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E234: Lava Lake Murders
3.4k Plays6 months ago
Edward Nickels, Roy Wilson, and Dewey Morris made a plan in the winter of 1923 to trap fur on Little Lava Lake. They were to stay in Ed Logan’s cabin in exchange for looking after his prized foxes. Their trapping season was going well and they had already profited a sizeable amount. So, what happened that led to their bodies being found frozen in Little Lava Lake and the cabin in a state that showed a hasty retreat?
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Transcript
Introduction to Deschutes National Forest
00:00:00
Speaker
Oregon's Deschutes National Forest is a vast and stunning landscape encompassing nearly 1.6 million acres along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. It boosted a diverse range of ecosystems from ponderosa pine forests to crystal clear lakes to dramatic lava flows and expansive meadows. The Deschutes River, a vital waterway, carves its way through the forest providing excellent opportunities for fishing, rafting, and kayaking. Hikers of the abilities can explore miles of trails that wind through old-growth forests, past cascading waterfalls, and up to scenic viewpoints offering breathtaking vistas. In the winter, the forest transforms into a Woodland for Snow sports enthusiast with opportunities for downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing.
00:00:47
Speaker
However, in the winter of 1923, the tranquility of Oregon's Deschutes National Forest was shattered by a horrifying crime. Three trappers vanished into the icy wilderness. Their dreams of fortune turned to dust as spring brought a grim discovery. Breaking through the melting ice of Little Lava Lake, a search party stumbled upon a scene of unimaginable horror. The idyllic water, having been become a frozen tomb, its crystal clear waters now holding a chilling secret. These murders plunged the region to a spiral of fear and ignited a desperate search for answers in the face of a harsh environment that offered little in the way of clues. This is the story of the lava lake murders.
Hosts and Podcast Purpose
00:02:00
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families with each case. We encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, coffee and cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:02:38
Speaker
So we're, I'm guessing, talking about multiple people. Yeah, three to be specific. But before we get into that today, just a reminder that we are going to be taking off two weeks for summer vacation. ah I need some nice R and&R little rest and relaxation. Right. Yeah. And this is the longest we've been ah away from the show. It is. It's okay. We'll all be okay. That's right. I keep telling myself that. i I'll be okay. Yeah, it's needed. We can always just go back and listen to our favorite old episode. We could listen to some Patreon if we've not done that. That's right. You can join Patreon with the link in the show notes.
00:03:23
Speaker
Yeah, so chances to continue to hear our voice for those two weeks. That's right. So we will not have an episode the final week of June nor the 4th of July, which everybody will be fireworking anyways. Just listen to this episode twice. Yeah, exactly. But we will be back with a new episode on July 11th. And then of course, you know, you had last week's and then this one. So right, right, we're good to go.
The Trappers' Story: Arrival and Disappearance
00:03:50
Speaker
It is the winter of 1923 and Little Lava Lake was shattered by a crime that continues even to this day to baffle investigators and you know we're like a century plus now. Right. With these Little Lava Lake murders. The three trappers bound by the promise of fortune and the lore of the wild vanished into the winter wilderness and this is
00:04:15
Speaker
It's a weird one. Not as weird as last week's. We're not anything as, I guess, paranormal as last week's. But it's it's different. So we have Edward Nichols, who was a seasoned outdoorsman. And he had the weathered face that was etched with experience. With him was Roy Wilson, known for his laughter and his youthful spirit. And then the last of their trio was Dewey Morris, who was a newcomer. to this kind of adventurous trapping life. But they set up their camp and their dreams turned to smoke that curled into the crisp air. um This reminds me so much, I guess, because we're talking winter and being out in it of Dyatlov Pass, one of our first episodes. You know what's crazy is when I was researching some of this, some of the research mentioned that
00:05:07
Speaker
that ah I don't really wanna say similarities. I guess there are broad similarities between the two. Not anything as crazy though. Though this little threesome of outdoorsman, it sounds like a good mix. You've got experience, you've got somebody to keep you entertained. You have somebody who has that infectious, adventurous spirit. Yeah, a nice little round trio. According to Crime Wire, Roy, who was 35, Dewey was 25, they actually earned their living, failing timber for a wood company. This winter they had, don't though, a different kind of hat. So typically in the winter, Wilson and Morris would cut down trees for timber. But this winter of 1923, they've decided that they're gonna trap fur. Okay.
