State Sen. Warren G. Hooper was driving his green Mercury home to Albion from Lansing on Jan. 11, 1945, when he was killed execution-style, allegedly because he was about to testify before a grand jury about legislative graft.
Hooper, 40, had been shot three times in the head with a .38-caliber pistol about 4:30 p.m. in what authorities later believed was a professional hit, possibly committed by members of Detroit’s infamous Purple Gang.
Tire tracks revealed Hooper’s car, which was headed south, had skidded across the road and stopped with the front wheels on the pavement and the rear wheels off. It was still facing south but on the wrong side of the road.
A recent heavy snowfall had been followed by bitterly cold temperatures, and that’s why Floyd Modjeska, operator of Springport’s feed elevator, thought it was odd to see a car parked cockeyed on the side of the road as he drove by.
He stopped to investigate and found Hooper’s body slumped forward in the front seat on the passenger side. The ignition switch was off and the gears in neutral. Footprints in the snow led from the driver’s side door to the pavement.
The car was on fire, and Hooper’s body was partially burned. Police later speculated he was smoking a cigarette when he was shot and it fell from his mouth and ignited the seat.
Modjeska flagged down another motorist, Kyle Van Auker of Eaton Rapids, and then drove to the nearby farm of Goldie Hersay to call Michigan State Police in Jackson to report the crime...
One of the few crime scene photos shows the interior of Hooper’s car, which was badly burned. Police suspected a cigarette Hooper had been smoking had started the flames. Image courtesy of the Michigan State Police.
LINK:
Peek Through Time: Politician's shooting death in 1945 is still a mystery
