crazy mixture of attempted murder with money, sex, and national politics, it was the perfect mix for newspapers all over the country. Of course, many newspapers sent reporters to Ardmore to try and dig out the details and figure out what actually transpired. Jay Hammond died. He was actually buried in Ardmore on November 29, 1920. His funeral was attended by local and national business and political leaders. This included a big host of influential people who were pallbearers and honorary pallbearers. Because Hammond died from his wounds, Brown quickly amended that charge against Clara to murder, even though her whereabouts remained a mystery. I'm wondering how he was able, and granted this was roughly 100 years ago, less than 100 years ago, but 90 some odd years ago, how did he warrant or how did he think that it was going to work when, I'm assuming that, and this is me assuming, so I know what that makes me, but he or Jake comes down the stairs with this gunshot wound and he's saying he did it himself. So, and you know, the spouse is always the first one that you would look at. Well, obviously his spouse wasn't there yet. And so then you always are going to look at the jilted lover. And she was there. Yeah, I get that. And I get that, but he came down saying it was himself and so what made him think that he could proceed with this? Like, no, I'm going to charge her with this. Well, I think, I didn't really include it, but I think that I read he had talked to witnesses. Okay, okay. And so I think he had talked to the porter that had, well, we'll get into it, but he like brought a car upstairs and so I think he had kind of talked to witnesses who had like heard the arguments and kind of witnessed some of the things going on and so because she was his lover and I think he knew that they broke up specifically because he had to have his legit family, you know. I think he probably just had the suspicion she was his jilted lover. I mean, but I don't know. And that would definitely be the first person you would look to, but when your victim is sitting there telling you that he did it himself, I mean, I guess that would give me pause to be like, well, I mean, he's saying he did it himself and, you know, they didn't have the forensics, I'm sure, for like, you know, gunshot residue, obviously. But, I mean, she definitely had every reason in the book to do it because he or she had built a life with this man, married his nephew just so she could have the name and here and watch him, you know, their whole relationship climb these ladders and become the successful person and then when he gets to the very top, he just ditches her for the person that he has absolutely, I mean, I'm not going to say that he absolutely has no feelings for her, but, you know, that he absolutely didn't care for. I don't think it was so much that he ditched her for his wife. I mean, in a sense, he did, but it was more the fact because of the position he was going to be going through. He had to look like a respectable man. Right. And so, I mean, you know, and I get that she didn't, like, his wife, like, refused to give him the divorce, and we all know that, how difficult they were in that age, and then, not that it would essentially tarnish the male's reputation, but her reputation, you know, his wife's reputation, that would have definitely tarnished her reputation. Well, I think it was still pretty taboo at that time, but also, I honestly think that if she had gave him the divorce, it wouldn't have affected her reputation at all because everybody kind of knew that he was this womanizer. Right. Oh, yeah. But, anyway. It sounds like she probably came from money herself, so. Yeah, I'm not 100% sure. I don't, I'm not sure she came from money, but, I mean, she would have probably gotten a pretty settlement. They were, yeah, I mean, I don't think it was, I don't think they were hurting. Yeah. I mean, I don't think his finance, I don't think he was as wealthy as he made it out to be, but, because if you remember, Clara had that head for business, and she was able to turn his finances around. That's true. That's right. Yeah, that's exactly right. It's just. But we'll get more into it. It's just so, I don't know. Yeah. We'll get more into it. I'm ready to get more into it because you're kind of, because I'm kind of like, I feel like this could potentially, I guess in my mind, it's just surprising that this law enforcement officer. Well, he was a county attorney. Okay, so he went. He was so skeptical. He was so skeptical when, I feel like in this time period that most of them are like, well, he said that he did it himself, open, closed. It is what it is, you know. Yeah, I don't know, maybe he just, you know, he wanted. He's not a rat, didn't he? Well, either that or, you know, it already said that he mentioned, you know, he brought all these charges, like the immorality. I mean, it had been going on for 10 years, like you said, so why bring it up now? Well, for the headlines. So maybe this was part of the same thing. He was doing it for the headlines. Yeah. Because I was going to ask too, do you think that this attorney had it out for Jake anyway? Or maybe he was looking for several reasons to like just start tarnishing his name. I don't know for sure, but I mean, I wouldn't be surprised. Jake wasn't