Census said they owned their home and that Burt had finished
high school and Cora Leigh had two years of college.
LEGAL PROBLEMS
He had become a “well-known fishing guide” (Miami News,
May 2, 1939) by the time he hit the headlines for shooting a
man he claimed had tried to break up his marriage. Burt went
to the home of Sheriff W.H. Lawrence between 5 and 6 a.m.
on July 31, 1938, admitting he’d killed a roomer in his house,
Carl W. Powell.
Burt was held on a manslaughter warrant and was bound
over to the grand jury, which indicted him on a first-degree
murder charge. He was freed on a $10,000 bond.
He testified during the trial on May 2, 1939, that Cora Leigh
had introduced him to Powell at a dance the couple attended
at the Lake Worth Casino with next-door neighbors, Mr. and
Mrs. A.G. Lyons. Burt said he didn’t dance and that his wife
danced with Powell, whom she had previously met through
the Lyonses.
The Pruitts took Powell on a fishing trip after which, “in
gratitude,” Powell offered to paint the house. Burt then returned
from another fishing trip to find Powell ensconced in
the house while completing the job.
Cora Leigh had left home for Reno, Nev., about two weeks
earlier, taking their 9-year-old son with her. Pruitt said he was
upset by this but did not suspect Powell until he found his
wife’s Reno address in Powell’s pocket the afternoon of July 30.
Cora Leigh received a Social Security number in Nevada,
which indicated she may have planned to seek work there.
She joined her mother, but there is no indication who was
there first. At the time, Reno was known as a divorce capital
because of the short-term residency requirement and more
lenient laws; however, there is no indication a divorce was
being sought by either Cora Leigh or her mother.
THE TRIAL
The account during the trial about a party the night of July
30 at the Pruitts’ house is confusing. It supposedly was to say
good-bye to Powell, who said he was leaving for Chicago,
and involved Burt, A.G. Lyons (whose family was away),
Powell and two unnamed women. Lyons had to work that
night, but when he arrived at 11:30 p.m., the five went out to
a bar. The woman invited by Powell would not go home with
him, so he was dropped by the house while the rest left to
drive the woman home. It was then that Lyons and one of the
women told Burt “things had been going on” between Powell
and Cora Leigh while he was away.
Burt said he went home immediately, turned on a light
in the bedroom, awakened Powell and told him there were
things he wanted “straightened out.”
In the trial, Burt testified that Powell sat up in bed and
taunted him, saying he was going to marry Cora Leigh and
take away his son. Powell, who Burt said had been a prizefighter
who bragged of killing a man, came at him. Burt
claimed he was “crazed” with anger and passion and shot
Powell. The pistol was one he said he carried in his car and
kept in the house at night.
Police witnesses testified they were called to the Pruitt
house where they found a “negro worker,” who is not mentioned
again in any of the accounts, asleep on the lounge.
Powell was dead on the bed in his underclothes, lying on his
back, with his hands under his head. The dead man’s mother
and brother later testified that he was in the habit of sleeping
LIVING HISTORY
VISIT OUR SHOWROOM
& DESIGN CENTER
72” or 84”
LARGEST
SELECTION OF
INDOOR AND
OUTDOOR FANS
ANYWHERE!
DansFanCity.com
WHERE
SHOPPING
IS A
BREEZE!
10762 S. US Hwy 1, Port St Lucie
772-335-8625
FAN EXPERTS CELEBRATING 35 YEARS
34 Port St. Lucie Magazine
>>
RUFFINO’S
RISTORANTE & PIZZERIA
772.335.2988 | www.Ruffinos.net
1145 S.E. Port St Lucie Blvd., Rivergate Plaza, Port St.Lucie
/www.dansfancity.com
/www.ruffinos.net
/DansFanCity.com
/www.Ruffinos.net