4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 13, 2016
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
In trial, prime suspect became star witness
against likely innocent man
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
O
n April 22, 1943, a jury of
Albany-area housewives,
millworkers and farmers brought
back a verdict against the strange,
well-dressed black man who stood
facing them. It was “guilty.”
The verdict brought to an end a
trial that had been so laden with
stereotypes and literary tropes that
the following month, Sunday mag-
azine “American Weekly” recapped
the whole affair with a dramatic
package headlined, “Actual Crime
with All the Settings of Fiction.” It
laid out, in sensationalistic prose
with lurid illustrations, the offi cial
storyline: Murderer Robert E. Lee
Folkes, a cook in the train’s din-
ing car – having spent the evening
shirking his job duties, drinking
cheap liquor and making boorish
passes at random white maidens,
and now afi re with carnal lust – tip-
toes into the Pullman coach, plan-
ning to rape the lovely young Mar-
tha James at knifepoint. When she
awakens and screams, he cuts her
throat to silence her, then leaps out
of the berth and races back to the
kitchen, where he stations himself
over a cold stove and pretends he’s
been cooking eggs on it the whole
time.
Meanwhile, a brave and noble
U.S. Marine has heard the scream
and is racing to her rescue – alas,
too late to do anything but help
penetrate the murderer’s defenses,
break his alibi and see that justice
is served.
Left unmentioned in the Ameri-
can Weekly account were a couple
other literary tropes that the trial
fi tted so well. It was every bit as
race-baity as the 1915 movie “Birth
of a Nation,” depicting Black Man
as a bestial creature with an uncon-
trolled lust, ever yearning to “de-
fi le” the daughters of middle-class
white people. And in other ways, it
was almost a straight rip-off of the
railroad-train variant of the clas-
sic “locked-room mystery,” like
“Murder on the Orient Express” by
Agatha Christie. And, according to
Western Oregon University profes-
sor Max G. Geier’s book about the
case, that was not an accident.
Also left out of the story are a
wide range of inconvenient facts
that make Folkes’ guilt almost
impossible to believe in – chief
among which are the fi ngernail
clipping samples that were taken
and tested after the murder and re-
vealed traces of nothing but starch,
grease, fl our and baking soda – ab-
solutely no blood.
Geier makes a powerful case
that Robert Folkes was a scape-
goat, a target of opportunity seized
upon to solve a very specifi c set of
problems faced by nearly everyone
in a position of authority. To win
a conviction against him, prosecu-
tors tried, successfully, to distract
from the lack of actual evidence by
manipulating their story to make it
as familiar as possible, and appeal-
ing to the prejudices that had made
“Birth of a Nation” such a popular
movie in those dark pre-war years
of nationwide Jim Crow-ism.
In fairness to those jurors, this
likely wouldn’t have worked on
its own. But in combination with
a confession that had almost cer-
tainly had been either fabricated
or beaten out of Folkes during a
three-day interrogation session
with Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment offi cers at the city jail, it was
more than enough.
But one of the most striking
things about this case is how over-
whelming was the evidence against
that Marine who claimed to have
come too late to Martha James’
rescue – Pvt. Harold Wilson.
Wilson, it turned out, had been
released from the brig the day he
boarded the train in Washington;
he’d been locked up there for an
alleged sexual assault. His com-
manding offi cer was sending him
to a combat unit, in the same way
misbehaving German soldiers
were sent to the Eastern Front. He
might very well have been thinking
this train trip would be his last few
hours of freedom.
And the witnesses’ accounts
dovetail perfectly with an attempt-
ed
sexual-assault-at-knifepoint
gone wrong. Each remembers the
words slightly differently, but most
agree it started with a woman say-
ing, “I can’t stand this any longer!”
followed by, “He’s killing me!” and
a horrible scream. Sleep-fogged
passengers poked their heads out
of the curtains to see Wilson al-
ready bending over the still-bleed-
ing body. Then one of the passen-
gers pulled the cord to summon the
steward, and it was only after that
bell rang that Wilson started shout-
ing that murder had been done.
