Native Americans Awarded Almost Half The Land In Oklahoma Thanks To Odd Technicality

From the moment European settlers set foot on what is now American soil, things haven't gone so well for the Indigenous people. The list of wrongdoings, from mistaking them as Indians (from India) to wiping out entire tribes for a few acres of land, is endlessly long. Centuries later, Native Americans are still fighting to be recognized, and recently, in a shocking Supreme Court decision, tribes were awarded half the land in Oklahoma. The entire decision hinged on one bizarre technicality, and to make matters even stranger, it all started with a murder.

The Murder

In the summer of 1999, Patrick Dwayne Murphy stabbed George Jacobs and left him to die on the side of the road. Jacobs's cousin witnessed the murder, and Murphy even outright confessed to his wife and the police. Everyone looking at the situation assumed it was an easy open-and-shut case, but they had all missed one critical detail.

A Lot In Common

Patrick Murphy and George Jacobs had several things in common. They both lived in Vernon, a tiny town in Oklahoma. They were also both members of Muscogee Nation, the fourth largest Native American tribe in the U.S. And lastly, both men had been married to the same woman named Patsy. A commonality that would prove fatal for Jacobs.

An 'Ordinary' Night

In the summer of 1999, Patsy was married to Murphy, but before that she and Jacobs (the deceased) were married, and they had a son together. Murphy was always jealous of Patsy's ex-husband, and on one "ordinary" night, he marched up to his wife and told her that he was going to kill George Jacobs and his entire family.

A Dark Road

That same day, Jacobs had been drinking heavily with his cousin, Mark Sumke. By the time night fell, Jacobs was passed out in the backseat of Mark's Dodge sedan. They were driving on a narrow, unlit dirt road on the north end of Vernon when they pulled over to let another car pass. That car was Patrick Murphy's.