well-liked. Unless you were a seedy politician. Or Clara. Right. But I mean, we'll get way more into that later. No, you're fine. So, where were we? Oh, they found her luggage. Yeah. Oh, it was Brown Brown amended the charge against Clara to murder. Even though she couldn't be found. Of course, rumors about the shooting were just running rampant. One story claimed that Hammond was the one that was drunk on his bed when Clara entered his room and approached him. She then began to stroke his hair with one hand while she shot him. He lay with the other. Hammond apparently disarmed Clara and walked himself to the hospital. It was just like any rumor you could probably think of probably happened. You know, we all know how rumors go. So, finding Clara. It's unknown what kind of effort that the U.S. law enforcement actually put into finding Clara after Hammond died. What is known is that she was able to remain hidden until December 19, 1920. So that is almost a month. Right. Law enforcement wasn't even the ones that actually found Clara. The person who did find her was a man by the name of Sam Blair who just so happened to be a very resourceful reporter for the Chicago Herald Examiner. One source said that Blair was the one to use his smarts by retrieving Clara's diary from her luggage in Kansas City and then publishing what she had written in it into the newspaper. What I'm curious about is how was he able to get it so quickly and then before the authorities did and why he thought that was a good idea to publish her diary when it should have been like police evidence. I think in this day and age, he could have been arrested for doing that. Should he? Yes, for sure. I believe so for that. Tampering with evidence. Not to mention that that entire diary would then become null and void in a court case and that could have blown the prosecution's entire case. I thought that was crazy. Of course, these articles that he was able to write and publish using her diary, they were circulated nationwide by Universal Services and it made Clara out to be this naive, romantic, and sympathetic young woman who was led astray by this corrupt older man. Blair probably realized that he had found the story of all stories. This was like his golden goose. This was his big payday. Blair suspected that Clara's parents probably knew where her whereabouts were. Usually, yeah. Her parents, along with her 19-year-old brother, were living in El Paso, Texas. He decided to make his way down there and interview them. After talking with them, though, Blair became convinced that the couple had no idea where she was at. However, they did indicate that she might have hightailed it to Mexico. I don't know how I feel about him as an investigator right now. We're going to definitely go into it a little bit more because I want your opinion on some things. I will say, I don't know what happened. I don't know whether I believe her story of things. There's a lot of holes for me, but I'm a very skeptical person. I don't know. There's a lot of things to me that don't make sense. I'm anxious to hear your opinion about it. We'll get there. Running on a tip, Blair and Clara's brother, James, crossed the border into Mexico. They made their way south to Chihuahua City. For several days, the two of them were making inquiries until James was actually approached by an anonymous person who said that he knew where Clara was and asked for a photograph of James. They provided this anonymous person with this photo. A day later, James received a note that was actually intended for Blair. This note was from Clara. It said that she wanted to meet with Blair. This note was actually from Clara herself. It said that she wanted to meet with Blair and tell her side of the story so that he could tell the world. However, she just wasn't ready to return to Ardmore for a face-to-face trial yet, though. I wouldn't either. Blair responded with a note of his own that was like, hey, let's meet. Not quite in those words, but he was all for getting together to get this meeting, to get this ultimate story. Who wouldn't, right? Allegedly, Blair and Clara met up in the Central Plaza of the city. Clara was accompanied by two distinguished-looking Mexican gentlemen who Blair described as two of the most influential men in Mexico. How she met these men, I don't know if it was through Hammond. I don't know. It never said. I don't think they were. No, it just said influential men. Clara and her brother had this brief reunion where they hugged and whatnot. She agreed to tell Blair her side of the story. Blair and Clara walked into a park that was nearby, leaving the other people behind. They sat on a park bench while Clara began to recount what had happened on the night of November 21, 1920. The story that she tells Blair, it would become the basis for her defense when she's on trial. She also told Blair that she was ready to head back to Ardmore and that she had nothing to be scared of because why would a jury find her guilty after the story that she just told him? I find it interesting that one day she's like, I'm not ready to return, and now all of a sudden she is. I don't know. There's a couple of things before we get into it. There's a couple of things I want you to keep in mind about this telling of what happened that night. It should be taken