On this day in 1941, when most of the world was occupied with worry over America’s entry into World War II, residents of Knoxville, Tennessee, were talking about a warrant issued against supermarket magnate and city councilman-elect Cas Walker.
Walker’s brother-in-law, A. B. Kropff, had sworn out a warrant against him on charges of assault and battery. According to Kropff, Walker had punched him in the face, giving him a black eye. The warrant itself was issued by the sessions court judge after he was convinced that Mr. Kropff was not under the influence of whiskey, which apparently took a bit of time.
Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Kropff had been arguing the day before, Mrs. Kropff accusing her husband of being with another woman on Christmas Day and Mr. Kropff arguing that he had not been with anyone but instead had been out hunting with a friend. He even called the friend and his wife over to try to convince Mrs. Kropff that was the case.
That didn’t appear to satisfy her, so she called her brother to come over, the aforementioned Cas Walker.
Cas came in, sat down in a chair and listened to the two argue, then a fight ensued.
According to Walker, his brother-in-law, who had been drinking, went for a shotgun, so he popped him in the eye and took his sister and the couple’s young daughter to safety, since Kropff had threatened to take the child to North Carolina. According to Kropff, Walker just jumped up and hit him without warning and with no reason, then kidnapped his child.
The case was dismissed when A. B. Kropff failed to show up to the hearing on December 30th.
