Unsolved homicide advocate filing RICO case
Justice for Gertrude, Part 4
Forty-one years after Tulsa’s Gertrude Marshall Blakey was beaten to death in her midtown doorway, summons are going out to a multitude of attorneys and organizations as filing is imminent in Federal Court on civil claims including a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) case, Breach of Fiduciary Duty on behalf of the Trustees and Minority Shareholder Oppression claims specific to the TH Rogers Lumber Company, Blakey’s family business.
Jami K. Elison, Esquire, said “I’m engaged by the Mabel R. Marshall Trust and Marshall Johnson as trustee and as an individual to investigate and pursue claims and remedies related to the murder, ensuing cover-up and acts taken to exploit or gain advantages from the murder including — trust invasions, minority shareholder oppression, misappropriations, and other related wrongful acts.”
Elison is a former federal court of appeals clerk and litigator with over 20 years of civil trial experience in multiple federal and state courts. Filings in this matter will be made in Federal District Court in Washington State. Trustee Johnson has been living in the State of Washington since 2019.
In an exclusive interview with this writer, Elison said, “The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) has not responded to Open Records Act requests from 2021 and 2022 pertaining to the Blakey matter except for a single communication in June of 2021 that included mention of a nondescript ransomware hack that allegedly occurred May 8, 2021.
“Based on current information from TPD publications no charges were ever filed and the matter has long been designated a cold case.
“Claims arise about interested parties parties invading the crime scene immediately after the coroner’s finding that the death was a homicide and court documents raise a question of a fraud perpetrated on the probate court. The house that was the crime scene was sold when the matter was presumably under investigation,” Elison said.
The current owners of the house, Tulsa Attorney Sam Daniel and Judge Millie Otey purchased it on June 7, 1982 after Gertrude’s death October 21, 1981 (Executor’s Deed #88127, Book 462, Page 377). Johnson, in his private investigation, contacted Daniel by telephone last in 2021 and, in response, Daniel and Otey filed a stalking complaint with TPD and requested a Protective Order (PO) to prevent further contact. That request was not granted.
This writer interviewed Daniel and published the first story on this case in August 2022, in which Daniel said, “I just want this guy to leave us alone. But if he is calling you to continue this harassment then I am going to do something about it. I don’t know what, but I take this very seriously. I have put up with this for a long time as well as have several other very prominent attorneys and government officials in this town. I don’t want to tell you how to do your business, but I would definitely ask you not to publish anything about this. This is a very problematic situation.
“We have a right to ask for a PO and if the court decides to grant it, that is the court’s decision. Like I said, we feel very much harassed and stalked by this guy. There is a lot more to this that I don’t have the time or desire to go into… It is a slander, and it is harassment. I am very, very, very serious about it. I appreciate you calling, because if you have knowledge of this, then you and I are going to be talking again about it,” Daniel added.
This writer has not heard from Daniel since that interview, but the description of issues Elison details may be the issues Daniel refers to as “a very problematic situation.” To read the first story in this series, Justice for Gertrude, Part 1, click here.
Another related party, Beth Kennedy Dunkin, told this reporter “I have been told not to talk with you. I’m 80 years old, and I do not care to talk to you if you’d like to look further you may call Mr. Daniel or an attorney.”
The Tulsa Attorney who served some 25 years as the Trustee of the Mabel Marshall Trust, Allen Smallwood was also interviewed by this writer. Smallwood said, “I represented [Ann Elder] in some criminal accusations, yes. I was the Trustee of the [Mabel Marshall] Trust and that was the first time I met Ann, in 1981, and she had some criminal issues after that in which I represented her.”
Ann Elder was Gertrude’s daughter, an enterprising criminal and lifestyle druggie with a trust fund. For more about the family read Justice for Gertrude, Part 2, click here for that story.
Smallwood said, “I foolishly agreed to take over as Trustee and did that until 2008 – 2009. For the grand sum of $2,500 a year, I put up with a lot – hundreds of phone calls from Ann Elder. She was just bad, and why I stayed in the thing, I don’t know, but I did.”
