By Mike Simmons
It was a typical frame house in a typical middle-class neighborhood. The house stood on Coyle Street between LaRua and Jackson Streets on the west side of downtown Pensacola. Charles Helton lived there, at 520 N. Coyle.
Saturday evening, June 26, 1932, was a typical hot and humid summer Florida day. Bruce Regan, Joe Garrett, and Lish Fountain were hanging out at Helton’s house. The four were friends and often gathered together to drink some whisky, just as they were that day.
As the alcohol began to take effect, Garrett began arguing with the others. The argument turned wildly violent, and, as the others were angry with him, Garrett wisely decided to leave. But the other three were having none of that, chasing him outside and catching him on the sidewalk in front of the house. When they caught him, the fight was on. They beat his head on the concrete again and again until he was senseless bleeding profusely.
Regan, Fountain, and Helton finally realized what they had done. They checked for signs of life but found none. They panicked, realizing that, in the morning, his lifeless body would be discovered, and the police would be called.
The men loaded him into a car and drove him west into the swamp near Jackson’s Creek about four miles west of town. There they carried the bloody body into the swamp and dumped it. Then they returned to their homes and carried on as if nothing had happened.
But something had happened. They couldn’t sleep. Finally, Monday morning arrived. There was blood on Bruce Regan’s clothes and ample amounts on the sidewalk in front of Charles’ house. The three men may have had problems with drinking too much, but they were not murderers. Finally, Lish Fountain had to make it right. He called the police.
Constable Coleman was the first to respond. When Fountain relayed the actions of the previous night, Coleman decided to get some backup. Within minutes, Sheriff Mose Penton and Deputy M. D. McArthur arrived. Fountain took them to the dump scene in the swamp near Jackson’s Creek. When they arrived at the edge of the woods, Fountain and the lawmen walked to the scene. There was a lot of blood, but Garrett’s body was missing!
Within an hour, bloodstained clothes were found in Regan’s house, and illegal alcohol was found at Helton’s home. It wasn’t long before Charles Helton, Bruce Regan, and Lish Fountain were sitting in the county jail, charged with murder. The first night, they spent sleepless, thinking about what they had done. The next night was spent in the county jail.
The next morning, the search resumed for Garrett’s body. Lawmen combed the swamp and the creek, but to no avail. No one found any trace of the body.
Then it happened. In the middle of the day, a weakened, groggy man staggered out of the swamp with wounds to his head and blood on his clothes. Joe Garrett was curious as to what the fuss was about, saying that he had just awakened in the woods. The sheriff and emergency workers tended to the undead man and asked him what happened over the past day and a half. Garrett couldn’t remember anything after the argument at Helton’s house. He was taken to the hospital and then to his home at 303 N. 7th Avenue.
Regan was charged with assault and battery and Helton was charged with the illegal alcohol found in his house. Both were released on bond. Fountain, the one with the conscience, was unable to make a bond and remained in jail.
I wonder if they considered it a fun weekend…