00:06:01
Speaker
Both of them were from Bend, Oregon. Wilson was an ex-marine and Morris had grown up there after his family had moved from Iowa. They had signed on Edward Nichols, who was 50 for this 20, 2023, no. 1923 and 1924 season. So Nichols was a seasoned fur trapper and he held the responsibility of winter caretaker for a cabin that was owned by a logging contractor named Ed Logan. So part of this deal involved them staying in this cabin and looking after Logan's prized possessions, which were five valuable foxes that he housed in an on-site pen.
00:06:47
Speaker
Oh, so were they just like beloved pets? Oh, no, he was raising them to get their fur. Oh. Raising her slaughter. Oh great. All right Hey, at least they have a cabin to sleep in though, right? Yeah, I mean the boys are man. I guess they're not really boys are in the cabin they're gonna be getting all this money from furs and Because they're in the cabin. They're raising these Foxes
Investigation and Discoveries
00:07:17
Speaker
for their demise. Okay, lovely
00:07:20
Speaker
So initially this arrangement seemed ideal and according to historic mysteries the trappers you know so they secured this winter base with Logan and he's like you know what you can take full advantage of everything that's in this cabin as long as you take care of my foxes that I'm going to harvest for fur. So it's mutually beneficial and optimism actually filled the air because Nichols actually returned to the town of Bend, which is really weird for me to say. That's an odd, I mean, this is coming from the girl who grew up near a town a town called Regina. So who am I to talk?
00:07:58
Speaker
But he actually went back to Bend a few days before Christmas and he was really boastful to basically anybody that would listen as I guess he should be because he had thus far had a very successful trapping season and he was selling a sizable amount of furs to local merchants. It was reported that he was loaded down with furs. I'm sure he did feel pretty proud of himself then. They've got months to go and he's already making quite a bit of money. I bet they were pretty excited. But you know what? Little old me. and Because Allison, do you watch Bridgerton? No.
00:08:39
Speaker
Okay. Well, anywho, this first part of this season, they talk about with this man that's obsessed with nature and stuff about endangered animals. And then I was, you know, doing this and I'm like, well, it's no wonder things are endangered or extinct because look what we do to them. no I digress. Little Lava Lake was their trapping ground and it offered both beauty and remoteness and it's reported that the last confirmed sighting of the men was on January 15, 1924. Oh, so not long after he went into town. Yeah, less than a month. Alan Wilcoxon, owner of a nearby holiday camp, encountered them while snowshoeing on his way to the Elk Lake Resort and
00:09:26
Speaker
Listen, I did not Google snowshoeing, but I'm assuming it's exactly what I think it is where you're walking with those things that look like tennis rackets on your feet. Yeah, I think that's exactly what it is. I didn't know that that was considered like a sport. A sport. I thought it was just something you did because you had to do it. Right, because you've got deep snow and you need to get some traction. I thought so too. but We learned something new every day. Last week we learned about childlike dolls. This week we're learning about furs and snowshoeing. But apparently in that time frame, he had spent the night with the trappers in their cabin and he actually reported later that they were in very high spirits and they all appeared to be in very good health and he said that as they're talking their conversation revolves around how fruitful the season has been how fruitful they've been in this trapping venture they killed a lot of animals they've got a lot of fur but Allison this encounter as we now know marked the last time anyone saw the trappers alive
00:10:33
Speaker
And you'd think, I mean, at least one of them is very, very experienced. So I wouldn't think that they would, unless they got a little too cocky and tried to do something that wasn't safe, but I would have thought we've, at if you're already this successful, I would think that you could convince, obviously you want to get more, but I feel like you could convince yourself. Okay. We don't have to do anything crazy. Exactly. Well, we know how they died, and I will say it isn't because they were, you know, climbing up an ice ledge to get a fox. Okay. So they're not doing something... Yeah. Really dangerous. No.
