Dr. Jesse Ollie Wikle’s 1929 robbery trial
MADISON – As I reviewed my computer research files about Dr. Jesse Ollie Wikle’s 1929 trial for robbery, I exchanged data with T. Jess Bowers in Georgia. I consider him to be a friend, even though we have never met in person, but we have communicated several times by emails over the years. From 2009 I had already saved photographs of newspaper clippings about the 1927 robbery event, but now Jess has given me permission to use his own comments and observances about the old accounts. Much of what will follow later in another article came from him, in his own words and opinions as an attorney reviewing the records of the court case.
What follows here is a retyping of the Huntsville Weekly Times newspaper article printed on October 6, 1927 — a report of the robbery as follows: “ Dr. Wikle held up on Madison Road – robbed. Two bandits got satchel with $7,000, was carrying money to Madison bank. Robbers beat him up, left him in bushes on roadside for dead. A sheriff dragnet was being drawn about the western part of the county today for two or more highway men who held up and robbed Dr. Ollie Wikle of Madison of $7,000 in cash and left him for dead in a woods near Indian Creek on the Madison highway six miles west of Huntsville about 9:30 o’clock this morning.”
“With a full description of the automobile used by the highwaymen and a partial description of the men, members of the sheriff’s department and local police officers were following clues this afternoon that they confidently believe will lead to the arrest of the fiends in a few hours. After he had been held up and robbed, Dr. Wikle was hit in the back of the head with some kind of blunt instrument, probably the blunt end of a revolver, rolled into some bushes, and left for dead, his assailants then rifling his pockets, confiscating his automobile and making good their get-away.”
“He revived some time later, hailed a passing motorist and was rushed to Madison where he was placed under the care of a physician. Within an hour he had recovered sufficiently to provide some description of the robbers which was telephoned to Sheriff Frank Reddick, who has his entire department working on the case. It was also taken up by Chief of Police Henry Blakemore when it was learned that the automobile driven by the highwaymen had been seen speeding towards Huntsville. While the officers were reluctant to talk too much about the case, they did say they had some good clues and that they hoped to make some arrests within 24 hours.”
“Dr. Wikle had volunteered to come to Huntsville this morning for money to take care of the cotton rush at the Madison bank. He left the Tennessee Valley Bank shortly after 9 o’clock, with $7,000 in currency in a small bag. As he approached the woods near Indian Creek, a Whippet automobile suddenly shot out into the road, and two masked bandits flashed revolvers in his face, demanding that he turn over the money to them. Grabbing the satchel, one of the bandits hastened to the waiting car, while the other brutally pushed the young doctor to one side, at the same time striking him on the back of the head, probably with his revolver. His victim crumpled up unconscious, and the man then shoved him from the car and into the bushes along the roadside. He is supposed to have rejoined his companion, and the pair sped away toward Huntsville.”
“When Dr. Wikle regained consciousness, he hailed a passing car, and on telling his tale, was rushed to Madison. The driver of the car, whose identity is unknown, is said to have told officers that he noticed the bandits’ car speeding toward Huntsville just as he left the pavement in West Huntsville. He also said that Dr. Wikle’s pockets had been rifled and a knife, watch, and fountain pen stolen, along with other articles. While the bank messenger had not recovered sufficiently at noon to give a full detail account of the hold-up, he told investigating officers that he passed a Chevrolet touring car just this side of the holdup location, which contained two men.”
“Officers believe this was a Whippet car and contained accomplices of the men who did the actual hold-up. They know that two automobiles, both Whippets, were used by the highwaymen and believe that the four men were ‘in’ on the robbery. Officers state that the robbery was well-planned, and those taking care were fully informed as to the money being transported to Madison – who the messenger was, and when he was due to leave Huntsville. They also believe he was shadowed from the time he left the bank, and that the highwaymen knew the exact minute he would pass through the woods.”
