The Society Gang Killing
Morbid
07/04/24
•74m
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On Thanksgiving Day 1934, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma found the dead body of John Gorrell Jr., a Kansas City dental student, slumped behind the wheel of his car, which had come to a stop at a downtown intersection. Gorrell had been shot in the head twice with his own gun and his wallet and other valuables were missing, leading police to conclude he had been killed in a botched robbery. Just one day later, the residents of Tulsa were shocked to learn that Gorrell hadn’t been killed by a robbery, but by his friend Phil Kennamer, and his motive wasn’t robbery.
At the peak of the Great Depression, newspaper reports of violent crime were nothing new. In this case, however, the victim was the son of a prominent local physician and his killer the son of a well-known US District Court judge. The privileged backgrounds of the victim and killer were enough to captivate the residents of Tulsa, but as the strange details of the story slowly emerged in the days that followed, the case quickly grew from local sensation to national fascination. In the weeks and months that followed, countless front pages (and then some) were dedicated to the lurid details of what the press soon dubbed the “Society Gang Killing;” a story of disaffected youth who, bored with their wealth and privilege, turned to crime and violence for the sake of entertainment and excitement.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for Research!
References
Biscup, Walter. 1935. "Verdict of jury leaves punishment of Gorrell's slayer to Judge Hurst." Tulsa World, February 22: 1.
Frates, Kent. 2014. "The Society Gang Killingg." This Land, July 15.
Freese, Jim. 2016. Murder in the Name Of Love: The Phil Kennamer Trial. Tulsa, OK: Freese Publishing .
Miami Daily News-Record. 1934. "Sheriff refuses to act on Phil Kennamer's version of case, involving associates." Miami Daily News-Record, December 13: 1.
—. 1934. "Doubt cast on gang theory in Tulsa slaying." Miami Daiy News-Record, December 3: 1.
Morrow, Jason. 2015. Deadly Hero: The High Society Murder that Created Hysteria in the Heartland. Tulsa, OK: Independent.
Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat. 1935. "Counsel declares he could not tell right from wrong." Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat, February 15: 1.
New York Times. 1934. "Death car driver a suicide in Tulsa." New York Times, December 10: 38.
—. 1935. "Girl takes stand to Aid Kennamer." New York Times, February 16: 30.
—. 1935. "Kennamer reveals 'extortion letter'." New York Times, January 27: 15.
—. 1935. "Kennamer tells of fatal shooting." New York Times, February 19: 10.
Phillips, Harmon. 1935. "Kennamer Case goes on aftwer threat of mistrial." Tulsa Tribune, February 13: 1.
—. 1935. "Phil Kennamer back to jail with 25 years in prison as penalty for Gorrell killing." Tulsa Tribune, February 24: 1.
—. 1935. "State blocks quick opinion by doctor that Kennamer shot youth while insane." Tulsa Tribune, February 16: 1.
Tulsa Tribune. 1934. "Anderson tells plan of Kennamer Trial." Tulsa Tribune, December 15: 1.
—. 1935. "New clues seen in notes from Phil Kennamer." Tulsa Tribune, January 3: 3.
—. 1934. "Phil Kennamer inisists slaying his own actions." Tulsa Tribune, December 2: 5.
—. 1934. "Police call Born suicide." Tulsa Tribune, December 10: 1.
—. 1935. "Opposing Kennamer case legal batteries promise fiery clash of courtroom tactics." Tulsa Trribune, January 23: 7.
Tulsa World. 1935. "Judge Kennamer weeps as he describes Phil's abnormalities." Tulsa World, February 16: 1.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Previous Episode
From about 1910 to 1912, an alarming number of axe murders were occurring across the American South and Southwest. Though many would speculate as to the identity of perpetrator, including the theory that a single individual was responsible, many of these murders would remain unsolved and contribute to macabre urban legends that endure to this day. In New Orleans, however, the brutal axe murders of at least five Black families in 1911 and 1912 are attributed to Clementine Barnabet, an African American teenager who confessed to the crimes.
Despite having confessed to as many as thirty-five murders, and having been convicted and incarcerated for one, the veracity of Barnabet’s claim has long been in doubt. Tried and convicted on very little evidence, Barnabet’s story changed many times following her arrest and eventually came to include sensational and highly questionable claims of her belonging to a Voodoo religious sect that engaged in human sacrifice. Not only were these claims unsupported by any real evidence, but they also suggested the girl may have been suffering from profound mental illness and had nothing whatsoever to do with the murders in and around New Orleans. But if Clementine Barnabet wasn’t the killer, why did she confess to such brutal, wicked crimes?
