Blood & Orchids
Encyclopedia
Blood & Orchids is a 1986
made-for-TV
crime-drama film
. Written for the screen by Norman Katkov, it was an adaptation of Katkov's own novel
which, in turn, was inspired by the 1932 Massie Trial
in Honolulu, Hawaii
. It was typical of many crime dramas produced during the period.
for costuming and an Artios Award for casting.
in the US Navy
, fatally shoots one of them and later stands trial himself. The trial brings into stark relief the racial tensions that tear at the social fabric of Territorial Hawaii in the years prior to World War II
.
In 1937 Hawaii
, socialite
Hester Ashley Murdoch (Madeleine Stowe
) leaves an officers' dinner party at the US Naval
base in Honolulu in the company of a man who is not her husband (Lieutenant
Lloyd Murdoch, played by William Russ
), but rather Lt. Murdoch's best friend. The friend coldly announces that he is terminating their relationship, even though Hester is carrying his child. Outraged, she announces that she will tell her husband and the commanding admiral on the station. In retaliation, the friend beats her savagely and leaves her bloodied, battered body where it lies.
Four young Hawaiian men find her and take her to a hospital, this although they fear being blamed for the condition she is in because she is haole
(white) and they are native Hawaiian. At the hospital, Hester's mother Doris (Jane Alexander
) assumes that the Hawaiians are to blame, but Hester says, "It's nobody's fault; I was the pregnant one!" The shocked Doris tells her daughter that she must collaborate in Doris' campaign to blame the Hawaiians, saying that Hester must think of Doris' "position" in high society
. Accordingly, the four are charged with rape and assault—this although the only sexual intercourse that Hester had was consensual and not with any of the four.
Most of the law-enforcement officers involved, including the Honolulu Police Department
and the Navy Shore Patrol
, assume that the Hawaiians are guilty. But Detective Captain Curt Maddox (Kris Kristofferson
) is unconvinced. Meanwhile, the Hawaiians get a court-appointed attorney who strives valiantly to show that the four must be innocent of the crime, because of time-line conflicts with the best estimate of when the beating took place.
But the trial of the four ends abruptly and tragically when Lieutenant Murdoch, at the height of an at-the-bench discussion between the judge and the two opposing counsels, abruptly draws his service automatic and shoots the lead defendant twice in the head, killing him.
Now Murdoch must stand trial (in a civilian court) for murder in the first degree. Doris sends a wire to famed criminal attorney Walter Bergmann (Jose Ferrer
), who agrees to defend Lieutenant Murdoch against the murder charge. The pre-trial investigation is complicated by an affair between Detective Maddox and Mr. Bergmann's wife Leonore (Sean Young
).
The case is further complicated when a number of Navy petty officers, all friends of Murdoch, kidnap the three remaining Hawaiians, tie them in spread-eagle fashion to an improvised rack, and beat them to get them to confess to the original alleged rape and assault. In the course of that particular atrocity, the Navy men repeatedly use the expression "bilge," which (at least according to the film) is common Navy slang for useless information or known falsehood. The lawyer for the Hawaiians interviews the three, after they are brought to a hospital and unable to lie on their backs because of the severe beatings they have received. There they finally blurt out, "They said, 'Bilge!'" This gives the lawyer the vital clues he needs. Maddox follows up the clues and has the three arrested.
Murdoch's trial climaxes with Attorney Bergmann trying to sum up by saying that Murdoch's action was excusable. "Those animals beat her!" he cries—and then Hester, plagued by her conscience, blurts out, "They're innocent! They're innocent!" Although Bergmann roughly escorts her from the courtroom, the damage is done: Murdoch is convicted.
Subsequently, we see Doris engaging in a behavior called "brazening it out." She hires an interior decorator to redecorate her home. In the middle of her interview with the decorator, Detective Maddox arrives with a warrant for the arrests of Doris and Hester. Hester, crushed, rushes to her bathroom and hangs herself from the shower head. Doris discovers Hester's dead body and cries out in anguish—although whether that anguish is truly for losing her daughter or because this is the final shameful and devastating blow to her social position, the film leaves unresolved—and perhaps deliberately so.
of Lieutenant
Thomas Massie USN
, the real-life person that forms the basis of Lieutenant
Murdoch. Names of real-life persons have been changed, as follows:
In addition, new characters are added that have no verifiable real-life counterpart. For example, no historical warrant can be found for an HPD detective having any kind of romantic liaison with Clarence Darrow's wife.
This teleplay departs from historical events in many ways, as one can see by comparing the plot summary to the main article on the Massie Trial
. For example:
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
made-for-TV
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
crime-drama film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Written for the screen by Norman Katkov, it was an adaptation of Katkov's own novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
which, in turn, was inspired by the 1932 Massie Trial
Massie Trial
The Massie Trial for what was known as the Massie Affair, was a 1932 criminal trial that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grace Hubbard Fortescue, along with several accomplices, was charged with murder in the death of well known local prizefighter Joseph Kahahawai...
in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. It was typical of many crime dramas produced during the period.
Reception
This film was nominated for two awards, including one Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for costuming and an Artios Award for casting.
Plot
In 1937 Hawaii, four native Hawaiian men find a white woman, beaten nearly to death, and take her to a hospital—only to be charged later with her rape and assault. During their trial, the woman's husband, a LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, fatally shoots one of them and later stands trial himself. The trial brings into stark relief the racial tensions that tear at the social fabric of Territorial Hawaii in the years prior to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1937 Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Hester Ashley Murdoch (Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Mora Stowe is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in films such as Stakeout, Revenge, Unlawful Entry, The Last of the Mohicans, Blink, China Moon, 12 Monkeys, and We Were Soldiers...
) leaves an officers' dinner party at the US Naval
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
base in Honolulu in the company of a man who is not her husband (Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Lloyd Murdoch, played by William Russ
William Russ
William Russ is an American actor, best known for his role as Alan Matthews on Boy Meets World.-Early life:Russ was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is the son of a naval officer...
), but rather Lt. Murdoch's best friend. The friend coldly announces that he is terminating their relationship, even though Hester is carrying his child. Outraged, she announces that she will tell her husband and the commanding admiral on the station. In retaliation, the friend beats her savagely and leaves her bloodied, battered body where it lies.
Four young Hawaiian men find her and take her to a hospital, this although they fear being blamed for the condition she is in because she is haole
Haole
Haole , in the Hawaiian language, is generally used to refer to an individual that fits one of the following: "White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; American, English; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens"...
(white) and they are native Hawaiian. At the hospital, Hester's mother Doris (Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
) assumes that the Hawaiians are to blame, but Hester says, "It's nobody's fault; I was the pregnant one!" The shocked Doris tells her daughter that she must collaborate in Doris' campaign to blame the Hawaiians, saying that Hester must think of Doris' "position" in high society
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
. Accordingly, the four are charged with rape and assault—this although the only sexual intercourse that Hester had was consensual and not with any of the four.
Most of the law-enforcement officers involved, including the Honolulu Police Department
Honolulu Police Department
The Honolulu Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai'i, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP....
and the Navy Shore Patrol
Shore patrol
Shore patrol are service members that are provided to aid in security for the U.S. Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Marine Corps, and the British Royal Navy while on shore...
, assume that the Hawaiians are guilty. But Detective Captain Curt Maddox (Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
) is unconvinced. Meanwhile, the Hawaiians get a court-appointed attorney who strives valiantly to show that the four must be innocent of the crime, because of time-line conflicts with the best estimate of when the beating took place.
But the trial of the four ends abruptly and tragically when Lieutenant Murdoch, at the height of an at-the-bench discussion between the judge and the two opposing counsels, abruptly draws his service automatic and shoots the lead defendant twice in the head, killing him.
Now Murdoch must stand trial (in a civilian court) for murder in the first degree. Doris sends a wire to famed criminal attorney Walter Bergmann (Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
), who agrees to defend Lieutenant Murdoch against the murder charge. The pre-trial investigation is complicated by an affair between Detective Maddox and Mr. Bergmann's wife Leonore (Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
).
The case is further complicated when a number of Navy petty officers, all friends of Murdoch, kidnap the three remaining Hawaiians, tie them in spread-eagle fashion to an improvised rack, and beat them to get them to confess to the original alleged rape and assault. In the course of that particular atrocity, the Navy men repeatedly use the expression "bilge," which (at least according to the film) is common Navy slang for useless information or known falsehood. The lawyer for the Hawaiians interviews the three, after they are brought to a hospital and unable to lie on their backs because of the severe beatings they have received. There they finally blurt out, "They said, 'Bilge!'" This gives the lawyer the vital clues he needs. Maddox follows up the clues and has the three arrested.
Murdoch's trial climaxes with Attorney Bergmann trying to sum up by saying that Murdoch's action was excusable. "Those animals beat her!" he cries—and then Hester, plagued by her conscience, blurts out, "They're innocent! They're innocent!" Although Bergmann roughly escorts her from the courtroom, the damage is done: Murdoch is convicted.
Subsequently, we see Doris engaging in a behavior called "brazening it out." She hires an interior decorator to redecorate her home. In the middle of her interview with the decorator, Detective Maddox arrives with a warrant for the arrests of Doris and Hester. Hester, crushed, rushes to her bathroom and hangs herself from the shower head. Doris discovers Hester's dead body and cries out in anguish—although whether that anguish is truly for losing her daughter or because this is the final shameful and devastating blow to her social position, the film leaves unresolved—and perhaps deliberately so.
