Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon book.
The Big Picture
Martin Scorsese’s film, Killers of the Flower Moon, is based on a non-fiction book by David Grann that investigates the murders of dozens of Osage people in Oklahoma in the 1920s. It’s an epic tale that explores not only the murders themselves, but also greed, wealth, conspiracy, racism, and the early days of the FBI. As we dig into the startling true facts behind this story, as recounted in Grann’s book, we’ll see why Scorsese’s next film may turn out to be one of his great masterpieces.
Two of the central figures in both Grann’s book and Scorsese’s film are Mollie and Ernest Burkhart (Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio, respectively), a married couple living in Oklahoma at the time of the murders. Mollie was an Osage woman and Ernest was a white man. Among the many victims of the killings was Mollie’s sister, whose mysterious death ended up being a centerpiece in the years-long conspiracy to kill off wealthy Osage people. But before addressing how the whole conspiracy unraveled, it’s necessary to understand why any deaths occurred in the first place.
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one – until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Release Date October 20, 2023
Director Martin Scorsese
Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers
Rating R
Runtime 206 minutes
Main Genre Drama
Genres Drama, Crime, History
Studio Paramount Pictures
Writers David Grann, Eric Roth
The Osage were quite wise in how they acquired their wealth. They knew well before America’s biggest oil companies that Osage territory was rich in black gold. They also knew that the landscape of their property was considered undesirable to white men. So they acquired vast tracts of land that would both isolate them from white men and eventually result in a massive windfall once the abundance of oil was known to all.
Despite the careful planning of the Osage, white men believed wealth was unjustifiably falling into the hands of these Indian Americans. They argued that the federal government had provided the Osage with land that, through sheer good luck, was incredibly valuable. As a result, some white Oklahomans felt something drastic needed to be done to redistribute wealth back into the hands of white men. One such white man who resented the Osage’s wealth was William Hale (Robert De Niro).
Hale was a gruff but well-connected Oklahoman who ensured that many local politicians owed their electoral success to him. He was also Ernest Burkhart’s uncle. Hale was ostensibly an ally to the Osage, befriending some of them and even defending them from certain Draconian government policies. He also participated in murder investigations when Osage people were shot dead, with their bodies discarded in ditches. From all outward appearances, Hale seemed to be a compassionate ally to the Osage. But the reality was far more sinister.
What Was Oklahoma Like in the 1920s?
The government made every effort to forcibly assimilate the Osage to the American way of life. Osage children were essentially forced to attend American schools, speak English, and adopt Christianity as their religion, a common practice for many Native nations. The government even controlled the Osage’s spending habits, with members of Congress scrutinizing Osage expenditures. Many wealthy American Indians were even appointed “guardians” who would oversee their finances.
At this point in American history, local police departments were either understaffed, underfunded, or nonexistent. This meant that complicated tasks such as investigating murders fell to inexperienced locals who more or less took it upon themselves to gather evidence and question suspects. For the wealthy, private detectives such as Pinkertons could be employed instead. These detectives were dedicated and relentless, sometimes blurring the lines between legal and illegal investigatory methods, as they sought to uncover mysteries buried underneath layers of lies and corruption.
The Osage Hired Pinkertons and Found Investigators To Look Into the Murders
The Osage hired Pinkerton agents to investigate the suspicious series of deaths of their tribe members. As these investigations progressed, it soon became clear that a full-blown conspiracy could be at the root of all the violence. When one Osage representative visited Washington D.C. to implore the federal government to look into the matter, he was brutally murdered himself. The conclusion at the time was that his murderers had trailed him all the way from Oklahoma to Washington, dispatching him as a warning to anyone who dug too deep into the Osage murder mysteries.
Eventually, the governor of Oklahoma sent his top investigator to Osage territory after a particularly gruesome incident in which a bomb obliterated the home of an Osage, killing three people and terrorizing the townspeople. But before long, this state investigator was caught consorting with local criminals and accepting bribes, rendering him utterly useless in uncovering the source of the murders.
Finally, Agent Tom White (Jesse Plemons) of the newly-formed Federal Bureau of Investigation came to Oklahoma, intending to be an impartial and incorruptible investigator with the authority to overrule local power players and solve the series of brutal murders. White assembled a team of agents, including one American Indian, to crack the case after years of inaction and dead ends.
How Did Agent White Uncover the Truth Behind the Osage County Murders?
After only a few months, Agent White’s talented team of investigators began unraveling the conspiracy behind the Osage deaths. They realized that many of the so-called “guardians” tasked with supervising wealthy Osage people were hopelessly corrupt. These guardians found various ways to cheat the Osage, ultimately pilfering at least $8 million from their wards. But it wasn’t only the guardians who were in on this elaborate graft, it was also judges, lawyers, doctors, and businessmen throughout Oklahoma. Many of the most prominent people in society, to one degree or another, had a hand in stealing money from the Osage.
Among those who seemed to profit most from the murders was William Hale. He netted $25,000 as the beneficiary of a murdered Osage man’s life insurance policy. He also used a forged creditor’s note to claim $6,000 from the estate of another recently deceased Osage man. Agent White began to realize that the collective deaths of the Osage victims resulted in land rights being directed towards Mollie Burkhart, the wife of William Hale’s nephew Ernest. The murder victims were far from random. In fact, they were specifically targeted to result in as much oil-rich land as possible falling into Mollie’s ownership. But there was still one step left in Hale’s evil plan: taking out Mollie so that all the land rights would belong to Hale’s nephew Ernest.
Realizing that Mollie’s life was in danger, Agent White learned that she was being treated by doctors who were under Hale’s control. She had diabetes and was supposedly receiving insulin injections from the corrupt doctors, but mysteriously her condition only seemed to worsen. When Mollie was taken away from these doctors and treated in a hospital, she immediately got better. Under Hale’s instruction, Mollie was likely being slowly poisoned to death and would’ve been yet another murder victim had Agent White not intervened.
What Happened During William Hale’s Trial?
After the FBI had gathered sufficient evidence to convict Hale, the ensuing trial became a media sensation filled with seemingly countless twists and turns. Ernest Burkhart admitted that his uncle William Hale was behind the conspiracy to profit from the murder of Osage people. Burkhart also confessed that, at the behest of his uncle, he had personally hired the man responsible for murdering one of the Osage victims. But then in court, Ernest recanted after briefly meeting with Hale’s lawyers. Then he again changed his mind and pleaded guilty. Meanwhile, Hale claimed that the FBI agents had used extreme interrogation tactics to elicit confessions from their witnesses, including death threats and electrocution. Hale’s claims caused prominent politicians and media pundits to call for Agent White’s removal from the FBI until it became apparent that Hale’s accusations lacked credibility.
After it was discovered that the original trial of William Hale was riddled with corruption, a retrial occurred. This retrial resulted in Hale being found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, although had the victims been white, he likely would’ve received the death penalty. Ernest Burkhart was also sentenced to life imprisonment. Mollie divorced him, horrified that her own husband had been complicit in the murders. Agent White left the FBI to become the warden of the prison that held Hale captive.
The Osage murders would come to be known by the Osage people as “the reign of terror.” As Killers of the Flower Moon author David Grann investigated the legacy of this reign, he realized that although Hale had been caught, there were likely more white men like Hale responsible for the deaths of potentially hundreds of Indian Americans. Tragically, Hale was probably one of many who murdered Osages for profit. The true cost of this reign of terror, in terms of blood and treasure, will likely never be known.
Killers of the Flower Moon is playing in the theaters now in the U.S.
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