into consideration that Clara had several weeks to plan out and practice what she would say about what happened that night. We can't be too surprised that she was so convincing when telling Blair her story. On the other hand, it may have been convincing because it could have been true. We don't know. Another compelling aspect of her story was that she was willing to tell the public her side of things rather than stay silent on the matter. It made her seem like she had nothing to hide. Her side of things portrayed her as this poor innocent shop girl that had been seduced by a rich immoral older man who controlled her and ultimately abused her. Now, for years and years and years and years, whether Clara was guilty or not, she would stick with this story throughout the trial until the very end. It's just I don't know. I'm just having a hard time 100% believing it. But not saying it's not true. Right. It definitely gives you pause. Yes. But we'll get into it. We'll get into it. There's a lot more going on than you originally let on. Are you ready to hear what Clara's story was? Yes, I'm ready. Clara said that November 21st was supposed to be the last date that the couple would be together before she left for California. She also claimed that the breakup was a mutual decision. Jake Hammond needed to regain his respectability back which is why Mrs. Georgia Hammond was returning. If you remember when Warren Harding, after winning the presidential election, insisted Hammond bring his legitimate family to Washington, D.C. to leave Clara and Arnmore, especially since their wives were second cousins. Clara told Blair that she both loved and hated Hammond but was also ready to move on with her life. According to Clara, she and Hammond were supposed to spend the day together since it would be their last. However, Hammond had several political acquaintances in town and ended up going back and forth between the hotel and his office which was just across the street. Clara claimed that each time that he returned back to the hotel, he appeared more and more intoxicated every time he returned. Allegedly, this behavior wasn't unusual for Hammond and that he drank quite often but was usually able to hold his liquor. Around 6 o'clock that evening, Clara and Hammond were on the veranda of the hotel. And all of a sudden, this ugly argument kind of broke out. And I guess Hammond was yelling at Clara and at one point during the argument, he threw her into a chair and she then begged him to not make a scene and where he then just again returned back to his office. Spooky. Like I said, there's a lot of things. I'm just like, I don't... Anyway. So Clara said that being so upset with Hammond's bad mood and his violent behavior, she decided to leave the hotel and go out for a long drive in her car. So when she got back from this drive, she decided to stay in her room until Hammond sobered up. They were in connecting rooms. So he was in like room 28 or room 29 and she was in the other and there was like a connecting door to the both rooms. To both of their rooms. And when she got up there, Clara locked the door that connected their two rooms. So she locked that one. And then she also locked her room that the door that led out to the hallway. So at some point, it didn't really say what time, she heard Hammond come back into his room and he had begun ranting and raving at her. And he wanted to be let into the room. But she refused to let him in. So then Clara then orders room service. Orders dinner. Because her boyfriend is going crazy. Right. So when the porter came up to deliver her meal, Hammond then forced his way in. Into her room. And then Clara said, so then Clara said that she saw an ugly argument was probably about to ensue. And so she then asked the porter to leave the room. Because this ugly argument was probably going to happen. And Clara said that by this point, Hammond was in a drunken stupor. Remember that. He was in a drunken stupor. And he threw himself onto the bed. So while he was laying sprawled out on the bed, she took the precaution of getting this small pocket knife that he kept on his person. On like a chain. She took it upon herself to remove that. And then she hid it under a newspaper that was on the nightstand. Okay. So Hammond all of a sudden then sits up. And he's like he begins demanding Clara who were you driving around with? He accused her that she was driving around with somebody else and all evening and she tells him like no I was alone but he doesn't believe her. And he begins to like work himself up into this like blind rage. So Clara described his behavior to Blair as follows. Quote crazy is the word the way his eyes were glowing his lips twitching his fingers clenching. I have a question. Sure. Did they have problems like this prior to him having to make the choice to leave her and get back with his wife? I don't know. I'm not 100% sure. It never really said. Okay. I think she may have claimed that he was abusive. After he had died? Okay. But I'm not really sure. Okay. I was just wondering. Yeah. No. Legit question. So Clara says that Hammond then attacked her and he grabbed her first by the throat and started to choke her and then he began to torture her by bending her fingers back and twisting her wrist until the skin until the skin on her forearms