Corey Hart (4:25)

Homer is very close to the Missouri River. When Richard arrived, there was a flood.

Ed Helms (4:31)

This is Richard's great grandson, Corey Hart. And no, it's not the 80s rock star Cory Hart, who wears sunglasses at night, much to the disappointment of my inner 10 year old. So families in Homer, Nebraska know all too well how the area is prone to flooding. And this one is really bad. Water rises up and crashes into the little town. Dozens of houses are destroyed and some are even completely washed away. For Richard and the Winch family in the car, the situation gets dire.

Corey Hart (5:07)

What they didn't realize is that the car that they were in was also beginning to be overtaken by that flood.

Ed Helms (5:13)

The storm pounds on the hood of the car, but through the rain, they see a girl walking on the side of the road. They pull over to let her in and tell her it's not safe outside. But before they can get the car moving again, they're caught in a surge of water. It rises up under them, lifting the car and sweeping the whole thing into the current. The little girl is terrified and in a moment of panic she jumps out of the car and she's instantly flushed downstream.

Corey Hart (5:44)

So Richard saw what was happening and jumped in to save the girl.

Ed Helms (5:48)

He swims hard and stays in control despite the raging flood around him. When he catches up to her, he finds she's caught on a tangle of barbed wire fence, invisible under the murky brown surface. Working quickly, Richard untangles her and swims on. He drags her to the far bank. Then he turns back to the river.

Corey Hart (6:07)

Kathleen lynch was in the vehicle that was floating away, but Richard and another individual and Homer were able to jump in and pull that car to safety.

Ed Helms (6:17)

Richard bites the river yet again to save Kathleen's life and drag the Winch family car back to dry land. Yes, you heard that right. He pulls a car from a raging flood. One of those superhuman adrenaline rushes, I guess.

Corey Hart (6:33)

So it was his bravery that really caught the eye of Kathleen and said that this is the guy that I want to be with.

Ed Helms (6:41)

Maybe a little bit of transference going on here, but I'm kind of falling in love with this guy right now. I mean, who wouldn't? As the flood cleared and the story spread, the town of Homer decided Richard Hart was just the kind of hero they needed. He may have still been an outsider, but they made this rugged 20 something their town marshal. And just in the nick of time because there was another flood coming. The flood of illegal liquor that Alexander Getler warned about. It wasn't just in the big cities like New York. It was coast to coast when Mabel Walker Willebrandt and the bureau boys looked west for agents to fight the alcohol flood in Nebraska, Richard volunteered as a lawman. He was known for toting not one, but two guns, which gave him the Wild west nickname of every little cowpoke's dreams. Richard Two Gun Hart, he became a soldier in the dry army. As the leaders of the dry cause grew more and more desperate to fight the influx of booze, it would put Richard shoulder to shoulder with some of the most vicious forces in America. I'm Ed Helms and this is snafu, a show about history's greatest screw ups. This is season three, the story of Formula six, how Prohibition's war on alcohol went so off the rails the government wound up poisoning its own people. Today we're leaving Norris And Getler in New York and James Duran and Mabel walker Willebrandt in D.C. and we're taking a trip out west to see how things are going with Prohibition agents far afield. A place where classic Yahoo Gunslinging methods were used. Methods that would shock the public and eventually stain the dry cause. So this Two Gun nickname. In the years before World War I, Richard had ridden and ranched across the West. His childhood dream was to be a cowboy. And gosh darn it, he pulled it off. He crisscrossed the American plains on cattle drives and even in traveling circuses. He was used to long, lonely days on horseback, broken up by shows where his trick shooting and skills as a wrestler brought cheering crowds to their feet. As his great grandson Corey says, a little of the circus showman stuck with him throughout his life. He even bought himself two Pearl handled Colt.45s.

Corey Hart (9:34)

He loved to show off. And so if he could have the opportunity to show off his sharpshooting skills, he would. There are rumors that he would shoot apples off the top of people's heads. If you think of Richard Hart, it's a thing. It's always two guns. It's two guns, you know, and so why are you not going to call someone like that Two Gun Hart?

Ed Helms (9:54)

I mean, it just fits Richard Two Gun Hart. It's pretty good, you gotta admit. I've been workshopping Eddie Nearsighted Helms for a while, but the focus group Around My Kitchen Table is not a fan. For some reason, Richard, though, was living out his childhood dream. The hero of the story he'd always imagined. When World War I took Richard, George Cassidy and a couple of million others over to France, the Great War made Richard an honest to goodness soldier.

