The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 97 - Frank Fossett

Episode Date: July 15, 2015

Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds take their first dip into the Wild West with the story of Frank Fossett.SOURCESTOUR DATESREDBUBBLE MERCHPATREON

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read a story to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is about. Did I shame you into no energy? Is that what happened? What is happening? We just did we just did you would find five minutes ago. Did you just do heroin? People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not gonna come to tickling people. Okay. You are queen fakie of Hade uptown. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? Pray. Hi, Gavie. No. I miss you dad my friend. No. No.

Asshole. I learned it from watching you. Come at me with this bullshit. Alright bro. I'm sorry. Alright now you're just giving me the desk there. So look whenever you want to shout the fucking date just shout it okay. March 5th, 1863. Super surprising. Henry Frank Fawcett was born in Meridian, Texas. He had two brothers. Ranching was the main way one made a living in Meridian and the biggest landowner was the most important person in town. All right. The Fawcett family was the most distinguished in Bosc County. Frank's father Henry was a lawyer and a county judge. His uncle Captain Sam Fawcett a Civil War hero

who after the war became county sheriff. The Fawcett's own half of Bosc County. Okay. So they're no shit. They're no fucking shit. Well aren't they the shit? They are the shit. Yeah. When they were young the three Fawcett brothers weren't interested in hard work or public service. Cool. They preferred drinking and gambling. Oh boy. Here we go. Frank had a few runs of the law including the theft of a calf from a farmer at age 13. Gee that's a little early for calf theft. What's a what do you do with a calf? What do you steal the calf at 13 for? What do you can do with it? Come on. You also have a giant fucking ranch. Like what are you

gonna do? What are you taking it for? It's for the love of the game dude. It's not about the prize. It's about the adrenaline. He was once fined $25 plus cost for disturbing religious worship on a Sunday. You can only imagine. Yeah. I mean if you're getting fined you got to be pretty loud. Yeah. Frank also began carrying a gun within the town limits. Okay. So things are good with Frank. Yep. Cool. When he was 18 Frank married 14 year old Gussie in 1881. No questions. That's what you did then. Yeah. You found a girl who just was about to hit puberty. Yep. And you made sure she had the craziest name on earth and then you'll wet it

earth. Wet the shit out of her. 14. One day a black man was making what Frank called untoward comments to his young wife. Yeah. Like hey she's 14. And he shot him. Oh Jesus. Dead. Oh. He got him dead. That's how bad he shot him. That's the worst. That's the worst amount you could shoot someone. But nothing would come of it because the faucets practically own meridian. Cool. Yep. And the boys never got more than a slap on the wrist. The marriage to 14 year old Gussie wasn't destined for longevity. What? As Gussie died while giving birth in January 1884. The child died too. Everybody died. Came out the side I guess. So we're at a kill

count of three so far on this small. Right now we got three dead. All right. Good. But faucet jumped faucet jumped back on the horse and later that year married Helen Thomas ex-wife of a county judge who already had her own daughter. Nine years old. Not even if not even a year. And he's like I'll take another lady. Yeah. Well no it sounds like it sounds like you got over Gussie fast. Really quick. Yep. She was loud. Together they had two more children Ada and William but meridian was too small for Frank. He and Ellen moved to Fort Worth the gateway to West Texas. Oh boy. This guy in Texas. Not sure how I feel. Frank showed little

regard for the law or other men in his new town. Though not physically imposing he was quick to take offense and unafraid to start a fight. Hey cool who needs strength when you got crazy. I'm out of my fucking mind. Yeah. No I know that you know how to box but I'm also out of my tits so look out. He carried a six shooter as most professional gamblers did and he knew how to use it. Gambling was Frank Fawcett's calling. It was a lot easier than raising or stealing cattle and it was more lucrative than any other line of work for him. OK. Fort Worth presented limitless opportunities for gambling. There was no dearth of saloons or of

suckers begging to be relieved of their cash. OK. The lower class men did their drinking and gambling in the Hell's Half Acre district on the south end of town. Sounds gorgeous. If this right now this sounds like a almost a hacky Western movie. Going down to Hell's Half Acre. Watch out for them Fawcett boys. They're leaky. They're leaky Fawcett. They can't be arrested and they're bad. Yeah. They own this town. They're married nine year olds. The fancy saloons line Main Street on the north end of town including the border trade the cabinet saloon the Palais Royale and the White Elephant each placed a screen just inside the Batwing