Wilson’s story started out
sketchy and changed almost every
time he retold it. First he claimed
to have run to the end of the train
in pursuit of the killer and seen no
one; then, when a trainman replied
that he had to have seen at the very
least a cook, a waiter and a stew-
ard, he changed his story to include
all three of those characters. He
miscounted the number of cars he
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 10A
'A resolve to police justly and thoroughly'
A statement in response to
the tragic killing of police
in Dallas from the Oregon
State Sheriffs Association
W
e are saddened by the horrifi c
events that transpired in Dallas
last week that resulted in the deaths of
Offi cer Brent Thompson, Offi cer Patrick
Zamrippa, Offi cer Michael Krol, Of-
fi cer Michael Smith and Offi cer Lorne
Ahrens. Our thoughts and prayers go out
to the families of these slain police of-
fi cers from the Dallas Police Department
and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police
Department.
We also extend our strong concern
and unqualifi ed support for the fellow
offi cers and policing leaders from both
agencies who now grieve this tragic loss.
We understand the risks and challenges
faced by law enforcement offi cers on
a daily basis, and we laud the bravery
CONTACT
YOUR
ELECTED
OFFICIALS
Lane County
Commissioners:
K. Michael Roberts, At
Large: 942-5501
Faye Stewart, East Lane
Commissioner
Lane County Public Service
Building
125 East 8th Street
Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: (541) 682-4203
Fax: (541) 682-4616
Jeff Gowing, Ward 2:
942-1900
Cottage Grove Mayor Tom
Munroe: 942-5501.
We are very aware of the current ten-
sions that exist between police and some
members of our communities and we re-
main resolute in our commitment to con-
tinue to build trust and ensure that public
confi dence in Oregon policing remains
strong. As incidents of violence ripple
across our nation, we will not be divided
or defeated. Our hearts are steeled with a
resolve to police justly and thoroughly,
remembering both the offi cers who've
gone before us and the good people who
depend upon us to step into the gap. We
want to thank the citizens of Oregon for
working with us in partnership and unity
to keep our communities safe. We are all
stronger as we work together for a safer
Oregon.
We are asking all sworn offi cers in
Oregon to wear their mourning bands
on their badges from now until the day
of the funeral(s) of the fallen offi cers, in
honor of the lives lost in Dallas.
Mike Fleck, At Large:
942-7302
Jake Boone, Ward 1:
653-7413
Cottage Grove City Hall:
942-5501. www.cottage-
grove.org/
Cottage Grove City
Councilors:
and integrity of offi cers in Dallas who
responded to yesterday's attack. In the
face of an ambush and unknown assail-
ants, police offi cers in Dallas continued
to protect citizens at great risk to their
own lives. These offi cers were simply
doing their jobs by protecting a peaceful
demonstration when they were viciously
attacked. These events sadly illustrate
the challenges that law enforcement face
each and every day. Yesterday, these offi -
cers left home to make their communities
safer and sadly will never return to their
loved ones.
These tragic events have deeply affect-
ed the law enforcement profession. All
Oregon law enforcement offi cers took
an oath to safeguard the citizens of the
communities they serve. They are true
professionals who will remain vigilant in
keeping our communities and their fel-
low offi cers safe! We want to thank Or-
egonians for taking time to express their
support for our brave police offi cers here
and around the nation.
Garland Burback, Ward 3:
942-4800
Amy Slay, Ward 4: 942-5501
Oregon State House of
Representatives:
Rep. Cedric Hayden (REP)
District: 007
900 Court Street NE
Suite H-288
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Fax: (503) 986-1130
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
Oregon State Senate:
Sen. Floyd Prozanski (DEM)
District: 004
900 Court Street NE
Suite S-319
Salem, OR 97301-0001
Phone: (503) 986-1704
Fax: (503) 986-1080
Carotenoids: Antioxidants that promote longevity
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
C
arotenoids are yellow,
orange, and red pigments
present in fruits and vegetables.