Corey Hart (10:23)

But afterwards, as he's heading out west, he just gets off on this stop in Nebraska and sees this town, Homer. And knew this was a point far enough west where that lifestyle still existed so he could continue this mission in his life to be a cowboy.

Ed Helms (10:43)

Now, by this point, there weren't a ton of old west cowboys still bopping around out there. Wild Bill, Buffalo Bill, all the old Bills. That's an older generation. It's the stories that kept them alive, you know, the wave of legacy. Sequels to classic 90s flicks. Twister, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Jumanji. It was kind of like that. Richard loved the Wild west shows when he was a kid, and he was determined to live out the sequel. Western Lawman Still Shootin' when national prohibition came to Nebraska, town marshal Richard Two Gun Hart had his chance.

Corey Hart (11:22)

Governor Recognized the fact that if we're going to have prohibition agents, we need people that are fearless. And Richard hart was somebody who fit that to a tee.

Ed Helms (11:30)

Toting a gun into the hills to face down enemies of the law. It was a dream come true for Richard. But once he had his prohibition badge pinned to his chest, he found he was facing a lot worse than circus clowns.

Corey Hart (11:44)

I believe was around 1920, and it was a really, really bad rainstorm.

Ed Helms (11:50)

Damn. Mother nature's got it out for this guy, huh? In any case, Richard hits the highway with a prisoner in tow, A man he had scooped up in a recent raid on a moonshine. Still, he's trying to take the man to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Corey Hart (12:03)

But he got north and south messed up. So instead of going back to take this criminal in, he ended up going, I believe, towards the South Dakota border.

Ed Helms (12:11)

Now, when he pulled pulled into the little town of Spencer, Richard could have, you know, realized he went the wrong way and turned around. But not our two gun. He was like double or nothing. So he started asking around for some white mule. The locals, proud of the kick in their neighborhood. Moonshine, knew exactly what he meant and helpfully pointed him to the best distillery in town. When the owner offered him a drink, Richard arrested him. Then he went back and also arrested the guy who gave him directions. Maybe a little too thorough for a spur of the moment operation, but that's just me. Two Gun. He was always in for double or nothing. So Richard crams all three guys in his car and hauls them off to the local jail. But when he gets there, found out.

Corey Hart (13:00)

That they wouldn't book either of them.

Ed Helms (13:02)

And that's because the guy he had just arrested for trying to sell him alcohol.

Corey Hart (13:06)

Yeah, one of them's a town marshal.

Ed Helms (13:08)

He's the town marshal of Spencer, the tiny town they're in. So instead of accepting his arrest, this Spencer Marshall and another officer played a little uno reverse card and put Richard under arrest for disturbing the peace. They squared off and tried to shout each other down. You're under arrest now. You're under arrest. Oh, you. No, you. No, you. No, you. You, you. And the guy who had the best seat in the house, the original prisoner Richard had dragged along for the ride. Apparently, that guy found the entire thing hilarious.

Corey Hart (13:48)

It was really discouraging for him. It was the pinnacle of him understanding how much corruption there was. This is not my law. And that was the excuse that a lot of people used.

Ed Helms (13:58)

But like Mabel, Richard had decided that prohibition was his law. It was in the constitution now, which meant Two Gun was free to have a rootin tootin time, smackin down all manner of miscreants, scofflaws and ne' er do wells. Just because a flood of Americans had decided to break the law was no reason to hold back on enforcing it. Richard had beaten floods before, but if there was one burr under Two Guns saddle, it was Kathleen's family, his in laws. You see, the winches owned a grocery store and they also did a little brew in on the side or, you know, maybe kind of a lot. There were good times, but then there were times when the alcohol just kind of took over. That's Corey's dad, Jeff, Richard's grandson. When one of Kathleen's brother had too.

Corey Hart (14:53)

Much alcohol, it was my Uncle Harold.

Ed Helms (14:55)

He would drink more than he should have all the time. When the winches got to drinking, I could just see Richard pulling his hat down over his eyes, like seriously right in front of me. Come on, you're putting me on the spot here. I mean, if you're pouring a beer under the prohibition agent's nose, that's going to make Christmas a little tense. But Richard was doing his best to keep some tinsel on the Tannenbaum because there was one line he didn't cross. He never actually arrested the winches for their home brewing. Always seems weird to me when people just roll with so much hypocrisy. But then again, it was his in laws. And as much as we all want to arrest our in laws, it's probably better we don't. But Richard justified it to himself. And besides, it's not like there was a shortage of cases for him to take on. And in 1923, he would take a case that would put Richard in over his head.