Doors to block the view from more genteel passerbys. So they put a screen so that people couldn't see how fucking insane things were with that movie. So no so they wouldn't. It's bad for shooting. Yeah. Right. Yeah. We'll make swinging doors these sort of doors that open up and then there's a big black thing behind it. Yes exactly. Yeah. The real action took place upstairs with a second story gambling rooms catered to highbrow clientele. The Palais Royale and White Elephant competed for the title of Fort Worth's premier saloon. The Royale had been in business since 1888. It had a carved antique oak bar with a

marble base a tiled floor and wine rooms in the back for ladies. Lovely. The owner of the gambling room at the Royale died in 1893 which led to Fawcett overseeing the nightly Kino Farrow and poker games. Okay. So I'm going to guess that now that he's in charge everything gets better and this is going to be over soon. Yeah. It's the story of a man who made good. Yeah. A guy who had control. Yeah. With himself and with others. Yeah. And he ended up giving all of the gambling money to the church. Gosh. This guy. Save babies. Oh gosh. This is great. One of Fawcett's employees was Greendorette known professionally as

Doc Carver. Okay. Completely different name. Yeah. Yeah. That's not much. One name has nothing to do with the other. Nope. It's not a nickname. It's a new name. It's completely different name. Yes. Doc back then did not mean someone who was a doctor. It meant he was good at gambling. Interesting. Must be. I mean when times get the doctor. All right. Here we go. Here's the doc. Now the doctor. Oh sweet God. She's what's wrong with her. Here's a here's an aid of spade here. And this is some throwing dice. She has a fever. I look you called for me. I don't know what to tell you. Does she want to play gin rummy. Okay. So threes

are wild. Okay. Threes are wild. And she's bleeding a lot. Threes are wild. She's bleeding a lot. Yeah. All right. Let's do a let's do a just a straight five car step. Okay. Are you sure this is I think so. Okay. Cool. I'm sorry just looking now but while you're dealing she is she's dead. Yeah. This is oh two of a kind. Oh damn it. She would have won. That's a shame. God bless her. So Doc came from Georgia. Carver had been the Carver had the usual pasty complexion of a man who spent his nights gambling and his days sleeping. Cool. Vampire skip. Doc also had a law logged a stream of convictions across Texas for disturbing the

peace at gaming houses. He had lost the middle finger on his right hand during one fight. I mean the I mean the the possibilities of how the swear finger got got taken away is great. How do you how do you he must have a ring on or whatever. Well when did lose a thing. I've often wondered I've often wondered this. When did the middle finger become a thing. Like how like when did the like gesturing with your middle finger. Yeah we're flipping off become a thing that people like whoa. I don't know maybe the first few times the inventor of the middle finger was probably like people aren't understanding what this is. This

is a bad thing. Yeah. Yeah. Number one two. No not number one. I'm saying fuck you. I'm saying this is my way. I'm saying fuck you. Number one. No fuck you. He must have got a shot off or something. Yeah. So he's given some middle finger. So if it's a threatening if it's a threatening gesture at that time and he had it up someone could he's just shot it off cut it off ripped it off bit it off. Like many gamblers doc carried a hidden gun whenever the law started breathing down his neck he would skip town always landing in another town where the law was more tolerant it was bullshit. In his early 40s now Carver was a

bachelor who carried all he owned in a carpet bag. Cool. That's attractive. It's a good. Yeah he should be the next bachelor. When a dude rolls in with just a carpet bag you're talking about a quality gentleman. My name is Doc Carver and this is my life. There you go. No I do not have a finger. No I do not have a finger and I do not have a ring on this finger either available. That's how Carver came to Fort Worth around 1895. Okay. You quickly found employment as a dealer at the at the Royal. Oh boy. He had no trouble getting hired as he had known Fawcett professionally for about 15 years. He boarded a few years with

