katydid23
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
- Messages
- 67,376
- Reaction score
- 233,328
You realize, that Orrin wasn't at the time no old man or something. I have no exact birth date at hand, but over the thumb, he was maybe around 20? So someone should thank you, in the name of every late teenager who ever dated a girl in the middle teens+, for cancelling that "habitual". You know, I remember some school mates. He was 17 when they met, she 15. Unfortunately, his 18th b-day ways a few weeks before her 16th. So, well, technically, he was what you define, in entirely wrongful re-interpretation of the term, "a pedophile". Habitual maybe, since he regularly slept with her (that school mate, not talking Orrin here). Oh well, I think, he still does, hr youngest child just graduated ...
What I try to explain is, you should try to learn about the people before judging on incomplete data. Orrin was bright when it came to numbers, he was a hard worker, he hadn't a lot of the common vices of the boys in her age and the area. Only thing is, his social communicative skills were a little behind in some aspects. So, given the "competition" and the content of Weippe's showcase, Orrin was a catch. Which is probably why he got permission from the girl's father. Not that pedophiles normally ask for that, but Orrin did.
The problem between Orrin and Lonnie's family started, as it sounds from both sides of the aisle, when Orrin came to Weippe. He was a hard worker, he avoided alcohol and therefore the regular "beer with the guys", he avoided drugs, another social glue back there and then. In fact, he avoided anything, that made the world even more confusing than it was. That's a typical behavior for patients with mild forms of autism. They struggle hard enough to hold control over everything, they don't need additional recreational drugs to complicate that even more. But it makes them socially isolated. Being socially isolated in a society like Weippe is kind of the social death penalty. The resident bullies bite out who is different, bite out, who doesn't bow to them. Problem was, they couldn't bite out Wood. He was too strong, too straight. So all they could do, was not liking him.
And just to get this clear: That accident wasn't a classical driving accident. That was driving and operating logging equipment. A little bit heavier. The victim was caught under some logs in the end, but alive. Orrin had no way to get the injured man out, so he went for help. The victim was still alive when help arrived and stated to the victim's how it happened. That is the reason, why police ruled that as accident. But the victim didn't make it and it took years and years of twisting the story to make Orrin look guilty. Why? Because basically, if snow fell, the clan said, it was Orrin's fault. If the sun was hot - it was Orrin's fault. So yes, it's a little hard to dig through that and it took me some time.
Cunningham was caught, after he raped another boy. Raped, but not killed. He tried to scare the boy in staying silent by the threat of killing him, if he wouldn't. Remember, as it appears, Lonnie was raped before the fair.
The other case was a boy the same age group. Approach was a "do I know you" situation and indeed, Cunningham knew that boy. He had done carpentry work in his neighborhood. Just like he knew Lonnie at least by sight. The lumber mill cutting the stolen wood from those guys near the creek, was just across the street (well, in fact it is still).
Cunningham was arrested and got a mandatory life sentence. Some other things came up at the same time, for example, that his brother in law was also arrested for having committed the longest and biggest series of burglaries in the county. And I think, his father in law, who was caught with a stolen RV. So, there were some cases closed, but nobody looked at the Lonnie Jones murder because police was so sure, Orrin did it. Lonnie's whole family had told them so, yeah ...
Now, Henry Savage. I have no real idea what he did (except talking to the press). He died many years ago and none of his old notes survived. So if anything survived, it has to be in the case file, to which I have no access. Now, I have this only second hand and only from one party, but it appears as if Savage was the guy getting the truth serum via his FBI contacts. It's not, that one could buy that stuff in Orofino's grocery, right. Also, Savage appears to have been present at least at the last interrogation of Orrin Wood under truth serum AND on a lie detector and that one still didn't give them anything for an arrest. Not for lack of trying, I would say.
However, it appears, that by 1952, the whole thing, including Savage, stuck. The local representative contacted a senator and, according to the press from back then, asked for an official investigation by the FBI. Hoover personally promised, still, nothing happened. The FBI gave some lab support.
In the meantime, Cunningham was in prison and already forgotten. Nobody actually thought about his presence anymore, till others here on this board, dug him out. As far as I can see, this was the first time, the connection was made.
And yes, there were, back at the time other leads. Some were investigated, some not so much. Another known sex offender was interrogated, but dismissed. He had an alibi and he was known to rape girls age 16+. There was also an incident with a bunch of allegedly alcoholized Native-Americans. Problem is, the place that allegedly would have sold them the alc wouldn't have done it in 1951 because back then there was still a prohibition law against the tribes. So, there was some investigation in those leads, but without arrest. And there were investigations in other directions, for example Sheriff Holloway's trip to Portland. But also without result. And the whole time, Cunningham was locked away and nobody thought about him for a second. And thus, nobody asked around who had seen Cunningham. My luck was only, that he helped breaking down the fair and did that every year, so some knew him and remembered, he was there.
You translated, what I hinted, in the nice clean term "nepotism". Lets give you a glimpse in this:
- the officer today in charge of the case (as any other in the area) lives three or four houses away from where Lonnie's aunt lives. His neighbors are members of the very same family.
- his boss, the Sheriff, is not only politically connected to them, he is also life-long befriended to the current generation of the family clan.
- his father was one of the kids in the very same car, driven by the very same people to the fair that night. He was one of the persons, seeing Lonnie in the afternoon there.
- since the case began, at least one family member was commissioner, two members were Sheriff. Lonnie's mother married a man, who also became later Weippe's Sheriff. They all had access to the case file and evidence and after their time, most of the evidence was gone because we know, in the seventies, the evidence box was already as empty as it is now. Which is one of the reasons, police can't release too much in the first place: They don't have much left.
and so it goes on and on. Nepotism is a very incomplete way to describe the circumstances there.
But here is the rub: Orrin Wood had no opportunity that night, to kill Lonnie Jones. Because at the time, Lonnie was fetched, he was in Weippe, bringing the girl home.
Just on a side note: I wrote earlier posts about the staging and the meaning, so you can read up there. No need to repeat it again. All you confusion about the staging and the scene per se is explained there.
THANK YOU. Very informative, well thought out post. You did an amazing sleuthing job. :websleuther: :goodpost: :thankyou:
lease:
