Keppler, Louis "Blackie"

39, is dead and Jesse E. Drane, 32, is in the county jail following a gun duel at Hockerville Oklahoma, at 2 Sunday morning. Both men were miners. The shooting resulted when Keppler attempted to force an entrance into a house where Drane and his wife roomed, according to witnesses. Keppler is said to have been intoxicated. Drane surrendered to T. F. Wilburn at Hockerville shortly after the shooting. He was brought to Miami Sunday morning by Deputy Sheriff Ed Lee and Newt Cox. A charge of murder probably will be filed against him, according to county officers. Drane lives with his wife in a building owned and occupied by Mrs. Ethel Moreland and children, one block west of the Walker drug store. He is well known miner, and has been engaged in sinking a shaft for the Euterpe Mining Company. Keppler, according to officials had been making advances to Mrs. Moreland, which she had repulsed. One of her sons was awakened Sunday morning when he heard Keppler calling outside a window. The boy awakened Drane, who went to investigate according to his story. Drane told officers that Keppler opened fire with a revolver when warned to go away. Drane was unarmed, but Wesley Moreland, 15, brought him a shotgun. Drane fired to frighten the intruder, he said. Keppler returned the fire and walked toward the house. Approximately a dozen shots were exchanged, according to Drane. When Keppler mounted the front porch and attempted to open the screen door, Drane fired again, according to his story. Keppler fell with a load of shot in his left breast. Men living in the neighborhood carried the wounded man to the office of Dr. E. Mabry, where he died about 3 o'clock. Drane, accompanied by Frank Martin, walked to the home of Justice Wilburn and voluntarily placed himself in custody pending investigation. Wesley Moreland stated to a reporter that he aroused Drane and told him a man was trying to break into the house. He and other witnesses stated to officers that Drane fired as a last resort to prevent the man from entering the house. "I had never seen Keppler before," Drane said Monday in discussing the shooting. "I was awakened about 2:00 am by Mrs. Moreland, who told me that there was man outside the house and that he had been there for an hour or more. I went to the door to investigate and saw someone standing near a Ford car I had left in front of the house. I asked him what he was doing. He did not reply, but walked about 15 feet and then began firing at me with a revolver. I said, "I'll bet I'd keep that fellow away if I had a gun, intending to frighten him." I did not have a gun, but Bob Moreland heard me and said, "I have a gun." He brought me a shotgun and three shells. Keppler was walking back toward the house, so I fired in an effort to frighten him. He walked away again, but turned when about 40 feet away and fired several more shots. Then he walked toward the porch again. Mrs. Moreland thought she recognized him and called, "Is that you, Blackie? What do you want?" "I'm going to get that fellow who shot at me," he said and came up on the porch. I was standing inside the door, covering him with the shotgun.

A jest, "What shall I do with him, shoot him?" said jokingly by Jesse E. Drane, 32, to his wife and Mrs. Ethel Moreland, led to the shooting of Louis "Blackie" Keppler, 39 at Hockerville early Sunday morning, according to county officers who are conducting an investigation of the shooting. Keppler's body was sent to Greenville Illinois, Tuesday for burial. Wednesday morning, Drane, who is being held without bail in the county jail here, told his story to Louis N. Stivers, assistant county attorney and Deputy sheriff Ed Lee. "The women folk said they heard a noise outside of the house and I went out the rear door to investigate," Drane told the county officers. "As I reached the side of the house I called out to the women, "What do you want to do, shoot him?" and then I entered the house from the rear. I then heard the two shots at the front of the house. According to the story, Keppler had started to leave after Drane had spoken to him. Drane said he then discharged the shotgun in the air in an attempt to frighten Keppler. "No one can ever do that and get away with it," Keppler is reported to have said, and started to the house. His attempt to force his way into the house resulted in the fatal shooting, according to Drane's story. The hearing will be held before Judge Q. P. McGhee in the county court on Jul 10. The funeral services for Louis F. Keppler, killed at Hockerville Oklahoma, last Sunday, were held here today. Keppler was a member of a respected family living at Greenville Illinois. He had not been at home for the last six years, but members of the family knew his whereabouts. He is survived by his mother and four brothers. He was married, but had separated from his wife. Keppler was a member of the Modern Woodmen and Moose lodges.