was torn and bloody. What? Yeah. Like he was twisting her wrist until it was like torn and bloody apparently. Oh! So the force that would be required to do that like I said I've got questions. Granted he was intoxicated so I know sometimes they have like weird superhuman forces but at this point she stopped her story to Blair to show him the bruises that still lingered on her neck and on her and the marks that were on her arms that she claimed was from Hammond's attack. Now remember this is like a month later after the fact. Oh. Okay. So she also told Blair, I don't mean to like laugh, I'm just, I don't know how to react I guess. She also told Blair that at one point Hammond lit a cigar and this is what he said to her after he did it. Quote, I would as easily slit your throat as draw on this cigar. And he apparently said this to her and then he then reached for that pocket knife that he had but then realized it was missing. She then said that his face was like set into this horrible way and he had his arms out stretched with his fingers like clutching the air grotesquely is how they described it. Like he was going to lunge for her and this made her instinctively grab for the gun that was just doesn't make sense to me. It made her instinctively grab for this gun which she claimed Hammond had bought for her and it was apparently in a handbag on the windowsill. So Clara said that she turned the gun on Hammond and had like motioned him towards the door like leave. And which it seemed like once he saw it he was complying and he had started to like back out towards the door and like he was going to leave but then when he got close to the door he turned the lights off and then was able to grab a chair which he swung over his head and then down on Clara. And he's inebriated. Yes. This is when the gun allegedly went off and even though Clara claims that she never once pulled the trigger and that Hammond was shot you know he was shot in the stomach. So Clara said that Hammond responded by shouting, Clara you hit me. You've hit me. She screamed in return oh I didn't. You know I didn't. You know I never could have done it. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. That's what she said to Blair. So Blair pins this story exactly how Clara told it and he also kind of added an over dramatic flair referring to Hammond as a quote pudgy masher. What does that mean? I don't know. I'm going to google that really fast. Keep talking. He also described how Clara sobbed and cried at all the appropriate times. This story hit the next day after his meeting with Clara. So he met with her and then the next day it was in the papers. The story circulated nationally and hit the front page of the Daily Oklahoman. Clara claimed what did you find? Oh nothing. I found a podcast called Pudgy Masher? The Old Timey Crimey by Clara Smith Hammond Part 2 Pudgy Masher. I'm trying to see what it means. Clara claimed that she had offered to call for a doctor for Hammond but he was determined to walk himself to the hospital. Neither Clara or Hammond believed that the wound was fatal. He got shot in his stomach. We all know how fatal that can be. Right, right. She apparently spent a sleepless night suffering from her injuries and from worrying about Hammond. I find it interesting how she's like I suffered a sleepless night thinking about my own injuries and then worrying about the guy I shot. Anyway, so she said she went to the hospital the next morning and at first the doctor just refused to let her um ugh Let's try that one more time. She said she went to the hospital the next morning and at first the doctor refused to let her even see Hammond but Hammond wanted to talk to Clara and so the doctor then permitted her to see him. If Clara's story wasn't already a little kooky Hammond apparently told Clara which I find this interesting that she remembered word for word Oh I found out what it means. What is it? It is a man who makes advances especially to women he does not know with the view of physical intimacy. Hmm. Well I mean he definitely knew Clara. Right. For 10 years. Kind of the opposite of a um The more you know. Right. If the story wasn't already a little kooky Hammond apparently told Clara I just I don't know. Are you ready? Oh am I ever. Clara I am going to die. There isn't a chance in the world of my getting over this. You did right Clara. You should have done it before. You did right. And remember this. I'm going to tell the world that I did it myself. Accidentally. I mean this was in the paper. Wow. Okay. So Hammond also apparently told Clara to get out of town. That he had made arrangements for Frank Ketch which I think was an attorney for him or something like that. Made arrangements with Ketch to give her $5000 to help her leave. And she apparently offered to stay by his side but Hammond insisted that she leave. Because he knew his wife was on the way. So at first when she escaped she didn't initially feel like she was in any kind of trouble. This is what she told Blair. But by the time that she reached El Paso she then realized that she was in fact being hunted. Is how she put it. And she went on to Mexico. This far in her story it was made up of this love and self defense kind of air to it. But she told Blair this is what she told Blair. The bullet which killed him