Swope Hyde Murder Trial reenactment as staged by the Jackson County Historical Society at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence Missouri. 2010. Image courtesy of the Jackson County Historical Society. JCHS Image No. PHM 17499 A

By way of introduction, my name is Col. Thomas Hunton Swope, Deceased.

Honestly, it’s not bad being dead. You can be whatever age you want, grow hair on your

head, smoke cigars and drink whisky, and they can’t kill you. What I don’t know is what

did kill me. This takes me back nearly 117 years to October 3, 1909, the date of my

death, and when I was nearly 82 years old. Whatever caused my death, murder or

coincidence, remains unsettled.

Colonel Thomas Hunton Swope. Image courtesy of the Jackson County Historical Society. JCHS Image No. PHM 4887

My life was that of an “ole fool”; Yes, despite myself, I became a millionaire, not

from my own doings but by my mistakes. My first pronounced foolishness was

purchasing land south of Westport Landing on the Missouri River at $250 per acre. An

editor of the local paper in 1855 wrote that “fools are not all dead yet, as one just paid

$250 an acre for a cornfield near Kansas City.”

My goal was to build residential houses, but the editor was correct, as my

property did not develop as I had intended. Two lots I couldn’t even sell—one was a hole

in the ground and the other an ugly clay hill. Despite my failed efforts, the clay-hilled

land became an office building, from which I earned ground rents of about $50,000 a

year. The remainder of the property grew into the central business district of Kansas City,

named Swope’s Additions, and was my million-dollar acreage of steel and concrete.

I might have been prescient in claiming Kansas City would grow to a population

of two million folks, but I was foolish in proclaiming it would only grow south, believing

the Missouri River would hinder growth north of the river. Boy, was I an ‘ole fool,’ as the

city today extends well north and south of the “Muddy Mo.”

Throughout my life, I remained a solitary bachelor, never marrying or having

children. I just wasn’t comfortable around the tender gender. It’s not that I didn’t think

about women, but my preference was drinking whiskey, smoking cigars, and medicating

myself for dyspepsia. Frankly, it was best to schedule a meeting with me in the morning,

as I’d be passed-out drunk by early afternoon in my office in the New England Life

Building in downtown Kansas City.

Despite my fortunes, money was not so important to me. I preferred making

charitable contributions. I gave land to the Gillis House to build an orphanage, to the city

to develop Hospital Hill, and of course, the 1,331 acres donated to the city for Swope

Park. There were many other charities that became my beneficiaries to the point that I

was known as the city’s “Great Benefactor.”

Nearing the time of my death, I fretted over the final distribution of my vast

fortune (today it would be valued at around $235 million). I constantly thought of

changing my estate for donative purposes to charities, but I died before implementing

these changes. This left the bulk of my estate going to my 10 nieces and nephews,

including my niece, Frances Swope Hyde.

Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde. Image courtesy of the Jackson County Historical Society. JCHS Image No. PHL 20500

Now, back to the point of my death. It would be bullish if someone could assist in

determining whether my niece’s husband, Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde, murdered me by

poison to gain my fortunes, or whether my death was just that of an old man in declining

health. Since I always enjoyed reading, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Robert

Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, my death proves the adage that ‘truth is

stranger than fiction,’ as my story remains shrouded in mystery.

Countless historical commentaries, newspaper stories, books, podcasts, law review

articles, and journals have been written about my demise, along with the deaths of my

cousin, Col. Moss Hunton, my nephew, William Chrisman Swope, and the near-death of many other

relatives from a devastating typhoid epidemic that broke out in the Swope mansion owned by

my late brother, Logan, and his widow, Margaret (Chrisman) Swope, on Pleasant Street in

Independence. These mysteries occurred during the fall and winter of 1909

and continue to remain among the greatest unsolved “murder mysteries” in

American history.

Swope Mansion. Image courtesy of the Jackson County Historical Society. JCHS Image No. PHL 26578

Believe it or not, there have also been numerous mock trials held in Kansas

City and Independence trying to solve the mystery of my death. I anxiously

followed these mock trials hoping for a resolution.

The first mock trial was held at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Law

School in January 1996 under the direction of the late Professor and Dean

Patrick Kelly. Dean Kelly studied the 1910 murder trial of Dr. Hyde and

presented a mock trial to the public. The “jury” was unable to reach a decision.

The Jackson County Historical Society (JCHS) in conjunction with Jackson County

Executive Katheryn Shields and the Missouri State Archives, in its series “Verdict of

History,” retried Dr. Hyde at Union Station in Kansas City twice on October 3 and 8, 2000.

Federal Judge Scott Wright portrayed Bailiff William McClanahan, and Judge Steve

Nixon served as trial judge Ralph Latshaw.

The prosecutors were Missouri Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff, as

Jackson County Prosecutor Virgil Conkling; attorney Aaron J. Racine, as

Jonathon M. Atkinson; and Judge Michael Manners, as special prosecutor

James A. Reed.

Dr. Hyde’s defense team consisted of Judge Charles Atwell, as John H. Lucas;

Judge J.D. Williamson, as Frank P. Walsh; and attorney Ken McClain, as Jim

Alwyard. The prosecution witnesses were attorney David L. Barber, as

Probate Court Clerk Oscar Cogwell; State Representative Dennis J. Bonner, as pharmacist Hugo Brecklein;

Ms. Debra Buckle, R.N., as Nurse Pearl Virginia Kellar; attorney Dan C. Sanders, as attorney John Paxton; Ms.

