Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in fighting pose.
According to author David R. Axelson’s extremely well-researched book, Murder, Myth, & Marketing: How Rubin "Hurricane" Carter Conned The New York Times, Bob Dylan, Madison Avenue, & Hollywood, former middleweight title challenger, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was indeed guilty of a triple murder, beyond any reasonable doubt. Axelson was an American prosecuting and criminal defense attorney based in New Jersey for many years. In his landmark book, Axelson meticulously and unequivocally proves in minute detail that Carter was a violent predicate felon and that he, along with John Artis killed three people in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey at 2:20 AM on Tuesday, June 17, 1966.
From the publication of his book, The Sixteenth Round in 1974, most of what has been written about Carter by himself and others is irrefutably false. The movie “Hurricane” was a work of fiction. It bore virtually no resemblance to the truth about Carter’s actual life. Lies, untruths, wild stories and intentional obfuscation of facts are all part of the Hurricane Carter story as portrayed by the press and the cinema. This false narrative regarding Carter’s life and supposed innocence is, at its crux, revisionist history. Surprisingly, these lies and false stories still persist to this very day as part of Carter’s biography. He is always listed online or in newspapers as being, “falsely accused.” The triple slaying at the Lafayette Bar and Grill was part of a lifelong pattern of extreme violence perpetrated by Carter.
The evidence Axelson presents is incontrovertible. Carter was excessively violent on an almost daily basis from a very young age. He was an alcoholic and a sociopath. Violence was second nature to him. Carter’s triple homicide attack was considered to be what was then known as a “shaking”, a slang term for a revenge killing. Earlier that evening, an African American bar owner had been deliberately shot and killed in cold blood at a bar by a crazed white man. The “Hurricane” was out for revenge. Carter was always looking to avenge real or perceived slights, This is why Carter enjoyed prizefighting. He could beat people legally inside the squared circle and get paid for his actions rather than arrested. Boxing appealed to his personal sense of injustice. There was one thing, however, that he enjoyed even more than boxing. Carter absolutely loved guns. It was this fascination with weapons, along with his uncontrollable temper and alcoholism that led to his eventual downfall.
THE LAFAYETTE BAR and GRILL
Four people were at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey in the early morning hours of June 17, 1966, some 58 years ago. Three of them died as a result of gunshot wounds issued by Rubin Carter and John Artis. The bartender for the Lafayette Bar and Grill, James Oliver and a customer, Fred Nauyoks died instantly after being shot by Carter at point blank range, with a shotgun. Another customer Hazil Tans, died one month later, succumbing to her bullet wounds in a hospital.
Fred Nauyoks dead at the bar inside the Lafayette
The fourth victim, regular customer Willie Marins, must have had an angel watching over him as he survived the attack although it cost him his sight in one eye. Marins was mentally slow and was not quite sure what was going on that night even though he was one of Carter’s victims. The killings at the Lafayette were in retaliation for an earlier killing of an innocent Black man just hours before and not too far away from the Lafayette.
The Four Victims - James Oliver, Fred Nauyoks, Hazil Tans & Willie Marins
When the local police arrived at the crime scene at the Lafayette, they found bartender Oliver dead behind the bar. He had been shot in the back several times with a shotgun. Oliver, an avowed racist made no secret of his virulent hatred for African Americans. Oliver constantly refused them service at his bar, while screaming racial epithets in their faces. By all accounts, he was a very nasty piece of work. There were more than a few community members who felt that Oliver had finally received his much deserved comeuppance. It would be disingenuous to claim that other members of the local African American community had not thought of doing away with Oliver at some point in time. In fact, given the sheer volume of his bigotry, it’s almost surprising that no one had popped him before that night.
Witnesses said later that there were two African American gunmen in the bar that night. One was short, about 5’8” while the other was described as being either 5’11” or six feet tall. The shorter Black male was seen outside the bar after the murders carrying a shotgun while the taller Black male was seen beside him with a pistol clearly visible in his hand.
Carter & Artis leaving court during first trial.
They had a getaway driver, which is why several witnesses said they saw three African American males in a 1966, white Polara with New York plates, as it was pulling away from the crime scene. Carter was a nationally known sports figure and, he was certainly very well-known in Patterson, New Jersey. Everyone in Paterson, including the police, feared Carter. He was a loose cannon. When not in training for an upcoming fight, a perpetually angry Carter was out almost every night in various local bars, drinking himself into a stupor, after which he’d go looking for trouble, which he usually found or created. Carter was certainly not hard to recognize, with his bald head and his black goatee and moustache. His look was carefully calculated to be intimidating.
Ballistic experts later identified the guns used in the triple homicide as a 12-gauge shotgun and a .32-caliber pistol, probably a 7-shot revolver, manufactured in Germany. Carter had a large gun collection (of which he was very proud) and owned weapons similar to those used in the Lafayette killings. It was determined after ballistic testing that the ammunition found by the police in the trunk of Carter’s car perfectly fit the guns that were employed in the murders.
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