should have been fired 10 years ago. She also told Blair that several big wig men in Oklahoma had advised her much earlier to kill Hammond. But she just hadn't. Why would you say that if you're innocent? Right. I mean because it sounded like legitimate when she originally thought she wasn't in any trouble. Because if you truly believed that he was going to tell the world that he did it himself then of course she wouldn't have been in any trouble. Or if in fact she really hadn't done anything and he really had done it himself then she wouldn't think she was in any trouble. She would just carry out her plans like normal. But I want to kind of talk about some of these things real quick. Here are some things that I found in her story that I was just kind of like and I'm curious to know if you felt the same way. But if things if she was so scared enough to lock herself in her room when the porter came with her dinner why would she have him leave? Right. Exactly. Like why would you have the porter furthermore if you were so scared that you locked your doors so that he wouldn't come in why would you have ordered food in the first place? Right. Because I mean even I knew by the second you said well she ordered food well now we all know he's going to force his way in because you're going to open the door to get the food and guess who's going to be standing there? Well because in my mind even if she had ordered the food if she heard him ranting and raving she could have had the porter leave it outside Right. Or she could have had the porter go and get management or a police officer Yeah. So remember she also claimed that he was in this drunken stupor. Exactly. Yeah. And then all of a sudden he's like alert and he pops up out of the bed and he's like so angry and then you're telling me that he also had the wherewithal to turn the lights off grab a chair and chunk it at her? Yeah. Swing a chair if he's so drunk yeah if he's so drunk then how how is he I mean I would imagine that if he were at that point of inebriation and he laid down for just a moment he would have been out. Yeah I mean if he was in such a stupor I don't know those are the questions that I have wasn't she at one point you said that she was caressing him and telling him it'll be okay. One of the rumors was that when he laid down that she started stroking his hair or his head or something. Like if he was that inebriated. And then with one hand and then she shot him with the other I just feel like if he was that inebriated he would have just passed out I know and I'm not trying to sound like I just 100% flat out don't believe her. It's just I find a lot of these things kind of contradict what she did say. Things aren't adding up. Right and so I mean obviously I don't know what actually happened nobody actually knows what happened except for those two people but anyway anyway so returning to Oklahoma Clara asked Blair if the herald examiner, the paper that he wrote for, could arrange for her surrender and her return to Oklahoma. She told him that she didn't want to surrender to some unknown lawman who might want to go and parade her around town before the press could take advantage of her notoriety or worse hold her in Mexico or Texas. So Blair agreed and he was able to make legal arrangements so that Clara could return to Ardmore and then she was then placed in the custody of the United States Consulate who made arrangements with the Mexican government for Clara to cross the border at Juarez. So a group of 40 Ardmore businessmen that worked for the law firm of Coakley and Mathers was set to represent Clara. 40 men. Is that not crazy? What are 40 men in charge of? Don't know. Clara had about a 12 hour train ride from Juarez to Ardmore and let me tell you, she used this time well. In the sense that she basically told Blair her whole life story. At this point, he believes her. So she often referred to him as quote, a masterful man who always got his way. She said that he pursued her relentlessly from the very first time they met offering to buy her all the furs in the store and it's a store that she actually worked at. She was like this clerk or shop girl, whatever they called. So he often tried to talk her into going to his office when he would go into the store and I guess she finally gave in at one point and he further impressed her by taking her for a car ride in his, well, what else would it be? A car. Which you have to think in 1910 in Lawton, Oklahoma they were very few and far between. So this was like a real special treat, like a luxury. She described Hammond as a man who could be sweet and loving one minute and then cruel and hateful the next. However, he was always domineering is what she said. She let it be known how important she was to Hammond. Like I guess she was just like I did this for him and I did that for him. She said that his success he had was because of her, which it was, but I mean she's you know, he depended on her. He would always see, okay this is what she said. She said he would always go out and seek other women but in the end he always came back to her. And in my mind I'm like why would you want to stay with someone like that? That's just me. That's not my cup of tea. She also told Blair that Hammond played a dirty money puzzling game. I mean she obviously knew him well because I mean he did all the things that we talked about in the last episode. Clara divulged another reason to Blair on why she was so willing to return to Ardmore to face trial and Hammond's will Oh no, here we go. He left one fourth of his estate, which some people estimated to have been about $14 million back in 1920. I didn't calculate what that would be now but back then $14 million. So if she was not found guilty, she could very well become a very rich woman. Right. So, the trial. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. For several days before the trial even actually started, reporters were just flooding into Ardmore. The trial wasn't just being covered locally or nationally but there were international reporters as far as France and England who were also there. The trial began on Thursday, March 10th of 1921 and it was no surprise that the courtroom was just packed and filled beyond capacity with both reporters and spectators. Clara's mother, her sister and her two brothers were there to support her and Clara was actually dressed very conservatively and she wore this wide brimmed hat and on the other hand, Georgia Hammond who was still dressed in morning black she was there with her 11 year old daughter Olive Bell and her 18 year old son Jake Hammond Jr. The Attorney General S.P. Freeling was the prosecutor. Freeling agreed that it would be almost impossible to find jurors who had not heard anything about the case. Or read her diary. Right. And said that he wouldn't object to any juror on those grounds as long as the juror had no preconceived opinion of guilty or not guilty. So by the end of the day, a jury of 12 men had been selected because at this time, women not being legally authorized to serve as jurors didn't happen until 1951. And also there were no people of color on this jury as well. So one juror was unmarried. One juror had no children. Ten jurors were family men that had anywhere between one to ten children each. And their ages ranged from 33 years old to 73 years old. So six jurors were like dairy men or farmers. The rest included three merchants and there was a barber, a banker and the owner of a carriage work. I was ready for you to say Campbell's Journey. Also by the way, $14 million in 1920. Over $211 million in the day. That's a lot of money. Yep. She would have been a very rich woman. More money than I could ever spend. Oh yeah. I could try to spend it. So in the opening statement, Freeling said that Hammond had feared going to the hotel that night that he was murdered, knowing full well that Clara had carried a gun for years. Did he buy it for her? Well remember, she took a little shopping trip to Oklahoma City where she bought a .25 caliber pistol. And that was what was used to shoot and ultimately kill him. So this held to the account that Hammond had returned to his room and taken to his bed and Clara had shot him. So Freeling then claimed that Clara then left the room about half past ten, went downstairs, and calmly told a person at the hotel that Hammond had not been shot and that nothing was wrong. In the state's account, Clara later admitted that she would have shot Hammond with an old gun if she had known it would have been more likely to cause death. What? She didn't think she didn't think shooting somebody could cause their death? I don't know what shooting a person with a new gun or an old gun would. You know. Anyway. So this timeline that the state portrayed also had Clara telling a taxi driver on her way out of town that the man she had shot was not dead yet, but she hoped he would die. Quit talking to everybody, girl! I don't know. I'm glad you're dumb, but it's the same token. Did she really say these things to these people? That's true. I don't know. Freeling declared in a shocking new piece of information that Clara had tried to kill Hammond twice before the fatal shooting actually happened on the 21st of November. Prior to the start of the testimony, because of the perceived immoral nature of some of the evidence that was to be heard, the judge had restricted anyone younger than 16 years of age from being in the courtroom. So that meant that Olive Bell, the youngest child of Hammond who was 11, was spared from hearing anything about her father's affair with Clara and any of the gory details about his death, which I don't think she should have been there for that. She knew that her dad wasn't this upstanding guy because obviously he wasn't around. I doubt they saw him. I'm sure her mother probably didn't paint the prettiest picture. Oh, you know she probably didn't. So during the trial, the state entered into evidence letters written by Clara to Jake Hammond. The letters painted a picture of the confused thoughts of a young woman and reflected the mixed emotions of love, guilt, jealousy and fear that the affair had generated in Clara. The letters also contained veiled threats as to the lengths that Clara might go to if Hammond did not leave his wife. Oh my gosh. So the letters offered by the prosecution, it showed premeditation. Absolutely. So on the defense side, they brought in a couple of nurses that had tended to Hammond during his last days, and they testified that they never actually heard Hammond tell anyone that Clara had been the one who shot him. And the defense played up Clara's testimony