The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2022

F rom T he P resident

The discovery occurred while the grand jury was continuing its inves tigation into the Nelson bombing. Three days earlier, the In Court Lounge, right across the street from the courthouse, was bombed. The proprietor theorized it was because grand jury witnesses had been “hanging around” there. No trial ever occurred over the bombing, and the exact motiva tion was never established. In 1973, McDonald was charged with the murder of Cleo Epps. Due to the extensive publicity and tie-in with the bombing of Judge Nelson, the case was moved to Bryan County. McDonald was convicted and sen tenced to life imprisonment but was murdered in prison on April 13, 1978. The next time you enter the courthouse and wait in line to pass through security, remember the “outlaw” days of days gone by. Remember that civics, civility and collaboration can lead us to a bet ter association and society. As my year as president comes to an end, I am grateful to everyone who has provided support and guid ance in each and every encounter. The incoming president, Brian Hermanson, and president-elect, Miles Pringle, will guide this organization to new heights. In closing, I ask you to reflect on those members who have brought you to this point in your legal career. I ask you to reflect on your own commitment to welcoming new, diverse lawyers into the fold of our organization. Each of us should dedicate our careers in law as a higher calling to achieve jus tice for all under the rule of law.

Incredibly, at the time, Oklahoma had no laws governing the sale of dynamite or explosives. Dubbed “Queen of the Bootleggers,” it was said that Cleo Epps controlled the moonshine traffic in several east ern Oklahoma counties during the 1940s and 1950s. According to the Tulsa Tribune article “Cleo Epps; Warm, Gentle Woman …,” Epps was very upset about the bomb ing, saying, “I never dreamed they’d do something like that … what if that little (Nelson) girl had gotten in the car with her daddy?” District Attorney S.M. “Buddy” Fallis Jr. persuaded Epps to appear anonymously before a grand jury investigating the bombing. The “Queen of the Bootleggers” was last seen on the evening of Nov. 12, 1970, when she left a friend’s house with McDonald. Eight days later, her pickup truck was found in the parking lot of Union Square Shopping Center. It wasn’t until Feb. 24, 1971, that her body was discovered in a remote area near the Creek County line.

continued from page 4 of the events surrounding the murder. As recounted in the book, Chub Anderson fled the Cross Bell Ranch after being shot himself and ran into a police officer who then drove Anderson to the Bartlesville hospital. On the way, Anderson told the officer that Mullendore had been shot by unknown intrud ers: “Chub said there were two men, one tall with a high forehead, gray haired and the other man was chunky and sort of curly-haired, dark …” Later, on page 327, Kwitny reports that Tulsa police received a tip from Cleo Epps, noted Tulsa bootlegger, that two men had come to Tulsa in the summer of 1970 looking to hire a professional killer. Osage authorities never got to question Epps as she disappeared in November 1970. Among the primary suspects in the Nelson bombing were Albert McDonald and Tom Lester Pugh. Cleo Epps was said to have given McDonald access to dyna mite she had buried on her farm.

The next time you enter the courthouse and wait in line to pass through security, remember the “outlaw” days of days gone by. Remember that civics, civility and collaboration can lead us to a better association and society.

NOVEMBER 2022 | 57

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL