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| Harold Christie |
Marshall Houts in his book Kings X, also titled Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes, asserted
that American gangster, Meyer Lansky, sent henchmen to the Bahamas to
intimidate and even assault Oakes but not to kill him during a secret late
night meeting away from the Oakes mansion. It was alleged that Lansky was upset that Sir Harry was opposed to a
casino being opened in the Bahamas. The murder was supposedly not intended and
that Oakes body was returned to his home. The author further asserted that
Oakes friend and colleague, Harold Christie, was working with Lansky and a
participant in the murder.
The theory sounds like fiction.
James Leasor in Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes somehow ties
together the burning of
the liner Normandie in New York Harbour in 1942 and the Allied landings in
Sicily.
John Parker
in King of Fools added further to the
involvement of Meyer Lansky. He suggests the investigating Miami detectives
were on the mob payroll. He further suggests the Duke of Windsor had business
connections with Lansky.
Charles
Higham in The Duchess of Windsor: The
Secret Story as set out in Wikipedia:
His conclusion in the second edition is that Oakes was murdered by an
African ritual specialist from South Florida, who had been hired and brought
into Nassau by airplane on the day of the murder by Harold Christie, a Bahamian
mulatto business associate of Oakes. Christie and Oakes, the much wealthier
man, had been friends and business partners for many years, and Christie had
facilitated Oakes' move to the Bahamas. The two had apparently fallen out
shortly before Oakes' death, because of Christie's dealings over the sale of
Bahamian property on the island of New Providence, which was scheduled to be
used for a new airfield by the Royal Air Force, a project of which the Duke
would certainly have been aware and involved with since it had important
strategic and economic implications, and would involve large expenses.
It sounds even wilder than the
Lansky theory.
James Owen in A Serpent in Eden returns to Alfred de
Marigny being the alleged murderer though he was acquitted at trial. He asserts
he had seen documents in the British National Archives not publicly released.
Owens is another author reaching for a theory.
John Marquis in his book, Blood and Fire: the Duke of Windsor and
the Strange Murder of Sir Harry Oakes rejected the Lansky theory and considered the
murder was brought about Bahamian businessmen, including Christie, who feared
Sir Harry was moving his fortune to Mexico.
De Marigny in his book A Conspiracy of Crowns said:
``In my mind there is no doubt whatsoever that Harold Christie should have been tried and hanged for the murder of Sir Harry Oakes. While hired hands acted for him, it was Christie who ordered the fatal act committed that turbulent night in Nassau.``
He further concluded the Duke of Windsor was one of the conspirators against him.
I think Marquis is closest to the truth but I do not think there was any
Bahamian conspiracy. I think it was Christie acting on his own. He was staying
in the house that night. It is probable that he was facing default issues over
loans with Oakes. He was the suspect with best access and best motive. He also
implausibly said he heard nothing of the murder a short distance from his
bedroom.
Bill - It is fascinating to speculate on what probably happened. Certainly some far-fetched-sounding things have happened in the world. But in general,the most logical theory is the most worth pursuing, at least in my opinion, unless there's a good reason to doubt it. Such interesting possibilities though, even if they don't really hold weight.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I appreciate the more exotic ideas for fiction but they do not work well in non-fiction.
DeleteI'm always interested in a Duke of Windsor connection! Great roundup of the different theories, and you're convincing me that your pick of the scenarios is right.
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the kind words. The Duke does not fare well in assessing his actions with regard to this murder. He was either rather panicky in bringing in the Miami detectives or part of some conspiracy that failed. Then at the time of the trial he disappeared to the United States.
DeleteThe Lansky theory made one hell of a movie with Gene Hackman in "eureka" ... I would gather it's a combination of events described. The attention of the Duke is very odd with his intervention with USA police network which does add credo to the Lansky connection as those police were from the big port city Miami. Not to be overlooked with the Mob tactics and power struggles which have come to light have connections in the UK, through Jewish money channels. The movie Eureka does not venture into Harold Christie at all but has De Marigny at the house as a witness in the shadows to the murder. Eureka mixes fiction with the folk story. A recommended film on it's own merit aside from what the facts are, as they do not open the film with 'this is based on a true story'. THanks for sharing your thoughts.
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