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| Sue Hill portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
Now You See Her...
Or, Money, Murder and Madness - - Part Two
Or, Money, Murder and Madness - - Part Two
by Rebecca J. Becker
One whimsical feature in Crescent College’s 1914 yearbook was a list revealing each student’s favorite expression. Nola Beam’s was, “You just kill me!” Sue Hill’s was, simply, “Golly!”
Nola Beam (after a tumultuous beginning, running away with Sue Hill) finished a successful school year and went on to live a peaceful and happy life.
Sue Hill's story was much darker. Warning: this is not a story for the very young, or for the squeamish.
When we left her at the end of Part One, Sue had missed Crescent College's 1914 Commencement exercises in May because she'd gotten married in April.
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| Robert Oren Peevy portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
We don't know how or when Robert Oren Peevy met Sue Hill, but on 7 May, 1914 Sue's hometown paper, the Pauls Valley Democrat, announced:
PEEVY-HILL
The Democrat was negligent last week in not announcing the important wedding of Mr. R. O. Peevy and Miss Sue Hill, which took place at Gainesville, Texas. Mr. Peevy is proprietor of the Economy Store and he is one of the rising young business men of this city.
The bride is a daughter of the late John T. Hill and was born and reared in this city.The family is prominent in social and business affairs, and she has been educated at the best schools in the land, and her personal charms and gentle disposition have made her many friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Peevy at present are at the Lovell hotel.
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| Frank N. Pruett (Robert Oren Peevy's best friend) portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
Robert Oren Peevy's best friend, Frank Pruett, might have been a member of the wedding party, along with Sue's brother, William Riley Hill. If so, two murderers and one victim would have shared in the nuptial celebration.
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| ad for the Economy Store in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma (managed by Robert Oren Peevy) from Pauls Valley Democrat, 2 July 1914 |
We wonder if Sue knew about Robert Oren Peevy's first wife?
Ten years before Sue arrived at Crescent College, Robert Oren Peevy married 17-year-old Maude Rydens. (1)
Two years later, the couple had a son, Robert Oren Peevy, Jr.
The marriage was disastrous, and shortly after the baby's birth, Robert and Maude divorced.
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| Southwestern Insane Asylum, Bexar County, Texas |
Maude became an inmate in the Southwestern Insane Asylum in Bexar, Texas, where she stayed until her death five decades later.
The asylum had her identified as a widow, although Robert Oren Peevy was very much alive. (2)
Four months after Sue's wedding announcement, the same paper published much sadder news:
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| Lucile Robinson Hill portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
DEATH OF MRS. HILL
Mrs. Lucile Hill, wife of W. R. Hill, aged 18 years, after an illness of several months, died last Saturday in the hospital at El Paso, Texas... The deceased leaves one child, about three years old and her husband.
Lucile had been both Sue's stepsister and her sister-in-law. Lucile had married Sue's brother, William Riley Hill, when she was 15, and had lost two baby boys after the birth of their daughter. She died of tuberculosis.
Lucile's mother (Sue's stepmother), Mrs. Mattie Hill, traveled to Texas for the funeral.
[Hill family relationships can be a bit confusing, and so we've created a sort of Dramatis Personnae for you, which you'll find at the end of this article.]
During all this time, Mrs Mattie Hill, Sue herself, and all of her brothers and sisters were engaged in a series of lawsuits, trying to break the terms of her father's will.
Some of the lawsuits revolved around the question of race. When Sue and William Riley Hill's little brother had been killed in 1913, a legal battle erupted: what would happen to his share of their father's fortune?
His full-blood siblings wanted his money to be divided only among them, by virtue of their mother's Chickasaw blood.
Sue and William Riley were two of these siblings.
The court ruled against them, and demanded that the money be divided among all the heirs equally.
At this point, however, none of the children had inherited a penny, nor would they for years to come. Their father's wishes remained in effect, and none of them was entitled to a cent of his fortune until the youngest child, Ruth (only eight years old in 1914) reached her majority.
Sixteen months after her marriage, Sue gave birth to her son, Lucian Howe Peevy.
For the next few years danger and distress lurked just beneath the surface of Sue's life. A few clues: first, a brief line in The Daily Ardmorite, 27 September 1919:
Mrs. Mattie Hill was called to Temple, Texas, Saturday by the serious illness of Mrs. Sue Peevy.
The 1920 U.S. Federal Census revealed the next clue: Sue and her two-year-old son Lucian were living on their own. She was 22 years old, divorced, listed as the head of house, and her employment was given as "Investments in Real Estate Industry."
The third clue isn't a hint so much as a bludgeon.