and the story that she gave to Sam Blair, who reported it in the paper. They made Hammond out to be this sleazy older man, which he kind of was, preying on this young girl who was said to be 16 at the time when Clara met him. But during cross-examination, the prosecutors reportedly pointed out that Clara was now 29 years old, something that was confirmed by a couple of witnesses. So Clara had often said that she had met Jake when she was almost 17 years of age. However, if she was 29 at the time of the trial, she would have to have been 19 when they met. And under the prosecution's theory, a more mature woman and not a child, one who knew just what she was doing, entering into a relationship with an older man. So, I mean, I don't know that it was much more mature between 19 and 16. I mean, I see where they were trying to go. Different era. But, you know. I know. Oh, that was a reach, prosecution. I do think it was a reach. But, on a slim level, she would have been a little bit more mature. A little bit. A little bit, right. But she still could have been naive. It's a small town. She was probably, I mean, she was definitely of marrying age. Well, especially back at that time, yeah. So, but, It was reaching. Yeah. To assume that she would have been much more mature. Yeah. I can assure you that I probably wasn't much more mature at 19 versus 16. Yeah. So, one source called Clara's own testimony, testimony. Let's try that one more time. One source called Clara's own testimony, pure cedar. She was dressed modestly and spent more than four hours on the stand, being questioned by the defense and being cross-examined by the prosecution. So, while on the stand, she talked about her own life story. She gave many details surrounding the night Hammond was shot. Her testimony was almost word for word. The story that she had told to Pam Blair. So, when Clara described Hammond's behavior the night of the shooting, she said he was, quote, drunker, crazier than all the years I had known him. Again, if he was so drunk, how would, I mean, how would that even compute? Like, I feel like, okay, I'm just going to say this because it bothers me so much. If he had turned the lights off while drunk as a skunk, grabbed a chair over his head, I would feel if he was so drunk, grabbing that chair would have made him off-balance and fallen over. I agree. And this is speaking from someone who has balance issues already, and I... This is true. I can attest to that. And that's without liquor. Anyway, I digress. Okay, so she restated how he had choked her, tortured her, thrown her to the floor, he then kicked her, and then attacked her again one last time, forcing her to pull the gun from her purse and self-defense. I'm not saying that an altercation didn't happen. It very well... Because she obviously had marks to prove that something had happened. Right. But... So this is what she says. Quote, I held the gun on him. When I unlocked the door, I had to let him out of my sight. That instant, he turned off the light and raised the chair to strike me. He did strike me with that chair, and the gun went off. I didn't mean to shoot him. So... Why didn't you shoot him with it? There are several things that she has said that contradict what she told Blair. Right, exactly. And... Anyway... Or even I see originally, because originally she didn't do anything. Right. So... Right. So the next day... The prosecution called several rebuttal witnesses, and after those testimonies were done, the judge champion instructed the jury on the charge of murder and the lesser charges of first and second degree manslaughter charges, and the judge reminded the jurors that killing someone was lawful if it occurred by accident, or in self-defense, or when someone is the victim of a murder attempt or a felony. Reaching a verdict took slightly longer than the two minutes that everyone thought that had predicted. They thought it was going to be like a super fast verdict. So after only... I mean, it still was really fast. After only just 39 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned... What do you think, Faith? I don't know, because I've been thinking about this a long time, and I don't know, like... Honestly, I believe some sort of altercation happened. But... I don't believe... I believe that he attempted to harm her in a way, because there was evidence of that. Do I believe that she accidentally shot him? No. I believe she fully intended to shoot him. I 100% believe that she did it because she was the jilted lover, and he's in this drunken rage, and he's probably saying foul things to her, and I believe that she saw her opportunity. So do you think the jury found her guilty or not guilty? 