00:11:20
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Eventually, those close to the trio began to worry about their family members because it had been a while since they'd heard from the three, and so a man named Ennis Owen Morris, who was Dewey's brother, knew that something definitely had to be amiss when he hadn't heard from his brother in well over two months. Phil Morris knew that the cabin was remote and he didn't expect frequent communication because that really wouldn't have been possible with them being out and hunting the furs and then having to keep this cabin going. But there wasn't a reason for this extended period of silence and so he was concerned. Right because there is obviously a town nearby they have to take the fur
00:12:06
Speaker
yeah They just took the fur in at Christmas time to trade in for money. So you could drop off a letter while you're there. So I get why he was a little concerned. And I'm sure they had to go into town on for supplies. Yeah. Because you're going to need food and things that you're not going to be able to get in the middle of winter in a remote cabin. He was concerned enough, Alison, that he ended up recruiting the superintendent of a fit Fish Hatchery, whose name was Pearl Lines, to check the cabin with him in the hopes that they would find the men. So Pearl and Ennis set out to see what was going on, basically. ok There was still snow on the ground, but were approaching sp spring, so the ice had started to thaw a little bit when the search party, which included police officers, fondly made it to the cabin.
00:13:04
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Okay, so he alerts he alerts other people. He says yeah this is this is concerning enough that we need a search party. Yes, exactly. And so you know it's approaching spring, things are starting to melt, but it's still not ideal searching weather. Right. Upon reaching the cabin, an unsettling stillness hung in the air. There was no smoke coming from the chimney, which would have been yes very strange. It's cold because spring's coming, but it's still wintertime. So that would have been weird. And the pristine snow around the cabin held no trace of footprints and
00:13:48
Speaker
They would be going in and out, getting wood, doing things, eating the foxes, all the things. They would have to come outside every day. Yeah. Yep. This eerie absence of activity was only the beginning, though, because inside Allison, they found the dining room table laid out for a meal. Places are set, plates are out, utensils are out, and even more eerie This whole scene is complete with pots overflowing with burnt food that was still simmering on the stove. So the scene spoke of a sudden and almost inexplicable interruption because they
Finding the Bodies and Theories
00:14:34
Speaker
have just vanished and it's like left everything in this suspended moment of chaos. This reminds me of Roanoke. Okay, you know,
00:14:46
Speaker
I feel like every kid, as you're growing up, we all have had a Titanic fascination, yeah right? We all were obsessed with Titanic. All of us at one point, us nerdy people, were also obsessed with Roanoke. And I am not gonna lie, I still am a little bit obsessed, and I am currently in the very few minutes that Anthony and I get when we lay the baby down before he wakes up for his second wind of life in the nighttime. We are watching a documentary series on Roanoke and it is so fascinating. I need to watch this. I'm telling you, when you talk about the Croatoan that's carved in the tree, yeah and what does that mean? And there weren't things there left almost
00:15:34
Speaker
suspended in motion too, like this scene? Yeah, and he knew the captain of that excursion, knew that if something were to happen, they were supposed to go to this other part of the island. But when he landed there and they weren't there, he just was like, oh, peace out, Boy Scout, and got back on his ship and sailed away. Oh, wow. OK. Anyway, back to Oregon. So it's like Roanoke, but not. yeah And a settling site greeted the search party as they made their way deeper into the cabin. So there's still you know this creepy food scene. There's traps.
00:16:14
Speaker
food stores, winter gear lift. There were rifles that were lying about abandoned and untouched. No signs of a struggle marred the scene. And more worryingly, the sled used for hauling supplies. So they would have had to have used the sled to go in and out of town because i'm and It was gone. So their usual mode of transport. Okay, so that would tell me that it seemed as though they were going somewhere. But I would think even if you're going to town and you don't plan on getting any fur on your way to town, I wouldn't have thought that these outdoorsy men would have left their rifles there. Yeah, I was gonna say even if you're just going into town to get soap. Nor would they have left their winter gear.
00:17:07
Speaker
nor would they have left food on the stove. that That's the big one. That's the big one. So something is amiss. Yeah, yeah. Also to add to that, an unsettling inventory revealed missing arsenal. So seven guns once lined the cabin's walls, two rifles, two shotguns, a pistol, and a pair of of ah revolvers. Only the rifles and the shotguns were actually in the cabin. Here's my mind working. Maybe they heard a commotion outside. Maybe other hunters, other trappers or something. And so they grabbed the pistols quickly thinking like, we're just going to drive these people away. And you know, if if something distracts you like like that, maybe the food that's on the stove is the last second thought of, yeah, of your concerns. And maybe they go outside and they try to chase
00:18:01
Speaker
whoever this is off, or it could have been a wild animal maybe. And then they hop on the sled to try to like drive it away further, but then something happens too. Or maybe it's like they kill a bear and this is a really big- Oh, like this is the jackpot. Yeah. And so they're trying to go into town. Well, maybe. Well, we have our own little theories already. We want to throw a branch into that theory. They start searching around the outside of the cabin, these men. And they find a blood stained hammer hidden between the cabin and a nearby shed. Hidden? Yeah. And the counts of where it was located varied, but it wasn't just laying out in the snow. It was like behind a bush or, you know, it was hidden.