Holly Frye (15:55)

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Trimarchi, hosts of criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the highwayman suggests men dominated the field. But tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies. And a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes. But you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits. Some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jake Hanrahan (16:57)

I'm Jake Hanrahan, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Away Days is my new project reporting on countercultures on the fringes of society all across the world. Live from the underground, you'll discover no rules fighting, Japanese street racing, Brazilian favela life, and much more. All real, completely uncensored. This is unique access with straightforward on the ground reporting. We're taking you deep into the dirt without the usual airs and graces of legacy media. A way that it showcases what the mainstream media cannot access. Real underground reporting with real people. No excuses. For the past decade, I've been going to places I shouldn't be, meeting people I shouldn't know. Now you can come along, too. Listen to the Away Days podcast, reporting from the underbelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul Holes (17:58)

A murder happens, the case goes cold. Then, over 100 years later, we take a second look. I'm Paul Holz, a retired cold case investigator.

Holly Frye (18:06)

And I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a journalist and historian.

Paul Holes (18:09)

On our podcast Buried Bones, we reexamine historical true crime cases using modern forensic techniques.

Ed Helms (18:16)

We dig into what the original investigators may have missed.

Holly Frye (18:19)

Growing up on a farm, when I.

Ed Helms (18:21)

Heard a gunshot, I did not immediately think murder.

Paul Holes (18:23)

Unless this person went out to shoot squirrels, they're not choosing a.22 to go hunting out there.

Ed Helms (18:30)

These cases may be old, but the.

Holly Frye (18:32)

Questions are still relevant and often chilling.

Paul Holes (18:35)

I know this chauffeur is not of concern. You know, it's like, well, he's the last one who saw our life, so how did they eliminate him?

Ed Helms (18:44)

Join us as we take you back to the cold cases that haunt us to this day.

Paul Holes (18:48)

New episodes every Wednesday on the exactly right network. Listen to Buried bones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Corey Hart (19:04)

If he couldn't use his gun, he would use his fist to apprehend these criminals and bootleggers. That was something he really prided himself with. In this instance, it went wrong.

Ed Helms (19:18)

It was October of 1923. Back in New York. Alexander Gettler is starting to earn a reputation as a forensic Sherlock Holmes. He's just published a groundbreaking study on the deadly solvent benzene, which, to his horror, he's finding in dead bodies in his laboratory at Bellevue, though he's not yet sure why. Meanwhile, in D.C. mabel Walker Willebrandt is just Starting to unravel the epic corruption all around her at the Department of Justice. And back in the heartland, no pun intended. Richard Hart catches a break too. He gets a tip about a bootlegger smuggling liquor onto the Winnebago reservation near Homer. He meets with some of the Winnebago men who are willing to help him stop the flow of liquor into their community.

Corey Hart (20:03)

Selected two of them to go to kind of a bootleg operation and try to score some alcohol.

Ed Helms (20:11)

The operation kicks off when Richard and his guys get the details of a midnight rendezvous between a rum runner and and his local customers. They're going to intervene. Richard parks out of sight nearby while his comrades roll into the meetup posing as customers.

Corey Hart (20:28)

The idea was that as soon as they would come out, he and another officer that was with him would then make the arrest.

Ed Helms (20:35)

But the liquor crew gets suspicious. Something's a little off. They refuse to sell anything to Richard's accomplices who come back to him empty handed. There's nothing Richard can use to make an arrest for someone else. That might be the end of it. A failed operation. But Richard isn't done. He wants to nab his bootlegger. He continues to lie in wait nearby. And sure enough, a couple of hours later, more cars pull up. This time, Richard doesn't try any tricks. He decides he's just going to let the deal go down and then scoop up one of the customers to get his evidence. When the meetup is over, the cluster of cars splits up. Richard and his partner give chase.

Corey Hart (21:19)

So they're chasing after what they think.

Ed Helms (21:21)

Is the bootlegger vehicle Richard's partner is driving. He pulls them alongside the car they think is hauling liquor. A big, beautiful Buick. Richard leans out and tells the bootlegger to pull over. But he doesn't. So Richard ups the ante.

