I received an inquiry from the 78 year old son of a convicted felon named Oscar J. Brandon. Brandon and Albert Ellis were found guilty in the robbery and rape of a young woman about 1931 in Carter County. Ellis was executed in 1933. Family tradition held that Brandon was sentenced to 99 years in prison. If anyone has information on this case and Brandon in particular I know his son would appreciate even the smallest tidbit.

Thanks!

Strange how things come up. A few years back I did some research in the Ardmore papers about this case for a lady whose name I do not recall but as I recall there was considerable information in the papers about it. It seems they left the girl tied up in a cemetery.

If you go to http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/search.asp?simple=true and do a search on Brandon it will pull up the case of Ellis V. State, but it gives quite a bit of information on the case. The incident happened on 8-28-1932.

As always I would suggest the person who contacted you send a request to OHS for someone to research the Ardmore and Pauls Valley papers to get copies of the articles.

I did a quick search of the online Daily Oklahoman and found four articles about Ellis and Brandon. It seems that Oscar Brandon was a brother-in-law to Albert Ellis.

8-31-1932 Brandon is named by an escaped convict that he helpd Ellis in the robbery/assault.
9-22-1932 Ellis Trial to be held in Ardmore; names Brandon as his brother-in-law
9-23-1932 Ellis sentenced to die
10-21-1932 Brandon sentences to 99 year term.

Like I said these are from the Oklahoman. The Ardmore paper has much more. It might be well to check with DOC to see if they have a record of Brandon being incarcerated and if he died in prison or was paroled.

I don't have anything on Oscar Brandon, but I am familiar with Albert Ellis. His family and mine were acquainted in the 1930's. He apparantly got in trouble several times before the crime that led to his execution. My grandfather described him as someone who was not very bright and who people felt sorry for. Grandpa was a rural route mail carrier and delivered the mail to the Burr Valley community where the Ellis family lived. He once warned Albert that the police were on their way to arrest him. He talked to Albert's mother after the execution and she said the only worry Albert had the day he died was about the fact that they had shaved his head.