The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume], July 23, 1922, FINAL EDITION, COMIC AND MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 26

About The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927

Image provided by: Oklahoma Historical Society

                
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Evangelist
Elliott Padriclr-
Self-Confessed Murderer
"For he that is dead is treed frovi sin."
Romans f!:7.
"It is tho Mood, that makcth an aton
ment for the souls." Leviticus 17:11,
rILLIB MAE 1'ADHICK. sixteen.
pretty oiul a preacher's brldo, liked
silk stockings, paint nnd powder,
dancoB, clilclten iiupporH nnd whnt other
amusomonts tho mntill town of Dover;
Georgia, offered.
Elliott I'adrlck, lior youthful ovnngbllst
husband, said aha played with "thu dnvll's
toys." Ho prayed for hor, proached nt hor,
exhorted hor to rcpont. Shu nnd hor
mother woro doomed, ho Enid,
Whon Wllllo Mno only kIkrIciI, Padrick
groanod nnd rend his Hlblo. Two vorsoB
one from tho Old Tcslnmont nnd ono from
tho Now caught his brooding oyos llko
lottors of flro.
Ono night, whero tho Dover rond crosses
tho muddy waters of tho Ogeoclioe down
In tho wlregrasa bolt of Georgia, ldllott
Tadrlclc klllad his girl wlfo and his mother-in-law.
"I Blow thorn to Rftvo tholr souls!" ho
cried to his horrldod licensors. "Thoy nru
freed from slnl Their blood Is their atone
ment!" Padrlck's confession, shouted through
tho bars of his cell, lovoalod an astound
lng drama of rollglous frenzy, mad lovo,
a slniplo young glrl'B yearning for lino
feathers, n mother's blttor disappointment
In ambitions for her daughter- played out
against n smnll-towii background of buh
plclon nnd gossli) reaching Its tragic cli
max In tho double muni or on tho moonlit
brldgo at midnight.
'"'Young I'adrlck wns brought up In n re
ligious ntmosphero. Ills father is n min
ister. Two of Ills brothcis became min
isters. Ilo could (pinto wholo pages of tho
Gospel wbllo ho was still In knickerbockers
at fifteen ho was leading prayer nt camp
meetings.
Ho had studied hard nt theological
school, rocolved his oxhortoi's license, mid
was looking forward to ordlnndon on his
twcnty-llrst birthday, whou ho met Wllllo
Mno Dixon nnd hor mother, Mrs. llyron
Dixon.
Wllllo Mno was n local belle. She' liked
"a good timo." When she smiled tho yuutli
of Dovor had heart palpitations. When
sho passed thoy craned their sunbaked
necks. Hut KUIott Pndrlik, tint boy
preacher, got moro smiles than nil tho rosi.
Wllllo Mno's mnthur adored hor daugh
ter. Sho wanted hor to dross "stylish."
Sho had visions of a tlch husband for
Wllllo Mao. Hut thu Dhons were some
thing less than well-to-do and millionaires
do not grow llko daisies down in tho wire
grass. Wllllo Mae's mother nlso smiled
on tho boy preacher. Ho wns popular.
Pcoplo compared him to Hilly Sunday.
They said ho was going to Got tho pastor
ate nt Green's t-'ut.
So Willie Mno and KUIott Pndrlck got
married, nnd tho two of them, with Mother
Dixon, wont to Green's Cut, where tho
Methodists woro holdlnc a revival and
Elliott would nsstat tho local pastor,
and, Incidentally, bhow ibo Greou Cutters
what a preacher he was.
Not only from l'ndilek hlmseir, but from
Mrs. It. T. Itowoll, with whom they slayud
at Green's Cut, and from others In tho
community, cornea tho story of whnl hap
pened to blast tho boy pronchur's chancer
for tho paBtorato, to turn his mothor-ln-law
against him, nnd to start tho morbid
brooding that ovontually wns to make Ulra
Killer. '
Though oho wns a preacher's wlfoBay
Tie Amazing "Murder Vocation"
Led Evangelist Fadrick to Lure His
"NJ -wm m
Graz Attired and Powdered
victims to a Lonely
Moonlit Bridge and Pray
for Their Salvation as He
Watched Them Die
1k;
Mrs. Ilyron Dixon, Padrick's Mother-in-Law,
nnd Her Little Son.
tho gossips of Green's Cut, prottv Mrs.
I'adrlck still liked "a good time." Sho
mulled, sho bobbed her hair, sho woro ear
rings and she rougud. Her mother de
fended her agnlnst Padrlck's protests.
Thoy would scoff at him. says .Mrs. Itowoll,
when I'adrlck would return fiom tho re
vival meeting where he had donouivcod
modern fashions. Thoy would laugh when
ho opuued his Hlblo nnd road ouch pas
sagos as those:
"In llko manner nlso. that women ndorn
theinselves In modest apparel, with shame
faeodness and sobriety; not with plaited
hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly nrrnv.
. . . ino aged women likewise, that
thoy . . . teach the young woiuon to
bo sober, to love their husbands, to lovo
their children, to bo discreet, chaste, keep
ers at home, good, obedient to their hus
bands, that tho wonl of God bo not blas
phemed," Ouu day I'adrlck stampod into tho parlor,
whlto faced nml shaking. Ilo had just re
ceived word from the presiding elder, ho
said, that ho was not to have the pastorato
of tho Gienn's Gut church. It was plnln,
Hocused I'adrlck, that his buttortly wlfo
was the causo.
