How Did William King Hale die?
How did William King Hale die? Hale moved to Arizona after he was granted parole on July 31, 1947. He died in a nursing home on August 15, 1962.
William King Hale rose to power after trading with the Osage Native Americans and was dubbed “King of the Osage Hills. In a memo to J. Edgar Hoover, White wrote, “Eventually (Hale) became a millionaire, who dominated local politics and seemingly could not be punished for any of the many crimes. His method of building up power and prestige was… by means of gifts and favors.” The Osage people became wealthy after oil was found on their land and inherited head rights to the oil fortune. Burkhart’s wife Mollie and her siblings had several head rights and Burkhart and his uncle conspired to kill the Osages. A decomposed body of Anna Brown—an Osage Native American—was found in a remote ravine in northern Oklahoma which led to more deaths within the family.
Hale claimed to be innocent throughout the investigation, in trial and while he was in prison. On January 26, 1929, Hale was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Henry Roan by Judge Kennamer. He was later paroled in 1947 after serving only two decades of his sentence.