Corey Hart (21:36)

So he's actually out in the railing board telling this bootlegger to stop. He wouldn't stop, so he started firing shots into the air. And then the. The car that they were chasing sped off.

Ed Helms (21:49)

Now the chase is really on. And the Buick, unlike Buicks of today, is fast. Like really fast. It starts to pull away. Frustrated, Richard stops firing warning shots in the air and levels his gun directly at the car. He shoots his partner with one hand on the wheel. Leans out the driver's side window and starts shooting too.

Corey Hart (22:13)

In an attempt to try to stop that car by trying to take out the tires.

Ed Helms (22:19)

Richard shoots and hits the Buick. The shot doesn't hit the tire. It goes through the back window and hits the driver.

Corey Hart (22:34)

He actually shot the driver through the mouth. And so when it came to the vehicle and realized, oh, this is not the person that they were actually trying to chase.

Ed Helms (22:43)

Richard had made a terrible.

Corey Hart (22:45)

Mistake, tried to take that individual to the hospital, but it was a lethal shot.

Ed Helms (22:52)

As Richard and his partner learned about the man they had killed, they were mortified. Not only was he not the bootlegger they were hunting, he didn't have any liquor on him at all. Sure, he was there, probably to buy a drink, but there was no actual evidence that he was taking part in a crime. And then, then found out that this.

Corey Hart (23:12)

Individual was also a World War I veteran, was married, had a child that was. Was very young, so less than a year old, and was a hero to the community for being that World War I veteran was very well liked.

Ed Helms (23:28)

And that led to something new for Richard, because in the man's hometown, Sioux City, Iowa, there was a righteous uproar against Richard.

Corey Hart (23:38)

He had to have a court appearance because they were charging him with manslaughter.

Ed Helms (23:43)

Led by the murdered man's grieving widow, a crowd of thousands gathered in downtown Sioux City in protest. Some in the crowd were even muttering that they should kill Richard in return.

Corey Hart (23:54)

And so he was under a lot of heat, so he had to lay low.

Ed Helms (23:59)

And that cleared the scene for another batch of foot soldiers even more willing to enforce Prohibition not with handcuffs, but with handguns. Remember, it was no secret at this point that the Prohibition enforcement effort was a complete debacle In Washington. Mabel was burning with white hot rage. The gall of George Remus, the king of bootleggers, doing time for tax evasion by playing poker with his pals and dining on filet mignon on Millionaires Row. The treachery of that slimeballed Jess Smith, Mabel's DOJ officemate, whose pockets were lined by the country's biggest bootleggers. They were proof that playing, by the way, rules got you nowhere. The dry warriors in Mabel's DOJ and the Prohibition agents in the treasury came to a startling conclusion. Due process not working. They're done with it. In order to uphold the Prohibition laws, they were ready to dispense with all the other pesky laws. And so they saddled up with the Ku Klux Klan. Mobile, Alabama, one of the South's oldest port cities, where the Gulf of Mexico laps gently at white sand beaches and the spinach dip comes with crawfish. We'll get to the clan in a minute, but before we do, you gotta understand that as a gateway to the Caribbean in 1923. Mobile was home to a whole, whole economy of rum runners and bootleggers. And you know who hated that? Good old Mabel Walker Willebrandt. She was determined to cast a net into those waters and drag them out gasping and flopping. But she had a problem, as always. Her man on the ground was supposed to be the U.S. attorney, a federal government lawyer who could lead the charge to organize the prosecution, get the legal ducks in a row, you know, all that stuff. But the U.S. attorney in Alabama was in way over his head after a good run. And we're talking 117 indictments against big timers in Mobile. The liquor cabal flipped the script and arrested him. That uno reverse card really does come in handy sometimes, doesn't it? Local TAs, local judges didn't want to prosecute Prohibition cases. That's historian Tom Pegram. Their local communities weren't in favor of them. Juries would turn people loose or there would be like very small fines. And in 1923, when Mabel wanted to sweep the liquor out of Alabama, this was exactly what she faced. So she set up what she called a flying squad. She put together a hand picked crew of officers and lawyers in Washington who could travel south and leave the corrupt local officials out of the legal proceedings all on their own. They would plan a raid, scoop up the perps, collect the evidence and slam the Wets into jail cells. This is where the Klan comes in.

Corey Hart (27:05)

Actually.

