Case File: Charles Reuter
Overview[edit]
Locations[edit]
- 220 Wisconsin Ave, Peoria, Illinois - home of Charles with his first wife Mina, she kept it in the divorce.
- 624 N. Boston Ave, Tulsa, Oklahoma - home of Guy McKenzie
- 625 N. Cheyenne Ave, Tulsa, Oklahoma - home of Charles Reuter, murder location
- 630 N. Cheyenne Ave, Tulsa, Oklahoma - home of H. W. Stover where Mrs. Reuter spent the night after the murder
People[edit]
| Name | (Born-Died) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Baker, Joseph "Joe" | ||
| Bellew, Grover "Bud" | Chauffeur of McKenzie | |
| Biddison, A. J. | attorney for Mrs. Reuter, telephone Mrs. Reuter to bring her to court | |
| Biddison, Valjean | attorney for Mrs. Reuter | |
| Breckinridge, M. A. | Superior Court Judge | |
| Brodie, Dr. | Attended Mrs. Reuter and the murder | |
| Bruner, Billy | "an Indian", traded with McKenzie for a revolver owned by Reuter | |
| Campbell, H. M. | attorney for the defense. | |
| Charlton, J. R. | attorney for Guy McKenzie | |
| Chilcot, E. J. | witness for the defense, was playing cards with McKenzie | |
| Cleveland, C. H. | prominent banker, witness | |
| Crittendon, Tom | witness, McKenzie stayed with him the night of the murder | |
| Crossland, Ed | Assistant to the County attorney | |
| Egan, Ed | Detective | |
| Friddle, W. M. | boarder at Main Hotel in Skiatook, witness for defence. | |
| Godwin, Bedford | witness, refuses to talk, committed to the County jail May 15 | |
| Grosshart, Dr. Ross | Attended Mrs. Reuter and the murder | |
| Gubser | Judge, committed witness Bedford Godwin to jail | |
| Hanson, Charles | Assist. Chief of Police, arrested Bellew | |
| Harper, W.E.J. | witness, engineer in charge of waterworks construction for McKenzie's wells. | |
| Johnson, Ralph | witness, post office clerk | |
| Malloy, Pat | County Attorney | |
| McCullough, William | Sheriff on the murder case | |
| McKenzie, Guy D. | a driller for water | |
| McKenzie, John | father of Guy McKenzie "aged bible scholar" | |
| McKenzie, Stella | sister to Guy, "warm personal friend" to Laura | |
| Morris, Horra | witness and alternative suspect | |
| Parkhurst, Mrs. Inez | witness | |
| Pence, L. B. | Administrator of the estate of Charles Reuter | |
| Ramsdale, Benjamin F. | ||
| Raver, G. T. | witness, property of Main hotel in Skiatook. | |
| Reuter, Charles T. | 1869-1912 | The victim. A prominent lawyer and defense attorney |
| Reuter, John Charles | 1909-? | son of Charles and Laura, age 3 |
| Reuter, Laura M. | 1885-? | Wife of Charles Reuter, and suspect |
| Reuter, Marcella Deener | 1905-? | daughter of Charles and Laura, age 7 |
| Ross, W. | witness for the defense, was playing cards with McKenzie | |
| Rossland, Ed | Assistant County Attorney, acting in the absence of County Attorney Malloy | |
| Slack, John J. | Heard the preliminary hearing against McKenzie, Bellew, and Baker | |
| Stover, Hal W. | Neighbor where Mrs. Reuter spent the night | |
| Welsh, Manuel | witness for the prosecution | |
| Yoder, Ed | Chief of Police |
Documentation[edit]
Burials[edit]
- Find-a-Grave: Charles T. Reuter (1869-1912), in Peoria, Illinois
Census Records[edit]
- 1880 US Federal Census: Peoria, Illinois - Charles, age 11, with parents and siblings.
- 1910 US Federal Census: Peoria, Illinois - Charles, 32, with first wife Mina in the home of his mother and sister.
- 1910 US Federal Census: Tulsa, Oklahoma - Charles, Laura, and their two children "Marzella" (age 4), and John (age 1)
Court Records[edit]
- 1912-1914: Probate of Charles T. Reuter, #1203 (114 pages); Laura M. Reuter petitions for a settlement and partition of the estate. Commissioners W. A. Brownlee, G. N. Wright, and W. P. Moore are appointed to view and appraise the estate. Mrs. Reuter is allowed $40 per month for the maintenance of herself and the children during the process of the settlement of the estate (6 Jun 1912). They find that four parcels of real estate are worth a total value of $7050. The judge finds that Mrs. Reuter and the two children each hold a one-third interest in the estate. Pence receives $359.19 in commission and expenses as administrator of the estate.
- Testimony of Mrs. Reuter: marriage date, births of children.
- Undertakers Receipt: Mewbray Undertaking Co, $247 for casket, hearse, ambulance, shaving, embalming, and permit.
- Rolls File: Note on male child, 1/16 degree Cherokee, in probate by mistake? #1143, age 11 when enrolled 1 Sep 1902, Census Card #370
- Receipt: adenoid operation (tonsils) for Johnie, $25
- Accounting: Allowances, Advancements and Taxes for Laura Reuter, total $1185.29
Newspaper Articles[edit]
- 3 Feb 1899 (Freeport Daily Bulletin) - How Charles Reuter moved from being a barber to a lawyer
- 10 Jul 1903 (Weekly Pantagraph) - Charles make new record for clearing 150 judgements in half a day as a township judge in Peoria.
