The Jake Bird Hex

Jake Bird (December 14, 1901 – July 15, 1949) was a convicted murderer and self-confessed serial killer who was tried and executed for the axe murders of Bertha Kludt (age 53) and her daughter Beverly June Kludt (17) in Tacoma, Washington on October 30, 1947. Bird may have killed as many as 46 people.

After his conviction was announced, Bird was allowed to make a final statement. He spoke for 20 minutes, noting that his request to represent himself had been denied and that his own lawyers were against him.

Bird then said, “I’m putting the Jake Bird hex on all of you who had anything to do with my being punished. Mark my words you will die before I do.”

Allegedly, six people connected with the trial died: Judge Edward D. Hodge of a heart attack within a month of sentencing him to death, as did one of the officers who took his first confession. A police officer who took a second confession died, as did the court’s chief clerk, and one of Bird's prison guards. J.W. Selden, one of Bird’s lawyers, died on the first anniversary of his sentencing.

This may have been the second hex cast by Bird. According to a contemporary account in Negro Digest, when Bird was arrested, "he told a detective, 'You wait and see. You policemen and judges will be settin' and waitin' at the pearly gates a long time before I roll up.'"

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