39 minutes? I bet they found her guilty. The jury returned a not-guilty verdict. Well, I'm gobsmacked. It was said that Mrs. Georgia Hammond was not present for the reading of the verdict, having been warned away by friends who had anticipated the outcome was going to be a not-guilty verdict. So what happened after? Clara was free. She had sold her jewelry to pay for her legal team. They called it her legal dream team. I thought that was funny. Anyway, so now that she was cleared from the charge of murder, she needed to have a way to make an income. She also now needed to clean up her image. So now, I'm not saying this didn't happen. I don't know the woman. One source said that she made her way to the local Baptist church, admitting and repenting of her sins, and then accepting Jesus as her Savior, which she was then baptized. She also made an appearance at a women's meeting at another Ardmore church, where she recited an inspirational poem. And then she also talked publicly of making a speaking tour, where she would warn young girls against pursuing a life of sin. But I don't think that ever actually happened. She just talked about doing it publicly. And, of course, with all of this sordid affairs and killings and murder, Hollywood came calling. Oh, man. With such notoriety and how compelling her life story was, the idea of a film about Clara's life with Clara playing herself was met with various reactions. Wow. I mean, it doesn't surprise me that Hollywood came calling because, I mean, in all honesty, that's right. It's hard for me to imagine that this was not some sort of script. Right. But for her playing herself? Yeah. Did she meet Henry Stoner? Because he played himself in his movie. So here's a little kooky fact. Given the state of movie censorship during that time, it wasn't too much of a surprise that the idea of such a film was rejected by several large movie distributors, all of whom worried about the immorality of her story and the idea of Clara profiting from the shooting. And this was mainly from the Oklahoma Theater Managers and Owners Association, which said that the viewers would only be attracted to such a film only through quote, sheer, morbid curiosity. And it also declared that its members would refuse to show any films in which Clara quote, was a featured player. So her career in Hollywood began and ended in the same day. Well, that was Oklahoma. Oh, okay. However, Hollywood had zero hang-ups about any of that. Sign here. Right. And Clara quickly signed a contract to star in a movie based on her life story. Before she could leave, however, remember there was that little claim on Hammond's estate that it needed to be dealt with over $14 million. So there was much back and forth between her lawyer and Georgia Hammond's lawyer, who was that Frank Kitsch. And Kitsch claimed that there was no such will, it didn't exist, and that Mrs. Georgia Hammond, along with their two children, were the sole heirs of Jake Hammond's estate. So apparently, Kitsch played Clara a lump sum of $10,000 in cash, along with some oil royalties, and then this left her free to go make her way to California. On her merry way. Yep. So, there's no telling if there was a will or if there wasn't. Like, it's, you know, so. If she took the $10,000, then there probably wasn't, I would say. Because if there really was, then $10,000 versus $14 million, you're fighting for it. Yeah. So, one source said that Walter Hammond, remember that was her Oh yeah, that's her husband. That's her husband. Divorced her before her trial began, but another source said that the two divorced pretty quickly after getting married in 1917. So. Oh. Either way. It's good. I've forgotten about him. It's good to know that he. Either way, she was divorced from her first husband. So, once she gets to Hollywood, she actually marries a man by the name of John Gorman, who was the director of the film Fate, which is the movie that's based on her life. Oh. The couple married in 1921 and then divorced in 1924. Ouch. In 1932, Clara married a Charles Diggs, director of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, and Clara never appeared in another film after this, and pretty much stayed out of the press. And throughout this, the couple stayed together up until her death in San Diego in 1962. So, that, my friends, is the crazy story of Jake Hammond Sr. and Clara Smith Hammond. Well done. Well done. So, I, like I said, I have, I'm not really sure what to believe. I think there was truth on both sides. Oh, yeah. And, I mean, obviously he wasn't the most upstanding guy. But, I mean, they did call her a woman scorned. Right. Right. So, you know, I don't know if it was a jilted lover thing, or... I think it was a combination of both, probably. I do think there's a combination of factors, for sure. Yeah, I think so, for sure. I think there's a little bit of truth in both of those stories. So, um... I'm sorry that was so long. No, no, no, no. That was, wow, I mean, just, that was a true rollercoaster right there. Up and down. You just never knew what you were going to get. I mean, it had everything. It really did. You just never knew what y'all was going to get. That's true. So, anyway. Well, good. Made you a little bit of history next. I know. So, yeah. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can always reach out to us at CuriousCousins, okay, at gmail.com. We would love for you to rate and follow our podcast on your favorite podcasting platform or streaming platform, including Apple, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, and all the others. All the things. All the things, exactly. And, of course, of course, of course, please follow us on our socials at CuriousCousinsOK on Instagram, at CuriousCousinsOK podcast on Facebook, and at CuriousCousinsOK on Twitter. But remember, cousins is spelled C-U-Z-N-S. And we'll be back with you next week. 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