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| "HELEN MAXINE SHORT. Eight-Year-Old Girl, Whose Body was Found in a Pond Near Eno, Adams County." Denver Post, 25 July 1921 |
Banner headlines in the Denver Rocky Mountain News, 25 July 1921, pronounce:
STEPFATHER OF SLAIN GIRL SOUGHT
CHILD, 10, BOUND AND PITCHED INTO WATER ALIVE, IDENTIFIED AS DAUGHTER OF DENVER WOMAN
Mother Tells of Threats and Believes Man Murdered Girl to Get Revenge When She Stopped Sending Money to Him; Arrest Is Near
The man for whom they searched was Sue's brother, William Riley Hill.The 10-year-old girl found murdered by drowning late Saturday, was Helen Maxine Short, daughter of Mrs. Thelma Hill, this city.This is the bare statement of last night's latest developments in probably the most brutal murder case Adams County police annals show...[W]eights tied to the child's neck by wires, the clutching position of her hands, the marks made by the wires on her throat, showed, the authorities believe, that the little girl was throw into the water alive and left to die.
The caption reads: "Upper left - Mrs. Thelma Hill, whose young daughter was murdered nine miles south of Brighton. Upper right - Helen Maxine Short, whose body was found weighted with iron in an irrigation ditch. Below - William Riley Hill, stepfather of slain girl, for whom police are searching, and another photograph of murder victim." - - Rocky Mountain News, 26 July 1921.
A few months ago we published an article about another Crescent College student, Frances Beebe. Frances testified at a series of murder trials where Moman Pruiett, the most notorious lawyer in Oklahoma, was the defense attorney.
(Moman Pruiett was no relation to Frank N. Pruett, Robert Oren Peevy's best friend, who will play a key role in the murder trial upcoming in Part Three.)
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| Moman Pruiett |
Moman Pruiett played an even greater role in Sue Hill's life, and he entered the stage at exactly this point.
Pruiett had been friends with Sue and William Riley Hill's father. It wasn't friendship that motivated his actions in this case, however:
In a deed filed on August 12, 1921: 'KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: That I, William Riley Hill, son of John T. Hill, deceased, of Pauls Valley... do hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey unto Moman Pruiett of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, all of the following described real estate situated in Garvin County, Oklahoma, to-wit...'
As his biographer noted, "Pruiett took deed to a neat fortune, for the defense of a case he knew he couldn't win." (3)
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| The Denver Post, 28 July 1921 William Riley Hill is pictured, in profile |
A few days after the screaming headlines appeared across the nation, William Riley Hill was caught and arrested.
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| Denver Post, 27 July 1921 William Riley Hill (third from left) shortly after his arrest |
He agreed to be interviewed by the Denver Post. He declared that his wife had run off with a barber, and he'd come to Denver to track them down.
He maintained that he was not the girl's stepfather - - that he was, rather, her real father. He said he and Thelma, the girl's mother, had been involved while [his first wife] Lucile had still been alive, and that they'd married after Lucile died.
We always represented that the girl was Mrs. [Thelma] Hill's daughter by a previous marriage to save her embarrassment.
I thought I had a right to my own child.... I got the child from the home and left a note to my wife to meet me. She didn't show up, so on Thursday I started to walk with the girl.... (4)
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| Thelma Hill portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
In the same newspaper, Thelma swore the child was not William Riley Hill's. She intimated that Hill had forced her into a life of prostitution, and that she had taken the child and run away when Hill threatened them both:
Time and again he forced me thru fear of my life and my baby's life to get money for him and he didn't care how I got it.
Mrs. Hill has nothing about her of the timid or shrinking or fearful type of woman. On the contrary, she is close to nature in manner, method and thought.Moman Pruiett, William Riley Hill's defense attorney, knew that Sue Hill would impress a jury and invoke much more sympathy than Thelma Hill ever could. He sent for the girl to come provide support and assistance in her brother's cause.
On her left arm is a large tattooed ornament. She is the sort of woman who loves hard and hates hard, who serves well, and when cast off fights for what she intends to take with her.
Her consuming desire now is to kill William Riley Hill. 'The man who dragged me in the dirt, made me a thing of the street, and then killed my baby because I wanted to shield and protect her.'
But details of Helen's death, as they were revealed, were so appalling Pruiett began to doubt that even Sue Hill's beauty would help William Riley's case.
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| Helen Maxine Short portrait sketch by Rebecca J. Becker |
Headlines began to emphasize William Riley Hill's race. Hill's mother was from a prominent Chickasaw family, but W.R. was constantly described as "a half-breed Indian." His own appearance (one paper described him as "a little ratty-faced man, only five feet four inches tall, with a small, receding chin, a long, pointed nose, close-set eyes, swarthy complexion and several days' growth of beard") was exaggerated to indicate his guilt.
Hundreds of men threatened to storm the prison where William Riley Hill was being held.