00:18:56
Speaker
But then we have the cabinet itself that showed no signs of violence or forced entry. So strange. Yeah. As they're searching, they're recalling the agreement. So you'll remember the trappers stayed. ah her So they were allowed to stay in exchange for tending to Logan's priced foxes. And so they're like, to the fox pen. Yes, to the fox pen. And then as I'm reading this, I set to dip my hand up with my finger pointed up to the pot.
00:19:31
Speaker
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00:20:29
Speaker
their worst fear is materialized because all five foxes, these valuable foxes, don't. Let me alter my theory. Somebody was outside trying to steal the foxes and they were like, no, sir. Not these foxes. That's right. And then maybe something happened. because the fox pen was empty and its former occupants were now lying dead beneath a nearby che tree. They didn't take, well, they don't want the meat, they just want the fur. So four lifeless fox carcasses lay there, two expertly skinned, one they never find, and the other two are skinned, but they're hastily done.
00:21:18
Speaker
Okay. So now my theory is somebody used the hammer to kill the foxes. I don't know why they would have done that. Maybe because they only have, they didn't have a gun. Right. Or they were afraid that would ruin the, the fur. I don't know. Or it would give them away. the and the bad Yes. And yes. And then they come out there and they come upon them as their skinning the ones that were done poorly, and then, you know, that's why the other one's missing, because they just grabbed it and ran. Yeah, or it was maybe one of the lucky ones and managed to escape. we'll We'll tell ourselves that. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna say. While they're doing this, they also stumble upon, they remember searching all around, the neglected traps of
00:22:15
Speaker
these three men, and they happen to have been gone for a for a hot minute because they find about 17 animals in these traps that they could have sold for fur. Yeah, that's a lot. They've obviously been gone a while, like you said. Adding to the unsettling scene were pools of blood spotted along the lakeside trail. They also discovered clumps of human hair and a solitary human tooth. Oh, that's weird.
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah, that does' that doesn't just fall out. and no I mean, I know we probably didn't have the best dental care in 1924, but yeah, I don't think you just... Not alongside clumps of hair.
00:23:10
Speaker
So the three men were immediately reported missing to County Sheriff Clarence Adams and immediately upon learning about the missing men, Adams went to investigate the cabin where Edward Roy and Dewey had stayed. And according to my research, Adams was actually a former game warden. So he would have been very familiar with the area where the cabin was located. Okay. So because of this expertise, He's able to pick up more than what um our initial search group discovered or saw. ok So his team quickly found the sled the trio had been using. It was half buried in snow and appeared to be stained with something dark. I'm going to assume that's probably blood. And if it's half buried in snow that tells me it's been there for a minute.
00:24:04
Speaker
they n Then the investigation team noticed something even more sinister. It appeared that a hole had been cut into the lake and that it had refrozen. So we can tell there's been a hole cut in the lake and it's refreezing. Oh no, what a horrible way to go. And you know, ever since watching It's a Wonderful Life, that was always a fear of mine. Oh. Was falling through ice into water and then like if you got stuck under the ice and not being able to tell where the hole is to get out. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But you know what though, worked out for him because he got the Medal of Honor. He did. It's a wonderful movie. ah Why can't I think of the brother's name?
00:24:57
Speaker
Uh, Harry? Yes. That's it. I wanted to say Robert, but nope. That's May he continue, may he continue to do the Lord's work keeping evil at bay. Okay, but sadly, very little could be done because it's still freezing and there's so much snow that the sheriff's like, listen, we know this hole is here, but until the snow thaws out some, there's not really anything we can do. So we're going to have to delay until spring.
00:25:34
Speaker
So could you imagine that? I mean, that's so sad for the families, but I get what he's saying. I mean, what are you going to do with the if the lake is frozen? Yeah. And I mean, though I'd be out there wanting to bust it up and do whatever.