Frank and Helen Fawcett at their house on West 1st Street before moving down the street in October 1898 to a room at Miss Nichols boarding house. So he's buddies with Fawcett. Yeah. So he's buddies with Fawcett so he gets the job because they know each other professionally which if you're professional in their eyes is not good. No just just another wonderful gambling. Yep. Just a professional shithead. Things going smoothly until one Monday in May 1899 when Fawcett fired Carver for reasons that are still not completely known. But it may have had something to do with a recent fight

Carver had with a customer. The fight had left Carver with a permanently crippled wrist. It was described to be bent like a finger. Okay. Let me just picture that. So it's a wrist that's bent like oh my god. Like yeah like down and like so he's got almost like a hook. Okay. He's got like J arm. Yeah. He's got J arm. Medically speaking. He's suffered from J arm. Oh J arm. So he's out. So he's missing a finger and he has a fucked up wrist. You hope it's the same hand though. I bet it's not. If you're him. If it's not. No. People like how'd you lose the finger. Like that's the good one. Ignore the J arm. Fuck you. Oh god damn it. Here

look. Look at this curve. Now if you see closely I'm holding up the fuck you finger. What is that like an upside down seahorse. No. Fuck you. Is that upside down seahorse. Fuck you. A crippled dealer back then was a pointless dealer so. I think we could and I'm not even trying to be an asshole. We could say the same now. I mean like if you had someone's hand was like that in Vegas you'd be like well look I want the five dollar blackjack table but I'm not gonna take an hour a hand over here. Yeah. Okay cool. I'm like I can hold the cards like this. Yeah I'm actually looking to actively gamble. I can stick him in my claw. Oh boy. Look I got all the

cards in my claw. I was kind of looking over here like why is no one at this table. And the one for you. You flipped it. You're not supposed to flip that card. Sorry. Jesus Christ. I am dealing with a claw. All right you know what I'm out. And one for you. No you just gave me one. It's okay. One for you. They don't go where I want them to go. Yeah that's a problem for dealing. So this is why Fawcett fired Carver. Okay. And there's not any workman's comp back then and I'm sure you wouldn't get it for fighting with a customer anyway. No he's out of a job. He's got. He's out of a job. Got Jay Armand is missing his middle finger. No

workman's comp. Carver believed he had been badly treated but instead of leaving Fort Worth he stayed around trying to catch on at another saloon but no one would hire him because he was all bent and missing parts. Yeah. He grew more bitter by the day and told anyone who had listened that Fawcett ran a crooked house. Oh boy so. Now this was the worst thing one could do to a gambling house back then. Right. Their reputation was everything but Carver wasn't done. He started rumour about Fawcett's wife Helen and her teenage daughter saying they were whoring about town. It really. This has come up on a couple of the dollars

where it's just there's this time. If you were pissed you just called a guy's wife a whore and that was like what the fuck did you do. That was it. Yeah that's it. It's on. Well you know she's whoring. What. Sir. On Monday afternoon May 29th a mutual acquaintance of both men told Fawcett that Doc was spouting threats and speaking disrespectfully of his wife and daughter stepdaughter. That's called snitching. Yeah okay. That guy's a snitch. Yeah snitching about snatch. Wow. What. Fort Worth was not big enough for the two men to avoid each other. One day about five p.m. Carver left the cabinet saloon and was walking past the royal. Fawcett

had been drinking with some buddies when he stepped out of the royal and found himself looking at Carver. Both men were surprised when they came face to face. Okay. Carver tried to brush past Fawcett and enter the saloon. Whoa so he's like. Excuse me. I'm just coming in for a drink. Coming through. Yep. But Fawcett's buddies blocked the doorway. Doc could not get past them but he did not want away and look like a pussy. So he stood there a moment in awkward silence. And then purposefully ignoring Fawcett he jokingly asked Warren Jeffries where he had bought his ugly pants. Okay. This is interesting. Interesting. Crazy smooth.

Yeah I mean. Interesting. Hey where'd you get them ugly pants Warren. We're actually doing something else right now. Yeah. This pants is stupid. Listen we'll. You got stupid pants. We will all beat the fuck out of you in a moment. A day dumb pants. Alrighty. Jeffries started to reply. Okay. So I love that Jerry's like well these pants ain't ugly. No. Or he or he was like well I got them down there. Actually you know at Ugly Joe's. It's just down the street a little bit. This place called Ugly Joe pants. Yeah they have two for the price of one. You know kind of how ugly they are. But Fawcett interrupted Jeffries. He demanded to know

what Carver had been saying quote about me and my house. Carver responded any damn thing please. Talk to the hook. Talk to the hook. That was pretty much all that was needed. Fawcett was standing on the saloon's front step which put him about six inches above dock. Instead of reaching for the pistol he had hidden under his coat. Fawcett kicked Carver right in the balls. Oh yeah. Classic old West. Wow. You don't see that enough in the old West movies. Also you do have an advantage being up six inches in a situation like that. That gives you an extra sort of like six inches of arc. Yeah it's easy to kick a dude in the balls

who's down the stairs. What if he got kicked so hard his hand went straight. Thank you. Holy shit I'm growing a middle finger too. This middle finger's like whoop. Oh my god it's like Pinocchio's nose. Carver doubled over like a guy who had just been kicked in the balls. Yeah with a high heel advantage. Carver then rose and charged forward and got a hand around Fawcett's neck. I bet I know which hand. Fawcett grabbed Carver and they struggled for a moment before crashing through crashing through the swinging doors. Okay. There wasn't a lack of witnesses to the fight. Fawcett's buddies Bill Neighbors and Warren Jeffries were

standing beside him when the fight started and expecting a gunfight to break out. They took off running. Cool dude. Great friends. Electrician Lee Stevens had the best view. He was putting up lights over the entrance at the time giving him an elevated view. So it's literally it's like a fucking western. This whole thing like there's a guy just above putting up lights. There's a guy about to fall onto a chandelier and swing. You know just because. Billy Morrison owner of the restaurant across the street was sitting at the front table by the window. And he did a spit take. He looked at his he looked at his he

looked back at his wife and went Martha we're gonna need some coffins. Yeah. Once the fight moved inside the Royal Dolphus Hill the bartender witnessed everything. Hill watches the two crashing to the cigar stand just inside the doorway. Okay. It's everything that could be stereotypical about an old Western. Welcome to stereotypes. Want a whiskey. Y'all crashing a cigar stand that'll be eight dollars. And next thing you know this spittoon's gonna fall off the shelf onto this dainty lady. Then holding on to each other they stumbled around behind the partition screen like a hockey fight each man was holding on

with one hand and punching away with the other. I mean like I'm just picturing the claw the J claw like that must have been what he's holding on with. I mean I guess actually it could be advantageous if you yeah it's almost like pulling a bad performer off a stage with your hand. Exactly. Yeah so he's Sandman. He's just got that and he's punching him with his fingerless left. So at around 180 pounds Carver outweighed Fawcett by at least 10 pounds and at six feet he was also taller but Fawcett was eight eight Fawcett was eight years younger and described as a wiry active man. Okey-dokey. Although Carver's bent wrist put him

out of disadvantage he finally managed to get Fawcett into a headlock and punched away. Okay. Fawcett then twisted free reached under his coat and turned back around holding a 45. Oh see. Carver grabbed the gun and pulled it down with one hand while continued to punch away with the other. Wow. This guy would have been a great goon. Yeah. He'd been a great NHL player. Yeah for sure. This dude brought a gun to a hook fight. They continued to wrestle over the position of the gun but Fawcett had two hands on it and Carver just won. A shot rang out. Carver stumbled backwards bleeding and fell to the floor. A bullet was in his lower right leg. He rolled to

