The Urban Legend

The spooky story has been told at campouts and sleepovers, in the dark of night, in low voices and whispers.

A couple’s car breaks down on a dark, isolated road and won’t start again. The boyfriend takes on the mantle of hero/adventurer and says he will walk to go get help and instructs the girlfriend to stay in the car, no matter what. The girl is perceived as helpless and waits within the safety of the car all night but her boyfriend doesn’t return. She is spooked and hears a scratching or tapping sound on the roof of the car. She finally falls asleep and is startled by a policeman who is knocking on the window. It’s daybreak and the officer instructs her to come out of the car but don’t look back as they leave. She looks back anyway and sees her boyfriend hanging from the tree above their car. The scratching was his fingers scraping the roof or the tapping was his blood dripping onto the roof.

No one really knows exactly where this story originated but variations of this popular urban legend can be found almost anywhere. The first documented instance of this story was collected in 1964 from a freshman at the University of Kansas. Since that time, the story has spread far and wide and now it’s uncommon to encounter someone who hasn’t heard it. By the late 1970s, a version of this same story is said to have circulated in Malaysia.

Another urban legend is about a young woman, distraught over her boyfriend leaving her, chooses a tree at Morgan’s Corner from which to hang herself. She hung so long that her head separated from her body. People say that if you look up into the tree, she will be there waiting to grab you or that her headless body roams the area.

While most urban legends often start out with a bit of fact, stories change and morph over the years. We can say for sure that neither of these actually happened at Hawaii’s Morgan’s Corner, but there are still several events that may be the cause for hauntings in that area.

Kaleleake’ane - The Battle of Nuuanu

On our Nuuanu Pali page, we discussed the furious battle between Kalanikupule’s 9000 Oahu & Maui warriors against Kamehameha’s Hawaii army of 12,000 strong. The battle raged right through the area that is now Old Pali Road and Nuuanu Pali Drive as the warriors fought for control of the island. Perhaps there are still spirits of warriors lingering due to the many deaths that occurred in and around this area.

The Murder of Therese Wilder

On Wednesday, March 10th, around 1130am two prisoners escaped from a work line at the Chinese school on Smith Street near Beretania.

The escapees were 21 year old James Majors, who was serving 10 years for second-degree burglary and 19-year-old John Palakiko, who was just involved in a recent escape from the Schofield Barracks stockade and had been transferred to Oahu prison following apprehension. Palakiko was serving a four-year sentence, also for second-degree robbery. Upon their escape, the pair paid the 50 cent fare for a bus ride up to Nuuanu valley.

They hid out in the hills that night and started coming down the road, looking for food the next day. At one place, a dog chased them, at another place, they got a coconut. Then the fugitives prowled the Midkiff estate, stealing two raincoats and a bottle of citronella. They returned to the hills but, while it was still light out, they again hiked down the Pali Road to renew their search for food.

They approached the Wilder estate from the direction of the natural swimming hole below the estate, during the daylight and, at first, thought it was empty. First, trying windows along the bedroom and failing to open any, both men crept around to the Pali roadside of the house and there saw Mrs. Wilder about to begin her evening meal.

They returned to windows along the roadside of the house and succeeded in opening one in a small dressing room on the Ewa-mauka side near the road. The room in which they entered was locked so Majors climbed through a 14 by 18-inch air vent to the next room. He unlocked the door and allowed Palakiko to enter the bedroom and they set about searching the room.

Mrs. Wilder, hearing the noise, left the kitchen, opened the bedroom door, and switched on the lights, asking, “Who are you? What do you want?”

Palakiko grabbed both her arms and allegedly said, “Lady, we don’t want to hurt you. All we want is some food.”

Mrs. Wilder was able to struggle free and rushed to the front door, calling out in an attempt to frighten the intruders. She managed to open the door to the lanai when Palakiko again grabbed her. A scuffle ensued but the 68-year-old was easily overpowered. Majors pulled her to the ground and struck her in the eye. Stunned, Mrs. Wilder was bound and blindfolded with towels.

The escaped prisoners then carried the unconscious woman to the bedroom. Mrs. Wilder began to regain consciousness and struggled some more and was struck by both men after being thrown on the bed. Palakiko punched her twice on the chin and Majors slugged her on the jaw. Mrs. Wilder lost consciousness and was gagged with the same towel that was used for the blindfold.

From the kitchen, the men took some food and then left the same way they had entered. The escaped prisoners were in the house for approximately 45 minutes. The pair followed the winding road keeping close to the thick underbrush. They rested under a bridge on Kimo road and ate some food, hiding the rest. Later that night, they returned to Honolulu and the vicinity of a Chinese language school on Kapena Lane from where they had escaped. Here, they remained until Friday night, March 12th.

