James H. Snook

Murder of Theora Hix

On September 11, 1922, Snook married sixth-grade teacher Helen Marple. The two had a son who died in infancy before having a daughter named Mary. Snook was arrested on June 15. Snook's counsel invoked an insanity defense and self-defense plea, Courtroom sketches of the trial were created by Milton Caniff for The Columbus Dispatch. Transcripts of Snook's sexually explicit testimony were sold by a court reporter before copies were seized by authorities. Snook was then sentenced to death by electrocution.

Prison warden P. E. Thomas alleged that, prior to his execution, Snook admitted to him that he had lied in his testimony, and that the murder was premeditated. According to Thomas, Snook said that he murdered Hix because she had threatened to expose their affair, which would ruin his reputation. Snook was executed on February 28, 1930, at the Ohio Penitentiary by electric chair. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery after a short service at the King Avenue Methodist Church. At the family's request, the exact location of the grave was kept a secret from the public until 2005.