May 25, 1928: Precursor to More Deaths to Follow

Dr. Guy E. Brewer

Elizabeth Shaw, age 23, from Roxana, Oklahoma, died on May 25, 1928. Her death was attributed to an abortion perpetrated by  Dr. Guy E. Brewer, a beloved philanthropist in the small town of Graber, Oklahoma. 

Brewer was a 1906 graduate of University of Louisville Medical School. 

So popular was Brewer that the husband of one of his six abortion victims was fired from his job in retaliation for reporting the death to the police.

Brewer had graduated from the University of Louisville in 1906 and had been practicing medicine in Garber for 21 of the 29 years he had been a physician. He supported young men during their university studies, maintaining houses for them to live in. Those he had educated over the years rushed immediately to his defense. Though Brewer had spent many long years helping boys and young men, his impact on women's lives was evidently lightning-fast.

I believe that Elizabeth was the first woman to die under Brewer's dubious care. The other dead patients are:

• Ruby Ford, a 26-year-old homemaker, who died on April 1, 1934
• Hermoine Fowler, a 20-year-old coed, who died Jun 27, 1934
• Doris Jones, a 20-year-old mother of two, who died April 11, 1935
• Wanda Lee Gray, age 20, who died April 9, 1935
• Myrtle Helen Rose, age 21, who died December 23, 1931

Brewer entered guilty pleas and was sentenced to six four-year sentences, to run concurrently, for the six abortion deaths.

Sources:

• "Murder Charges Multiply On Philanthropic Doctor," Miami (OK) Daily News-Record, May 5, 1935
• "Link Doctor in 2 New Deaths," The Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) News, June 6, 1935