Episode 37 – The Tulsa Hex House
Hiya, Strange Fam! Welcome back to another episode! Ever heard of the Tulsa Hex House? It’s a crazy mix of true crime, torture, brainwashing, the occult, and haunted houses. Join us as we discuss!
STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!
If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!
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Produced by Peter Woodward
Listener Story
This episode, we got a cool story from Anonymous Edy! She told us about a spooky haunting on Lake Lanier in Georgia that was relayed to her by a close friend! Check it out!
TULSA HEX HOUSE
This beautiful two-story home in Tulsa, Oklahoma is a house of horrors. Located at 10 East 21st Street, it was a duplex that housed a woman named Carolann Smith. In this place, she was able to brainwash and manipulate two grown women into essentially being her full-time slaves and followers, all the while living in luxury and collecting some serious coin…
Meet Carolann...
Born Opal Mary Carey on May 18, 1893, Carolann Smith was a widow with an agenda…a truly gross one. Also referred to as “The Hex Mistress”, Carolann cemented her place in Oklahoma history and lore because of one thing: greed.
During the second World War, general goods and supplies were limited in the US. To assure that troops overseas were being supplied with everything they needed, the American government issued ration books to each household. These were books of stamps that covered the purchase of food and supplies aloted to each home based on the number of dependents in that home, ensuring that everyone got what they needed, but did not take too much.
A very fair system in a very tumultuous time, we think. However, Carolann apparently did not think so…
Wartime rations were very closely monitored. Carolann’s claim was obviously suspicious to someone because she was investigated for Wartime Ration Fraud . Police began interviewing her neighbors during their investigation of her, and they heard some weird things. Neighbors reported bizarre sounds coming from the house like growls and screams. They also reported seeing three women burying something behind the house around midnight one night.
Who Were These Women?
Virginia and Willetta
What Was It Like In There?
When investigators located the two women, the scene was horrifying. They were found barefoot, cold, and wearing dirty clothes. They were also dehydrated because they had no access to water. It was later found that it was being withheld from them by Carolann. Their beds were crates in the basement.
In direct contrast, Carolann was living it up upstairs, ya’ll. While the two women lived in squalor in the basement, Carolann lived in luxury in the rest of the house, never going without and no one the wiser. Until police came in and found A LOT of things…
What was in it for her?
So…what was Carolann getting out of this deal…other than full time cooks, housekeepers, and tons of illegally obtained food and supplies from the US government? Um…money, hunny.
Remember how we said Virginia came from a well-off family? Well…Carolann contacted Virginia’s father, Tom Evans and managed to convince him that his daughter had severe mental health issues and required full-time nursing care.
On his visits to his daughter, Carolann was able to dupe him. She would do things like forcing Virginia to stay up all night the night before a visit to enhance the appearance that she was unwell and ensure she was too exhausted to defend herself. Carolann even went so far as pulling out clumps of her own hair and telling Tom that Virginia did that to her! Sick.
The ruse worked, and Carolann was able to trick Tom into paying her for nursing care, collecting weekly payments from him in the amount of $31, which is about $546.60 today. She basically took him to the cleaner’s to the tune of approximately $17,000 over a period of seven years. This is roughly $293,000 in today’s money!
Something's Not Right About Carolann...
- We begin with Carolann’s husband, Fay H. Smith. He died in 1934 just prior to her moving into the Hex House. His death was a suicide by shotgun…that was triggered by a twig…
An investigator was assigned to look into Fay’s death. He died very soon after being hired.
After the loss of her husband, Carolann’s sister stayed nearby as a source of comfort to her in her time of loss…and also died unexpectedly and shortly afterward.
Carolann then decided she wanted her father, who lived in St. Louis, to move in with her. She made several trips to see him and supposedly help him move, but he died, too, before she could get him to her house. She got another massive payout from HIS life insurance policy. Sus.
In February of 1935, a woman was witnessed running from Carolann’s home, the newly occupied Hex House. She ran out the door, down the curb steps, and into the street, immediately getting struck by a car. This woman was Beulah Walker, a 45 year old widow working in Carolann’s home. She was taken to the hospital, but died very quickly without anyone being able to ask her what happened to her.
Police were not able to get in contact with her family at the time of her death, so Carolann insisted on handling the funeral arrangements. She also collected on the insurance policy she’d taken out on Beulah. An additional payout was also collected because Carolann lied and told the insurance company Beulah was her aunt, which qualified her for additional money.
Seems like she’s scheduling a lot of funerals, right? Well, of note, the officiant of alllllll these funerals Carolann arranged died around this time as well. So…
Oh…the man who struck Beulah with his car…
Yeah, he died soon afterward, too.
What Did Police Find?
Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave…
Authorities found not only proof that Carolann was committing ration book fraud–she had a crazy amount of food and rationed items in multiples–but also the evidence of just how well-off she had become with all her insurance payouts.
Arrest and Trial
Carolann was arrested and tried in October of 1944, but ask me if it was for the abduction…or torture…or physical, mental, spiritual, and sexual abuse of the Virginia and Willetta. Go ahead, ask me.
No.
NO. It was not.
She was actually tried for the ration book fraud, mail fraud (for extorting money from Virginia’s father across state lines), obtaining money under false pretenses, and inducing Virginia and Willetta to testify falsely against a neighbor.
Andrew Milek was a neighbor in their duplex that Carolann did not like. Apparently in an effort to remove him from the home, Carolann forced the two women to perjure themselves. Reports state that Willetta attacked Milek with a stick then threw herself to the ground while Virginia called police to report that Milek had attacked Willetta. The women then falsely testified against him, calling him a peeping tom who attacked Willetta unprovoked. Milek ending up getting fined and evicted from the duplex.
Dude.
She served her time and left Oklahoma immediately after she was released. Nothing is known about what happened after that because she essentially disappeared. It is thought that she likely changed her identity. Good riddance.
The House
A parking lot was built over top of the property and remains to this day. There are reports of cars parked in this lot starting on their own inexplicably. Perhaps some leftover energy from the bad juju going on with that property?
All that remains of the Tulsa Hex House is the set of stairs leading onto the sidewalk. These are the same stairs Beulah ran down shortly before being struck by that vehicle.
Not on the same property, but still in Tulsa, there is a Tulsa Hex House haunted attraction that operates September to October every year. This haunted house is supposed to be the best in Tulsa. If you’re ever in the area, go check it out!
WHAT ELSE DID WE TALK ABOUT?
What were ration books?
War ration books were issued to each family in America during World War II in an effort to combat the food and goods shortages in the country. A person could not purchase certain items without producing ration stamps and the amounts were limited based on the size of your household. They were literally the first food stamps!
V8 Energy Drinks: so good, you can't even taste the camel butt!
Lake Lanier, GA
Yyyyyyeah…gonna do an episode about this one…
RESOURCES FOR VICTIMS OF ABUSE/NEGLECT
STRANGE WOODS PODCAST RECOMMENDS...
For Some More Info on This CA-Razy Story...
There you go! What an absolute piece of garbage that woman was, huh? And who knows if she continued with her shenanigans after she disappeared? Hopefully not, but how would we know?
Well, what did we learn?
1) As the wonderful women from My Favorite Murder like to say, “You’re in a cult. Call your dad.”
2) Per Jeremy’s recommendation, if you’re going to have captives, at least give them a decent bed to sleep on.
3) Lastly, be suspicious of ladies with lots of shoes and furs…
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And as always, STAY STRANGE!
LATER, STRANGERS!
Some articles and sources:
Peter’s wife. Registered nurse. Uber-fan of The Strange Woods Podcast.