h'ho nnnouncomont was n double shock.
Mrs. Jihon saw her droams of a comfort
able parsonage homo go toppling. Sho
turned on I'adrlck. according to his own
story, ami denounced him as a sniveling
no-uccoimt, who did nothing but sigh nnd
sing psalms.
Padrlck's hatred of his mother-in-law
a hatred lm frnnltly admits dated from
that moment. And her hatred of him. ho
Kharges, led her to turn his wife against
htm, to encourage pretty Mrs. I'adrlck to
Jllrt with other mon, to dress hor smart
vst nnd "do what sho pleased."
They went to llvo on n fnrm, where Pnd
rlck, disappointed in his pulpit prospects,
took to dairying and raising chickens.
Occasionally ho would preach, nnd gen
erally thoso sermons would bo aimed at
"women who mnkeih a man nshamed and
nro a rottenness In his bones."
Ho says ho would eomo homo nnd go
'down on his knees and pray tor bis wlfo'i
soul and the soul of his mother-in-law, and
that thoy would tnunt him while, ho prayed,
and Ridicule him. Then' I'adrlck would
.WW
Pleasure Lovinir Willin Mno Pa.
r' i u . r i. : "iiiiiKcua; a wire,
Girl Victim of Her Young Preacher-Husband's Homicidal Fury.
rlso and tako his Hlblo and go into nnothor
loom ami orooa long in llence.
After ono of theso srenos Mrs. DLxon
told him to "get out." She Hour bis suit
caso nt his feot and ordered him novur to
show his faro at their door again. Pnd
rlck picked up tho hag. Ho went into the
yard. Ho collertod a few of his best
chickens, nnd with theso and his sultcaso
nnd his Hlblo undor his mm ho trudgod
down tho dusty rond,
Ho was away four monthB. Part of this
timo ho preached In thu churches of his
father nnd his brothers. Much of tho rest
of tho timo ho spent in prayer. Ho had
made up his mlud to seek n reconciliation
with his wlfo, when hu got two letters
from Dover Tho first was from hor a
lovo nolo. Tho second told him, ho says,
that his wlfo wns "running around" with
n man from Statesboro.
Hed angyr seized Pndrlck. When ho
cooled It was only to recoil boforo n ghastly
Ide.i that had flashed Into his mind. Ho
says ho spent night nftor night on hia
knes. Tho Fifth Commandmont wns ox,
pllclt, but into Padrlck's feverish brain
woro burned othor verses tho utonemcnt
of sin by death!
Ho wns still engaged In a fearful stntgv
Bio when ho sat down and wroto his wlfo
till letter:
"Dearest One: Your sweot letter nt hand.
Wish I, loo, could havo been with you In
Oliver. Say. little girlie, havo a pleasant
surprlso for you. Meet mo suro at Cllto
Monday night In tho sedan. Would lovo
to moot you them alone, as you know wo
haven't been together much. Won't you
CowliM. 1832. 1,7 Iatfraatlon.il Tcaturo
.Hi
4
ell':
Ik-!,.!, It... P 1- . nil j-
como nnd provo your lovo? Trust
mo nnd lovo mo. Vourn,
"BLMOTT."
As his train sped across the coun
try that night Padrlck's thoughts
were in a turmoil. Ono second ho
shook with lovo of his wlfo. Tho
next ho was confronted with that
droadful vlHlon of a lifeless body,
init a toul saved. In his hlp-pockct
was a pistol, but when ho alighted
from tho train at Cllto, ho saj-s, ho
was still in n inuddlo of Indecision.
And then, ns he dropped from tho
platform, something sceraod to
crack inside his skull.
There was bin wife, waving nt
him from tho front scat of n small
"T"' 1 was ins mother-In-law
grimly upright in tho back. Hut. In
i s own words, thoy were "dressed
llko lost women"hls wife in ,hort
skirts nnd a pair of open work stock
ings, her rheoks painted, her lips a
line or scarlet, her cyoa rinmied with black
took ,hC,vft,lnt,'? 11,0 uo"na anrt
took tho wheel. Ho turned tho enr In to
tho road to Dover. It was a long drlvo-
M,nUrl!in,ll,Ionoly drlv0' ""''"-ny K
tho road led across tho Ogeechoo River;
and lost Itself m n cat-tail marsh.
tJI?ai'l?.k (by h.U Tvn confession) planned
to stop tho car in tho middle of tho brldgo,
kill both women, toss tholr bodlos Into tho
marsh, and, standing on the beam above
cry to tho moonlit hoav'on that thoun i'
ners had expiated their sins in death t
Service, Inc. Ort Prtlla Wfhti Hf.wTM.
That
m
cuC "?Vy hs.?,w,n c,0nfsn) planned to alop the car in the middle
of the bridge, kill both women, toss their bodies into the marsh and,
standing on the beam above, cry to the moonlit heavens that
these sinners had expiated their sins in death!"
Savo for ono detail, ho carried out this
crlmo ruthlossly. A f armor, crossing tho
brldgo shortly after midnight, walked Into
tho blood-spattered oar. Mrs. Dixon wns
dead. Her daughter, shot through nnd
through, lived only long enough to gasp
put tho namu of thu murderer hor hua
band. A Galloping posso discovered him, an
hour later, stumbling nlong tho road to
nover. Ho foil on his knees, Imploring
Bherlff, deputies and God for mercy. And
this was what ho crled
"I killed them to savo tholr souls, and
thnn then I couldn't touch tholr bodies!
I wns going tp throw them off tho bridge.
Into tho river, but I couldn't touch thorn.
I couldn't I"