the right and tried to get up but Fawcett stepped closer and shot him again this time through the left shoulder. But Doc was not done so Fawcett aimed dead center and put a third bullet into him. Now sprawled on the rubber mat in front of the bar. Carver fixed his gaze on Fawcett and growled. You damn cur. You knew I had no gun and you came to match a fight with me. He then looked over to the bartender and said save me. Oh geez. Yeah it's not good right. No that's not good. Two Fawcett's buddies had entered the saloon after the shooting stopped and they heard him say you've been trying to match a fight with me for some time and

now you've gotten one. Okay. Yep. Good. So grammar was important. Yep. With three bullets still left in his gun Fawcett then backed out of the saloon keeping his gun aimed at Carver as he moved. Doc was a bloody mess and slipping into a coma. Outside Fawcett lowered his gun and calmly sat down in a chair near the entrance. He handed the gun to a friend and just sat there waiting for the sheriff. He arrived within five minutes took the murder weapon and placed Fawcett under arrest. He was taken straight to justice of the peace RF Millum in the courthouse four blocks away. A crowd had gathered in front of the saloon. A few

of the men walked inside where the scared bartender still stood behind the bar. I bet he was taking shots right if this is the movie I'm thinking of. Yeah yeah for sure yeah yeah and then the rookie walked in and peered. Calm down Bobby we're gonna need to talk. Don't take too much. Carver lay on the ground somehow still breathing. When they opened his shirt for a better look at the wounds the damage done by the 45 became very apparent. One bullet had shattered his left shoulder passed through both lungs and exited the right side. I'm sorry that's this is the magic bullet. Was it a cartoon bullet. It's a ping-a-dee ping. What's it an

animated bullet. Yeah it was a ping-a-dee ping and it screamed as it went and when it like went through one lung and it was exiting the body it went I turned around and went through the other pretty much okay. The other bullet went into the lower abdomen it had also passed clear through either of the wounds would have been fatal. They searched his clothes but found no weapon which meant bad things for Fawcett. Small towns expected swift trials and justice. Judge Milan convened an immediate coroner's inquest ordered all available witnesses to attend and took testimony. Fawcett stayed in jail as bail was denied. The

grand jury voted for an indictment for second-degree murder. The case was set for trial on June 12th before Judge William D. Harris of Texas's 17th judicial district. The sheriff summoned some 200 men for a jury pool. Fawcett with his was then granted bail by Judge Harris. He posted $6,000 and went home. Okay. Doc Carver was buried on May 31st. No one was able to reach his family in Georgia. His friends chipped in for the funeral. Conducting the grade side service was Reverend J.B. Buchanan who didn't even know the deceased. Okay. So this guy. What can you say about Carver that hasn't been said already? He

was a not a doctor. He had a hook as a hand and then no he's missing a finger. And it's all I got. Anybody else got anything to say? Yeah. Anyone else? He hated ugly pants. Yeah, yeah, over there. He got arrested a lot. Oh yeah, he got arrested a lot. Yep. Okay. So he had a J hand. Yep. He had a missing finger. Yeah. He was not a doctor. Right. Hated ugly pants. Yep. And got arrested a lot. Okay. All right. Put him under. Get the dirt going. Move the dirt. Frank Fawcett's trial lasted five days. Gambler's lawyers in Laman took the stand. Very few character witnesses testified for Carver. A character witness is somebody who's like a heightened sketch

character, right? Yes. Okay, cool. One of those who did testify for Carver was his landlady. He always paid the rent on time. He was very nice. And missing that finger. I tell you what that did. I cannot tell you the things. No, no further questions. No further questions. Okay, ma'am. No further questions. It's like no further questions, ma'am. A lot of witnesses testified on Fawcett's behalf. Okay. Now let's show it up for the dude who killed the guy. Yeah, of course. Showing what the gambling world thought of dead guys versus alive guys and also what it meant to become from a powerful family. Then Fawcett himself took the stand. He

didn't really help himself very much. Really? He said he had planned to kill Carver one way or another, which completely destroyed his self-defense. As his lawyer's head hit the table. Fuck me, Frank. Jesus Christ. I didn't even think I had to tell you that. I said, Jesus, the guy was swinging at you and was trying to kill. Oh, right. That. That's what I meant. He matter-of-factly testified that if he'd been carrying a shotgun at that moment, he would kill Carver in front of the saloon. Oh, you're not helping. Why'd you hire me, buddy? Oh, boy. You really took that oath to heart, huh? Anyway, that's me testimony. All right. Oh, so I think that's good. Well, I'm good to go,