Thank you to the incredible Dave White or Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Crowley Daily Signal. 1911. "Brutal murder of negro family is discovered in West Crowley." Crowley Daily Signal, Janaury 26: 1.
—. 1909. "Rayne scene of brutal murder." Crowley Daily Signal, November 13: 1.
—. 1911. "Six murdered in Lafayette." Crowley Daily Signal, November 27: 1.
Crowley Signal. 1911. "Negro murderer was convicted." Crowley Signal, October 28: 5.
Fort Wayne News. 1912. "Seventeen murders were confessed to." Fort Wayne News, October 25: 17.
Lafayette Advertiser. 1912. "Clementine Barnabet sane." Lafayette Advertiser, October 22: 4.
—. 1911. "Horrible crime." Lafayette Advertiser, February 28: 1.
Monroe News-Star. 1911. "Butchery of human beings." Monroe News-Star, November 28: 1.
—. 1912. "Sacrifice sext slaughter 26." Monroe News-Star, January 23: 1.
New Iberia Enterprise and Independent Observer. 1913. "Blood lust cut out of Clementine Barnabet." New Iberia Enterprise and Independent Observer, August 9: 1.
Osborne, Jeffery. 2012. Preventing Lethal Violence Neighborhood by Neighborhood; Proceedings of the 2012 Homicide Research Working Group Annual Symposium. Conference Proceedings, New York, NY: Homicide Research Working Group.
The Times. 1912. "Five negroes are murdered in a Lake Charles cottage." The Times, January 22: 1.
—. 1912. "Gives names of 3 of "ax gang"." The Times, April 3: 1.
—. 1912. "Negro woman confessed to slaying 20." The Times, April 2: 1.
The Times-Democrat. 1912. "Amplifies confession." The Times-Democrat, April 4: 6.
Times-Democrat. 1912. "Blood and brain from living person spattered girl's clothes." Times-Democrat, January 18: 2.
Unknown. 1912. "Voodoo's horrors break out again." Atalanta Journal, March 11: 50.
Weekly Iberian. 1912. "Hoodoo doctor arrested and identified by Clementine Burke." Weekly Iberian, April 13: 2.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
Charles Whitman: The Texas Tower Sniper
July 8, 2024
•92m
On the morning of August 1, 1966, twenty-five-year-old Charles Whitman arrived at the University of Texas Austin campus a little before noon, carrying with him several rifles, pistols, and a shotgun contained within a military footlocker. After talking his way past a guard, Whitman climbed to the twenty eighth floor of the campus clocktower and walked out onto the observation deck, then began firing at the people on the ground below. In the span of a just over an hour and half, Charles Whitman killed fifteen people and wounded thirty-one others before finally being shot and killed by a police officer who’d managed to make his way to the top of the tower. Investigators later learned that, prior to arriving on the UT campus, Whitman had also murdered his mother and his wife.
In 1966, mass shootings were virtually unheard of in the United States and Whitman’s spree killing shocked the nation. By most accounts, Charles Whitman was the picture of an all-American man, which made his actions all the more confusing. He was well-liked, had a successful military career, a beautiful wife, and once out of the military, he began pursuing a college degree in preparation for the next phase of his life. But behind the façade of American middle-class success lurked a deeply troubled man whose personal history and acute medical problems would eventually go a long way to explaining his actions on the morning of August 1.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Austin American-Statesman. 1966. "U.T. sniper shoots 33." Austin American-Statesman, August 1: 1.
Colloff, Pamela. 2006. "96 minutes." Texas Monthly, August 1: 104.
—. 2016. "Memorial day." Texas Monthly, August 1: 22.
Flemmons, Jerry. 1966. "UT tower sniper kills 14, dies in hail of police gunfire." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 2: 1.
Governor's Committee. 1966. Report to the Governor; Medical Aspects, Charles J. Whitman Catastrophe. Fact-finding report, Houston, TX: Texas Department of Public Safety.
Krebs, Albin. 1966. "The Texas killer: Former Florida neighbors recall a nice boy who liked toy guns." New York Times, August 2: 15.
Lavergne, Gary. 1997. Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press.
New York Times. 1967. "U. of Texas to reopen ." New York Times, June 18: 25.
Stuever, Hank. 1996. "96 minutes, 30 years later." Austin American-Statesman, July 29: 1.
Texas Department of Public Safety. 1966. Statement of John and Fran Morgan. Intelligence Report, Houston, TX: State of Texas Department of Public Safety.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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