Cast
- Kris KristoffersonKris KristoffersonKristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
as Detective Captain Curtis "Curt" Maddox, HPD - Jane AlexanderJane AlexanderJane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
as Doris Ashley - Sean YoungSean YoungSean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
as Leonore Bergmann (Walter Bergmann's wife; see below) - Jose FerrerJosé FerrerJosé Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
as Walter Bergmann, Counsellor-at-law - Susan BlakelySusan BlakelySusan Blakely is an American film actress who has mainly played supporting roles.-Early life:Blakely was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1948. She is the daughter of Weezie, a former art teacher, and Colonel Lawrence Blakely, a career Army officer. Her first career break came while she was living...
as Marie Farrell - David ClennonDavid ClennonDavid Clennon is an American actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Miles Drentel in the ABC series Thirtysomething, a role he reprised on Once and Again....
as Philip Murray - George CoeGeorge CoeGeorge Coe is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for having been a cast member on the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live, as well as for his work on various television shows.-Career:...
as Dr. Lansing (who examines Hester) - Richard A. Dysart as Harvey Koster
- Elizabeth Lindsey as Sarah
- Haunani Minne as Princess Luahine (presumably a member of the deposed royal house of Hawaii. She breaks her self-imposed isolation to take up the cause of the four Hawaiians who are so ill-used by the haoleHaoleHaole , in the Hawaiian language, is generally used to refer to an individual that fits one of the following: "White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; American, English; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens"...
community) - William RussWilliam RussWilliam Russ is an American actor, best known for his role as Alan Matthews on Boy Meets World.-Early life:Russ was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is the son of a naval officer...
as LieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Lloyd Murdoch USNUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S... - James SaitoJames SaitoJames Tomio Saito is an American actor of stage, motion pictures, and television. He is best known for his physical portrayal of Shredder in the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; the character was voiced by David McCharen. Saito also appeared in films like The Devil's Advocate, Home Alone 3,...
as Halehone (the Hawaiian lawyer who represents the accused men) - Matt SalingerMatt SalingerMatthew Salinger is an American actor. He is the son of author J. D. Salinger and psychologist Claire Douglas.-Career:...
as Bryce Parker - Madeleine StoweMadeleine StoweMadeleine Mora Stowe is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in films such as Stakeout, Revenge, Unlawful Entry, The Last of the Mohicans, Blink, China Moon, 12 Monkeys, and We Were Soldiers...
as Hester Ashley Murdoch (Lloyd's wife) - Arthur RosenbergArthur RosenbergArthur Rosenberg was a German Marxist historian and writer.-Life:Born into a German Jewish middle class family in Berlin in 1889, he excelled at the Gymnasium before studying at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin with Otto Hirschfeld and Eduard Meyer. Soon, he established himself as an...
as Sergeant Jack Keller - Sandy McPeak as Rear AdmiralRear AdmiralRear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Glenn Langdon USNUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
(the district commandant)
Allusions to actual history
This film is based loosely on the trialMassie Trial
The Massie Trial for what was known as the Massie Affair, was a 1932 criminal trial that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grace Hubbard Fortescue, along with several accomplices, was charged with murder in the death of well known local prizefighter Joseph Kahahawai...
of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Thomas Massie USN
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, the real-life person that forms the basis of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Murdoch. Names of real-life persons have been changed, as follows:
- Lloyd Murdoch = Thomas Massie
- Doris Ashley = Grace Fortescue
- Hester Ashley Murdoch = Thalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue Massie was a member of a socially prominent family who became the genesis of a series of heavily publicized trials in Hawaii.-Family life:Thalia Fortescue was born February 14, 1911 in Washington, DC...
- Walter Bergmann = Clarence DarrowClarence DarrowClarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
- Halehone = Lawyer William Heen
- Princess Luahine = Princess Abigail KawananakoaAbigail Campbell KawananakoaAbigail Wahiikaahuula Campbell Kawānanakoa , was a politician and Princess of Hawaii.-Life:Abigail Campbell was born January 1, 1882 in Honolulu. Her father was James Campbell, one of the wealthiest industrialists in the Kingdom of Hawaii...
- Glenn Langdon = Rear AdmiralRear AdmiralRear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Yates Stirling, Jr. USNUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
In addition, new characters are added that have no verifiable real-life counterpart. For example, no historical warrant can be found for an HPD detective having any kind of romantic liaison with Clarence Darrow's wife.
This teleplay departs from historical events in many ways, as one can see by comparing the plot summary to the main article on the Massie Trial
Massie Trial
The Massie Trial for what was known as the Massie Affair, was a 1932 criminal trial that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grace Hubbard Fortescue, along with several accomplices, was charged with murder in the death of well known local prizefighter Joseph Kahahawai...