Ed Helms (27:05)

The Klan. Those fucking guys. Seriously? Well, yeah. See in the fall of 1923, while Richard Hart was shooting at fleeing cars, Mabel was picking the new head coach for her liquor busting team in Alabama. She needed someone beyond the reach of the Mobile good old boys network. And she landed on a lawyer named Hugo Black. Hugo made his bones as a defense lawyer for the Ku Klux Klan. One Klansman, a Methodist minister, had gunned down a Catholic priest. Hugo Black argued it was done in self defense since the two men had scuffled the day before. So what did Mabel take from all this? Well, in the war of the Wets against the Dries, the Catholic communities generally held onto their drinking traditions. They were Wets in classic the enemy of my enemy is my friend logic. Hugo was on her side. And the Klan, well, they were only too eager to help. The Klan started to say, hey, you know, we'll help with investigations. And even, even though a lot of Klansmen drank, the argument was, once it's in the Constitution, it has to be enforced. And if it's not enforced, that destabilizes American democracy. And then guess what? Who are the most likely violators of Prohibition? All the groups we already don't like. Who did the Klan target? Pretty much anyone who wasn't white and Protestant. Anyone who wasn't already cut in the mold of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. We're talking immigrants, black Americans, Jews, Catholics, everyone. The dry movement was trying to squeeze. The Klan was like, hey, you're giving us an excuse to just beat up all the people we don't like. Right on. So when Mabel sees a lawyer ready to dive into the culture war by stretching the meaning of self defense to an unbelievable breakthrough. Breaking point all to defend murderous Klansmen, she sees the kind of conviction she's been looking for. One reporter asked her how she justified working with the Klan. And Mabel said, I have no objection to people dressing up in sheets if.

Jake Hanrahan (29:17)

They enjoy that sort of thing.

Ed Helms (29:20)

So this is crazy, right? I mean, yeah, Mabel's been the ice queen and all that, but there's a difference between cold and cutthroat. There's a difference between coordinating with the Coast Guard to stop rum runners and teaming up with the nation's most powerful cabal of racist murderers. Mabel was at the end of her rope. She decided she was ready and willing to cross that line. Since Mabel recruited actual official prosecutors from the kkk, well, it sent a signal to the Klan across the nation. So Klan members from Illinois made a trip to the treasury offices in Washington, and they found the doors wide open to them. They told the treasury officials that they had plenty of foot soldiers ready and willing to rain hell on bootleggers back at home. The Prohibition commissioner liked the offer. He sent a few of his division chiefs and gave them the order. Deputize the Klansmen and unleash them on southern Illinois. And that brings us to Two Guns. No, not Richard Hart. There was actually a different guy with that nickname, too. Two Gun Glenn Young. Another Two Gun in the 1920s. What can I say? This is America. There's at least two guns for every guy that wants them. Here's where both two guns line up. By 1923, two gun Glenn Young had already been on trial for murdering bootleggers across southern Illinois. In fact, he added man killer to his nickname. So in 1923, the Klan in Southern Illinois asked guys like Two Gun Mankiller to come on down to the city of Harran and crush a pesky problem for them. Immigrant Italian mine workers had been fighting with the mine company that ran the place. Those fights had gotten bloody. Workers had already been killed. So The Klan figured that putting a couple more guns to work was exactly what they needed. So In December of 1923, over 500 Klan Raiders deputized as Prohibition agents swept down through the Italian immigrant homes. But what they did was the opposite of law enforcement. It was straight up terrorism. One Italian recalled the scene when a gang of armed Klansmen broke into his home. They smashed up his kitchen. They even drank his wine, mocking him before they dragged him to jail. After two major raids by the Klan now turned into federal agents, two gun man killer took up residence as the de facto military dictator of the county. The violence continued. Home invasions, beatings, shootings. Kidnapped locals were paraded downtown by Klan gunmen. But if they thought this was going to win support for their cause, they miscalculated badly. The blood they spilled, it shocked the public. The Klan took over the city. Drys and wets Klan and anti clan contending forces Iron Heel Glenn Young continues as acting chief of police. As the violence escalated, the Klan mounted machine guns on downtown buildings. Attacks and hospitals left the walls riddled with bullet holes. Desperate cries went out for the army and the National Guard to step in and stop the violence. Military forces swept in to take control. Papers across the nation from Fresno to Baltimore carried stories of the fighting Guardsman patrol streets Glenn Young Clan dry raider held after fight last night Dry agent under arrest Raids in Illinois result in charges of assault against Young. The blood spilled by two gun man killer Glenn Young and others like him stained the dry cause. Many Prohibition supporters didn't think it had to come at such a violent price. Some supporters of the law started to waver. If this is what it took to enforce Prohibition, was it really worth it? But the most hardcore dries. Well, they thought the fight hadn't gone far enough. And they made that clear in their defense of Richard two Gun Hart.

