The Unsolved Lava Lake Murders: A 1924 Oregon Mystery

The Discovery of the Trappers

• 🥶 In April 1924, three fur trappers—Ed Nichols, Roy Wilson, and Dewey Morris—were found floating in Big Lava Lake, Oregon, fatally shot.
• 🏠 Upon investigation, their cabin showed signs of a hasty departure: a weakened cat, burned food, and a table set for a meal, but their essential survival gear, clothes, and firearms were left behind.
• 🦊 Five valuable foxes owned by the cabin's owner, Ed Logan, were missing, suggesting a potential motive related to their significant monetary value.
• 📅 A calendar displaying January and untouched fox food indicated the men had likely been missing since mid-January.

Uncovering Disturbing Clues

• 🩸 A bloodstained hammer was found in a storage shed, increasing the search party's concern.
• ❄️ Sled tracks led to the Crane Prairie reservoir, but a food cache there was untouched, ruling out a food-gathering trip.
• 🔫 Spent gun cartridge shells were discovered, raising suspicions of foul play rather than an accident.
• 🐾 The trappers' trap lines, with frozen animals, indicated they had not been checked for an extended period, confirming their prolonged absence.
• 🛷 A missing sled was found in a snowdrift with a blood-like stain, though later determined not to be human blood.
• 🧊 A hole cut in the ice on Big Lava Lake, now refrozen, and a patch of brown hair nearby, strongly suggested the bodies were beneath the ice.
• 💀 The discovery of skinned fox carcasses, including the valuable silver gray fox, further pointed to a crime involving the valuable animals.

The Investigation and Suspects

• 🕵️ The bodies were eventually recovered, confirming all three men had been shot and were badly mutilated, with estimates placing their deaths around January 15th, 1924.
• 👥 Deputy Sheriff Clarence Adams theorized two men were involved: one luring the trappers out and another ambushing them.
• 💰 A significant clue emerged when Ed Logan recalled a past threat from Lee Collins, whose real name was Charles Kimzy, a man with a lengthy criminal record wanted in multiple states.
• 💼 Kimzy, an expert marksman, was known for extreme violence, including poisoning and attempting to murder a man named We Harrison.
• 🧥 A man matching Kimzy's description sold furs in Portland using a license belonging to the victim Ed Nichols, further implicating him.

The Case Goes Cold

• ⚖️ Despite strong evidence, including the sale of furs with a victim's license, Kimzy was arrested in 1933, but his alibi of working on the Moffett Tunnel was deemed airtight by one officer.
• ❓ Witnesses could not make a positive identification due to the passage of time and Kimzy's age, and crucial witnesses were uncooperative.
• 🚫 The grand jury indicted Kimzy for the assault and robbery of We Harrison, leading to a guilty verdict and a life sentence.
• 📜 However, the Lava Lake murders themselves remained officially unsolved, with theories suggesting Kimzy may have had an accomplice, possibly a man named Ray Van Beern, known as the "Angel of Death of Central Oregon."
• ⏳ Nearly a century later, the mystery of the Lava Lake murders persists, a testament to one of Oregon's oldest unsolved cases.