Palakiko and Majors attempted to steal a car and were apprehended by the owner who called the police. While waiting for police, Majors asked for a cigarette and when allowed to light one, he struck his captor in the mouth and fled. Palakiko was not fast enough and was caught and held. He was arrested at 1030pm Friday night and returned to Oahu prison to be placed in solitary confinement. At this time, Mrs. Wilder’s body had not yet been discovered in her home.

Majors fled up Palolo valley and his in the hills that night and then made his way down to Kaneohe by hitching a ride. He then stole a meat truck and drove to Waipahu where the truck was abandoned. There, he made friends with an elderly man and passed himself off as the old man’s grandson for four days.

On Tuesday morning, the body of Therese Adele Wilder, known as “Teddy” to her close friends, was found by Miya Matayashi and Isobello Escalante, her housemaid and her gardener. Showing up for work early in the morning, the pair grew concerned when Mrs. Wilder didn’t answer, despite her asking the gardener to come two days earlier than usual.

The home was locked and newspapers from last week were still lying about the grounds. After waiting a while, Escalante crawled through a window and then let Matayashi in through the front door. They saw Mrs. Wilder on her bed but at first thought she was asleep. Upon discovering the gag around her throat they called Mrs. Wilder’s physician who said Mrs. Wilder appeared to have been dead since last Thursday. Dr. Morelock called the police.

Mrs. Wilder’s official death was suffocation. Her jaw was broken and the gag further impeded her breathing. When they found her, she had been dead for five days. The police had few leads:

• The description of a car parked along Pali Road near the Wilder estate from Thursday night to early Friday morning.

• A man is said to have hitchhiked along the pali Road Thursday night and was picked up in the vicinity of the Wilder estate. His shirt was torn and his general appearance was disheveled.

• Reports of two men reported being seen Thursday evening between 545 and 6pm in the Wilder state.

Police chief William Hoopai emphasized, “Every policeman from foot patrolman on is vitally interested in supplying any bit of evidence which might lead to the identity of this criminal.”

The board of supervisors offered a $500 reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator. The Honolulu Chamber of Commerce then offered a $1500 reward. Police set up roadblocks, questioning motorists who regularly drive over the Pali road as to whether they had observed anything suspicious in the area. Four prison escapees were being sought in connection to the Wilder case.

By Friday, March 19th, two leads were eliminated. The hitchhiker with the torn shirt reported to the police station and gave his statement, clearing him of any suspicion. The other clue, the mysterious green sedan which was seen parked near the Wilder home was withdrawn.

That green car was the closest anyone came to discovering the body of Mrs. Wilder the same night the murder occurred. The car was having motor trouble and parked in the driveway of Mrs. Wilder’s estate. The two women inside insisted on going into the home and asking to use the phone. They were talked out of it by one of the two men in the car who said he would hitchhike down the road to town and borrow a car from a friend. The two women and the other man sat in the car for about two hours while 50 feet away lay the body of Mrs. Wilder.

The final break in the case came when an officer brought in two raincoats found in the hideaway used by Palakiko and Majors. Palakiko identified the raincoats as those stolen from the Midkiff estate above the Wilder estate. He admitted to entering several homes in the area, including the Wilder home. He said they were looking for food. At the time of questioning, he was still unaware that he was - in part - responsible for the death of the 68-year-old widow, Therese Wilder. Palakiko was taken back to the Wilder home where he re-enacted the events of last Thursday night.

Meanwhile, a car was stopped at a roadblock at Kokokai and Kalanianaole highways. The driver said that the man in the back seat was a hitchhiker who had asked for a ride from Heeia. The officer became suspicious of a bundle at the feet of the man in the back seat and began to question him. Suddenly, the man reached for his hip pocket and the officer, believing he was about to pull a weapon, dragged him out of the car. The man broke away momentarily, took a bottle from his pocket, pulled out the cork, and drank the contents. The officer slapped the bottle from the man’s hand and he collapsed.

The man was Majors, the escaped convict they’d been searching for. It was found that the bottle from which he drank had contained iodine. He was taken to the first aid station at Kaneohe, where his stomach was pumped, and then to Honolulu where he was placed in the Queen’s hospital under police guard. Majors admitted that he read the story of Mrs. Wilder’s death in the newspapers and confessed to entering the home, overpowering Mrs. Wilder and tying her up before leaving.

