MY BROTHER EDGAR ALLEN OWEN

 

MY BROTHER EDGAR ALLEN OWEN

It was April 23, 1942. World War Two was raging in the Pacific.  My Uncle Edward had just been ordered overseas to fight with his unit. It was  just beginning to warm up a little after a cold and snowy winter. My Mama was in the kitchen putting pinto beans in a new cooker with a copper bottom. She had soaked the beans the night before in a large yellow jewel bowl  and before putting them in the cooker, she had sat down by the kitchen table  in a straw seated chair and done a familiar  ritual. She called it looking  the beans.

She took a handful of beans and put them in her white apron trimmed in blue corn flowers. It was her favorite among many that she had sewed from flower sacks. When she bought flour, she always chose either white or calico bags. The children sported pretty calico shirts  hand sewn by loving hands. As she looked at the beans, she picked out small black rocks. She placed the clean beans a handful at a time in the new cooker.

As she rose from the chair to add water to the beans, she felt a sharp pain. She held her stomach until the pain passed and began pouring water over the beans. After she covered the beans with water, she placed a chunk of salt pork on the counter and scored it with a butcher knife. The blade of the butcher knife was worn down to a narrow blade, but it remained sharp. It had chopped up various kinds of things over the years. It had a wooden handle with brass rivets. She recalled buying it years ago from the company store in Rosman.

Suddenly she doubled over with another sharp pain worse than the one before. She called out to her daughter Thelma and Thelma rushed into the kitchen. Would you get the beans cooking? I am having some pains, and I need to lie down for a minute.

Thelma put the new cooker with the beans and water on the wood stove and added some more sticks to the burner. She stirred the beans good and added the salt pork or what Mama liked to call the fat back to the beans and covered the pot with the silver lid with a wooden knob on top.

When Thelma returned to the living room, Mama was lying on the couch holding onto her stomach. Are you all right Mama? Yes, I think the baby is coming. Go to Mama’s and call the doctor. Mama has the number.

Thelma ran out the dirt driveway, down the hill, and up Frozen Creek Road to her Grandma’s house. Grandma called the doctor and then quick walked with Thelma back to the house. The labor pains were getting worse and more frequent and Mama’s forehead had beads of sweat. Grandma got a cold washcloth and placed in on Mama’s forehead.

About 45 minutes later, the Doctor came in his old 39 Buick Coupe. He ordered everybody out of the room except for Grandma and soon a loud cry came from the living room and Edgar Allen Owen entered the world. It was April 23, a Thursday at 3: 43 in the afternoon.

Edgar lived most of his life along Frozen Creek Road in Transylvania County. He grew up alongside the creek known as Frozen Creek. It was a shallow creek that seldom was deeper than knee deep in the bends of the creek. It emptied into the French Broad River just below Edgar’s trailer house.

It was 67 years since my Mama lay on the couch giving birth. Edgar had  lived a rough life. It was November of 2009, and the weather was getting colder. Edgar had a dog that growled with a menacing sound if anyone approached Edgar’s trailer house. Edgar took the dog some pork chop bones and some leftover biscuits and cornbread. The dog jumped up on Edgar and tried to lick his face, but Edgar scolded the dog , pushed him down and told it to eat. As the dog ate, Edgar rubbed his head and ears. The breeze picked up, and Edgar went back into the house. He settled into his favorite chair and popped the lid on a can of Schlitz beer. He picked up his book, found the dog-eared page, and continued reading a Science Fiction story.

Since his wife, Faye died, Edgar seldom left home. When he received his Widower’s check at the third week of each month, he would drive his pickup down to Rosman to his cousin Phillip’s store and cash the check. Each time, he loaded a twelve pack of beer in his truck and drank one on his way back to his trailer house.

On the morning of November 23^rd, Edgar woke up. His book was on the floor, and a can of beer had spilled on his lap.  The twelve pack of beer from the day before sat on the floor by his chair. There was three left unopened. The empty cans were stacked around his chair. He struggled to his feet and splashed some water on his face. He had a hangover headache. He broke off a piece of cornbread that was on a plate in the kitchen and drank a cold cup of leftover coffee. He decided to make a new pot of coffee, and he fumbled through the cupboard and found a filter. He measured four tablespoons of Folgers in the coffee pot and added water up to the bottom of the filter holder.  He put the pot on the left front burner as the right front had stopped working.

When the coffee was done, he removed the pot and filled his stained coffee cup to the brim. As he made his way back to his chair, he spilled some of the coffee. He liked it boiling hot. He drank a big gulp of coffee and sat it down by his chair and his book. He popped the lid on a beer and was sipping on it while he read his book. He was on page 237 when someone began knocking on his door. A few people knew when his Social Security check arrived and he had visitors around that time.

He pushed himself into a standing position and hobbled to the door. He opened the door and three people were outside. Hey, Uncle Ed said the girl. We are fixing to go to town and wanted to know if you needed anything. Well, I could use a twelve pack, and I need a can of Carnation cream for my coffee. I forgot to get it yesterday. Hold on, I will get my billfold.

As Edgar  went to the kitchen  counter where he normally kept his billfold, the three people entered his house. He opened his billfold and removed a twenty-dollar bill. The girl took the twenty and said, Uncle Ed, Would you loan me ten dollars? I have to buy a coat for my daughter. Someone took her coat at school, and it is getting colder. I can pay you back when I receive my disability check. Edgar took another 20-dollar bill from his billfold and handed it to her. The big guy saw the money in Edgar’s billfold and said, “I could use a twenty also. Edgar looked at him and said, “I don’t even know you. The big guy grabbed Edgar and pushed him toward the open door. Edgar swung and hit the guy in his eye with his right fist. The big guy pushed Edgar out the door. Edgar fell down the steps onto the ground and as he was getting to his feet, both of the men hit him. Edgar staggered and turned to fight back. The smaller man had picked up a stick of stove wood, and he brought it down hard on the side of Edgar’s head behind his ear.  Edgar fell to the ground unconscious. The girl said, “Is he dead”?