Speculation on Perpetrators
00:25:50
Speaker
Yeah. And like, you know, I mean, you don't know with 100% certainty, but you're fairly certain your loved one is probably in the lake and now you're just biding time until spring comes. And at that point, all you want is answers. Yeah. Yeah. You want to know what happened. Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker
As Spring approached, however, the only wisp of evidence that greeted the search party was an unsettling one. Breaking through the melting ice of Little Lava Lake, a scene of unimaginable horror emerged. So three bodies were found suspended in frozen horror. And that was the body of our trio, Edward, Roy, and Dewey. So Nichols, Wilson, and Morris. And it's reported in a couple of things I read that their faces were actually contorted into silent scream
Case Status and Public Interest
00:26:48
Speaker
and bore the marks of a very violent and brutal end. Wow. yeah or So their idyllic winter haven had turned into a frozen tomb and those crystal clear waters were now
00:27:05
Speaker
holding the weight of a very gruesome secret. The autopsies painted a brutal picture. All three men had succumbed to a combination of gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma inflicted by what many would say is that hammer. Then, hence, you know, we saw the clumps of hair and the tooth. Too. Nichols suffered the worst a shotgun blast at close range tearing through his lower jaw and chest Yeah ah who Yeah, I Thought it was interesting that crime wire noted quote Nichols had two pairs of glasses one he wore inside and the other outside He was wearing the indoor pair the watch in his pocket had stopped at 9 10. It's unclear if that was a yam or p.m. So I think again
00:27:58
Speaker
showing that it was like a spur of the moment leave. They're cooking, he has his indoor glasses on, something happens, they leave. Well, and I feel like it all has to go back to the foxes. And I say that because if whoever took the foxes knew that they were already gone, then the two of the foxes wouldn't have been skinned hastily. Yeah. And they had to have rushed outside because of something that was going on outside. Yeah. And I think it would have to be a.m. because they're cooking. And I don't see most people cooking at 9, 10 p.m. Well, I'm not because I'm about falling asleep by this time. But yeah, some people maybe yeah, maybe outdoorsmen eat late.
00:28:51
Speaker
Dewey Morris wasn't spared either. A shot shattered his left elbow. Can you imagine that? of god Oh God. Followed by a fatal blow to the skull likely delivered by that hammer. Roy Wilson's demise was also equally horrific. A bullet nearly severed his right shoulder. And another fired execution style pierced behind his ear. Oh man. Yeah. Wow. But see, that's odd. Well, well, unless their own guns were used against them. And that's what I'm wondering too. But did it say, I thought it said all the shotguns were accounted for. Did I say that? Oh, it did. Yeah. But there were pistols. That's weird.
00:29:47
Speaker
The sheriff said this, ah pulling the bodies from the lake, quote, even though the weather was perfect, the clean air was impregnated with the odor of death and decomposition. And it was with an unidentified spirit of all and consternation that the little party of hearty outdoorsmen laid aside their packs, kicked off their snowshoes and prepared to tackle a grim job that was little to their liking, end quote. Don't know about his description. Maybe it's cuz it was from the 1920s, but it seems a little I Don't know not respectful of the dead to me. I don't know Yeah, I think it was a job that was little to their liking. Well, no, it's gonna be like woohoo Yeah, yeah another day at the office, right? Yeah, I don't um know about that
00:30:38
Speaker
The medical examiner placed the murders sometime in January, so potentially just after Alan Wilcoxon stayed at the cabin. Remember, that's the guy who stayed. It was like, oh, they were boasting about how great the season was going. It seemed a stroke of luck to many that he had been able to be spared from this horrific fate because they're thinking it happened that soon after. I wonder if they had mentioned the foxes or had bragged about them and time in town when they were bragging about all their furs. Somebody had to have known about the foxes. What made these foxes more valuable than ones you would just get naturally on the hunt?
00:31:27
Speaker
I mean, that's a good question. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I don't know enough about fur trapping to know when I did. Maybe if we did, we would understand. Yeah. But the remote location and the expertly skinned foxes pointed towards a perpetrator who was familiar with the area, but because different guns were missing and the foxes had been scanned in two different ways. Remember the one is the one pairs carefully. skinned while the other hastily skinned, led investigators to conclude that perhaps two people were responsible for the murder of the trio. And I mean that would make more sense because you're subduing three people and for one person to do that would be a lot harder than for two people to do that. Yeah. And
00:32:13
Speaker
I think if your goal is you're taking these foxes, I think you would want to have more than one person because I don't know how long it takes to skin something, but I'm going to assume it takes a little bit of time. So I think you would want help with that, but I mean, I don't really know. yeah Sheriff Adams believed that, quote, two men entered the trapper's cabin, visited for a while, then by some subterfuge, induced their hosts to step outside when they stepped to the gun rack, took down a shotgun and a revolver and opened fire, end quote. Oh, so he's saying,
00:32:50
Speaker
that the shotguns took place inside, and that's why we're not missing a shotgun. I guess they just left it. What happened? There's no sign of struggle near the campus? Or blood. Or blood. Ah, Sheriff Adams, come on. Get out of here with that. Yeah. Your theories. They don't hold up to Maggie and Allison. No, you don't meet our standards. The mystery deepens, though, when two unidentified men reportedly broke into a cabin about 20 miles away earlier that winter, leaving no trace but missing belongings and unfamiliar footprints. But these people, if we're assuming it's people, had to have done it early enough that their footprints were covered up.
00:33:32
Speaker
Which, I mean, if it had been a lot of time as all those animals in the traps were just a big snow. Yeah, it could have been. And maybe the missing guns weren't taken by the trio. Maybe they were taken by those who committed the crime. And maybe that's what happened. I mean, maybe they came up on this cabin and maybe the three were out hunting. This is all speculative, but maybe they were out hunting, which I would imagine takes a long time. And, you know, these men who had broken into another cavern, cabin happened upon this one and they go in and maybe they were hungry. So they started eating some food and they packed up some guns and they were out back skinning the foxes. And that's when the trio came back.
00:34:22
Speaker
I don't know, but the guy had his indoor glasses on, so that doesn't make any sense. Yeah, true. Maybe he broke his outdoor glasses. That's right. they were They took his outdoor glasses, so he was like, I'll just have to wear my indoor ones. Coincidentally, a tall, dark-haired man with a gun and pack appeared at a logging camp in early January, and he was asking for directions to Lava Lake, so some people kind of connected that with these murders. Initially, police focused on a woodsman and moonshiner named Indian
00:34:56
Speaker
Erickson, but he was quickly rolled out. A tip from Edward Logan, remember the cabin owner, okay steered investigators towards a man named Lee Collins. He was a trapper who had reportedly threatened Nichols the previous year when the two had worked together. Interestingly, in the process of investigating this man named Lee Collins, it was actually uncovered that Lee Collins went by another name or rather several, and those included Tom Rose, Lee Collins, Harry Walker, Joe Doe Berry, who in the heck would believe your name is Joe Doe Berry? Anyway, and Charles Kimsey. Okay, so he didn't just have one other name. Oh, no. He had like six other names. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:44
Speaker
Hmm. And Kinsey is who he is going to be to us. Okay. He was actually a felon who had escaped from the Idaho State Prison. He was on the run after being sentenced to 15 years. He was a skilled outdoorsman and according to Cromwire was, quote, considered a person so despicable that no crime is beyond him, even a triple murder, end quote. Okay. Well, I don't know what he was in prison for, but for somebody to say that it had to have been bad. And if he's a skilled outdoorsman, maybe he was a skilled skinner of animals, but I don't know why the two hasty ones
00:36:28
Speaker
Well, at the time, his latest brush with law involved a stagecoach driver hired for a trip to Idaho. So he hires the stagecoach driver and halfway through the journey, Kimsey turns violent. He overpowers the driver. He bounds the man's hands and feet and then tosses them into a well to die. ah Oh, so also into water. But our trio weren't bound. But maybe that's because he didn't have rope. I think they would have rope there, though. I would think so too. Fortunately, though, this driver did manage to escape. He free himself, climbed out of the well, and sought help from a nearby residence. That is no small feat itself, climbing out of a well. And you're untying yourself in a well. Harry Houdini.
00:37:23
Speaker
yeah Thankfully, he was able to identify Kimsey as his assailant. Despite facing charges of attempted murder, Kimsey vanished from town. And that's how he ends up where he is. and Okay. Crime Wire stated, quote, a Portland traffic officer came forward to report that he was approached by a man on January 22nd, 1924 asking for directions to the nearest fur dealer. The officer directed the stranger who identified himself as Ed Nichols and was carrying the dead man's trapper license to a fur company on 3rd Street where he sold his first for $110. $110 in 1924?
