James H. Snook
American sport shooter and murderer (1879–1930)
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James Howard Snook (September 17, 1879 – February 28, 1930) was an American Olympic sport shooter, veterinarian, professor, and convicted murderer. He won two gold medals for the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics and worked as a professor and a veterinary surgeon at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. In 1929 he murdered Theora Hix, a student with whom he had an extramarital affair, a crime for which he was executed in 1930. He is the only Olympic gold medalist to have been executed for murder.[1]
James Howard Snook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Snook in 1929 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 17, 1879 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | February 28, 1930 (aged 50) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Professor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Employer | Ohio State University | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criminal status | Executed by electrocution | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Helen M. Snook | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Theora Hix | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
James H. Snook was born on September 17, 1879, in West Lebanon, Ohio to Albert L. Snook and Mary Keever Snook. He had a younger sister named Bertha. As a teenager he attended South Lebanon High School and was known for his quiet demeanor.[2]: 3 His father owned around 220 acres of farmland, a corn-canning factory, and a racetrack. The Snook family was well-known for their racehorses, and an interest in his father's horses contributed to James gaining an interest in veterinary medicine.[2]: 4
Snook earned a commercial business degree at the Nelson Business College before returning to work on his family farm for three years. He began attending Ohio State University in 1905 and received his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1908.[2]: 4 While he was a student at the university he was a member of the Veterinary Medical Society as well as the fraternities Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Psi, the latter of which which he co-founded. He entered Cornell University in New York in 1908 but soon thereafter returned to his family farm.[2]: 5
Career
Ohio State University
On January 1, 1910, Snook started working as a teaching assistant at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and became a professor in 1921. While working as a veterinary professor he invented the snook hook, a surgical tool for the spaying of cats and dogs. The tool continues to be used by veterinary surgeons performing ovariohysterectomies.[2]: 5
Sport shooting
While he was a student at Ohio State University, Snook became interested in sport shooting. By 1911 he became a world record holder in revolver shooting.[2]: 5 Snook won gold in the men's 50 metre team pistol event at the 1913 ISSF World Shooting Championships at Camp Perry.[3] Also in 1913, he became the first civilian to win the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match.[4]: 3–4 Snook was a member of the Columbus Revolver Club.[2]: 2–3
Snook was later chosen as an alternate for the US Olympic Pistol Team at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. He competed when another member was unable to.[2]: 3 With Snook, the team placed first in both the men's 30 metre team military pistol event and the men's 50 metre team pistol competitions.[5][6]
Personal life
Snook served in Cavalry Troop B of the Ohio National Guard and fought against the Night Riders along the southern border of Ohio in 1908.[2]: 5 In 1917 Snook became an editor of a monthly magazine about guns and ammunition and was paid $100 per month. Because he was known for working at Ohio State, Snook wrote articles using pen names such as "Kingfisher", "Kingman", and "Wesley King". While he was well known for his skill in sport shooting, he was also skilled in fly fishing, which he said was his "first love".[2]: 6
On September 11, 1922, he married a sixth-grade teacher named Helen (née Marple). The two had a son that died in infancy before having a daughter named Mary.[2]: 2 Following James Snook's execution, Helen began to use her maiden name Marple again, and gave the name to her daughter as well.[2]: 175
Murder of Theora Hix
In June 1926, Snook met Theora Hix, a student doing stenography work for the OSU veterinary school. When they met, she was 22 and he was 45. The two began an extramarital sexual affair.[5] Snook testified that Hix was a sadomasochist and that she had introduced him to various drugs and sex acts that he had not previously known of.[7]
On June 13, 1929, near the Scioto Country Club, Snook hit Hix with a ball-peen hammer multiple times before cutting her jugular vein with a pocketknife. According to Snook's testimony, Hix was angry that he planned to visit his mother. He testified that she had threatened to murder his wife and child and that he hit her after she had reached for her gun. He claimed that he cut her jugular vein in order to end her suffering.[8]
Hix's body was discovered on the morning of June 14 by two sixteen-year-old boys near a shooting range outside of Columbus, Ohio. That afternoon, Hix was reported missing by her roommate and police identified the body. Police discovered that Snook had rented a room for himself and Hix, who he presented as his wife to the landlady. Hix's hat and gloves were found in Snook's car, and blood stains were found on the car door and on his clothing.[9] Snook was arrested on June 15.[5]
Snook confessed to the crime, but during the course of the trial he rescinded his confession, claiming that he was coerced by police and prosecutors. He claimed that he was physically struck by state prosecutor Jack Chester; this was verified by Police Chief Harry French, who witnessed the attack.[7] Snook's defense invoked an insanity defense, claiming that Hix had driven Snook mad by getting him addicted to narcotics and aphrodisiacs. Snook also claimed that Hix had driven him mad through sexual control. Prosecution claimed that Hix could not have been as sexually deviant as Snook claimed, citing the fact that she wore one-piece underwear, which was considered modest and old-fashioned for the time.[9]
The trial received significant national media attention.[10] Transcripts of Snook's sexually explicit testimony were sold by a court reporter before copies were seized by authorities.[9] The jury took 28 minutes to deliberate before finding Snook guilty of murder in the first degree,[11] after which he was sentenced to death by electrocution.[8][12]
Prior to his execution, Snook allegedly admitted to prison warden P. E. Thomas that he had lied in his testimony, and that the murder was premeditated. According to Thomas, Snook said that he murdered Hix because she had threatened to expose their affair, which would ruin his reputation.[13] Snook was executed on February 28, 1930, at the Ohio Penitentiary by means of the electric chair. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery after a short service at the King Avenue Methodist Church.[14] In order to avoid attention, his surname was intentionally excluded from his gravestone, which is labelled as only "James Howard".[15][16] At the family's request, the exact location of Snook's grave was kept a secret from the public until 2005.[2]: 167–168
