The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (50 page)

He had to fall back on his medical training to supplement his income, as by this stage he was struggling with his finances. He worked in a makeshift medical centre most of the time treating
would-be gold hunters with bad cases of frostbite. Later that year he had the unfortunate experience of becoming a prisoner of the Russians after being shipwrecked near the Alaskan coastline,
although he was held only briefly and subsequently released.

His gold quest continued, taking him as far afield as Australia and then on to New Zealand, before he tried California, still not ready to admit defeat. His body had been through the most
extreme weather conditions, almost freezing to death in Alaska, and latterly suffering heat stroke in California, but Oakes had an iron will and would not be put off his mission.

Almost 15 years since he had set out to claim his fortune Oakes was still searching, having travelled the world following the well-publicized gold strikes. In 1911 yet another one was declared
in Canada, so the resolute Oakes boarded a train and made his way there. On arriving his money was so depleted that he set about finding the cheapest lodgings available, these coming in the form of
a boarding house run by Roza Brown, a formidable character who had a dislike of gold prospectors.

She was, however, quite taken with Oakes, as she recognized that he was different from the usual man hell bent on finding gold. She believed he was mentally superior to the others and admired
the fact that he was hard working and respectable. As she had lived in the area all her life she was familiar with the geography of the area, and spent time with Oakes discussing where she
considered would be a good area to look for the elusive gold.

These discussions were to prove very worthwhile and after studying maps of the area he convinced a group of four brothers, also prospectors, to join him in his search on the outskirts of
Kirkland Lake in Ontario. The Tough brothers and Oakes made an agreement that if they were successful in locating gold they would split any money, equally, five ways.

Diligence paid off and the group enjoyed their first success. With the profits from their initial strike they went on to lay claim to other areas around Kirkland Lake. Inevitably, the happy
alliance was to be destroyed as there were huge quarrels regarding the distribution of the shares, eventually Oakes was unable to work with the brothers any longer and sold them his share of the
Tough Oakes mines. Not put off by mining, he decided that he would profit better under his own steam. With his money from the sale of his shares he staked a claim in an area of land further down
Kirkland Lake, with financial support from his mother.

This was to be the best decision in Oakes’s life as he struck gold, and this time much more than he had located with the Tough brothers. He was fast becoming a very wealthy man, and at one
time Oakes’s Lake Shore Mines was earning its owner over $50,000 a day. He soon became Canada’s most wealthy man and he shared his success with friends and family who had supported him
throughout the past 20 years.

He decided that it was time to set up house as he was now financially secure, in the most fitting place, overlooking his empire at Lake Shore Mines. For almost four years, until 1923, Oakes
lived a luxurious lifestyle in his wonderful, opulent chateau. He had his own golf course built on his grounds and enjoyed entertaining his friends, comfortable in the knowledge that his gold mines
were still providing a large income. But the pioneer in Oakes could not be tamed for ever, and he was soon itching to venture out and broaden his horizons, deciding that a round the world trip
would satisfy his lust for excitement and new experiences. It was during this trip that he was introduced to a young Australian woman called Eunice MacIntyre who was heading for England. By now the
48-year-old millionaire was twice her age, but she was attracted to him all the same, although they made an unlikely match – Oakes was short in stature and Eunice was tall and slim.

The pair were infatuated with one another and were soon engaged; they made their way to Eunice’s family home in Sydney, Australia and were soon married. On arriving back in Canada, both
Oakes and his new wife applied to become Canadian citizens, which they were soon granted, and decided that they would set up home together at Oakes’s home at Kirkland Lake. They initially
started out married life living in his chateau, but as their family started to grow Oakes arranged to have another, larger house built to accommodate them. They were blessed with five children
altogether, the eldest being a daughter whom they named Nancy, followed by a son they called Sydney (after Eunice’s home town), next came William Pitt (after Harry’s father), then a
second daughter, Shirley, and lastly Eunice gave birth to another son, Harry P. Oakes (obviously after his father).

The family moved to the small Bahaman island of Nassau at the end of the 1930s, and Oakes changed his nationality to Bahamian, thus escaping the quickly soaring Canadian taxes. He wasted no time
after arriving on the island and started to make it his own, quite literally. He was introduced to Harold Christie, a real estate agent with very good contacts, and with his assistance Oakes bought
up virtually half the island to create his new empire. He installed a much-needed airport on the island and from there he ran his own airline company. He had a luxurious hotel complex built,
complete with a prestigious beachside golf course, attracting many of the rich and famous to the previously discreet and somewhat overlooked holiday destination.

His arrival brought work for the relatively untapped work force, and the island fast became an upmarket resort. Oakes ploughed much of his profits back into the island’s economy, providing
new hospital facilities and through donations to the Governor of the island, money was spent across a broad spectrum of the island’s needs. This work did not go unnoticed and his efforts were
recognized by the King of England in 1939 when Harry Oakes was knighted and became Sir Harry Oakes.

The island was not without its upper echelon of society. It was also the home of the former king of England Edward VIII, who had given up the throne to marry the American divorcee, Wallis
Simpson. Having given up the title of the King of England he was granted the new title of Duke of Windsor by the new king, his brother King George VI. They moved to the island during the Second
World War and Edward became the first royal Governor and commander-in-chief of the Bahamas.

Wallis Simpson did not acclimatize well to the heat on the tropical island and complained that their social life was severely hampered by living on such a remote island. She was also unhappy
with the accommodation which the British government had provided for them, and requested the house be renovated, but because of the war her request was declined as all available funds were needed
to support the war effort.

Her lifestyle was curbed only slightly and the couple were to host many luxurious dinner parties, with high-profile, wealthy guests. They often escaped their “exile” by taking
extended holidays in friends’ homes throughout the United States and Mexico.

