On May 28, 1886, John Stephens borrowed a horse from his former employer, Charlie Whitefeather, and rode to the home of Anna Kerr, where he killed her and her son, Louis Winter. He then rode to the home of Dr. James T. Pyle, attacking and killing him and seriously wounding his wife. The incidents occurred near Bartlesville, Cherokee Nation.
Evidence at the scene pointed toward Stephens. When he was arrested, Stephens, who was Black, had Whitefeather’s horse.
Though no motive for the killings was established, speculation centered on the possibility that Kerr’s husband, from whom she was separated and on bad terms, had hired Stephens. Mr. Kerr was arrested but never charged. There was also evidence that Stephens had been involved in a previous dispute with Pyles.
John Stephens was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and sentenced to death on October 30, 1886. He was hanged on January 14, 1887.
The Federal Death Penalty Project 