Hale was eventually found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but not before he appealed and was retried, ending in yet another hung jury. A final trial in Oklahoma City delivered a guilty sentence of 99 years.
Hale was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled on July 31, 1947. During a visit, Hale's relatives said he once remarked, "If that damn Ernest had kept his mouth shut we'd be rich today." He moved to Phoenix, Arizona around 1950 and died in a nursing home there on August 15, 1962. He was buried in Wichita, Kansas.
What happened to William Hale and Ernest Burkhart?
Despite Osage protests Hale, Ramsey, and Ernest Burkhart, were eventually paroled. More surprising, Burkhart received a full pardon from Oklahoma governor Henry Bellmon in 1965.
Does Hale get caught in Killers of the Flower Moon?
Hale is genuinely surprised when he is found guilty, as jurors prove unable to ignore Ernest's confession. But this does not mean that his reach is fully extinguished, as the final section of Killers of the Flower Moon makes clear.
What happened to Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon?
"At 44, Mollie could finally spend her money as she pleased, and was recognized as a full-fledged American citizen," Grann wrote in his book. Margie Burkhart, Mollie's granddaughter, told Grann that living on the Osage Reservation with Cobb was a period of happiness for her, and in 1937, Mollie died at the age of 50.
William King Hale - Killers of the Flower Moon Documentary
Is James Burkhart the son of Ernest Burkhart?
Ernest and Mollie Burkhart's son, James Burkhart, grew up and started a family after the end of Killers of the Flower Moon. According to an article by The Washington Post, James, who went by the nickname "Cowboy," married and had two daughters, Doris and Margie.
In 1966, Ernest applied for a pardon. Citing his cooperation with the investigation (White had credited his confession as vital for the convictions of Hale and Ramsey), the Oklahoma Parole Board voted 3–2 in favor of a pardon, which was granted by Governor Henry Bellmon. Ernest Burkhart died in 1986.
In an interview, series creator and executive producer, Kurt Sutter, explained that the decision to kill off Hale in the episode was motivated by Sheridan's desire to move on to another project.
Four undercover agents were eventually able to break the case, in part by getting Ernest Burkhart to talk. In January 1926, Hale was indicted by a federal grand jury for the murder of Henry Roan. Roan had been killed on federal rather than tribal land, giving the government jurisdiction in the case.
The movie notes that Anna was pregnant when she died. However, the book mentions that when the FBI's lead agent on the investigation, Tom White (played by Jesse Plemons), got involved, he discovered that Hale and Anna were more than just acquaintances.
Burkhart later plotted to kill her to inherit the Kyle family's headrights and oil money, which was worth $7 million at the time ($166 million in 2023). Burkhart had three children with Kyle: Elizabeth (1918–2006), James "Cowboy" (1920–1990), and Anna (1922–1926).
Mollie Kyle (also known as Mollie Burkhart and Mollie Cobb; December 1, 1886 – June 16, 1937) was an Osage woman known for surviving the Osage Indian murders.
He and other minerals council members believe there is still oil to be produced on the reservation, but it's a matter of finding new techniques to extract them. “But with time, technology sometimes doesn't move as fast as the time does. And so, like right now, there's a lot of oil still around.
Mollie and Ernest had three children: Anna, Elizabeth, and James William 'Cowboy' Burkhart. Mollie's daughter Anna, named after her sister, really died of whooping cough at the age of 4 just like in the movie.
Between 1901 and 1950, the tribe received nearly $300 million, which would be worth about $4 billion today [2]. Current Financial Situation: While the Osage Tribe is no longer among the richest people, the effects of the oil industry are still felt today.
Despite claiming to love his wife dearly, Ernest and doctors (provided by Hale) appear to slowly poison Mollie while administering insulin shots for diabetes, adding something to her insulin.
By 1872, American settlers forced the Osage to relinquish most of their remaining ancestral homelands and were relocated to Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The Osage Nation today continues to be a strong nation and maintains many of their traditional lifeways.
The story that Killers of the Flower Moon projects onto the big screen is one that's hard for many of us to confront, and the horrific nature of the events might even cause some viewers to chalk it up to creative Hollywood writers. But the great majority of the events of the film are, unfortunately, accurate.
Did Taylor Sheridan have anything to do with Sons of Anarchy?
He next appeared on the hit show Sons of Anarchy, about an outlaw motorcycle club in the fictional town of Charming, California. Over the course of 21 episodes (2008–10) Sheridan played Deputy Chief David Hale, an antagonist of the club.
Hale is then murdered in a revenge killing by Pinkie's gang – Spicer, Dallow and Cubitt. Hale is hunted down in terror. Spicer becomes a threat to Pinkie because he makes a mistake and allows his face to be shown. Pinkie double crosses Spicer to Colleoni and Spicer is brutally attacked at the races, though not killed.
Taylor Sheridan's stint on Sons of Anarchy didn't exactly end like he had originally anticipated. In 2010, at 38, Taylor realized he was earning much less than his co-stars despite the show being his major break as Sheriff David Hale. This realization came after a blunt talk about his lower pay with executives.
After just over ten years in prison, Burkhart was paroled in 1937 but returned to jail a short time later after robbing his former sister-in-law Lillie Morrell Burkhart. His parole was revoked when he was sentenced to jail in 1941.
Despite claiming to love his wife dearly, Ernest and doctors (provided by Hale) appear to slowly poison Mollie while administering insulin shots for diabetes, adding something to her insulin.
The movie shows Ernest slowly poisoning Mollie, who was diabetic, by giving her injections of what she was told was insulin to keep her weak and wasting away in bed during the later years of the Reign of Terror, an alleged attempt on her life that Mollie survived.