Far from any kind of urban legend, the true, heartbreaking events of the final moments of Therese Adele Wilder’s life left a lasting impression on the hearts of those who knew her, and the place in which she passed.

Car Crashes and Deaths

In February 1938, the public is complaining about the dangerous curves on the Nuuanu side of the Pali Road.

One letter to the editor said, “For this purpose, the present road is altogether unsuitable and unsafe. From the junction of the Mamalahoa Rd to the upper part of the Morgans “S” curve there isn’t 40 yards of straight road or visibility. From this point to the foot of the cement grade the road is slippery and narrow. When the ginger is in bloom, this is a favorite place for women and children to pick flowers by the roadside. There have been several fatal accidents in this stretch. The cement grade requires trucks and heavy vehicles to go in low. The road is only wide enough for two cars and when trucks are on the road, there is a continual stream of cars passing to the left.”

By July 1938, the Department of Public Works was trying to get an endorsement from the Engineering Association of Hawaii for the revised plans for the proposed Nuuanu Pali tunnel. There was much opposition by the residents on Old Pali Road. And at the time, there didn’t seem to be much public interest in the tunnels. Public Works proposed that the new route would “eliminate the hairpin curve at the lily pond, traveling along the west side of the No. 2 reservoir and rejoin the present road at the new waterworks aerator.”

But still, it would be years before plans for a tunnel were approved. In the meantime, even though the original “death curve” was widened, the winding curves on Nuuanu Pali Drive continued to claim the lives of unwary motorists and began to acquire a reputation all its own.

In 1938, the newspapers called that dangerous section of road the “morgan S curve,” named after Doctor James A. Morgan whose estate bordered that segment.

In 1941, it was called the “Morgan Estate Curve” or the “Morgan Residence Curve,” or “Morgan’s Corner.”

A 1950 article called that area both “Nuuanu’s Death Corner” and “Morgan Corner.” The complaint in this article states that For more than 30 years, the municipal authorities have talked about correcting this dangerous curve on Oahu’s outstanding scenic road. One excuse after another has been found for postponing the work, the latest being the “express highway” plan suggested by the Territory is now in the process of litigation. There always will be considerable travel at that point, and at the present, it is very heavy. The corner as it exists is a death trap.

By 1953, the name “Morgan’s Corner” stuck.

For years, as the territory was working on improving the Pali road. There were plans for a new highway that ran from Country Club Road to Reservoir number 4 would eliminate commuters’ needs to travel down Nuuanu Pali Drive, through Morgan’s Corner. Work had been delayed from 1949 as the Territory became embroiled in a legal battle with Lester Marks over the condemnation of 2 acres of his property. The proposed “new highway” would be cutting his 17-acre estate in two, with compensation for the condemnation price of $12,000.

Honolulu-bound traffic cruised up the mountain, through the tunnels, and into Nuuanu valley before bottlenecking at Reservoir number 4. Drivers were anxious for the new road to be built so they could bypass the dangerous Morgan’s Corner. Between 1949 and 1957, nearly 200 accidents occurred on this two-mile stretch of road, with dozens of injuries and three deaths that all occurred at Morgan’s Corner.

Regular commuters complained about the dangers of Morgan’s Corner, blaming the accidents and deaths on those who were blocking the construction of the new Pali highway. One letter to the editor stated, “Then I thought of the accidents, injuries, and deaths caused by Morgan’s Corner. I couldn’t help but wonder just how I would feel if I was one who had stopped the building of the new road up Nuuanu that would eliminate Morgan’s Corner. And then I thought of the young university student killed there last Saturday. I thought to myself that if I were responsible for stopping that new road I would surely feel responsible for that death and the many accidents that occur here.”

Finally, in 1956 the Marks case was settled, splitting the estate. Lester and Elizabeth Marks retained ten acres on the west side of the proposed highway, while the Territory purchased the other seven acres including the Marks’ residence.

Even though the highway plans were approved, traffic and car crashes continued on a regular basis at Morgan’s Corner until the Pali Highway was opened. One official sarcastically said the area should be called, “Morgan’s Coroner.”

Nuuanu Pali drive from Carter’s Corner above Country Club road to Res #4 was completed in Oct 1958. Now that the dangerous Morgan’s Corner would be bypassed by most traffic, traveling to and from the Pali would be much safer.

Although the traffic through Nuuanu Pali Drive was now lighter, there were still a few accidents resulting in injuries and even deaths. But through our research, there were only two incidents that were thought to be suicide in the area, but neither of them was at “Morgan’s Corner.” They were further up the road at...

You probably guessed it... Judd Trail and Jackass Ginger pond.

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