James H. Snook

James Howard Snook
Snook in 1929
Born(1879-09-17)September 17, 1879
West Lebanon, Ohio, U.S.
DiedFebruary 28, 1930(1930-02-28) (aged 50)
Ohio Penitentiary, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeGreen Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio
OccupationProfessor
EmployerOhio State University
Criminal statusExecuted by electrocution
SpouseHelen M. Snook
PartnerTheora Hix
Medal record
Men's shooting
Representing the  United States
ISSF World Shooting Championships
1913 Camp Perry 50 m team pistol
Olympic Games
1920 Antwerp Team 30 m military pistol
1920 Antwerp 50 m team pistol

James Howard Snook (September 17, 1879 – February 28, 1930) was an American Olympic sport shooter, veterinarian, professor, and convicted murderer. He won two gold medals for the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics and worked as a professor and an equine surgeon at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. In 1929 he murdered Theora Hix, a student with whom he had an extramarital affair, a crime for which he was executed in 1930. He is the only Olympic gold medalist to have been executed for murder.[1]

Early life and education

James H. Snook was born on September 17, 1879, in West Lebanon, Ohio to a family of farmers.[2] He graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1908.[3]

Career

Sport shooting

Snook won gold in the men's 50 metre team pistol event at the 1913 ISSF World Shooting Championships at Camp Perry.[4] Also in 1913, he became the first civilian to win the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match.[5] He was later a member of the U.S. Olympic Pistol Team, which placed first in both the men's 30 metre team military pistol event and the men's 50 metre team pistol competitions at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.[2][6][7]

Ohio State University

Snook worked at the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine as a professor and an equine surgeon. He invented the snook hook, a surgical instrument which is still used to spay animals.[5] He also was a founding member of the Alpha Psi veterinary fraternity.[3] On September 11, 1922, he married a sixth-grade teacher named Helen (née Marple). The couple had a daughter named Mary Snook.[2]

Murder of Theora Hix

In June 1926, Snook met Theora Hix, a student doing stenography work for the OSU veterinary school. When they met, she was 22 and he was 45. The two began an extramarital sexual affair.[2] Snook testified that Hix was a sadomasochist and that she had introduced him to various drugs and sex acts that he had not previously known of.[8]

On June 13, 1929, near the Scioto Country Club, Snook hit Hix with a ball-peen hammer multiple times before cutting her jugular vein with a pocketknife. According to Snook's testimony, Hix was angry that he planned to visit his mother. He testified that she had threatened to murder his wife and child and that he hit her after she had reached for her gun. He claimed that he cut her jugular vein in order to end her suffering.[3]

Hix's body was discovered on the morning of June 14 by two sixteen-year-old boys near a shooting range outside of Columbus, Ohio. That afternoon, Hix was reported missing by her roommate and police identified the body. Police discovered that Snook had rented a room for himself and Hix, who he presented as his wife to the landlady. Hix's hat and gloves were found in Snook's car, and blood stains were found on the car door and on his clothing.[9] Snook was arrested on June 15.[2]

Snook confessed to the crime, but during the course of the trial he rescinded his confession, claiming that he was coerced by police and prosecutors. He claimed that he was physically struck by state prosecutor Jack Chester; this was verified by Police Chief Harry French, who witnessed the attack.[8] Snook's defense invoked an insanity defense, claiming that Hix had driven Snook mad by getting him addicted to narcotics and aphrodisiacs. Snook also claimed that Hix had driven him mad through sexual control. Prosecution claimed that Hix could not have been as sexually deviant as Snook claimed, citing the fact that she wore one-piece underwear, which was considered modest and old-fashioned for the time.[9]

The trial received significant national media attention.[10] Transcripts of Snook's sexually explicit testimony were sold by a court reporter before copies were seized by authorities.[9] The jury took 28 minutes to deliberate before finding Snook guilty of murder in the first degree,[11] after which he was sentenced to death by electrocution.[3][12]

Prior to his execution, Snook admitted to a prison warden that he had lied in his testimony, and that the murder was premeditated. He said that he murdered Hix because she had threatened to expose their affair, which would ruin his reputation.[13] Snook was executed on February 28, 1930, at the Ohio Penitentiary by means of the electric chair. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery after a short service at the King Avenue Methodist Church.[14] In order to avoid attention, his surname was intentionally excluded from his gravestone, which is labelled as only "James Howard".[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Professor James Howard Snook, Ohio's 'Gold Medal Murderer.'". CrimeScribe. July 13, 2021. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Motz, Doug (August 14, 2012). "History Lesson: A Columbus Olympian's affair ends in murder". Columbus Underground. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dr. James Howard Snook". Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  4. ^ "James Snook". InterSportStats. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Rocketto, Hap (May 2012). "A Short History of the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match" (PDF). Civilian Marksmanship Program.
  6. ^ "James H. Snook". Olympedia. Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  7. ^ "James H. Snook". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Patzer, Nancy (1999). "The Trial of Dr. James Howard Snook". Short North Gazette. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c "The Justice Story – Coed's fatal secret". New York Daily News. March 27, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  10. ^ Otto W. Phillips (January 1930). "The Mystery of the Thirteenth Key". True Detective Mysteries. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  11. ^ "SNOOK FOUND GUILTY IN THE FIRST DEGREE; Verdict in Slaying of Ohio Girl Automatically Involves the Death Penalty. DEFENSE TO ASK NEW TRIAL Trial Judge Sets Next Monday as the Date for a Hearing on the Motion. Self-Defense Plea Fails. Crime Revealed Two Months Ago". The New York Times. August 15, 1929. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "The trial of Dr. Snook (1929)". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  13. ^ "Planned Killing Days in Advance, Snook Admits to Prison Warden". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 1, 1930. p. 2.
  14. ^ Ohio Exploration Society. "Doctor James Howard Snook". OhioExploration.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2005.
  15. ^ "James H. Snook: Known for More Than a Hook". The Internet Says it's True. WCBE. April 3, 2023. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  16. ^ "Green Lawn - Dr. James Snook · Teaching Columbus Historic Places". teachingcolumbus.omeka.net. Retrieved June 7, 2025.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.