Killers of the Flower Moon

In the Oklahoma City field office, in the summer of 1925, White reviewed the case files and began to assemble a team of agents, mostly consisting of other Cowboys like him. Because the case had such a high profile and had proved so dangerous, White decided most of the other agents would work undercover.

Among these agents were a former sheriff from New Mexico and a former insurance salesman. White kept John Burger, a holdover from the previous investigation who understood the case thoroughly. He also enlisted the help of an agent named John Wren, who had Indigenous ancestry, and could provide a unique perspective, as well as the ability to gain the trust work of the Osage community.

The agents arrived and got to work, setting up their cover as necessary. Two pretended to be Texas cattlemen and were introduced to William Hale. The former insurance salesman set up an insurance office and roamed around trying to sell policies to some of the suspects.

Meanwhile, White reviewed the cases with Burger. Not much evidence remained. In the case of Mollie’s sister, Anna, only her skull was left, as the records of the coroner’s inquest had disappeared. White found it odd that the bullet had not been found in her brain even though there was no exit wound in her skull. Suspicions fell on the doctors who had examined her, but both Shoun brothers denied taking the bullet when questioned.

White also looked into the rumor that Rose had killed Anna out of jealousy. Rose and her boyfriend, Joe, had an alibi: They had checked into a rooming house at the time of the murder, which was confirmed by the rooming-house owner. When the woman who had implicated Rose was pressed, she admitted the story was untrue and offered up new evidence of conspiracy: A white man she didn’t know had come to her home and forced her to sign the statement about Rose. White realized that whoever was behind the murders was making up evidence, as well as trying to get rid of it.

Hoover was scoured reports from White. He had come to suspect a lawyer named A. W. Comstock, who was guardian to several Osage tribe members. Comstock had been implicated by a white woman married to an Osage man, and White was also wary of Comstock, who often offered bits of helpful information but demanded access to the Bureau’s files, which was suspicious.

White investigated Bryan Burkhart, who had driven Anna home the day of her death. After dropping her off by 5:00 pm, Bryan had joined his aunt and uncle, who confirmed that they had spent the rest of the evening with him. Two agents even went to Texas to talk to the couple and verify their story again. However, this story fell apart when the investigation followed up another lead that had never been fully checked out: A couple of men sitting in front of a hotel in the town of Ralston may have seen Anna on the night of her death. White and his agents tracked down one of the men, who admitted to seeing Anna in a car driven by Bryan Burkhart. Bryan and Anna had spent time late that night at two speakeasies; they left at about 1:00 am—by some accounts, with a third man. The last sighting of the two had been at 3:00 am in front of a house in Fairfax, where Bryan had been heard saying, “Stop your foolishness, Annie, and get into this car” (131). Finally, Bryan’s neighbor confessed that he had seen Bryan returning home at dawn, saying that Bryan had paid him to keep quiet about it.

During the summer of 1925, White was worried because it appeared the office may have had a double agent, or at least someone leaking information. An attorney his agents had interviewed had knowledge of the investigation that no one outside the office should have known; he later admitted seeing some of the Bureau’s reports. Two private investigators had also blown the cover of Kelsie Morrison, the outlaw working for the Bureau. These breaches of secrecy were dangerous and fostered suspicion among agents, which concerned White.

Around the same time, Pike, the private eye whom William Hale had hired in 1921 to investigate the murders, came under suspicion. Agent Burger learned that Pike knew the identity of the third man seen with Bryan Burkhart and Anna the night of her death, but would only reveal the information for a large sum of money. Agents located Pike, who confessed when pressed that he had never really investigated Anna’s murder. On the contrary, Hale hired him to suppress evidence and craft an alibi for Bryan Burkhart. Furthermore, when Pike met with Bryan and Hale, Bryan’s brother, Ernest, was sometimes present as well.