Well, if he’s not, he soon will be said the big guy. You get his wallet. Edgar was dragged over to his pickup and thrown in the back.

The girl came out of the trailer with Edgar’s wallet in her hand. Oh God, what are we going to do now?

We will put him in the creek said the smaller man. What good is that going to do asked the big man? Well, everybody knows that he goes to town to get beer. We will turn the truck around as if he is coming back from town, drive it off the road and put him in the creek. When he is found, they will think he was drunk and tried to walk across the creek to his trailer and that he fell in and drowned.

They drove down the road in Edgar’s truck and turned around. Just as they got close to the creek, they run the truck off the road. The big man pulled Edgar out of the back of the truck and hauled him off the bank down to the creek. He placed Edgar in the creek face down. The girl said, turn him around where he is facing down the creek toward the river.

Edgar was found within a few feet of where he was placed in the creek. The Rosman Rescue Squad was called. One of the squad members was going to get Edgar out of the creek but the leader said that they had to call the Medical Examiner to come to the scene. They placed a call to the Medical Examiner, and he said if it was an accident he did not need to visit the scene. He instructed the Rescue Squad to bring Edgar to the Brevard Hospital.

At the Hospital, a gurney was brought out, and Edgar was wheeled into an examining room. The Doctor came in and asked where Edgar was found. I know of him said the Doctor, he is a drunk. He probably run off the road and tried to cross the creek to get to his house and then fell and drowned. He checked the bruises on Edgar’s head and the scratches on his arms. Then he took a vial of blood from Edgar’s carotid artery and had a nurse call Moody Connally Funeral Home to come and get Edgar. The Rescue squad leader asked if there would be an autopsy. It would be a waste of money on a drunk and according to the way he was found, it was an accident. I will notify the Sheriff, and he will have someone question you all. The Doctor went home.

In North Carolina, state law on an unattended death, an autopsy is supposed to be conducted to determine the cause of death. No autopsy was conducted. At the funeral home, Edgar was washed and his clothes were discarded. According to the Funeral Director, the clothes were torn and soiled so they were thrown away. The worker who prepared Edgar for a funeral took a paste and filled the indention in Edgar’s head and placed his hair over the wound.

It was a cold November day and according to the Sheriff, based on what the Medical Examiner said , Edgar died from accidental drowning. Edgar was later exhumed and sent to Raleigh for an autopsy. The autopsy report could not determine a cause of death but noted that there was no water in Edgar’s lungs. The blood sample taken by the Medical Examiner showed a high degree of alcohol.   The scratches were described as injuries that occurred when Edgar allegedly walked through brushes to get to the creek. The bruises were described as possibly happening  when Edgar fell into the creek and possibly hit a rock.

On November 27, 2009, at the 2:00 p.m.  viewing of Edgar at the funeral home, my brother Gerald went to the casket and noticed some of the makeup paste on Edgar’s hair. He put his hand on the spot, and the soft paste gave way to a deep wound on the side of

Edgar’s head by his ear. Gerald stood at the coffin and leaned over and told Edgar, “We will find out who did this”. He then reached in his pocket and took out his yellow case knife and placed it in Edgar’s hand.  Our brother Harold had given each of his brothers a case knife and Edgar had lost his.

Gerald and I had several reward posters printed and hung them on bulletin boards throughout the county. The perpetrators at that time were not ready to turn on each other but a lot of time has passed. This November 23, it will be 16 years since my brother Edgar was killed for a few dollars. There was no interest in the Sheriff’s office in pursuing even a cursory investigation. I wrote the DA, and he showed no interest. In fact, he responded that I was trying to threaten him. I wrote to the State Bureau of Investigation, and they claimed that they could not get involved unless the county law enforcement or the DA asked them .

 

Gerald and I have a fairly good idea of who was responsible but no solid proof. After all this time, I believe that the killers have talked about the killing to others, and they are feeling pretty safe. They have probably bragged about what they did to relatives or friends. I don’t think they will come forward to collect a reward unless they can strike a deal for immunity for informing on the others. But someone they talked to about killing my brother might be tempted to collect  a reward and testify against the killers.  There are no secrets in Transylvania County. Somebody knows exactly what happened to my brother Edgar sixteen years ago. Edgar would be 83 now if he were still alive. I can  almost feel Edgar telling me and Gerald that we still can find out who killed him.

So, I am going to post a $5000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of one or more of the killers. If we can get one of them, they may be willing to rat out the other two for a lighter sentence. I have nothing but disgust for the Medical Examiner who showed no respect for Edgar. I am not surprised at the inefficiency and lack of interest in the Sheriff’s office as it is filled with untrained and inexperienced people.  The DA is the worst of them all. I begged him to request the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI)  to look at all the inconsistencies and do an actual professional investigation. All Edgar wanted to do was to drink his beer and read his Science Fiction books. He bothered no one and he was continually ripped off of his meager funds by dead beats and no good takers. He was always willing to help people and would give a shirt off his back to someone in need. He did not deserve to die the way he did. He lived alongside Frozen Creek all his life and for someone to tell me that he drowned in that shallow water drunk or sober makes my blood boil.

My brother Gerald is in bad shape health wise, but he will help me get reward posters out. He , like me, knows Edgar was murdered, Edgar would expect no less. I think of him often and in dreams, he tells me to keep trying. I will.

Edgar’s bones rest at Whitmire Cemetery in Lake Toxaway but his spirit and soul are free. The truth needs to come out and then maybe  my brother Edgar’s soul will be at peace.