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Who are the Killers of the Flower Moon characters? What are their names, and what did they do?
Killers of the Flower Moon is about the murders that took place during the Reign of Terror, when members of the Osage Tribe were murdered by white residents of Osage for their money.
Continue reading to learn about the Killers of the Flower Moon characters—victims, perpetrators, and the investigator.
Killers of the Flower Moon Characters: The Victims
These Killers of the Flower Moon characters are victims of the murders. Not all of the victims (and not all of the perpetrators) are included here, as the full scope of the Osage murders is unknown to this day.
Mollie Burkhart
Although Mollie Burkhart survives, she and her family suffer during the Reign of Terror. Her immediate family includes her sisters, Anna Brown and Rita Smith, and her mother, Elizabeth Kyle. Mollie is married to a white man named Ernest Burkhardt, a native of Texas who had moved to Osage County as a young man. Rita and Anna are also married to white men.
Mollie’s husband, Ernest, works with his uncle to kill Mollie’s family members. Many of the headrights of in the family had been willed to Mollie Burkhart. When all of this money came to Mollie, it would be easy for Hale to exercise control of it through his easily manipulated nephew Ernest—though it would be even easier if Mollie were to be killed, too. This was why Mollie’s family is systematically eliminated. Through oil headrights and life insurance policies, Hale and his conspirators have a direct financial stake in the deaths of many Osage.
Mollie later discovers that she was being poisoned by her husband. She suffers through the murder trial, where she’s ostracized by members of the community. Mollie loses nearly her entire family, and she’s one of the Killers of the Flower Moon characters to appear continually throughout the story.
Anna Brown
The five-year-long Reign of Terror begins in May 1921 with the discovery of the body of a murdered Osage woman named Anna Brown. Anna was married to a white man, as were her sisters, Mollie Burkhart and Rita Smith.
Kelsie Morrison confesses to her murder. Morrison and Bryan Burkhart got Anna drunk at a speakeasy before driving her out to Three Mile Creek. Bryan’s wife, Cole (who corroborates all the details of Morrison’s testimony) waits in the parked car to stand lookout. They then drag the inebriated Anna down into the ravine. Bryan props her up on a rock and holds her still while Morrison shoots her in the back of the head—with a gun that had been provided by William Hale.
Charles Whitehorn
About a week after Anna Brown’s body is discovered, another Osage victim is found near an oil rig. This time, the corpse belongs to a man named Charles Whitehorn, who had been missing for about two weeks. Whitehorn is a well-known and popular figure in Osage County, married to a half-white, half-Cheyenne woman. Like Anna Brown, he has been shot in the head—and the bullets appear to be the same kind as the ones that had killed Anna Brown.
Henry Roan
In February 1923, the body of a 40-year-old Osage man named Henry Roan is found slumped behind the steering wheel of a Buick, a few miles outside of Fairfax. Roan has been shot in the back of the head. Local authorities notify William Hale, whom Roan had considered a close friend and benefactor.
The murder of Roan creates an atmosphere of terror and paranoia that rips the community apart. People begin to suspect their neighbors, friends, and even family of being involved in the deadly conspiracy.
Bill and Rita Smith
Bill Smith, Mollie’s brother-in-law, looks into the killings on his own, unable to shake the suspicion that his mother-in-law, Lizzie, has been poisoned.
He and his wife Rita, Mollie’s sister, receive threats and intimidating “warnings” as Bill appears to get closer to the truth, especially after he discovers a connection between Roan’s murder and local criminal kingpin and bootlegger Henry Grammer. Bill confides to his friends that he “didn’t expect to live long.”
On March 10, 1923, the house that Bill and Rita Smith had moved into explodes in a thunderous blast, just before three o’clock in the morning. Neighbors hear the explosion for miles around, with the force of the blast blowing out windows in the neighboring town of Fairfax. Nothing remains of the house but twisted metal and burnt furniture.
Killers of the Flower Moon Characters: The Perpetrators
These Killers of the Flower Moon characters participate in the murders. More people might be part of the conspiracy, but William Hale is convicted as the mastermind of the operation. The scope of the murders is unknown, and there are likely many more conspiracies operating outside of William Hale’s orders.
William Hale
William Hale is one of the more notorious Killers of the Flower Moon characters. William Hale is a businessman, power broker, and self-styled “True Friend of the Osage.” Hale has powerful business and political connections and supports the establishment of charities, schools, and hospitals for the Osage. Hale is more than just any local grandee, moreover—he’s the uncle of Ernest Burkhart, Mollie Burkhart’s husband. He attends Anna Brown’s funeral and even vows to the family that he’ll seek justice for Anna.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Killers of the Flower Moon summary :
- How the Osage tribe had vast oil wealth, but had it seized by their murderous neighbors
- The brutal and unresolved murders of Osage Native Americans
- The complicated history of the FBI in profiting from the Osage murders