00:38:06
Speaker
Wow. It's unclear how they reached this conclusion, but both the traffic officer and the owner believe that the unfamiliar man was none other than Charles Kimsey himself. End quote. I wonder what that would convert to today. That is a lot. I'm Googling it as, as we talk 120 was it no, 110 in 1924. to today. Hold on, let me guess. Okay, I won't tell you. I'm going to say it's 2,100. 2,000. Oh, that was pretty close. So he gets his money and they identify him. For non-long years, Kimsey evaded capture and finally authorities located him in Montana and took him into custody.
00:38:56
Speaker
But when they take him in, neither the traffic officer or that shop worker could identify him positively. And he obviously maintains his innocence through this whole thing. I mean, nine years is a long time. Someone's looks can change. Yeah. And for his part, according to various sources, Kimsey just flat out denied any involvement in the slaying of the fur trappers. And he even says, listen, I have an alibi. Oh, he says, quote, they think I killed those trappers, but I didn't. I was in Colorado working on the Moffat Tunnel at the time. and what does he Does he have proof? I mean, are there work?
00:39:37
Speaker
records. Well, they are able to say that the evidence against him was too thin and that he was employed by this company working on the tunnel. So, hmm. They know he spent the winter of 1923-24 working in Colorado.
00:39:58
Speaker
I don't know. I think it would be out of one's way if you just had the hunger for violence to drive all the way to Oregon, but... Yeah. He was ultimately tried and convicted of the attempted murder of the one guy, um the sage coat guy. Oh, the will. Yeah, the will. And was sentenced to life in prison, but he was paroled and released in 1957. So he moves then to Idaho. He spent the remainder of his life there. And he died in 1976 at the ripe old age of Nandi. Wow. Yeah. Hmm. But was Kimsey truly innocent of this triple murder? And if so, who were the real cop culprits? I read that um there's a book about them that was came out in 2013 called The Trapper Murders. And that that author,
00:40:58
Speaker
Hasn't said there's a theory that Kim Z carried out the killings with the help of an accomplice named Ray Van Buren Jackson He has four names which I don't even know what that means if three names means you're a serial killer I don't even know what four names mean And he is a possible serial killer, and he is known to have been associated with Kimsey and considered a suspect in at least a dozen unsolved homicide cases. But he committed suicide in 1938. But this author of the the book suggests that maybe they were working together, which would be two different people. It would be. But I still don't know how he got the alibi.
00:41:38
Speaker
of being in Colorado, though it could easily have been this Ray Van Buren Jackson fella who had Nicole's ID. i don't I don't know what this guy looks like though. Yeah, that part to me is weird. It's creepy. Yeah, it is. I definitely think something happened with the foxes and they noticed it as they're making dinner and they went outside and were kind of lured away from the cabin and that's when something happened.
00:42:10
Speaker
Because I think if it was only one person, there would only be one hastily skinned fox, not two. Because you would only have time to do one. So I think it all has to revolve around those foxes. And I hope the one that escaped lived long and prospered. I do too. I hope he lived to a ripe old age of whatever foxes lived to. Me too. As the years turned to decades, the lava lake murders faded from the headlines, but not from the hearts of those seeking closure. The victims' families craved a semblance of justice, their hope fading like winter snow under the relentless Oregon sun. The case, however, has refused to remain buried. Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the unsolved mystery. These efforts ensure that the story doesn't become another forgotten chapter, keeping the memory of the victims alive.
00:43:02
Speaker
The icy grip of Little Lava Lake holds the secret so that faithful winter clothes. Was it a lone wolf, driven by greed or vengeance, who unleashed his fury? Or did a conspiracy play out beneath the watchful gaze of the pines? Perhaps one day, new evidence will emerge from the depths, shattering the silence and allowing justice to finally rise from the frozen waters. The Lottle Lake murders remain a chilling testament of an unbridled rage. It is a story that serves as a stark reminder that the wilderness, for all its beauty, can harbor secrets as cold and unforgiving as the winter that claimed the lives of Edward Nichols, Roy Wilson, and Dewey Morris. Their story echoes across the desolate landscape a haunting cry for answers that may forever remain frozen in time.
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00:43:45
Speaker
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