then, yeah. All right. Now, which way's the exit? I'm a little confused. I had a hammer. Did this lead to the street? Crashed his skull in with it. All right. And I will be leaving now. If I had an iron boot, I would have squished his brain into maze. Now, which way to the, which way to the outside? Here I go. Just 18 days after the killing, the trial went to jury at 5 p.m. At noon, the next day of the jury returned its verdict, finding Fawcett guilty of murder in the second degree. He was sentenced to 25 years in the state pen. Fawcett's lawyers filed a motion for a new trial and appeared directly to the court of criminal appeals and in November, the appeals court reversed the verdict and ordered a retrial. Okay. Why? I never

could find a reason. Okay. Just for shits and gigs. Yep. In May 1900, Fawcett was back in a Fort Worth courtroom this time before Judge Irby Dunklin. Oh, what a, what a sweet name. Great. Oh, no, you got Judge Irby. Irby the love judge. Quitsitally, that very week, Judge Dunklin and Judge Harris had exchanged districts. Okay. Wait. Hey, you just want to randomly swap districts? Okay. Yeah. No, I don't have any questions. Yeah, there's nothing happening. Fawcett. Right now, there's no reason why I would do that. You know what I mean? It's like a wife swap. Yeah, let's just switch. Let's just switch with this big trial. Fawcett. Yeah, okay. The state was against seeking a conviction for second degree murder. The defendant's attorneys asked for a

change of venue but were overruled. Before the court wrote the judgment in the docket, defense attorneys announced they had a demur, demur. No, they had a demurderer. Demur, demurderer. A demur against the judgment. The word demur means to object. A demur is a document that makes the objection. Okay. So it's a piece of paper. So it's a little harder than we all thought it was. It's a stupid name for a piece of paper. Sure. A demur. Then the objection paper. Then the defense attorney said he had an authority supporting his demur, but had left it at his office. So he had to go get it. He was allowed to. Oh, cool. That's normal. I'll be right back with the thing with this says the stuff. All right, let's get a literal recess. You good? We will wait. That's a good

dog. Yeah. A break was taken by the court. The judge went to his chambers. After 30 minutes, the defense attorneys returned with the demur. And the judge looked it over and immediately overruled it. So long dog. So he immediately gets the piece of paper goes Nope. Okay. Wow, it came closer when you close the window. It should open it again. Let's just leave it. It's a nice ambiance. No, there's a leaf blower coming too. So things are about to get good. Then the court looked to faucet to enter his plea. And hello. Where was Frank? He was not in the courtroom. Wait, that was when they figured out that sometime during the proceedings Frank faucet had just walked out of the court. What no one had noticed he had disappeared until it was too late. I mean that is balls. It

had been nearly 30 minutes since anyone had seen Frank apparently straight up strolled out. Apparently he walked straight out of town on the 7th Street flagging down a boy on a wagon and paying him $2 for a lift to Benbrook 10 miles southwest of town. Their faucet caught a westbound Texas and Pacific train. And that was the last anyone ever saw. Wow. Holy shit. I mean, he's a fucking asshole. Yeah, but that move is that standing right outstanding. Newspapers called it the sensation of the time and probably the most remarkable escape ever made from Fort Worth by a prisoner. The Meridian Tribune said the last scene of faucet he was walking down Main Street with his easy swinging gate making considerable time without seeming to be in a hurry. Well, yeah, if you

walk if you start up just walk out of a courtroom like you own the place, you're gonna keep that going. It is the duty of the trial court in a felony case to put the defendant who was on bail and the custody of the sheriff before the trial commences and the bail money is returned. Okay, make sense. No. So the court. So the guy, I guess back then you get at it, you're in prison, right? So then to get to the courthouse, he has to have a bail bondsman take him. Oh, okay. So at the beginning of the trial, they're supposed to put him in custody of the sheriff and then the bail money is given back, right? It was admitted that the sheriff never at any time took custody of the defendant. That's a big problem for this plan. And then at no time to the court order into

