1. Ernest George Burkhart was an American murderer who participated in the Osage Indian murders as a hitman for his uncle William King Hale's crime ring.
15 Facts About Ernest Burkhart
1. 2.
Ernest Burkhart was convicted for the killing of William E Smith in 1926, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
3.
Ernest George Burkhart was born on September 11,1892, to a poor cotton farmer in Greenville, Texas.
4.
In 1912, aged nineteen, Ernest Burkhart moved into his uncle's ranch at Fairfax, Osage County, in search of fortune after the discovery of oil in the region.
5.
Ernest Burkhart later plotted to kill her to inherit the Kyle family's headrights and oil money, which was worth $7 million at the time.
6.
Ernest Burkhart had three children with Kyle: Elizabeth, James "Cowboy", and Anna.
7.
Ernest Burkhart fell ill, but soon discovered that Burkhart was poisoning her.
8.
Ernest Burkhart moved away to Pawhuska after the bombing of her sister's house and made a full recovery.
9.
Ernest Burkhart was apprehended immediately, but Hale could not be found.
10.
Ernest Burkhart was released on parole in 1937, after serving 11 years.
11.
In 1940, Ernest Burkhart was sentenced to seven years in prison and had his parole revoked.
12.
Ernest Burkhart died at the age of 94 on December 1,1986, in Cleveland, Oklahoma.
13.
Ernest Burkhart's death came on what would have been Mollie Kyle's 100th birthday.
14.
Ernest Burkhart's will stated that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread around the Osage Hills.
15.
Ernest Burkhart is a key figure in David Grann's 2017 nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon.