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El Paso Times Photos – April 6, 1951 |
It's been 70 years since the barely concealed body of 18-year-old Las Cruces, New Mexico waitress Ovida “Cricket” Coogler was found in a shallow grave.
Despite numerous suspects and several eyewitnesses to her movements on the night she was last seen alive and 16 days before her body was discovered, the case was never solved. The coroner can't even say for sure how she died. There was no autopsy and a bag of limes was dumped on her body before burial.
The public opinion was that the police and senior politicians at the time wanted to close the case but did not really want the right person to go to jail.
Police arrested NFL star Jerry Nuzum twice, but the good citizens of New Mexico refused to convict him. They felt that Nuzum was on the railroad.
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Santa Fe New Mexico Photo – July 10, 1950 |
Police drove Wesley Eugene Byrd into the desert and attempted to force a confession, but he refused to admit to a crime he said he did not commit.
Who killed Cricket Coogler and why? Were the investigators inexperienced, incompetent, or intentionally obstructing justice to cover up for their colleagues?
The case is full of intrigue, corruption, mafia ties, and the stonewalling of honest citizens.
Rather than delve into the crime myself, as I originally intended, I would like to recommend the work of two other people.
If you only want to spend 85 minutes on the case, I recommend watching Charlie Cullin's award-winning 2000 documentary “The Silence of Cricket Coogler: A Political Murder.”
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfYwOxW9dLj2N01-UYlLB2ItW9aGDrl-ZX03BMFDEKsUbhJhFGxTBkmYVs2Qz24KwFq-Csvdt91lVfdT8KFtNW_xUyKA2_jmy8Fu4AfvORTi4nR_3teKvyXZFCqN2SbIshHdukPpbXfQ/s320/Silence+of+Cricket+Coogler+%25282000%2529+artwork.jpg)
You can buy or rent it on Vimeo.
I uploaded the trailer to this blog's YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/S-Z2LTK0wuY
My only complaint about the documentary is that the victims' backgrounds are sparse. The focus is primarily on why the Sheriff's Department does a terrible job of investigating murders and the corruption that jurors worked so hard to uncover, and on the incredible grand jury convened to investigate the impact this pursuit of justice has had. Some key players. In my opinion, the best part of the film is the interviews with those who were involved in reporting the case and several of the surviving grand jurors.
If you want a more comprehensive look at the case you're interested in, pick up Paula Moore's piece “Cricket in the Web.”
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As Close to Crime at the library |
This 2008 book is well researched and the author does what I myself would do if I were to tell you this crime. She focuses on tracking the movements of key players after the excitement of the trial subsides. There are many suspects and often conflicting eyewitness accounts. Moore tries to organize the evidence.
Neither Cullin nor Moore actually accuse either individual of killing Cricket Coogler. Because they don't know or don't want to get sued.
I definitely recommend movies and books as set pieces. This documentary, which includes unused footage, was sourced from author Paula Moore.