Lava Lake murders
The victims were Edward Nickols (50), Roy Wilson (35), and Dewey Morris (25), all of whom were working as fur trappers in the Deschutes National Forest in the winter of 1923–1924.Near the shore of Big Lava Lake, the searchers found the men's large sled, which was marked with dark stains that were later confirmed to be blood.Nearby, on a trail leading to the lake, a searcher discovered pools of blood in the thawing snow, as well as clumps of hair and a human tooth.[8] In an official police report, Sheriff Claude McCauley wrote of the scene: Even though the weather was perfect, the clear air was impregnated with the odor of death and decomposition and it was with an undefinable spirit of awe and consternation that the little party of hardy outdoorsmen laid aside their packs, kicked off their snowshoes, and prepared to tackle a grim job which was little to their liking.[7] Initially, police suspected a woodsman and moonshiner named Indian Erickson of the crimes, who maintained a camp at the nearby Cultus Lake.[1] He was discovered in actuality to be a man named Charles Kimzey, who had been arrested in 1923 for robbery and attempted murder in Bend, in which he threw W. O. Harrison, a stagecoach driver, down a well.[1] A traffic officer in Portland recognized Kimzey as a man who had approached him on January 24, 1924, carrying a gunnysack and asking for directions to a fur dealer in the city.