George Hassell

Case record: George Hassell

Background

George Jefferson Hassell (July 1888 – February 2, 1928) was born in Smithville, Texas, and was the youngest of seven children. After his brother died by being kicked in the head by a mule, Hassell married his brother's widow, Martha Ferguson of Oklahoma.

The offence

On the night of December 5, 1926, Hassell and his wife argued over his involvement with Ferguson's under-aged daughter. Hassell struck his wife in the face repeatedly with a ballpeen hammer.

After the murder of his wife, Hassell moved between each member of the family's beds. He used a straight razor and stockings to kill them from youngest to oldest. He woke the two eldest boys, and a scuffle ensued, ending with Hassell killing them with a shotgun and an axe.

All of the bodies were stored in the newly dug root cellar by the house.

The victims were listed as Susie (age 41), Alton (age 21), Virgil (age 15), Maudie (age 13), Russell (age 11), David (age 7), Johnnie (age 6), Nannie Martha (age 4), and Samuel (age 22 months).

Investigation

Hassell claimed to the town he and his family were returning to Oklahoma and sold all of their belongings in a large yard sale.

During the auction, a wagon ran over the sinkhole and aroused the suspicion of law enforcement. Soon afterward, Hassell attempted suicide but survived. Excavations revealed the remains in the root cellar.

After Hassell confessed, a short trial was convened. Farwell soon took on a carnival atmosphere, as well as its sister city Texico, New Mexico.

A psychiatric report at the time characterized Hassell as a sociopath.

Arrest

Hassell was taken into custody after he attempted suicide but survived.

Trial

Hassell confessed and then went on trial in Farwell.

The jury took less than two hours to find him guilty and recommend the death penalty. Hassell was indifferent to the verdict and awaited the outcome of his appeal in a prison in Huntsville.

Sentencing

The jury recommended the death penalty. Hassell died in the electric chair on February 2, 1928.

Appeals

Hassell awaited the outcome of his appeal in a prison in Huntsville.

Outcome

On February 2, 1928, George Hassell died in the electric chair. He was the 27th man executed in the state of Texas.

In his last statement, Hassell declared:

"I would like to announce to the world that I am prepared to meet my God. I have made my confession to God and man--man does not understand it all, but God does."

Three shocks and eight minutes after he was strapped in the chair, he died.

Aftermath

The bodies were recovered and reburied in the Farwell cemetery, and it took the labor of every able-bodied man for miles around to dig nine side-by-side graves.

Other details

Hassell claimed to have quarreled with his wife and gone out to the barn and taken a drink of whiskey. When he returned, his wife began quarreling with him. He said:

"I grabbed a hammer, where it came from I do not know. I struck her and she fell to the floor."

He then stated that when he saw what he had done, he decided he had best go on and kill the whole outfit. He described:

"The 'outfit ' consisted of six more children."

He also described that the eighth and oldest child was away from home, and that he returned two days later and killed him with a shotgun, adding his body to the mass grave.

Almost immediately after being taken into custody, he gave a three-word confession:

"I did it."

He supplemented this with a written statement:

"I had just quarreled with my wife and gone out to the barn and taken a drink of whiskey. When I returned, my wife began quarreling with me. I grabbed a hammer, where it came from I do not know. I struck her and she fell to the floor. He then went on to detail how he killed the youngest child, which is too awful to repeat. When I saw what I had done, I decided that I had best go on and kill the whole outfit. The 'outfit ' consisted of six more children. The eighth and oldest was away from home. Sadly, he returned two days later, and George killed him with a shotgun and added his body to the mass grave."

Hassell elaborated that it was not the first time he had killed a woman and her children. He said he had done it to a “common-law” wife ten years before, named Marie Vogel, and that they were “joking” when he suddenly found himself choking her. He also stated that he choked her three children to death. Police officials in Whittier, California, where the murders took place, dug up the cellar of their former home and found the four bodies.

Two mental examinations found him sane.

The press accounts said there was no apparent motive for the murders, but Hassell’s confessions provided motive. Hassell admitted to the police that he had an “affair” with one of his nieces. The cause of his last argument with his last wife was his “intimacies” with her daughter.

Hassell enlisted in the merchant marines and served a prison term for desertion. He met, married, and divorced several women. He got a girl pregnant while still a teenager but abandoned her and their child.

An update stated that the Whittier Museum in Whittier, California, opened an exhibit on that city's crime history, including accounts of Hassell's annihilation of his California family. Frank Girardot of the San Gabriel Tribune wrote a feature on the exhibition, and a book about the Hassell case was in the works.

Timeline

• December 5, 1926 — Hassell murdered his wife and eight children in Farwell, Texas.
• February 2, 1928 — George Hassell was executed by electrocution in Texas.