custody of the sheriff, nor did the defendant nor his attorneys nor anyone else request that he should be placed in the custody of the sheriff. But the bail bondsman assumed he had been. So it's just the perfect storm of nobody asking anything. Okay, so after the change of venue request was overruled, the judge asked Fawcett to step forward. He was about to revoke his bail and place him in the custody of the sheriff, which made the Bosman who had brought him in from the jail think his job was over. So the first time they'd ever done this. So the bondsman left but before the judge could order him into custody. So he's like step forward and order you to custody the sheriff. Yeah. But then and then the bail bondsman goes, All right, see ya. And then

right then his attorney asked for the demure. So then it was, is that why he asked for the demure? No, no, well, maybe, but I think it was just a half random. Okay. So at that point, Frank was like, Oh, no one's watching me. Hmm. Feels like I should be watched as a potential murderer. I guess I should go. Well, so he just walked out. The court said it never intended for the sort of loophole. Oh, okay, as long as they didn't mean for it to happen. They searched for Fawcett as usual hangouts but came up empty embarrassed sheriff Sterling P. Clark wired law enforcement agencies statewide to be on the lookout for Fawcett offering a reward for his capture. Some of the other agencies, there's another dog. Some of the other agencies added to

the fund. In coming months, witnesses placed foster in El Paso, New Orleans, Mexico, Cuba, and even South Africa. His family believes he went to Alaska and disappeared into the Sea of Miners in the Klondike gold fields. What would you do for a Klondike field? What would you do for a Klondike field? Then meridian officials suddenly withdrew their reward offer and told the Tarrant County Sheriff that they had made a mistake. They rewarded men secured by a quote misapprehension of the facts. Fawcett, they now said was not a cold-blooded killer. Oh, should Frank show up in Meridian officials there would not arrest him and return him to Fort Worth. What? It's just a good, it's just good having a rich family. Jesus Christ. The Tarrant County

DA's office said they had pigeonholed the case, meaning they had given him given up on ever bringing Fawcett to justice. Cynics suggested the case died of neglect as the victim had no money and friends to offer a fat reward or to foot the expense of sending officers across Western states to chase him down. In the end, Fawcett Carver murder, the Fawcett Carver murder was about the Western gambling culture where honor took strange forms and six guns were the court of highest appeal. One of the gamblers who testified at Fawcett's first trial was one armed Billy Thomson, another member of the local gambling fraternity. Eight years later, when Tarrant County authorities tried to close his gambling operation above Staggs Lynn, Thomson would shoot

County Attorney Jefferson Davis McLean to death in broad daylight on Main Street. Jesus. So the dude just got to walk. Yeah, literally. Because he literally walked because no one was paying attention. Is that might be where walking comes from? It's the greatest thing ever where they're like, All right, step forward. The sheriff's gonna. What's that? Hey, we actually want to file this. Okay. Yeah. All right. So do you have it? No, I got I forgot it in my office. Okay. I'll go grab it. All right. So let's wrap this for 30. Okay, great. Cool. Put a pen in this. Be right back. Yep. All righty. Everybody stay where they are. All right. Hey, anyone seen Fawcett? What? Oh, we didn't do the thing. The thing you're supposed to do. Man, we are dumb. Wow. That has to

be I mean, again, I like he's obviously a piece of shit. But that has to just be such a great feeling. Oh, did you just walk? Yeah. Well, the idea that you're just a you're going to get you like you're done. You're 25. You're done. And this is maybe like the last day of your bullshit. Yeah. And then right before, you know, shit gets real, you're like, pretty sure I could probably just straight up walk out of here. Nobody's paying attention. Alrighty. And say friend, could I borrow two bucks? Wow, that's nuts. Yeah. Old West. Yeah. Normal. This dollop is brought to you by noise. Now it's quiet. Yeah, now it's quiet. Dogs and leaf blowers. Noise. I fucked off for the end. Well,