Jack Raymond Atkins (abt. 1924)

Husband of Doris J (Padour) Stiles — married 27 Aug 1950 (to about 1952) in Winnemucca, Nevada

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Biography

Jack was married three times by 1950. With his first wife, he had two children in Boise, Idaho. His second wife was Audrey and the marriage and her death occurred in 1950. Later in 1950, he married Doris Padour, when he was going under the name of Jack Reese.

Here are some newpaper clippings regarding the situation with Jack's second wife's death:

Spouse Seized In Death of Utah Woman SACRAMENTO, Cal-- A curly-halred young man hunted since April for the Sacramento slaying of his wife was captured here Saturday. He is Jack Raymond Atkins, 26, formally charged with murder for beating to death Audrey Hayes Kersher Atkins, 24, formerly of Bait Lake City, in a rooming house the night of last April 27. Atkins was found in the room or a small downtown hotel by Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Paul Malone Jr., and Peter T. Sexton and Sacramento Policemen Otto Dahl and Al Soulies. Blonde Companion With Atkins was a 22-year-old blonde waitress from Burns. Ore. She gave her name as Doris J Reese. The coupie checked in at the hotel as J. D. Reese and wife Wednesday. The Oregon woman said Atkins told her Oct. 13, in Burns, that he was wanted here and that they agreed he would return. Atkins admitted being with the murder victim the night of April 27. But he refused to say what happened between the time when... ^[1]

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 29 (AP) -- Police detectives said today Jack Raymond Atkins, 26, sought six months throughout the west for the bedroom killing of his common law wife, admitted striking the death blow. The officers said he told them he slapped 24-year-old Audrey Hayes Atkins with his hand after she struck him. but he had no intention of killing her. The woman, a cocktail waitress, was found beaten to death in the couple's rooming house bedroom April 28, clad only in a disarranged slip and brassiere. Medical officers said the woman had been beaten with an instrument -- perhaps a blackjack. But Detective Chief Joseph Rooney and Detective Donald J. Fox said Atkins, formerly of Boise, Idaho, gave this account: He found Audrey drinking at a bar and they began to argue. They went to several other bars and argued more. Then they returned to their room where he accused her of running around with other men. She struck him first, and he hit her. At the blow, Atkins continued, she fell unconscious and, feeling her weakened pulse, he ran downstairs for water only to find his pretty wife dead on his return. He fled the city. Atkins, an ex-G. I., was picked up in a downtown hotel last Saturday, a few days after his return. He said he intended to surrender. ^[2]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. CAL) -- Sacramento authorities began questioning Jack Raymond Atkins,26, in an attempt to get the "whole story" on the April 28 death of his common law wife. They planned to interrogate both the ex-GI from Boise and Doris Reese, 22, Burns, Ore,, identified as his legal bride of two months ago. Atkins faces a murder charge. His blond wife is held as a material witness. She told arresting FBI agents and city detectives Saturday that her husband had disclosed the whole story to her. Since his apprehension when he returned to Sacramento, Atkins has refused to tell what occurred in the rooming house before the partially clad body of slim and pretty Audrey Hayes Atkins. 24, was found on a bed in their apartment. An autopsy showed she was beaten to death. Harry M. Kimball, special agent in charge of the'FBI in Northern California, said the .search for the suspect trailed him through Nevada and the Northwest. ^[3]

Murder Trial Set for Atkins SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 15. UPI — A murder trial has been ordered December 29 for 26 year old Jack Raymond Atkins in con­nection with the death of his com­mon law wife. The former Idahoan was held to answer in superior court by muni­cipal Judge Byron E. Gaddis. Atkins is charged with beating to death Audrey Hayes Atkins, 24, last April 27. Dr. Arthur F. Wallace, autopsy surgeon for the coroner's office, testified at the preliminary hear­ing Thursday that Audrey died as the result of three blows on the head.

December 31, 1950 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (UP)--Attorneys for Jack Atkins, charged with the murder of his wife, Audrey, here last April, sought a writ of prohibition Saturday to prevent his murder trial. Attorney Clifford Russell alleged in applying for the writ from the appellate court that not enough evidence was developed at Atkins' preliminary hearing to warrant a murder charge. Russel! earlier made a similar, and unsuccessful, move in superior court. Atkins' wife, a former Boise waitress, was found beaten to death in a rooming house where the couple lived. Atkins disappeared but was arrested here months later.

SACRAMENTO (UP)--Jack Atkins, 26, was sentenced to San Quentin prison Friday for the second degree murder of his common-law wife, Audrey Hayes, 24, a Boise, Idaho waitress. The sentence prescribed by law is five years to life imprisonment. Defense Attorney Clifford Russell said he didn't know whether an appeal would be filed. He has 15 days to file. Russell said that decision rested with Atkins. "Just whatever way he feels about it is what we'll do," Russell said. Russell said he hadn't had a chance to inspect the record for errors on which to base any appeal. The woman's partly clad body was found in a rooming house here April 28. The coroner's jury said she died from blows on the head. ^[4]

Name: Jack Raymond Atkins Event Type: Obituary Event Date: 24 Oct 1950 Event Place: San Francisco, California Event Place (Original): San Francisco, California Gender: Male Age: 26 Newspaper: San Francisco Chronicle

Spouse Audrey Hayes Atkins Wife Female

Others on Record Doris Reese Female ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ October 22, 1950 The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah · Page 75
2. ↑ October 24, 1950 The Ogden Standard-Examiner from Ogden, Utah · Page 2
3. ↑ October 24, 1950 Idaho State Journal from Pocatello, Idaho · Page 8
4. ↑ January 26, 1951 Idaho State Journal from Pocatello, Idaho · Page 1
5. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5Q1-Y3TV : 18 July 2020), Jack Raymond Atkins, 1950

• Milwaukee Journal, October 22, 1950 edition
• Idaho Falls Newpapers, December 15, 1950
• The Ogden Standard-Examiner from Ogden, Utah
• Idaho State Journal from Pocatello, Idaho