Holly Frye (33:39)

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the highwayman suggests men dominated the field. But tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies, and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes. But you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits, some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now. Plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jake Hanrahan (34:41)

I'm Jake Hanrahan, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Away Days is my new project reporting on countercultures on the fringes of society all across the world. Live from the underground, you'll discover no rules fighting, Japanese street racing, Brazilian favela life, and much more. All real, completely uncensored. This is unique access with straightforward on the ground reporting. We're taking you deep into the dirt without the usual airs and graces of legacy media. A way that showcases what the mainstream cannot access. Real underground reporting with real people. No excuses. For the past decade, I've been going to places I shouldn't be, meeting people I shouldn't know. Now you can come along too. Listen to the Away Days podcast, reporting from the underbelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul Holes (35:41)

A murder happens, the case goes cold. Then, over a hundred years later, we take a second look. I'm Paul Holes, a retired cold case investigator.

Holly Frye (35:50)

And I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a journalist and historian.

Paul Holes (35:53)

On our podcast Buried Bones, we re examine historical true crime cases using modern forensic techniques.

Holly Frye (36:00)

We dig into what the original investigators may have missed. Growing up on a farm, when I.

Ed Helms (36:04)

Heard a gunshot, I did not immediately think murder.

Paul Holes (36:07)

Unless this person went out to shoot squirrels, they're not choosing a.22 to go hunting out there.

Ed Helms (36:13)

These cases may be old, but the.

Holly Frye (36:15)

Questions are still relevant and often chilling.

Paul Holes (36:19)

I know this chauffeur is not of concern. You know, it's like, well, he's the last one who saw her alive, so how did they eliminate him?

Ed Helms (36:27)

Join us as we take you back to the cold cases that haunt us to this day.

Paul Holes (36:32)

New episodes every Wednesday on the exactly right network. Listen to Buried bones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ed Helms (36:44)

The violence in Illinois shocked the nation. But in spite of that, Richard 2 Gunheart still had allies, surprisingly, with the.

Corey Hart (36:54)

Entire community against him and him fearing for his life. It was the Women's Christian Temperance Union came to his defense. And so they were able to pay for Dugan Hart's attorney to give him an attorney.

Ed Helms (37:08)

This lawyer, hired by the wctu wasn't just going to defend Richard in the court of law. He was also going to defend him in the court of public Opinion. This is not a question of the guilt or innocence of Hart. It is an issue of the enforcement of the law. Enforcement officers are too timid. Now, if an enforcement officer is convicted of such a charge, it will make bootleggers secure. All right, I want to spend a minute here because this is key. This guy, the defense lawyer for Richard Hart, is saying that whether or not Richard shot this guy doesn't really matter because in his view, that's what it takes to enforce the law. He's saying Prohibition officers should not get in trouble for gunning down suspects. But that's not all. He's also saying that it's a damn shame most officers are too scared to do what Richard had done. Think about it. He's saying this in the context of everything we've talked about. Violence was already rampant. Prohibition agents had been killing people for years. And that's what he's saying was too timid. I mean, holy shit. And remember, it was the Women's Christian Temperance Union who paid for this lawyer to defend Richard with this argument. In fact, throughout the 1920s, the WCTU had made it clear they were pretty much okay with violence against bootleggers. In their way of thinking, the only way to hold back the tide of liquor flooding the country was to unleash a hail of bullets to them. Richard Hart's guns weren't only justified, they were sanctified.

Corey Hart (38:48)

Saying that by putting him. By putting a Prohibition agent, Dugan Hart, on trial for manslaughter, it's making him a martyr of Prohibition.

Ed Helms (38:58)

But there was one person in this moment who was wavering. You might be surprised to hear it was Mabel Walker Willebrandt. She wanted Prohibition enforced. And in principle, she was okay with the violent tactics. I mean, heck, she was running cover in the papers as the Klan did the dirty work. But as the face of Prohibition, she could tell the bad press was undermining her cause. She welcomed citizen vigilantes taking up arms on behalf of Prohibition. But from the nerve center in the Department of Justice, she could see how crowds across the country were growing more and more angry with the bloodshed. Mabel launched an inquiry into the shooting. From the beginning, she had fought for.