SHERIFF ADOPTS RUSE TO PREVENT VIOLENCE ON ARRIVAL IN DENVERFinally, Hill was arraigned. He pleaded not guilty. His trial was scheduled for October 1921.
CHILD WAS HORRIBLY SLASHED WITH A RAZOR BEFORE MURDER
I am certain [stated the sheriff] the people of Colorado do not want a repetition of the acts of mob violence such as have occurred in Oklahoma and elsewhere. I want to assure the people that nothing will be overlooked in bringing about quick justice in conformity with correct legal procedure. (5)
From Rocky Mountain News [Denver, Colorado] 24 February 1922. Clockwise, from top left: unnamed prisoner in profile, handcuffed to William Riley Hill (facing forward), Thelma Short Hill (William Riley Hill's second wife), Helen Maxine Short (William Riley Hill's stepdaughter, or daughter) and Sue Hill.
When the trial began in Brighton, Colorado, Sue Hill was there, protesting her brother's innocence and giving interviews to newspapers and magazines avid for her story.
She scoffed at Thelma's story of being forced into prostitution. Sue Hill explained that William Riley had no need of his wife's money: they were heirs to their father's fortune, comprised of "Oklahoma oil and farm lands valued at $4,450,000."
Journalists across the country were taken with the girl and described her glowingly as "the beautiful star witness" who came all the way from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma in defense of her brother.
Yet even as Sue sat in the courtroom, she was hiding an enormous secret. Brighton might have seemed a world away from Pauls Valley, but before William Riley's trial was over, Colorado newspapers discovered the truth. (6)
FIRED FIVE SHOTS INTO BODY OF RIVAL
TWO MORE SORDID TRAGEDIES LINKED TO HILL MURDER TRIAL
LEADING FIGURES IN STRANGER TRAGEDY CHAIN
Sister of Accused and His Attorney Involved in Killings
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| The Denver Post 27 October 1921 |
What happened to Sue, and what became of her brother, William Riley Hill? What new horrors had transpired between his arrest and her appearance at his trial?
For the final dramatic chapter in this story of money, murder and madness, check our next issue when we conclude Sue Hill's saga, with Now You See Her... Part Three.
Who's Who in Part Two
Sue Hill Peevy
(Crescent College alumna)
Robert Oren Peevy
(her husband)
Frank Pruett
(Robert Oren Peevy's best friend, he'll play a key role in the murder trial in Part Three)
Mrs. Mattie Robinson Hill
(Sue's stepmother)
Lucile Robinson Hill, deceased
(Mattie's daughter, Sue's stepsister and sister-in-law, wife of Sue's brother William Riley Hill)
William Riley Hill
(Crescent College alumna)
Robert Oren Peevy
(her husband)
Frank Pruett
(Robert Oren Peevy's best friend, he'll play a key role in the murder trial in Part Three)
Mrs. Mattie Robinson Hill
(Sue's stepmother)
Lucile Robinson Hill, deceased
(Mattie's daughter, Sue's stepsister and sister-in-law, wife of Sue's brother William Riley Hill)
William Riley Hill
(Sue's brother, widower of Lucile Robinson Hill)
Ruth Hill
(Mattie's daughter, Sue's half-sister, eight years old in 1914)
(Mattie's daughter, Sue's half-sister, eight years old in 1914)
Moman Pruiett
(legendary and infamous attorney, no relation of Frank Pruett)
Thelma Short Hill
(William Riley Hill's second wife, Sue's sister-in-law, mother of Helen Maxine Short)
Helen Maxine Short
(William Riley Hill's stepdaughter (or daughter) by his second wife (Thelma Short Hill), Sue's niece)
(William Riley Hill's second wife, Sue's sister-in-law, mother of Helen Maxine Short)
Helen Maxine Short
(William Riley Hill's stepdaughter (or daughter) by his second wife (Thelma Short Hill), Sue's niece)
Many thanks to Elizabeth Cooksey for her superlative help during several drafts of this article, and to Keith Scales for his continuing encouragement and advice. As Sue Hill would say, "Golly!"
(1) Peevy is often seen as Peevey, and sometimes as Peavey. Rydens is often spelled as Ridings.
(2) Why she was committed, or by whom, is still unknown, but she stayed confined in an asylum until her death on Valentine's Day, 1961.
(3) Howard K. Berry, He Made It Safe To Murder: The Life of Moman Pruiett. Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma City, OK, Pages 543-544.
(4) The Denver Post [Denver, Colorado] 27 July 1921, Page 1.
(5) The Denver Post [Denver, Colorado] 29 July 1921, Page 11.
(6) The Denver Post [Denver, Colorado] 11 October 1921, Pages 1 and 4.
