The Serial, Part Three: The Assassination of Huey Long
This is the third and final blog post that explains Frank J. Wilson's efforts to fight crime by utilizing his intelligence in accounting and currency studies. Read the first and second post for more cases.
Huey Long was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932. He was born on August 30, 1893, in Louisiana.
Long had the drive and heart for politics from a young age. He was homeschooled until he was 11-years-old and then entered a public school where he would become part of a secret society in high school and often debate with school faculty and staff. Eventually, Long was expelled from rebelling against the school's rules. Long even rebelled against his expulsion by starting a petition to terminate the principal, somehow, the petition worked.
Governor Long grew up with the lower-class of Louisiana. He based his campaigns off of his young life of poverty and was successful with his campaigns because he reached out to the communities in Louisiana similar to the one he came from.
Long created a campaign slogan that eventually turned into to a song. The slogan was "Every Man a King," Long nicknamed himself the Kingfish and it's stayed with him throughout his political career and after his assassination.
The Assassination
To this day, there's still speculation on what happened the day Long was killed. Most sources claim it was Dr. Carl Weiss seeking revenge on his father-in-law's behalf. Weiss's father-in-law was Huey Long's long-time opponent, Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy.
The day of the assassination Long was trying to pass "House Bill Number One," a re-redistricting plan. If it passed, Judge Pavy would be removed from the bench. At 9:20 p.m., just moments after the House passed the bill, Weiss allegedly shot Long in the torso. Long's body guards then cornered Weiss and shot him to death.
Another theory over the death of Huey Long was that one of his own bodyguards shot him and then covered it up with Weiss as a scapegoat.
There is little to no information on what exactly happened. As for Frank J. Wilson, we know that he helped with the investigation.
Read more on Huey Long here.