 Robert Harris, perpetrator | |
| Date | November 20, 1932 (1932-11-20) |
|---|---|
| Time | Noon |
| Location | 1429 DuBois Street, Detroit |
| Also known as | Detroit Voodoo Murder |
| Perpetrator | Robert Harris aka Robert Karriem |
| Arrests | Robert and Bertha Harris, Ugan Ali, and W.D. Fard |
| Sentence | Robert Harris committed to state hospital |
Themurder of James J. Smith occurred on November 20, 1932, when he was stabbed and bludgeoned to death byAllah Temple of Islam member Robert Harris in what he described as a human sacrifice. Contemporary press labeled it the "Voodoo Murder". The killing led to the technical dissolution of the organization, which was reconstituted under the nameNation of Islam.
Robert Harris was born on August 3, 1888, to parents Alec and Lulu in Mississippi. On July 3, 1929, he moved to Detroit, Michigan. He had a wife, Bertha.[1] James Smith was born on December 25, 1892, in Atlanta.[2]
In 1930, a man namedW. D. Fard came to Detroit, ultimately founding a group called the Allah Temple of Islam. Among Fard's practices was to give new, Islamic names to members, replacing their inherited 'slave names'. Robert Harris was given the new surname "Karriem".
Around 9 a.m. on November 20, 1932, Robert Harris had escorted James J. Smith into a room with a makeshift altar in the home at 1429 DuBois Street.[3] Robert Harris was described as a large 44 year oldnegro who had moved from Tennessee to Detroit on July 3, 1929. Smith, 40, was described as a negro. In the audience were twelve adult witnesses and Harris's wife and children. Smith was asked if he would sacrifice his life forIslam, and Smith nodded his assent. Harris then stabbed Smith in the chest, and proceeded to bludgeon him to death with anaxle rod.[4][5][a]
Smith's body was found on the altar, stabbed through the chest with an 8-inch knife. A "cheap magazine" was open to a story about "mysticism of the desert", with the underlined phrase "The believer must be stabbed through the heart".[6]
After neighbors reported the crime and named Harris as a likely suspect, Harris and wife Bertha (35) were arrested at 2729 Clinton street. In custody, Harris admitted to the slayings. Harris told police: "I had to kill somebody, I could not forsake my gods". Harris reportedly told police "The ninth hour of the twentieth day had come Sunday. It was predestined 1,500 years ago that at that hour I must make a human sacrifice to my gods. It must not be a member of the Order of Islam." Harris claimed Smith assented to the sacrifice, telling police "At first he didn't want to be killed, but when I showed him that he would be the saviour of the world and go to heaven right away, he said all right."[7][8]
Press on November 21 reported Harris was the self-described "King" of a 100-membercult. Police initially suspected Harris might be tied to the 1929 slaying of Benny Evangelista, whom press called a cult leader. Press ran a second story on the practice of Voodoo.[6] Harris explained "Smith was sitting in a chair in front of the altar. My wife was time-keeper. As the hour drew near, I said, 'Smith, do you still want to be killed?' because the command ordered me not to kill anybody who didn't want to be killed. Smith nodded his head. When it was just 12 o'clock, I said, 'Smith, get up and stand on the altar.' I grabbed mydirk (an eight-inch case knife) and stabbed him like this. Smith fell off the altar and started to groan and tried to get up. I hit him over the head with my 'rod of iron' (a section of the rear axle of an automobile)." Harris recalled his children sobbed and begged him, "please, Daddy, don't do it, don't do it!"[6]
On November 22, press coverage included a picture of the "Voodoo house" where the slaying had occurred.[9][10][7] It was revealed that Harris had taken on the name "Karriem", referring to "Harris" as his 'slave name'. His son has likewise been renamed Hasabas. Hasabas, age 12, and daughter Ruby, 9, had been forced to witness the ritual. Press reported: "With an insane light in his eyes, he admitted that he had planned to seek out and kill Judges Edward J. Jeffries and Arthur E Gordon for the purpose of propitiating jungle gods." Harris also reported wanting to kill a 21 year old social worker who had cut him fromwelfare rolls. Harris was compared to the Ahfed Abdullah, formerly James Moaning, described as psychopathic, who had gained entrance to the Mayor's home in the delusional belief that the Mayor was responsible for thegovernment of Haiti.
On November 23, press discussed police access to a temple on Hasting Street using a secret password, their raid on the temple, and their arrest of leader Ugan Ali, described as 'God of the Asiatics', after he admitted to having taught Harris.[11][12]
Police initiated amanhunt for Fard and another leader, Ugan Ali, who were arrested and questioned. Harris was deemed insane and committed to amental hospital. "The society cannot be blamed for anything he did", Ali was quoted as saying in theDetroit News.[13][user-generated source?] Fard and Ugan Ali, who acknowledged leadership of the Allah Temple of Islam but vehemently denied any teaching ofhuman sacrifice, were examined bypsychiatrist David Clark, who recommended they becommitted for furtherobservation. A judge agreed, and both Fard and Ugan Ali were placed instraitjackets and confined inpadded cells.[14]
With Fard and Ugan Ali still in custody five days after the murder,Elijah Muhammad, at the time known as Elijah Karriem, led over two hundred members into the court building and staged a protest on the main floor. The police spent a full day expelling the protesters.[14]
One contemporary news article claimed the murder was related to "the demoniac rites of West African savages, from whom Voodoo practices were transferred to West Indian Negroes, and from them to the United States."[15]
On November 25, Harris wasarraigned on charges offirst-degree murder; he pleaded guilty, but his bizarre courtroom behavior convinced witnesses of hisinsanity. Judge John P. Scallen appointed three psychiatrists.[16] Harris was described as throwing furniture at other prisoners.[17]
Papers described Harris's confinement in a padded cell of the County Jail, writing "The lustful flame of jungle fanaticism which tortured Harris into murdering Smith, seemed to have died away in him, temporarily at least, Saturday [November 26]."[18][19][20] On November 28, "Negro leaders" in Detroit publicly voiced opposition to the "cult".[21][22] By November 29, police had seized ATI literature including a registry of 8,000 members.[23]
On November 30, papers reported that Ugan Ali was likely insane, while Fard was reported as "not driven into his sinister teaching through insanity".[24] On December 1, papers announce that the roster of ATI members had been conveyed to the Welfare Departments; Recipients were to be banned from welfare if they retained their membership.[25]On December 6, the three psychiatrists testified that Harris waslegally insane, and he was committed to theIonia State Hospital for the Criminal Insane.On December 6, Ugan Ali was released after promising to help disband the Allah Temple of Islam, while Fard agreed to forever leave Detroit as a condition of release.[14][26]
In the state hospital, Harris was diagnosed withdementia praecox. He died there on June 19, 1935, of "mitral insufficiency and decompensation". His body was transferred to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.[1]