The Dramatic Death of Harry Oakes: A Millionaire’s Murder Unsolved

Adventurous and wealthy, Harry Oakes lived a life full of intrigue and unique experiences. From his roots in rural Maine to worldwide travel and finally settling in the Bahamas, Oakes made many friends and enemies on his journey through life. A complex man, he made headlines for both his charitable work and political moves. A shocking, horrifying night in 1943 garnered him the most media coverage of all, concluding in a grisly event that ended the mogul’s life and left the island reeling with unanswered questions.

In the late 19th century, the rural town of Sangerville, Maine was home to a well-to-do family headed by William Pitt and Edith Oakes. They had five children, the third of whom was young Harry, born just before Christmas of 1874. A shy child, Harry grew into a gruff man who didn’t waste time mincing words. The family moved to Dover-Foxcroft in the 1880s so that Harry and his brothers could attend a prestigious high school, Foxcroft Academy.

At the time, it was reputed to be one of the best schools in the nation. Harry graduated from the Academy in 1892 and continued his education at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, the alma mater and employer of Civil War hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

A Restless Explorer

Harry first headed to the Yukon, where he managed to survive weather extremes and the lawlessness that ruled the area at the time. Nevertheless, Oakes failed to hit the mother lode. He moved from location to location over the next decade, constantly on the search for an elusive gold strike. He prospected in California, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa without success, working odd jobs to help make ends meet. He worked as a deckhand on a ship and a medical assistant, treating miners in Alaska suffering from frostbite as temperatures often dipped to sixty below zero.

In June 1911, Oakes headed to Ontario, where rumors of gold abounded. In the northern town of Swastika, Oakes followed a tip from a local woman who ran a boarding house, laying claim at Kirkland Lake. The Kirkland Lake claim soon proved to be what Oakes had been waiting for.

By the end of the 1910s, Oakes’ mine was netting 60,000 dollars a day in profits (close to one million dollars today) and had become the most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. Its owner was the wealthiest man in Canada. Harry Oakes had not only achieved his dream, but he also suddenly had more money than he could have ever imagined.

In 1923, 48-year-old Oakes went on a cruise around the world, enjoying the wealth he had finally gained after years of searching. On the ship, he met a young woman, 22-year-old Eunice MacIntyre of Australia. Despite the age difference, the two quickly fell in love and married. Within ten years, their marriage produced five children: Nancy, Sydney, William, Shirley, and Harry Phillip.

The Oakes family moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, where Harry built a luxurious chateau near the mine. He bought property in several other locations, including the seaside town of Bar Harbor in his native Maine. Oakes was known as a philanthropist, funneling his wealth into public improvement projects in Niagara Falls and rewarding those who had supported him during his decade-long quest to seek gold.

However, Oakes also used his influence to punish those who went against him. For example, a local shopkeeper who had once denied Oakes credit, embarrassing him publicly, soon found himself bankrupt after Oakes instructed those who worked for him and his friends to avoid the store. A micromanager, Oakes often alienated those who worked for him, making enemies as his wealth continued to grow.

Eventually, the Oakes family grew frustrated with Canada and its tax system. Though he was often generous with his money, that generosity did not extend to the government. Faced with paying $17,500 a day in taxes if he continued to live in Canada, Oakes decided he would find a new home for his family. This new abode was located in the tax-free locale of New Providence, Nassau, Bahamas. The island, still part of the British Empire, was about to not only become Oakes’ home but also experience a rebirth of growth and development on his dime.

Life in Nassau

Though he didn’t have to use his wealth to pay taxes, Oakes used his cash to invest in Nassau how he saw fit. He paid to expand the airport, incited housing projects, built a golf course, established hotels, donated to hospitals, and created a bussing system. Eventually, he owned two-thirds of the island of New Providence. He was knighted for his public service investments in 1939, earning the title of Sir Harry. By 1940, his wealth was estimated to be worth between 3-4.5 billion dollars by today’s conversions. He was easily one of the richest people in North America.

Despite his sometimes challenging personality, Oakes made several wealthy friends in his exploits, including real estate mogul Harold Christie and Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor and former head of the British throne.

Nassau had very clear economic divisions, with members of the population generally split between the wealthy elite and impoverished classes. Many of Oakes’ contemporaries were in Nassau under a cloud of suspicion or seeking to hide monetary gains.

For example, Edward VIII was sent to the island after accusations of treasonous affinity toward Nazi Germany at the onset of World War II. Regardless, the wealthy elite of Nassau, including Oakes, lived a comfortable life in the Bahamas. Oakes and his friends enjoyed golf and lavish dinners while continuously making deals and manipulating their money.

On the night of July 7th, 1943, Harry Oakes was home alone, as his wife and children had traveled to their vacation home in Bar Harbor to escape the Bahamian heat. He planned to join them the next day but would never make the trip. On the morning of July 8th, Harold Christie discovered a gruesome scene when he went to wake his friend.

Harry Oakes had been bludgeoned to death at some point during the night, though some reports stated that he’d been shot. Blood enveloped his bedroom, with feathers sticking to the mess from a ripped pillow. His body had been doused in gasoline, and it appeared as if the murderer had attempted to burn the corpse.

Royal Interference

Rather than call the police, Christie immediately called his friend and the governor, Edward VIII. Seeming to want to keep the case away from the public eye, Edward engaged a Miami police captain, Edward Melchen, to look into the murder, avoiding the local police and Scotland Yard.

Melchen and a fellow Miami officer arrived in Nassau as soon as possible to investigate the scene. Though they visited the murder scene immediately, and it appeared rife with evidence, little effort was made to protect the scene and the valuable information it may contain. Several people entered and exited the room and premises, touching and moving aspects of the scene on multiple occasions. The detectives failed to collect fingerprints, later claiming that it was too humid to do so.

The investigators quickly accused a suspect, claiming he was after Oakes’ fortune. His name was Alfred de Marigny, a French count who was quite unpopular on the island and a well-known enemy not only of Oakes, but of his friends as well.

Incidentally, de Marigny was Oakes’ son-in-law. The 32-year-old count had married Nancy Oakes just three days after her 18th birthday in a New York elopement, devastating her parents. The day after the murder, de Marigny was arrested and brought to stand trial.

Nancy was convinced of her husband’s innocence and testified as much during the two-week trial. Due to the lack of evidence presented, the jury acquitted the count in just two hours. No other suspects were named (or even questioned), and the official investigation was deemed over.

A Lingering Mystery

Multiple theories have emerged in the years since about who could potentially be responsible for Oakes’ death, but none have proved fruitful. A man of many enemies, it was not unreasonable to assume that perhaps someone whom Oakes had offended in a prior business deal or a disgruntled former employee could be to blame.

Harold Christie has been floated as a suspect, as he was the one who found the body and had been asleep in a bedroom down the hall at the time of the murder. There was also the mystery surrounding the governor: why had Edward VIII attempted to keep the murder under wraps and recruit his own private police force in the matter? Nevertheless, no other suspect was officially named, and the world was left with much uncertainty regarding Oakes’ demise.

Though Harry Oakes could certainly be a controversial figure, there’s no doubt that he made a positive impact with his wealth along his life’s journey. Responsible for a great deal of growth and development in Nassau and Ontario, Oakes was memorialized in many ways. Memorials to him exist in Niagara Falls and Nassau, and the football field at Foxcroft Academy is named in his memory. As his name persists in these memorials, eighty years later, the puzzle of what happened to Harry Oakes continues to endure as well.