Coffee With Jim

Our walk on the dark side of Route 66 continues with the tale of William Cook and his murder spree through Oklahoma, Texas and California. It is the tragic story of a young man who never had a chance. 

From infancy he had been driven to rage and violence, and turned to crime at an early age. Then he headed west from Joplin along US 66 and left a trail of death in his wake. 

On today's program America's storyteller shares another story of Murder and Mayhem On The Main Street of America: Tales From Bloody 66. 

This program is sponsored in part by the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. No mere motel, this is a living time capsule and the very essence of Route 66 made manifest.

In an era when murderous gangsters such as Bonnie and Clyde dominated headlines almost daily, a particulary tragic incident on Saturday, January 2, 1932, stunned the nation. Until the horrors of September 11, 2001, in New York City, and Washington D.C., the incident now known as the Young Brothers Massacre held the record for the largest number of law enforcement officers killed in a single incident.

Today, except in Jim Hinckley's America, the tragic gunfight is largely a forgotten historic footnote. On this program America's storyteller author Jim Hinckley shares this story of murder and mystery. 

Today's program is sponsored in part by the iconic Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri, and RouteTrip USA, the bespoke travel specialists for a grand road trip holiday in the US or Canada.