Johnson has had many conversations with Smallwood over the years on trust issues and as Johnson worked to discover facts on the unsolved homicide of his grandmother, he sought answers from anyone that could possibly know anything. Johnson admits he lost patience when people were not forthcoming with the facts or disingenuous in their answers. Smallwood does have a court issued permanent protective order against Johnson.
“The major problem that Marshall [Johnson] and I had,” Smallwood said, “He considered himself to be a beneficiary and that he and his siblings had a right to a portion of anywhere between $45,000 and $100,000 a year in proceeds, which were distributed semi-annually. We had two judges construe that Trust agreement. I see Ann Elder as the only direct beneficiary during her lifetime and her children as contingent beneficiaries. Correct me if I am wrong. Both Judges Edward Hicks and David Winslow said [Ann] is the only beneficiary during her lifetime.
“Marshall would never accept that and he said he was going to sic all kinds of lawyers and accountants on me, and I said bring them on, but bring a checkbook because you are going to end up paying attorney’s fees if you do this. He even went to the U.S. Attorney’s office as late as a year ago – nine months or so trying to get them to indict me for something… Those findings are in the Trust file if you want to go find that thing. I assume that is still available. I think Marshall ended up being the Trustee after everybody died,” Smallwood said.
Taking seriously Attorney Smallwood’s advice, this writer checked the Mabel Marshall Trust which states in Article IV (c) “From and after the death of Mabel R. Marshall and my daughter, Gertrude M. Blakey, the Trustee shall, preferably monthly, pay or credit such portion of the income of this Trust to and among my said granddaughter, Ann Lee Blakey and her then living issue so long as my said granddaughter shall live, as in the exclusive discretion of the Trustee is necessary or proper for the care, comfort, support, medical attention, maintenance and education of said beneficiary or beneficiaries; provided, however, if Ann shall have additional issue all such issue shall become a beneficiary hereunder in the same manner and to the same extent as the other issue of Ann.”
As this writer wrote in mid-October, apparently Smallwood, as Trustee, missed that section and stands corrected on the public record now soon to face court questioning. For more of that interview and a tape recording of Ann Elder and her daughter Carrie talking about Gertrude’s murder, read “Killer Recording and Corrected Trustee, Justice for Gertrude, Part 3” by clicking here.
Elison said, “Documents show patterns of invasions into the Mabel R. Marshall Trust by a series of trustees, interim and appointed. Court documents also raise a question of a fraud perpetrated on the probate court.
“Claims exist for heirs to Gertrude Blakey involving trust invasions and minority shareholder oppression as pertaining to trust positions in the TH Rogers Lumber Company,” Elison added.
T.H. Rogers, with his wife, Nevada Wolfe Rogers, began a lumber business in Missouri in 1896 and then moved to Oklahoma City. He incorporated in 1901. Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
T.H. Rogers had three daughters one of which had no children. Those having heirs are Ada Justine Rogers Kennedy and Mabel Wolfe Rogers Marshall. Ada’s husband, William Bernard Kennedy worked for his father-in-law in management of the lumber company. Mabel Marshall lived in Oklahoma City and her daughter, Gertrude Caroline Marshall, moved to Tulsa after graduation from college. Gertrude married Carl Walter Blakey and in 1944 they adopted Ann Lee Blaket as an infant.
Ann told her son, Marshall Johnson, she was raped by a Kennedy when she was twelve and that was the reason Mabel set up the Mabel Marshall Trust to formalize her permanent position as a part of the family. Ann died September 10, 2012.
“Claims exist for wrongful acts pertaining to concealment, cover-up, and other misdeeds related to both the murder investigation and minority shareholder oppressions. Positions in TH Rogers Lumber Company once held in trust for the benefit of identified heirs and beneficiaries have been extinguished in the years following the murder of Gertrude Blakey,” Elison said.
“Investigations have reached a point that cases are being prepared for filing. All claims arise or are related to the unsolved homicide,” Elison added.
After filing, this story will be updated online with a PDF of court documents.
Justice for Gertrude is going to court.
This story first appeared on Straight Up here on Substack and will later appear on Tulsa Today the oldest (Est. 1996) inquisitive conservative news service in the world.