. For example:
- In the teleplay, the four accused of raping and assaulting Hester Murdoch are all Hawaiians. In fact, five men, of a variety of racial origins, were accused of raping and assaulting the real Thalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue Massie was a member of a socially prominent family who became the genesis of a series of heavily publicized trials in Hawaii.-Family life:Thalia Fortescue was born February 14, 1911 in Washington, DC...
. - Also in the teleplay, the four original defendants get into trouble because they took the stricken woman to the hospital. Actually, Massie was found by a passing car, driven by Eustace Bellinger, wandering along Ala Moana Road at 1:00 am. Mrs. Bellinger wanted to take Thalia directly to the hospital and call the police but she insisted they take her home instead. Later Thalia's husband called the police over her objections when he found she had a broken jaw. Horace Ida, Joseph Kahahawai, and their three friends were arrested earlier that night after assaulting a Hawaiian couple during a road rageRoad rageRoad rage is an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behavior might include rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats. Road rage can lead to altercations, assaults, and collisions...
incident, during which Joseph Kahahawai, a prizefighterPrizefighterA prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
, admitted punching the woman, Agnes Peeples. - The teleplay makes no mention of what the five were actually doing that night—namely, getting into an altercation with Homer and Agnes Peeples, a Hawaiian couple after they and the couple missed each other by inches in their respective automobiles at King and Liliha Streets at about 12:30 Sunday morning.
- The role of Princess Abigail KawananakoaAbigail Campbell KawananakoaAbigail Wahiikaahuula Campbell Kawānanakoa , was a politician and Princess of Hawaii.-Life:Abigail Campbell was born January 1, 1882 in Honolulu. Her father was James Campbell, one of the wealthiest industrialists in the Kingdom of Hawaii...
is wildly exaggerated and even misrepresented. Far from being a practical political outcast, she was in fact a member of the Republican National Committee at the time. She it was who encouraged a local lawyer, William Heen, to represent the five original defendants, at great personal risk to himself. But she did not, as "Princess Luahine" is depicted as doing, turn the case into a political cause celebreCause célèbreA is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
. - No firm historical or forensic warrant exists for Thalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue MassieThalia Fortescue Massie was a member of a socially prominent family who became the genesis of a series of heavily publicized trials in Hawaii.-Family life:Thalia Fortescue was born February 14, 1911 in Washington, DC...
having been raped, much less for the identity of her actual assailant. Rumor held that she was seen with a white man before she arrived home. Unsubstantiated gossip at the time suggested that the man was one of Lieutenant Massie's shipmates, and even that Lieutenant Massie himself had dealt the vicious blows that landed his wife in the hospital. (For further versions of the alleged assault, see the main article on the Massie TrialMassie TrialThe Massie Trial for what was known as the Massie Affair, was a 1932 criminal trial that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grace Hubbard Fortescue, along with several accomplices, was charged with murder in the death of well known local prizefighter Joseph Kahahawai...
.) - Lieutenant Massie did not shoot Joseph Kahahawai in hot-blooded passion in open court with his service automatic before courtroom spectators, as is depicted in this film. Rather, he, his mother-in-law, and two other Navy men kidnapped Kahahawei and tortured him to confess to the rape--after the five original defendants were released following a mistrial in their case. Kahahawai never confessed, and one of his four kidnappers shot him.
- Lieutenant Massie did not stand trial alone. His mother-in-law and two Navy accomplices stood trial with him.
- Thalia Massie never admitted the possibility that she had misidentified her assailants. She certainly never blurted out, "They're innocent!" in open court.
- Nor did Thalia commit suicide following the conviction of her mother, her husband, and her husband's friends. Instead, the four defendants, originally sentenced to serve ten years in prison, had the sentence commuted to serve one hour—in the Territorial Governor's office. But Thalia was always mentally unstable, and in the end died in Palm Beach, Florida, of an overdose of barbiturates—in 1963, fully thirty-one years after the trial.
- Rear AdmiralRear AdmiralRear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Stirling did make a number of unprofessional and irresponsible statements to the press during the first trial, including a suggestion that he would take it kindly if some Naval personnel were to hunt down the five alleged assailants of Mrs. Massie and "string them up"--which is to say, to lynchLynchingLynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
them. In fact, a number of never-identified Navy men kidnapped and beat Horace Ida with belt buckles, trying to extract a confession that he never gave. No warrant exists for the same or similar thing happening to any of Joseph Kahahawai's other three co-defendants. (Which is not to say that they escaped unscathed. They never lived down the trial, and to their dying days they had to deal with people who believed them guilty of a crime that, in all likelihood, they did not commit.)