- 8 Nov 1904 (The Inter Ocean) - marriage license for "Charles Renter" of Peoria, Ill (35) and Mary McKeon (20)
- 24 Feb 1907 (Tulsa World) - Charles T. Reuter returns to Peoria after a few days stay in Tulsa, he will come back with his family and practice law.
- 26 Apr 1907 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles Reuter purchases his residence on North Cheyenne Ave.
- 13 Nov 1907 (Tulsa World) - Charles has two greyhounds
- 21 Nov 1907 (Collinsville News) - Charles is attorney for Olive Oil Company of Tulsa, with great confidence in the "Baker oil field"
- 25 Nov 1908 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is elected 2nd Vice-President of the new "Jefferson-Jackson Club" in Tulsa
- 5 Dec 1908 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is elected Secretary of the North West Improvement Association of Tulsa
- 10 Dec 1908 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles represents Mrs. Cora Tate in divorce, reports that husband is "a habitual drunkard" and physically and verbally abusive to her and the children.
- 9 Aug 1909 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is acting city attorney, is prosecution in a case against eight gamblers
- 25 Aug 1909 (Muskogee Daily Phoenix) - Miss Louise Martin, 16, attempts suicide, is office girl to Charles Reuter
- 21 Dec 1909 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is seriously ill at home with grip and malaria.
- 21 Jan 1910 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is quickly on the road to recovery from Typhoid Fever.
- 24 Jan 1910 (Tulsa Tribune) - further recovery from typhoid fever, but leaking much weaker than before.
- 29 Mar 1910 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles represents the city in a case of patrolman Grant Pilkington against C. P. Kline and son who slashed Pilkington across the cheek with a knife (held by the elder), the Kline's filed a counter suit for a receiving a head wound by an officer or officers on the way to the police station.
- 7 Jul 1910 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles is assaulted by James Pilkington (brother of Grant Pilkington), proprietor of a grocery store after Reuter caused the grocery store to be attached for an alleged debt.
- 11 Mar 1911 (Tulsa Tribune) - Charles files to be on the ballot for Mayor of Tulsa.
- 5 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - First local article, Charles T. Reuter killed by a robber, wife distraught.
- 6 May 1912 (Tulsa Tribune) - "No Kisses from Her Lips", "I Knew It Was Coming to Papa"
- 7 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - Two Arrests - Bellew and McKenzie
- 8 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - a representative of The World went to Skiatook and procured evidence that seems to prove McKenzie innocent.
- 8 May 1912 (The Oklahoma News) - additional witness says, a few hours after the murders were committed, he saw a car that may have been the burglars going at a high rate of speed, that they may be hiding in the Osage hills.
- 9 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - little progress
- 9 May 1912 (Oklahoma News) - diagram of the house and photo included
- 10 May 1912 (Daily News and Star) - Joe Baker is also arrested, kept in a separate cell. Prosecution claims they have a witness, Mr. Welsh, that will testify that he saw the McKenzie automobile in Tulsa between 1 and 2 AM, and that another witness will testify he got up to have a took pulled at 3 am in Skiatook and saw Bellew and Baker there.
- 12 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - Preliminary trial will start the next morning; state will base their case on conspiracy. Hearing will be before John J. Slack in the county courthouse.
- 14 May 1912 (Daily News & Star) - hearing is postponed, McKenzie pleads not guilty.
- 15 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - Bedford Godwin, 1107 E First St, is committed to jail for refusing for refusing to speak on the case.
- 16 May 1912 (Tulsa Tribune) - Mrs. Reuter is also charged - along with Guy McKenzie, Grover Bellew, and Joe Baker - in the murder of her husband. First witness testimony is heard. Dr. Grosshart, Mr. Stover, Mrs. Brownlee.
- 17 May 1912 (Tulsa Tribune) - additional testimony; Manuel Welsh
- 18 May 1912 (Tulsa World) - "Several links were formed in the state's chain on the theory that the four defendants conspired to murder Charles T. Reuter, so that McKenzie's alleged intimacy with Mrs. Reuter would be undisturbed. The state alleges that McKenzie and Mrs. Reuter planned the murder, hired Joe Baker, and ex-jail bird, to do the actual killing, and that Bud Bellew helped perform the deed." Reiterates what was written in Tribune the day before.
- 19 May 1912 (Tulsa World) -
- 20 Sep 1912 (Washington County Sentinel and the Weekly Enterprise) - Trial of Guy D. McKenzie, Mrs. Laura M. Reuter, Bud Bellew, and Joe Baker is set for 5 Oct 1912 according to the plans of County Attorney Malloy. McKenzie, Baker, and Bellew are in County jail while Mrs. Reuter is at liberty on her own recognizance. Trial set by Superior Judge M. A. Breckinridge.
- 3 Nov 1912 (Tulsa World) - recounting of the case and trial, verdict - Guilty.
- 15 Dec 1912 (Tulsa World) - letter of public appeal by Mrs. Reuter.
- 22 Jun 1914 (Tulsa World) - rumors that Mrs. Reuter has remarried, or intends to, to a "young and good looking" stenographer that has been keeping company with her for several months. He was away from work on vacation while Mrs. Reuter left the city "for some little time" to visit her children at a boarding house in Fort Smith, Arkansas - she has been staying at the Hotel Tulsa. She has her home on North Cheyenne on lease for 1 year.
- 23 Jul 1914 (Tulsa Weekly Democrat) - Mrs. Reuter is married to Charles Roberts