To say that Professor Wren A. Stone ruined Christmas 1935 is an oversimplification.
His actions on December 24th of that year probably left a mark of sadness that would last for years to come. Anyone who has lost a loved one on or around a particular holiday can attest to this.
For me, Easter is the day my maternal grandmother passed away. Thanksgiving was the last time I spoke to Aunt Tish before she died. etc. Most of us have similar grief.
In 1935, Len Stone tempered his anger, bitterness, and hatred toward one man and took revenge on Christmas Eve.
That day, Stone shot Floyd Oakes twice, killing him instantly, and shortly after, Stone took his own life with the same gun.
El Paso-Herald Post Photo |
Hugh M. Gardner, who knew the situation well, said, “The whole story will never be told. Both men are dead. Mr. Stone must be crazy to do something like that.”
why?
Who was Oakes to Stone?
Wren Stone, 43, was an assistant professor of mathematics at New Mexico A&M State University (College of Agriculture) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has been on staff since 1929.
Although 46-year-old Floyd Oakes was not on the university faculty, he headed New Mexico's feed and fertilizer control department, and upon his appointment to that position in 1930, he had an office on the New Mexico A&M campus.
Another connection between the two is that until recently Wren's wife, Vae Stone, was employed as a stenographer in Oakes' office. It is unclear when Vae began working for Oakes, but it is widely accepted that that is the root of the problem.
Vae quit his job in September 1935 after Floyd objected to his long working hours.
In fact, when Vae had to work one Saturday in the summer of 1935, things became particularly heated between the two, and a “physical altercation” was reported between Stone and Oakes in the latter's office.
You'd think tensions would ease once Vae stopped working at Oakes, but that wasn't the case.
Whether real or imagined, Wren Stone believed that Floyd Oakes was spreading rumors about him around town. Newspaper articles following the murder-suicide incident vaguely reference Wren's “behavior while traveling in northern New Mexico.”
On December 23, 1935, Wren Stone sat down and typed two letters: This was a clear indication of Stone's plan.
The first letter was addressed to Professor JW Branson, Head of the Department of Mathematics, and Dr GN Strom, from the University's Department of Agriculture.
It was essentially Stone saying, “Gentlemen: You will find my transcript on my desk. It is up to date. My insurance papers are in my safe. … Thank you for your kindness in the past.” It was a resignation letter.
A second letter, addressed to a “person concerned,” revealed why Stone killed Oakes. We will never know the full contents of this letter because the district attorney decided to keep it out of the public eye.
DA Martin A. Threet said, “It's over now. I don't think there's anything to be gained by publishing the letters. Both families owe it to themselves to keep it private.”
However, portions of the second letter were published in various newspapers, possibly through the university's acting president, Hugh M. Gardner, who was quick to address the “minor differences” and not let the tragedy reflect on the university. ” between the two men and stipulating that Mr. Oakes was not an employee of the University.
Stone's second letter reads, “I have held on as long as I can. This is the last time.” He also said, “Both families would have had a happier Christmas if it hadn't been for the lies about me.”
The morning after typing this letter, Len Stone drove to campus and, at 8:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, shot Floyd Oakes as Oakes was getting out of his car parked just outside the music hall building.
According to his death certificate, Floyd Oakes died of “a gunshot wound to the bridge of the nose that entered the brain, a gunshot wound to the right anterior clavicle area, and a gunshot wound to the back of his left hand.”
No one actually witnessed the shooting, but upon hearing the gunshots, people in nearby buildings looked out their windows and saw Oakes fall to the ground and Stone speeding away in his car.
Stone didn't go far. He drove to Professor Branson's home to personally deliver his first letter. He said almost nothing until Branson asked him, “Did something happen?”
“I just killed Oakes,” Stone responded and drove away. But he's not that far off.
Half a mile away, Stone stopped the car, put the gun to his right temple and pulled the trigger.
Police found him there, slumped over the steering wheel. In his pocket was a bottle of poison and a letter addressed to “someone it may relate to.”
Both left behind a widow and two children.
Len Stone in 1917 |
At the time of the double disaster, Wren Stone and Vae Arnold have been married for 20 years. Their 21st wedding anniversary is less than a week away.
They had two children. In 1935, their daughter Marybeth was 13 years old, and their son Troy was 10 years old.
At the time of the murder, Floyd Oakes had been married to Bernice Bridwell for 17 years.
They also had two children, both 13-year-old Eleanor and 11-year-old Marjorie.
Christmas plans at the Oakes home continued with neither girl mentioning their father's death.
Marjorie's health was fragile. Although she had a weak heart and had to remain bedridden for some time, Marjorie was looking forward to sharing Christmas dinner with her family.
Fearing the shock would be too great, her relatives thought it best not to tell her the sad news. She will learn it eventually.
Floyd Oaks in 1920 |
The bodies of both men were shipped out of state for burial.
Wren A. Stone is buried in Lewisburg Cemetery, Lewisburg, Kansas.
Floyd E. Oakes is buried at Fairlawn Burial Park in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Vae Stone never remarried.
Vae was an employee of the Veterans Administration in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to an October 31, 1951, newspaper article about Troy Stone receiving the Navy's Distinguished Flying Cross Medal for distinguished service in the Far East.
Vae died on February 3, 1988, six days shy of her 94th birthday. She died in San Diego but is buried next to Wren, Kansas.
The 1940 census shows Bernice Oakes and her children living in Kansas with Bernice's widowed mother, Mary.
Bernice married for the second time in 1964, when she was 67 years old.
Bernice's new husband was William Porter Bixler, a 76-year-old widower whose first wife, Isabel, had died in a car accident four months earlier.
Mr. Bixler died on October 16, 1973 and was buried next to his first wife in El Paso, Texas.
Bernice outlived her youngest daughter, Marjorie, who died, according to her Ancestry family tree. May 31, 1958 From ‘heart disease’ at the age of 34.
Bernice Oakes Bixler died on December 14, 1987 at the age of 90. She shares a cemetery in Kansas with Floyd.
If anyone reading this is familiar with New Mexico A&M College, the name JW Branson may seem unfamiliar. Professor Branson became president of the university in 1949, and several buildings on campus were named in his honor.
Portrait of JW Branson by his sister-in-law Lorna Wilson Branson. |
The following is an interesting story, provided by an Ancestry member, although I cannot personally verify it.
Per Rilla Oakes Arnold (Floyd Oakes' sister): We received a message that he (Floyd) has passed away! Working at a university in New Mexico required him to travel from place to place. He came home from his trip the day before Christmas, I think it was 1935 or 1936. He had some work to do, so he asked his secretary if she could meet him at his office on Christmas morning and help him for a bit. She said she would. He drove to the university, parked his car, opened the door and tried to get out when a man shot him three times. He fell to his death and had no idea what hit him. The man handed the note to another man, then ran further across campus and opened fire. His mind was strange and he was madly jealous of his wife. He thought Floyd and his wife were having an affair. Floyd said she had spoken to him six to eight months ago, and she believed she had assured him that she was happily married and had no thoughts on his wife or anyone else. Before Christmas, the man mailed poisoned candy to his family and Floyd's family as well. Bernice thought Floyd had sent the candy home, so when she asked if one of her younger daughters could have some candy, she said yes, but she didn't give Marjorie any. Her sister had a heart condition and couldn't eat candy, but Bernice couldn't eat candy. Give some of it to the Mexican girl who works for them. She gave her some and a moment later she collapsed on her floor in convulsions. Eleanor put some in her mouth, but she hasn't eaten yet. Bernice immediately pumped both girls' bellies and they were fine.