[Letter from Johnnie Mae Hackworthe to Captain Will Fritz, November 22, 1966] Page: 51 of 104
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26 - Dallas Police Chief November 25, 1966 RevB Johnnie Mae Hackworthe
him, and never before has he ever told me not to contact him..,it has always been his attitude
to call on him if X ever needed help, etc.
Anyway* the letter puts me in a position that I would never have to be kind just because he was
the father of my two sons;he has renewed all the old things so wrong: and this I say as a result:
If the LORD permits him to live, I hope the day comes when X am present and he is called into
a court of law, is sworn in and under oath to tell the truth* . .then I hear him questioned and
required to relate all he knows concerning my motherrs death. Even under the present circum-
stances I wish he could be called in and questioned, leitiing him tell his story in his own way,. „
and I wish Booth could be questioned,,. . and this go on record.
It is written of a time when men shall desire death, and death shall flee from them. "And in
those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall
flee from them." Rev* 9:6. I believe of a judgment here on earth before that great white throne;
and I believe when men like Eisenhower are called upon to answer for their deeds as revealed
to the public finally, such men will desire to die, and will not be permitted to. And I include
Watson and Booth in this number.
There is one thing I am certain of in my life, and that is that the LORD told me that Booth killed
my mother and Mr. Anderson: and I expect to see this proved in a big way not to far from hence;
and at the same time it will come out clear all the things concerning Herschel Ambrose Watson.
Watson has no other seed other than my two sons, and the five grandchildren,..and the day will
come, if God permits him to live, when he will recollect and be one of the sorriest humans that
ever lived. Now it is my hope that in some manner my younger sister, Editha and I, meet
with each other, and there not be any restraint, and she give forth her recollections...and see
how these measure upa She knows that Booth was not with us, of course, just as Watson knows
this. She did not enter the death bedroom, and would know very little, except what she did wit-
ness, I am sure it will agree with my witness.. .and it is certain that Booth was right there
on the front st eps when Captain Will Fritz drove up... and X think Gaptain Fritz would certainly
remmber if Booth rode out with him and his men: so, one thing accomplished.. .this letter of
WatsonJs proves Booth was not with us when we found the two dead people.
Now, considering the fact there was another gun (and I had not believed there was on account of
Watson^s previous testimony....if there be any truth about both Mr. and Mrs. Andersons
fingerprints being on the gun...Booth could have entered, shot Anderson while he was asleep
and mother in the bathroom,...mother could have gotten a gun (only goodness knows how, unless
Mr0 Anderson was on the alert and hide the gun on his person as Watson thinks probable) and
mother fired at Booth...for Booth said there had been a struggle.«.however, in thinking back about
his remarks, there could have been no struggle involving Mr. Anderson, for he was shot in his
sleep,..and Booth could have placed by motherts hand the gun she used to shoot at him, missing
him. o „ then grabbed the gun upon which mother*s blood was bound to have been... dashed with it
to the bathroom to clean off, as well as wash blood off of himself, dash down the back stairs
without having to return to the bedroom.«. could even have hidden the gun (for no search was made
for one.later picked up) but entering the alley, hearing the sirens, stepped in time on the
porch, greeted Will Fritz, and carried on from there, in this case, if mother put up a ffeht,
as X had reason to believe, after finding those bullet holes in the window casing and door frame. *.
then her prints would have been on the gun . and that be the gun Booth placed at her hand, having
overpowred her, held her down, placed the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger* aa if there
were two guns ..and those gun shells under the rug would have ind8cated this... then this is how
Booth got by, taking one with him, washing the blood from him, tossing the towel back of the
bathtub and going out the back door while I wss screaming my head off at the front entrance.
All of this still makes it impossible for my mother to have been lying so neatly, with her gown
aroundher ankles or below her knees unexposed.,. someone had touched her and straighted her
out after she ^ as killed,, .and In some way that bloody towel had to be accounted for!
I can just simply pray that this thing will weigh so much upon Booth, even that he will think him-
self so samrt he can write a book or leave evidence to catch him..., even like claiming murders
he got away with.. .1 just pray with all my heart that God will make this thing weigh on the hearts
of all involved^ even that my own aunt would come forward with knowledge I believes she possesses;
in some manner X believe there will be a break through.. .and this I pray for, trusting God! If
this does not prove out as X claim, one might well say how would anything else prove out correct!
I recall the story of my baby sister, Mamie Elizabeth, dozing that morning in study hall, then sud-
denly she began to cry out things like this: "Mother, Mother! X see blood! battle! gun shots I I
see blood!" She was taken to the prinicipaPs office and kept there, being questioned; then returned
to her next class. Then came the call for her to come home...her mother was dead! This happen-
ing has often been quoted as proof of the ESP experkence she had at time of her mothers death.
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Hackworthe, Johnnie Mae. [Letter from Johnnie Mae Hackworthe to Captain Will Fritz, November 22, 1966], letter, November 22, 1966; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth338295/m1/51/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Municipal Archives.