There are more than 600 ca-
rotenoids; the most commonly
consumed and well-studied
carotenoids include beta-caro-
tene, alpha-
carotene,
beta-cryp-
toxanthin,
lycopene,
lutein and
zeaxanthin.
Some ca-
rotenoids
are
con-
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
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verted to vitamin A in the body
— beta-carotene, alpha-caro-
tene, and beta-cryptoxanthin for
example; these carotenoids are
important for proper immune
function. Carotenoids give the
skin a healthy glow and defend
the body’s tissues against oxida-
tive damage, helping to prevent
chronic diseases and premature
aging.
The richer your diet in carot-
enoids, the greater the likeli-
hood of longer telomeres (DNA
sequences at the end of chromo-
somes). The length of telomeres
is thought to be an indicator of
biological aging—the longer
the telomere length, the slower
the aging of cells. Many studies
have connected a healthy diet
and lifestyle behaviors to longer
telomeres.
In a recent study, data from
3660 U.S. adults were analyzed
for serum carotenoids and leu-
kocyte telomere length. When
they compared the groups with
the lowest and highest levels
of each carotenoid, they saw
5-8 percent longer telomeres
for the groups with the highest
alpha-carotene, beta-carotene
and beta-cryptoxanthin levels.
Researchers think that higher
carotenoid levels may work by
protecting telomeric DNA from
oxidative damage, leading to
protection against aging and
chronic diseases.
Lycopene, a carotenoid found
in tomatoes, grapefruit, and pa-
paya, is concentrated primarily
in the prostate, where it has po-
tent anti-cancer effects. Lyco-
pene-rich foods also protect the
skin against ultraviolet radiation
from the sun. In one study, after
twelve weeks of tomato supple-
mentation by healthy women,
reddening of the skin, mito-
chondrial DNA damage, and
markers of skin aging due to UV
exposure were reduced.
Lutein and zeaxanthin, which
are found in leafy greens like
kale and collards, are the only
known carotenoids located in
the human retina. Light must
pass through lutein and zea-
xanthin before being transmit-
ted to the cells that send visual
information to the brain. These
carotenoids fi lter some of the
blue light that enters the retina,
and this function protects the
eye from damage and improves
several aspects of visual perfor-
mance.
Alpha-carotene is an excellent
marker of high-nutrient veg-
etable intake, since dark green
and orange colored vegetables
are the richest sources of alpha
carotene. In a recent study, in-
dividuals with the highest blood
levels of alpha-carotene had a 39
percent decrease in risk of death
compared to those with the low-
est serum alpha-carotene.
Get your carotenoids from
colorful vegetables and fruits.
Carotenoid supplements have
consistently failed to produce
benefi cial effects in clinical tri-
als. In fact, supplemental carot-
enoids are likely to be harmful.
For example, high serum ß-car-
otene has been associated with
decreased lung cancer risk, but
ß-carotene supplements may ac-
tually increase the risk of lung
cancer, especially in smokers.
In addition to their own ben-
efi cial effects, carotenoids like
alpha-carotene, lycopene, and
lutein in the blood are markers
indicating the intake of thou-
sands of additional phytochemi-
cals from fruits and vegetables
that work synergistically to
keep the body healthy. Keep in
mind that carotenoid absorption
during a meal requires the pres-
ence of fat — one of the reasons
to use nut and seed-based dress-
ings on salads and raw vegeta-
bles.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York
Times best-selling author and a
board certifi ed family physician
specializing in lifestyle and nu-
tritional medicine. His newest
book, The End of Heart Disease,
offers a detailed plan to prevent
and reverse heart disease using
a nutrient-dense, plant-rich eat-
ing style. Visit his informative
website at DrFuhrman.com.
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