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COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • NOVEMBER 28, 2018 • 9A Off beat Oregon: Dynamite killing turned out to be sordid love triangle By Finn J.D. John For The Sentinel L ate on the evening of April 21, 1955, 35-year- old Portland attorney Oliver Kermit Smith left the Columbia Edgewater Country Club and walked to his car. He was probably a little tipsy; there had been a stag party that night, and he was one of the last to leave. He slipped behind the wheel of his 1952 Buick, turned the ignition switch to “on,” and stepped on the fl oor-mounted starter button. Two or three seconds later his mangled, lifeless body fell to the ground three feet behind the Buick’s rear bumper, amid a shower of broken glass and bits of torn metal. Someone had stuff ed 10 sticks of stumping powder under the driver’s seat of Smith’s Buick, wired it with an electrical deto- nator to the starter solenoid on the car, and left the circuit open so he could drive to the country club without setting it off . And while Smith had been inside playing gin rummy with his friends, that someone had slipped up to the car, connect- ed the last two wires together under the fl oormat, closed the door, and sped off into the night. Portlanders learned about the murder, of course, when they read the front page of the next morning’s paper. And if any of them wondered how long it would take police to fi nd the killer, they weren’t kept wondering for long. Th e crime was more or less solved within 18 hours of Ker- mit Smith stepping on that starter switch. Th e thing was, it wasn’t the fi rst time someone had tried to kill Smith. About six weeks before, the attorney had been waylaid outside his home by a shadowy fi gure wielding a heavy bottle, with which it tried to bash his head in. In the struggle, Smith’s nose was broken, but the attacker got away. When police asked him, in his hospital bed, if he had any idea who might have done this, he said, “Wolf.” Victor Wolf, he told the cops, was a 45-year-old electrician who rented a room in a house owned by Smith’s wife, Marjo- rie. “He kinda likes my wife,” Smith added. Th ere was no evidence, so there wasn’t much they could do; and Smith, as an attorney, knew that — so he told the cops to “forget about him.” But, of course, they hadn’t, and now The wreckage of Oliver Kermit Smith's car after it was blown to pieces by a dynamite bomb in the parking lot of the Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Picture is from the fi les of Det. Walter Graven. (Image: portlandcrime.blogspot.com) they had a far more compelling reason to want to talk to him. Victor Wolf was literally rousted out of bed and taken into custody within two hours of Smith’s death. Of course, he denied any knowledge of either crime. But holes started appear- ing in his story fairly quickly. He told police he’d used dynamite before, but didn’t know how to rig up an electrical detonator … which would be an odd skill for Worship Directory First Baptist Church 301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242 Interim Pastor: Reed Webster Sunday School 9:30am Worship Service 11:00am Youth Wednesday 6:30pm cgfi rstbaptist.com DRAIN: HOPE U.M.C. 131 W “A” St. Drain, OR 541-315-1617 Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen Fellowship & Song: 11:30am Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm Worship: 12:30pm First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Rev.: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am fpcgrove.com COTTAGE GROVE: 6th & Gibbs Church of Christ 195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822 10:00am Christian Education: Pre-K through 5th www.6thandgibbs.com Calvary Baptist Church 77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290 Pastor: Riley Hendricks Sunday School: 9:45am Worship: 11:00am The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove 1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza) 541-942-6842 Pastor: Jeff Smith Two Services on Sun: 9am & 10:45am Youth Group Bible Study Child Care 10:45am Service Only www.cgcalvary.org Church of Christ 420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 Sunday Service: 10:30am Cottage Grove Bible Church 1200 East Quincy Avenue 541-942-4771 Pastor:Bob Singer Worship 11am Sunday School:9:45am AWANA age 3-8th Grade, Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm www.cgbible.org Cottage Grove Faith Center 33761 Row River Rd. 541-942-4851 Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett www.cg4.tv Full Childrenʼs Ministry available Services: 9:00am & 10:45am Delight Valley Church of Christ 33087 Saginaw Rd. East 541-942-7711 • Pastor: Bob Friend Two Services: 9am - Classic in the Chapel 10:30am - Contemporary in the Auditorium Hope In The Grove 700 E. Gibbs • 401-855-5668 Pastor: Wayne Husk Sunday services: Worship: 9am Coffee Fellowship: 10:15am Bible Study: 10:30am Hope Fellowship United Pentecostal Church 100 S. Gateway Blvd. 541-942-2061 Pastor: Dave Bragg Worship: 11:00am Sunday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday www.hopefellowshipupc.com “FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Churches 1025 N. 19th St. 541-942-3420 Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen Holy Mass: Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm Sun: 10:30am Confession: After daily mass, Sat. 4-5pm or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrock Lane 541-895-8686, Sunday: 8:30am St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Church with the fl ags.” