At 4:00 a.m. on March 17, 1964, Hank Killam was found at the northwest corner of Palafox and Intendencia Streets in downtown Pensacola. He was bleeding profusely from a deep wound to the left side of his neck. An ambulance was called—but Killam soon died.
The window of “The Linen Store,” at the northwest corner of Palafox and Intendencia Streets.
Beside him stood the shattered display window of the Linen Store, a downtown business selling sheets, comforters, pillowcases, and other household goods. That night, the store window contained an African-themed display. At its center was a shrunken head.
What happened at that corner has remained a subject of controversy for more than sixty years.
Pensacola Police Officer Henry Reeves wrote that Killam’s injury was possibly the result of suicide. But why would someone attempt suicide by diving through a plate-glass window?
The county coroner maintained that Killam’s death was accidental. But how did Killam fall upward and into the window with enough force to shatter it?
Then came perhaps the strangest explanation of all: the county solicitor suggested that Killam had been hallucinating and attacked the shrunken head displayed behind the glass.
Suicide. Accident. Hallucination.
Or was Hank Killam murdered?
The sidewalk on the west side of Palafox Street. The evidence paint circles are still on the sidewalk in the photo.
On Thursday, September 10, retired Pensacola police officer, former investigator, author, and historian Michael Earl Simmons will lead the audience through the evidence. Together, we will examine police reports, maps, newspaper accounts, crime-scene photographs, and images of the people connected to the case—including figures whose names became associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Simmons will also share information from his conversations with Pensacola police officers who encountered the Killam case—details that cannot be found in ordinary newspaper accounts.
Hank and Wanda Killam
This will not simply be the retelling of an old crime. The audience will be invited to study the evidence, question the official explanations, and decide which conclusion the facts support.
What caused Hank Killam’s death—suicide, accident, hallucination, or murder?
Join us on September 10 and help uncover the truth.
Tickets and additional information:
sweetteamurders.com/events/