The Duke had become close friends with the wealthy inhabitants of the island, one of his shadier acquaintances being Axel Werner-Gren, who was believed to be part Swedish, but had been educated
in Berlin, Germany. When he was grown up he decided to try and make his fortune in New York, where he took a job with a Swedish light bulb manufacturer and discovered that he was a natural-born
salesman. He prospered and used his commission to buy shares in the company, which proved fortuitous as the company wealth rocketed when it gained the contract for the Panama Canal. He soon became
the primary shareholder for the company and an extremely wealthy man, reinvesting some of his fortune to set up his own company which sold household electrical appliances.

In 1939, Werner-Gren, along with his wife and children, set sail on their new yacht (formerly owned by Howard Hughes) to the Bahamas. They loved the islands and decided to set up home on the
beautiful island of Nassau. It was not long before the Werner-Grens were invited to one of the prestigious parties hosted by Edward and Mrs Simpson and were also introduced to other prominent
citizens of the island, including Sir Harry Oakes and the now Sir Harold Christie. Werner-Gren proved to be a very popular guest at the many evening receptions, and soon settled down to life on
this unusual island.

It came to light, over time, that Werner-Gren had other influential acquaintances. These included some rather more unsavoury characters such as Hermann Goering, the Nazi politician and close
supporter of Adolf Hitler, who was head of the German air force in the Second World War. He had also some form of “friendship” with Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy, who had
founded the Fascist party in 1919 and had taken Italy into the war in support of Adolf Hitler. And to add to his impressive, if rather dubious list of acquaintances there was General Maximo
Camacho, the Mexican pro-Fascist.

None of this information was lost on the United States and British governments and the intelligence services were alerted. It was suspected that the island’s newest inhabitant could well
be a spy, so his movements were closely monitored. On investigation it came to light that Werner-Gren had amassed a small fortune and it was suspected that he intended to use this money to try and
gain control of the Mexican economy. Whilst he was holidaying in Mexico, his bank accounts were frozen, he was blacklisted and forced to stay in Mexico pending the result of the investigation. It
was also discovered during this time that other prominent inhabitants of the island of Nassau were customers at the same bank including the Duke of Windsor, Sir Harry Oakes and Sir Harold
Christie.

Unlike Oakes, Werner-Gren and the Duke of Windsor, Harold Christie had made his fortune on the island and was keen to see the economy further boosted by helping create a year-round holiday
resort. He had an American contact called Frank Marshall who represented a group of wealthy American businessmen who were also keen to promote the island of Nassau. Their aim was to open casinos on
the island, but Christie was well aware that the laws on the island would prohibit these plans. Marshall suggested that as Christie had all the right connections he could help their plans come to
fruition, but Christie was not convinced he would be able to talk Oakes and the Duke of Windsor into changing the island’s laws.

His plans were further hampered when he became aware that the main investors would be the heads of the Mafia, Charles Luciano and Meyer Lansky. This information worried Christie, so he arranged
a meeting with Oakes and the Duke, and alerted them of his findings; meanwhile Marshall was unaware of the meeting and was getting impatient waiting for Christie to get things moving. He therefore
arranged a meeting with the island’s foremost citizens and was extremely disappointed when he was told that his wishes would not be granted. Marshall was not a man who took defeat well, and
was renowned for reaping his revenge.

As Freddie had been found not guilty of the murder of his father-in-law, one question remained unanswered – if Freddie was innocent then who was the guilty party? After the court case had
been concluded, many theories were put forward as to who the killer was. Initially, Christie was suspected as he was the last person to have seen Oakes alive and was in the house with him on the
evening of the murder. But what would be his motive? Had he reconsidered the offer put to him by Marshall and decided that it was simply too good an opportunity to miss out on? It was possible that
he had tried again to convince Oakes to change his mind and allow the law to be altered to allow gambling on the island. But Oakes was notorious for sticking to his guns – could he have given
Christie a point-blank no and enraged him to the point of murder? Or might Christie have enlisted a third party to murder Oakes, thus clearing his own name of the crime?

The Duke and Axel Werner-Gren also came under suspicion, as between them they could well have considered that Oakes knew too much about their private lives, things that they would definitely
want to keep quiet – although it has to be said, it is very unlikely that this was the explanation for Sir Harry Oakes’s death. It is more likely that it stemmed from the rebuff of
Marshall, the go-between for Charles Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Marshall had much more to lose from Oakes’s unwillingness to comply with his request. Add to that his dubious contacts, he would
easily have arranged a way for Oakes to be eliminated for scuppering his plans to take financial control of the island. Oakes’s murder was callous – he had been beaten about the head
before having petrol poured over him and had apparently been burnt alive – and would be highly unlikely to be the actions of a family member, however distant.

The mystery surrounding the death of Sir Harry Oakes still remains an enigma over 60 years after his death.

America’s TV screens told a clear and compelling story. Not since the broadcast of US astronauts landing on the moon in 1969 had so many of the American public been
focused on one amazing event. A police car chase in Los Angeles is hardly unique, but one involving one of America’s most respected sporting heroes certainly is. Playing live for all to see
was O. J. Simpson, concealed in the back seat of a Ford Bronco pick-up truck, driven by his friend and sporting colleague A. C. Cowling, being pursued down the westbound 405 Los Angeles freeway by
a swarm of LA police vehicles.

The pursuit looked more like a presidential motorcade, the Bronco driving moderately fast in the centre lane, with police vehicles fanned out across the freeway behind it. Everyone was calm and
no one wanted to escalate the proceedings into a full-blown high-speed chase. Come what may the police were intent on arresting Simpson for jumping bail whilst under investigation for the murder of
his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.