The Murder of Martin Twillman

There is a certain nostalgia that conditions us to view the past as somehow more peaceful, and to think of rural areas as idyllic and unspoiled by crime. So when we hear the story of a young farmer who was murdered by a group of teenagers out for a joyride on a quiet country lane, we are shocked at the incongruity of it. It is even more shocking to learn that the crime occurred on September 30, 1941, at a time when the word carjacking had not even been invented yet. But that is exactly what happened to Martin Twillman when he was only 23 years old. Although not strictly an ancestor, he was a cousin of ours, and his senseless killing had an impact on more than one generation of our family.

To read the accounts of this incident in the local newspapers is also eye-opening. It was heavily covered by several newspapers (back when St. Louis had several newspapers), and the writing was no less sensational than our contemporary sources of news. The philosophy of “if it bleeds, it leads” was on full display, even though that phrase would not be coined for another 50 years.

One must sympathize with the victim’s mother, Catherine Twillman. A recent widow, she was in the car with her son when they were stopped by the gunmen. She survived being shot in the abdomen but took a full two years to recover from her injuries. The incident began with Martin’s cousin, Marvin Twillman, being kidnapped by the gunmen while they used his truck to search for their next victim – which turned out to be Martin and Catherine. As the only surviving witnesses, both Marvin and his aunt Catherine had to testify in the subsequent trials – and there were six of them because each of the perpetrators were tried separately, and then two of them appealed their death sentences which meant that Marvin and Catherine had to testify again two years later at their respective re-trials.

The official record from the court of appeals includes the following passage:

The defendants Leo Lyles, William Edward Talbert, Arthur Lee Butler and William Clayton, were seen driving along Bellefontaine Road in St. Louis county, Missouri, in what later proved to be a stolen car. While driving at a rather high rate of speed the car turned over. The four men went to the station agent at Spanish Lake for aid and were referred to a filling station. Later they accosted Marvin Twillmann who was feeding his stock. Using guns as an inducement, they forced him to get into his truck, drive down a private road to the main road and across the railroad tracks. There they met a car driven by Martin Twillmann, a cousin of Marvin, who was accompanied by his mother. At this point the truck ran into a ditch and was stalled. The [defendants] stopped Martin’s car and ordered the occupants to get out. As Martin got out of the car he was shot by defendant Lyles and died within a few hours. When the mother heard the shots she began to scream and as she attempted to run from the scene several shots were fired at her, one of the bullets passing through her body. She was under a doctor’s care for two years before recovering. – STATE v. LYLES – 353 Mo. 930 , 934

Now the question that demands to be answered is why? What led these four youth (who were St. Louis city residents) to drive over 10 miles from their home, in a stolen car, to perpetrate these crimes on several unsuspecting victims? We will probably never know. But we do know from newspaper accounts at the time that all four men had “lengthy delinquency records” and that one of the men, who initially escaped capture but was found almost two weeks later, had served three different sentences for burglary and petty larceny in the city’s notorious Workhouse prison during the two years leading up to this incident (St. Louis Globe Democrat – Oct 13, 1941). If these accounts are true, we are obviously not dealing with model citizens here, but it is interesting that the City’s chief probation officer stated his belief that “society is, in part, responsible for their acts. Economic instability, congested housing, poor homes, lack of religious training and inadequate recreation facilities” were all contributing factors to their antisocial behavior (St. Louis Globe Democrat – Oct 9, 1941). These issues cannot in any way excuse the behavior, but we must acknowledge how sad it is that not much has changed in 80 years.

Indeed, this author’s own cousin was carjacked roughly two miles and 40 years from where this crime occurred. It too was committed by St. Louis City youth out for a joyride. The old expression “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” certainly applies here.

So what happened to the perpetrators? All four men were eventually convicted, with the two accomplices given life sentences in 1942, while the two gunmen were executed at the Missouri State Penitentiary’s gas chamber in 1945.