“Dr. Wikle was driving a Ford roadster, comparatively new, the serial number being 46688. It is not believed the robbers took the car with them, but hid it near the scene of the crime. However, at press time it had not been recovered. Both those taking part in the actual hold-up wore handkerchiefs or rather some kind of cloth about their faces. Dr. Wikle said that one of them was rather tall and slender and the other a heavy-set man. Both were gruff talking and threatened his life if he made any move to escape or overpower them. It is not known whether Dr. Wikle carried a revolver, although it is probable that he did. However, he said that the holdup was such a surprise and was done so quickly he was not able to defend himself whatever.”
“Officers believe the robbers intended to murder him, and thought they had accomplished it, when he was struck back of the head. It was a terrific blow, and he is considered lucky not to have his skull fractured. Both the Tennessee Valley bank and the Madison bank carry hold-up insurance and are full protected in the loss, according to J. E. Kelly, vice president of the local bank. It was of the best planned and most brutal robberies to ever be pulled in Madison County, according to investigating officers, and is believed to have been planned by men experienced in crime. It is probably that the officers are working on the theory that the robbers had full knowledge of the affairs of the Madison bank and had been ‘looking over the ground’ so to speak for several days.”
The entire sheriff’s force, the police department, and local detectives are working on the robbery case. Telegraph and telephone communications have been broadcast. Up to two o’clock this afternoon no arrests have been reported. However, it is learned that some evidence is in hand, which officers are working on. The robbery was regarded as one of the most dastardly occurring in this section. It is the belief of the officers that the robbers had their plans well laid. The supposition is that the robbers proceeded quite a way into Huntsville, and their get-away in some direction by motor was made. Robert Bayless of Greenbrier reported that he was in the neighborhood of the holdup a short while after it occurred. He traced tracks of cars a distance of several hundred feet off to one side of the road. Close investigation revealed what happened. However, he did not see the robbers make their escape.” (This is the end of the October 6, 1927 newspaper account of the robbery. However, with no arrests or recovery of the stolen funds within two years, the justice system looked at Dr. Ollie Wikle not as a victim, but rather as an accomplice or perpetrator. Therefore, with nobody else to blame for the loss of the $7,000, the Madison County Grand Jury of 1929 indited Wikle on 14 counts of robbery or embezzlement.)
The Decatur Daily newspaper on February 16, 1929 printed a front-page account of the indictment and noted that Dr. Wikle posted bond of $3,000 for his release until the trial was to begin. The trial was initiated on August 22 of 1929, as reported in the Huntsville Times newspaper, and it was ended with a “Not Guilty” verdict on August 23 after 5 minutes of deliberation by the jury. The Times newspaper article of August 23 provided testimonies of many witnesses (including Dr. Wikle) and character references, including James E. Williams, W. A. Coughran, Louie Smith, Neal Fletcher, Dick Dublin, Frank Burger, Ed Milner, Milton H. Lanier, Shelby Lanier, O. L. Mann, J. N. Lary, Albert Collier, J. A. Hackworth, J. L. Griffin (of the Tennessee Valley Bank), Archie Whitworth, Sheriff Riddick, and Henry Blakemore. Counselors for the defense were R. E. Smith and Douglas Taylor. Obviously, the jury had heard enough within a few hours, and Dr. Jesse Ollie Wikle was released to go home. Still, there are a number of very unusual aspects of the case, including some strange situations in the testimonies of the robbery event. From careful consideration of the legal aspects of the testimonies and trial details, Jess Bowers as a practicing legal attorney now living in Georgia and whose father was a cousin of Dr. Wikle has provided to me numerous points of view of the proceedings and the results of the trial. Because I have received approval from Jess to reveal these detailed and thought-provoking considerations, they will be presented in a follow-on article or two perhaps in the coming weeks. As best I can determine the conditions of the area in 1929, it does appear to me that the 1927 robbery occurred in the immediate area of today’s Indian Creek on the east bank (and in the creek itself) along the old Alabama Highway 20 (now known as Madison Boulevard) before approaching what is today known as Zierdt Road but then was called the Triana Road. These roads were not yet paved then, and they basically were cleared dirt paths for automobiles, as even the pavements ended going west from Huntsville inside what is today the area of the Memorial Parkway, which did not exist until the 1950s.
