Special Agent Clarence O. Hurt arrived at the FBI in early 1934 from the Oklahoma City Police Department. Two others were recruited with him, namely "Jelly" Bryce and "Jerry" Campbell. Their recruitment was no doubt due to the efforts of SA George Franklin, assigned to the OKC FBI office and later in life, a close friend of Bryce.
Playing a pivotal role in many of the high profile gangster cases with Winstead and others, Hurt retired back to his McAlester, OK ranch after the Bureau. Hurt was known in the area to hire parolees to work on his ranch. We did find some support for that and in these cases, he proved to many that - in fact - you CAN pick your friends, and you CAN pick your relatives.
The 1966 issue of the "Lawton Constitution" of OKC revealed that Hurt's brother, Robert Hurt, a former OKC constable was sent to prison in 1957 for the "torture robbery" of an elderly couple. He, along with two others, was sentenced to 45 years. Under the terms of his parole, "Hurt will work on a ranch owned by his brother, former FBI man Clarence Hurt."
In another case the same year, the State Pardon & Parole Board was considering the favorable recommendations for "model prisoner," Julius Bohannon. A "three time killer," the prisoner said he had been promised a job on the ranch of former FBI agent Clarence Hurt."Bohannon was serving a life term and a 99 year sentence for killing two McCurtin County deputy sheriffs. He later was given another 99 year sentence for killing a prison employee during a prison break in 1936. Prison officials said Bohannon had participated in three other prison breaks.
I'd venture a guess that the new arrivals would make some interesting talk around the dinner table. . .