Nancy Eppert, as Mrs. Margaret (Chrisman) Swope; and Dr. Charles Wheeler, as Dr. Ludvig Hektoen.

The defense witnesses were Mr. Jim Beckner, as my office manager Sylvester

Spangler; attorney Marilyn Shapiro, as Mrs. Frances Swope Hyde; and Dr.

Michael E. Monaco, as the defendant Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde.

Ralph A. Monaco, II, served as the narrator portraying yours truly. Once

again, these mock trials failed to reach a consensus on the guilt or innocence

of Dr. Hyde.

Perhaps it was most appropriate for Dr. Hyde to be “retried” a third time, and in the

100th anniversary year of that first trial back in the spring of 1910. The third mock retrial was

a joint effort between UMKC Law School and JCHS. The retrials were held on Friday, June

11, 2010, at the law school for Kansas City area attorneys and judges, providing continuing

legal education (“CLE”) credit hours (even ethics CLE hours—something overlooked in the

1910 trial), and on Saturday, June 12, 2010, at the Truman Memorial Building in

Independence. It was proper to hold the retrial in Independence, as it was in that historic city where the

strange stories first began back in the fall of 1909.

The assembled cast included many from the 2000 mock trials, along with

new members. Judge John Torrence portrayed trial Judge Ralph Latshaw,

while attorney Terrance M. O’Malley served as Bailiff William McClanahan.

The prosecutors were attorney Ben Mann, as Jackson County Prosecutor

Virgil Conkling; attorney Aaron J. Racine, as Henry Yost; and Judge Michael

Manners, who reprised his role as special prosecutor, James A. Reed.

Dr. Hyde was defended in these mock trials by Judge Jack Grate, as John H. Lucas;

Judge J.D. Williamson reprising his role as Frank P. Walsh; and attorney R. Scott Smith, as

Jim Alwyard.

The prosecution witnesses were attorney David L. Barber, once again as Probate

Court Clerk, Oscar Cogwell; State Representative Dennis J. Bonner, again as pharmacist

Hugo Brecklein; Ms. Gloria Smith, as Nurse Pearl Virginia Kellar; attorney Dan C. Sanders,

reprising his role as attorney John Paxton; Dr. Don Potts, as Dr. Ludvig Hektoen; and Ms.

Shirley Wurth, as Mrs. Margaret (Chrisman) Swope.

The defense witnesses were Mr. Gregg Higginbotham, as my office manager,

Sylvester Spangler; County Legislator Theresa Garza, as Mrs. Frances Swope Hyde; and Dr.

Michael E. Monaco, again as defendant Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde.

Ralph A. Monaco, II served as the narrator trying to portray me. The jury at UMKC

law school was unable to find Dr. Hyde guilty, while the jury at the Truman Memorial

Building seemed to have found Dr. Hyde guilty.

I have learned that this August UMKC Law School and JCHS are collaborating once

again to retry Dr. Hyde. The first mock trial will be held on Thursday, August 27, at 6:30

p.m., at the Truman Memorial Building, and the second will be held at noon on Friday,

August 28, at the law school. Assembled for these mock trials are former and new

participants.

This time around, retired Judge John Torrence will reprise his role as trial judge,

Ralph Latshaw, the mayor of Raytown, and Michael McDonough is portraying Bailiff William

McClanahan.

The State prosecutors serving to convict Dr. Hyde will include Judge Atwell, as Jackson County Prosecutor

Virgil Conkling; attorney Aaron J. Racine, this time as John H. Atwood; and retired Judge Michael Manners is

reprising for the third time his role as special prosecutor, James A. Reed.

Dr. Hyde is to be defended by attorney J.R. Hobbs, as Frank P. Walsh; Judge Cory

Adkins of Division 17, as John H. Lucas; and attorney R. Scott Smith, again as Jim Alwyard.

The State’s prosecution witnesses to be called will be attorney Donald J. Quinn, as

Probate Court Clerk Oscar Cogwell; Dr. Matt Mallinson, as pharmacist Hugo Brecklein; Ms.

Gloria Smith, in her new role as Mrs. Margaret (Chrisman) Swope; Ms. HeatherAnne

Norbury from UMKC Law School, as Nurse Pearl Virginia Kellar; attorney Dan C. Sanders,

reprising for the third time his role as attorney John Paxton; and attorney Gary Willnauer, as

Dr. Ludvig Hektoen.

The defense witnesses are to include Mr. Gregg Higginbotham, once again as Sylvester Spangler; Judge

Michelle Cocayne of Division 6, as Mrs. Frances Swope Hyde; and Dr. Michael E. Monaco will, for the third

time, portray Dr. Hyde.

The 2026 Reenactment will take place at the Truman Memorial building on Thursday, August 27. Tickets are available at jchs.org.

I am also told that attorney Ralph A. Monaco, II, will reprise his narrator’s role as

me. Hopefully, the juries at the Truman Memorial Building and at UMKC law school will

finally determine whether Dr. Hyde murdered me.

It is unquestioned that the strange cases surrounding my death, the deaths of Col.

Moss Hunton and William Chrisman Swope, and the typhoid epidemic outbreak in the

household of the matriarch, Mrs. Margaret (Chrisman) Swope, a Mansion Veiled in

Tragedies, continues to garner interest. Please join me this August in serving as jurors in

these mock trials of Dr. Hyde for my alleged murder.

History of the Mock Trials of Thomas Hunton Swope, By Col. Swope, Deceased (or Ralph A. Monaco, II) (1827 - 1909)

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