Jeff, it's a very interesting (altho grizzly) story, but there are some things I don't understand, having spent many years in CA. Tehachapi is in Kern Co, and Mojave is in Riverside Co. While I think I remember that there's a highway from Four Corners that goes to Tehachapi, wouldn't it have been more logical to take her to Antelope Valley to the hosp? Mike IBSSG > [Original Message] > From: <ScismGenie@aol.com> > To: <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: 5/1/2002 3:15:04 PM > Subject: [BSChat] Spade Cooley Murder case > > Weird S cenes Inside the Goldmine > > Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley was charged with murder in the first degree. The > State of California charged that Spade "did willfully, on the night of April > 3rd, kick, > beat, and strangle Ella Mae Cooley, his wife." The crime took place at > Spade's plush desert ranch near the community of Mojave, during a "wild, > drunken attempt to > reconcile their wrecked marriage." > > Spade entered a plea of ''not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity." > Spade liked to dress in "some of those $500 handmade western suits, white > Stetson and a > string tie and expensive boots." > > 48 years old, Spade had money, n' plenty of money. The song that made him > rich was "Shame." Shame on You. Runnin' round with other guys, now you think > that's > mighty wise, dern your heart. Oh, Shame on You!" > > In Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Oakland, and back east, crowds flocked to > see and hear "The little man with a big talent in the land of > the jig-saw beat". > > Spade was starting an all-girl hillbilly-western band, and he was "God love > 'em, gonna put them girls on television. I'm gonna dress 'em up in > white leather with fringes and I'm gonna make > 'em stars no matter what anybody says. > > " Ella Mae "was just turned twenty" when the two wed. According to Spade, she > was "the purtiest little filly in California." > > The girl band didn't work and Spade's "Big Show" was canceled, so Spade > bought some Southern California San Fernando Valley Real Estate. A big chunk > of it. > > He took Ella Mae and his daughter Melody there to live and threw himself into > the Real Estate business. > > In the short months ahead, what had seemed to be an ideal love match turned > into hate. Spade filed for a divorce from Ella Mae. He charged > incompatibility and > won custody of Melody, 14 years, and Donnell, 12 years. > > Ten days later, shortly before midnight, on April 3rd, Mojave ambulance > driver Richard Stickel got a call. The erratic voice identified himself as > Spade Cooley. > Stickel said Cooley told him his Ella Mae was "bad hurt" and to come at once. > > > When he arrived at The Cooley ranch, Stickel said Cooley appeared to be in > shock. Two girls met him at the door and led him inside to Ella Mae, wrapped > in a > blanket. She was bloody and unconscious. > > At the nearby Tehachapi Valley hospital, Ella Mae was pronounced dead on > arrival. The hospital notified the sheriff's department. Cooley was picked > up. At first, he > told the cops the various bruises on Ella Mae's body were caused when she > fell from a car several days before. > > A few days later an announcement from Capitol Records said a song, entitled > 'Cold Gray Bars," written by Donnell (Spade) Cooley, now > in jail awaiting trial for murder, had been recorded > for national distribution." > > Spade's "little sweetheart," Melody, and his daughter-in-law, Dorothy Lee, > told the police a different story from the one Spade recounted. > Melody told the jury she was "called" to the ranch from a nearby home where > she had been staying since her parents separated. > > "When I entered, he (Spade) was on the phone. He was talking to his business > partner and he said, 'Don't call the police.' He was real > sweaty and he had blood spots on his pants. > > "He put down the phone and said, 'Come in here. I want you to see your > mother. She's going to tell you something.'" > > Melody continued: "He took hold of my arm and took me into the den. The > shower was running in the bathroom. Mother was in the shower. He opened the > door > and said, 'Get up. Melody's here. . . talk to her.' He grabbed her by the > hair and dragged her into the den with both hands. She was undressed. He > banged her head > on the floor twice. He called her a slut. She couldn't move. She seemed > unconscious. He turned back to Mother and said, 'We'll see if you're dead.' > Then he > stomped her in the stomach with his left foot. He took a cigarette which he > had been smoking and burned her twice." > > Melody said at this point the telephone began ringing, and when her father > went to answer it, she tried desperately to revive her mother with cold > water. She > couldn't. She said Spade came back into the room and told her not to "say > anything to the police or I might have to kill you." > > Then she shuddered, and said: "He told me, 'You're going to watch me kill > her, Melody. If you don't, I'll kill you too. I'll kill us all." When he > walked out of the room > again, the girl said she slipped out a side door and ran for her life. > > Spade's daughter-in-law, Dorothy Lee, told the jury she went to the ranch > later in the evening, and found Cooley wearing bloodstained clothing. She > said she left to > call her husband in Los Angeles. > > Eight days after the trial began, Spade's daughter-in-law brought his > five-year-old grandaughter into the courtroom to see him. > > When Spade saw the child, he bolted towards the big double > doors at the back of the room. > > Just before he got there two deputy sheriffs raced over, grabbed him and > slammed him against the wall. > > The room was in an uproar. The court bailiff roared an order. "Don't hurt > him. He's not trying to get away from us! Bring him back here." > > As the excited hubbub quieted down, the daughter-in-law quickly grabbed her > daughter and left the room by the side entrance. As she left the room the > crowd heard > the child ask: "Momma where was grandpa going?" > > The state rested its case. It was Spade's turn at the plate. He killed Ella > Mae in a fit of rage after she had revealed her involvement in a sex cult. He > refused to name > the cult itself, but his descriptions of acts of sodomy was a lurid, graphic > one. But this story didn't satisfy the Jury. > > On August 19, 1961, Cooley was found guilty of murder one. He had three > routes left: commitment to a State Institution for the Criminally Insane, San > Quentin > Prison--life imprisonment, or he would walk into a small octagon-shaped room > painted green. The Golden State uses gas instead of electricity for its legal > executions. > > On Aug. 22, after Spade had withdrawn an insanity plea and had waived a > penalty finding, Superior Judge William L. Bradshaw sentenced him to life > imprisonment. > Spade's defense attorney announced that he would appeal the conviction, > however the appeal was unsuccessful. > > > http://www.hotad.com/spade.HTML > > > > Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG, (http://blacksheep.rootsweb.com) > ~~ > Coordinator, C h u r c h i l l Nevada U S G e n W e b Site > Co-Coordinator, Inmontgo-L, Montgomery County, Indiana, U S G e n W e b Site > manager of the following Rootsweb Lists: > B l a c k s h e e p, L a n d e s, L a n d i s, P e f f l e y, S c i s m, E n > d i c o t t, > S h i p w r e c k, Inmontgo (Mont. Co. Indiana), NVChurch (Churchill Co. > Nv.) > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Creative use of your delete key is encouraged. 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