Mollie Kyle was a single woman from a wealthy Osage family, which made her a target. First, in 1918, a sister, Minnie Smith, died of what doctors called a “peculiar wasting illness” (probably poisoning). With each death, Mollie — and therefore Ernest — inherited additional headrights. The Osage Tribal Council suspected Hale early on, but it couldn’t get anyone to testify against him: Hale had bribed or threatened many witnesses into silence. (It would later be renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.)

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Persons: Mollie Burkhart, Mollie Kyle, Ernest Burkhart, William Hale, Mollie’s, Minnie Smith, Anna Brown, Hale, Lizzie Q, Rita Smith, Mollie —, Ernest —, J, Edgar Hoover, —, Tom White, Jesse Plemons Organizations: Osage Tribal, Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation Locations: Osage