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Seventh-day Adventist Church 820 South 10th Street 541-942-5213 Pastor: Kevin Miller Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40 Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00 Trinity Lutheran Church 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373 Pastor: James L. Markus Sunday School & Adult Education 9:15am Living Faith Assembly Sunday Worship 10:30 am 467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612 Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all ages 5:00pm TLC Groups tlccg.com welcome) Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades) United Methodist Church 334 Washington • 541-942-3033 Non-Denominational Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen Church of Christ Worship: 10:30am 1041 Pennoyer Ave Comm. Dinner (Adults $5, 541-942-8928 Kids Free) Preacher: Tony Martin 1st & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm Sunday Bible Study:10:00am Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm umcgrove.org www.pennoyeravecoc.com “VICTORY” Country Church 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Old Time Gospel Fellowship Pastor: Barbara Dockery 103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999 Worship Service: 10:00am Pastor: Jim Edwards Message: “WE BELIEVE IN Sunday Service: 10:00am Join in Traditional Christian Worship MIRACLES” Worship With Us! CRESWELL: Creswell Presbyterian Church 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Rev. Seth Wheeler Adult Sunday School 9:15am Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am website www.creswellpres.org Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in the newspaper. If your congregation would like to be a part of this directory, please contact the Cottage Grove Sentinel @ 541-942-3325 an electrician to be lacking. And when the cops found the extra red-and-yellow wire clipped off the detonators stuff ed in the heater vent of Wolf ’s brown Mercury, he realized the jig was up — and started talking. Some of what Victor Wolf confessed to sure sounded like bunk. Specifi cally, any time a gray-haired 45-year-old man claims an attractive 34-year-old brunette has been “using me for a sex slave,” the chances that he’s spilling gospel truth are about equal to the chances that Santa Claus framed him for a burglary. But maybe, the cops thought, maybe he was dumb enough to think it was true. Because a lot of the other things Wolf confessed to turned out to be backed by fairly solid evidence. Kermit and Marjorie Smith had been married to each oth- er twice. Th e fi rst marriage had ended in divorce aft er Marjorie accused Kermit of striking her and being verbally cruel. It was shortly aft er that di- vorce that Victor Wolf had started renting from Marjorie Smith. Th e two of them had started dating, and Wolf said they soon learned they shared a dream in common — a dream of homesteading in the Alas- ka Territory. Th is took money, though — more than either of them had. So, Wolf said, Marjorie hatched a plan to get that mon- ey by having her reconcile with Kermit and remarry him; aft er that, Wolf would murder him, and Marjorie would collect on his life insurance policy, and then the two of them would be off to Alaska. According to a front-page ar- ticle in the Oregonian, this plan was implemented forthwith, and the Smiths were remarried on Feb. 4, 1955. “Wolf said that as soon as she was married again to Smith she denied Wolf her favors until he should kill Smith according to the plan,” the article continues. Wolf told the cops Marjo- rie gave him a .38 Special to kill Kermit with, and he lurked in the bushes waiting for him with it on March 10; but at the last minute he “lost his nerve” and tried to murder Kermit with a heavy bottle wield- ed like a blackjack instead. Th at, of course, hadn’t worked; so the two of them had hatched the dynamite plan. He said he’d wired the bomb up in Kermit Smith’s own garage one day while Smith was out. He’d bought the dynamite in two diff erent stores near Mo- lalla, and he and Marjorie had traveled to Ridgefi eld, Wash., to buy the detonators, he said. Th ey’d stopped along the way for a picnic lunch, and he’d cut The Carousel House Catering Bed & Breakfast Carousel Horses, cozy quilts, and legendary breakfasts. Savor the peace and quiet of a country bed and breakfast. Soothe your soul with the sounds of the nearby Row River while you relax your muscles in our luxurious hot-tub. 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And when he guided detec- tives to the spot where the pic- nic happened on the way back from Ridgefi eld, detectives found cut-off pussy willow stems that matched the ones in the vase, and discarded dyna- mite caps lying around. Marjorie Smith continued to indignantly deny everything. Th ere was rather a lot of evi- dence against her — but all of it was circumstantial, and could be explained in other ways. In the end, the jury at her trial didn’t fi nd it convincing enough to convict, and she was acquit- ted. As for Victor Wolf, he had confessed, and some of the ev- idence against him — fi nger- prints, things left in his car, etc. — was far more than circum- stantial. In the end, he drew a life sen- tence, and was probably very happy to get it; in 1954, the gas chamber was a real possibility in a case like this. Kermit Smith, by the way, was an interesting man, and one we probably would have heard more about had he not been killed. He was a World War II vet, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, made First Lieutenant, transferred to the Army Air Corps and fi nished the war as a captain, with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star on his record. He ran for the Republican nomination for a State Senate seat in 1950. So, what was the real story? Did Marjorie Smith vamp Victor Wolf to get her husband murdered, like a real-life ver- sion of Nicole Kidman’s charac- ter in the 1996 Gus Van Sant movie “To Die For”? It sure looks that way. But the jury in Marjorie’s case didn’t agree, and there are aspects of the case that don’t make much sense; it seems likely we’ll never know the full story. (Sources: Fisher, J.B. “Pussy Willows: Th e Murder of Kermit Smith,” Slabtown Chronicle, 11 Apr 2014, portlandcrime.blogspot.com; Portland Oregonian archives, 22-23 Apr 1955) Finn J.D. John teaches at Oregon State University and writes about odd tidbits of Oregon history. For details, see http://fi nnjohn.com. To contact him or suggest a topic: fi nn2@ offb eatoregon.com or 541-357- 2222. Dr. Brent Bitner, DDS 350 Washington, Cottage Grove (behind Better Bodies) 541.942.7934 n The Northwest’s Finest Gardening Seed n Flowers, Herbs, & Shrubs n Vegetable Transplants S entinel C ottage G rove www.cgsentinel.com @ cgsentinel @cgsentinel #cgsentinel n Fruit Trees 20 Palmer Ave. n Cottage Grove n (541) 942-0510 Cottage-Grove-Sentinel
