Hale and Ernest were arrested in 1926 for the murder of Rita (photographed above) and her husband, Bill. During the trial, Ernest confessed to his role in the scheme and ratted out Hale as the head of the murder operation. Hale was sentenced to life in prison, but he was released on parole in 1947 after 18 years. Ernest was also sentenced to life in prison but got paroled in 1937. Mollie ultimately recovered from the poison she had consumed and divorced Ernest. She died of unrelated causes on June 16, 1937. The three children she had with Ernest inherited her estate.
Grann told The Independent that he interviewed Mollie’s granddaughter, Margie, when he was researching the “Flower Moon” book, and it was clear the family still resents Ernest for his betrayal.
“[Margie] showed me a photo of her dad and her aunt, standing next to a man,” Grann said. “You can’t see the man’s head and I had to ask, ‘Was this Ernest?’ And Margie said, ‘Yeah, my father ripped off his head.’ That photo told me everything. Here was a boy with an innocent photo of himself with his dad. At a certain point, he realized who his dad was and had to remove that face, so he wouldn’t have to look at his father… Another time, Margie took me to the graveyard and showed me all her relatives who’d been murdered and said, ‘I had to grow up without cousins.’”
Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is now playing in theaters nationwide from Paramount and Apple. Grann’s book is available for purchase. Check out more photos related to the true story of “Flower Moon” below.
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