Corey Hart (39:40)

These fearless, high integrity men that were willing to do this very dangerous job that the majority in the US Were not in favor of.

Ed Helms (39:50)

So when Mabel realized how badly it was backfiring to have cowboys and Klan cops shooting their way through liquor busts, she and the Women's Christian Temperance Union parted ways. The WCTU had been powerful in previous years, but they won Their battles by getting into the papers. To Mabel's eyes, it was bad press. I imagine that made her, you know, pretty annoyed. Prohibition's already unpopular now. A backlash against too much violence was only going to make her job harder. So she tried to get out ahead of it. I condemn as atrocious, wholly unwarranted, and entirely, entirely unnecessary some of the killing by Prohibition agents. Did you catch that? She said she condemns some of the killings. Some. That is so telling to me. How about all the killing, Mabel? Does killing someone for bootlegging really feel like a punishment that fits the crime? And what about that old right to trial by jury? What about innocent until proven guilty? What about, you know, the rest of the law? Well, none of that was what Mabel was worried about. Nope. She's only worried about some of the killings, apparently just the ones that lead to bad press. Like Richard Hartz. She wrote directly to the U.S. attorney handling his case, calling Richard guilty of carelessness and indifference to consequences.

Corey Hart (41:13)

I think that that really did strike him hard. Here was something that he was proud of being two gun, always getting the man, using tough guy ways to get him.

Ed Helms (41:24)

Before Richard stood trial, the coroner's jury of Nebraska decided not to pursue the manslaughter case against him. But the damage to the dry cause was done by Richard and by other reckless, violent, or downright vicious enforcers. If the judge was lenient in Richard's case, Mabel was more harsh.

Corey Hart (41:43)

He was forced to pay back essentially his salary for that crime. And saying that he was careless and reckless in his behavior.

Ed Helms (41:51)

Car chases, gunfights, massacres. It was time for the circus to end. If Prohibition was going to win, killing bootleggers in the open, where the blood was practically splattering on bystanders, kind of worked against the cause. Mabel needed to shut that down. Enforcing Prohibition with arrests and court cases, that wasn't enough. Enforcing Prohibition with guns in the street, well, that was backfiring. The ice queen needed something different, something that would scare the bootleggers and speakeasy drinkers so bad they would stop on their own. All the better if this could all be done quietly. Which brings us back behind the scenes, out of the public eye, where lawyers like Mabel were arguing over murder. Back into James Duran's lab. Back to chemistry. Because deep in the bowels of the Treasury Department, the Prohibition enforcers, led by Duran, were also taking aim at drinkers. It was in their beakers and test tubes that the next assault on Americans began to take shape. That's next time on Snafu writes this letter where he talks about how the poison has settled in his legs and he can't get up without falling over. His signature is just so scratchy. I mean, you can tell that he's shaking. Snafu is a production of iHeartRadio Film Nation Entertainment and Pacific Electric Picture Company in association with Gilded Audio. It's executive produced by me, Ed Helms, Milan Popelka, Mike Falbo, Whitney Donaldson and Dylan Fagan. Our lead producers are Carl Nellis and Alyssa Martino. This episode was written by Albert Chen, Carl Nellis and Nevin Calipalli with additional writing and story editing from Alyssa Martino and Ed Helms. Additional production from Stephen Wood, Olivia Canny and Kelsey Albright. Tori Smith is our Associate producer. Our story editor is Nikki Stein. Our production assistants are Nevan Kalapalli and Ekimini Ekpo. Fact checking by Charles Richter. Our creative executive is Brett Harris. Editing, music and sound design by Ben Chugg. Engineering and technical direction by Nick Dooley. Andrew Chugg is Gilded Audio's Creative director. Theme music by Dan Rosado. The role of Mabel Walker Willebrandt was played by Carrie Bechet. Special thanks to Allison Cohen, Daniel Welsh and Ben Rysak.

Holly Frye (44:46)

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Trimarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the Wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Unnamed Host of Better Offline (45:19)

Podcasts OpenAI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be an aberration, a symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other AI companies, are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job. I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartrade radio app Apple Podcasts Wherever you happen to get your podcasts.

Jake Hanrahan (45:50)

This is an iHeart podcast.