Capitol Chevrolet: An Unsolved Murder

Jack Norman Sr., waiting outside the courtroom. Hal Hardin has titled this photo “Agony of the Wait.”

Capitol Chevrolet: An Unsolved Murder

Mystery literature is replete with stories of business partners who disagree over how a company will be run. Music City has just such a tale. The business was Capitol Chevrolet. There was a murder in 1968. This trial involved some of the best possible legal talent in 1969. The defendant, Bill Powell, was acquitted, and the death of Haynie Gourley remains a cold case to this day.

It is difficult to imagine how much attention the trial of Bill Powell attracted. A transcript of each day’s proceedings was published in both The Tennessean and The Nashville Banner. The Gourley family engaged John Hooker, Sr. as special prosecutor to assist the young recently elected District Attorney Tom Shriver. Hooker had played a similar role in the trials of Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa a few years before. Jack Norman, Sr. and Cecil Branstetter defended. This was a battle of the titans. Gourley, 73, had the controlling interest in Capitol Chevrolet. He and his wife, Josephine, owned 75% of the shares. Powell, 40, a former Vanderbilt football star had joined the firm as sales manager in June 1965. Slightly more than a year later, he borrowed $203,000 from Third National Bank and used it to purchase 25% of the stock, leaving the Gourleys in control. There was, however, an understanding between the men that Gourley’s age was a factor in the operation of the business. Eventually Powell would take over the day-to-day operations.

The Gourleys had a son, Billy, also a Vanderbilt graduate, who worked at the dealership. A part of the agreement between Powell and Gourley was that Powell would train Billy to be an executive so that he could take a leadership role in the dealership. The Gourleys believed Powell did not like Billy. Mrs. Gourley, in particular, thought Powell was short with her son. The agreement that Powell would continue at Capitol and take over the day-to-day operations went south on Wednesday, May 22, 1968.

It was agreed that Powell would leave. His stock would be repurchased by Haynie Gourley who, in turn, would help Powell find a way to buy into another dealership. If the split was acrimonious, the men kept their emotions to themselves. On May 23, Gourley contacted Sam Fleming at Third National Bank to arrange a $200,000 loan to buy Powell out. Powell would not be paid for his sweat equity. It was generally agreed that during his three years at Capitol, Powell had expanded the dealership. It was Powell who had moved the dealership from its location on Broadway in downtown Nashville to Murfreesboro Road. He had personally signed the lease on the new location, while Gourley had not.

The agreement had been reached on Wednesday evening. Less than 48 hours later, just before 11:00am on Friday, Powell and Gourley got into a black four-door Chevy and drove away from the dealership to “talk business.” They may have been going to lunch. They may have just been on a drive.

Hal Hardin carrying Gourley’s clothes from the courtroom.

They were a short distance from the dealership when the car, stopped for a traffic signal or four-way stop, was attacked. Depending on what version of Powell’s story you believe, the incident occurred at the intersection of Elm Hill Pike and Fesslers Lane or Elm Hill Pike and Spence Lane. A black man supposedly opened the back passenger side door of the Chevy, jumped in, and demanded money. Powell, who knew Gourley carried his wallet in his left rear pocket, said Gourley reached into his suit coat pocket as if he was going to take out a billfold. The assailant appeared to think Gourley was going for a pistol, so he pulled a pistol of his own and fired four, possibly five, shots. One went through the seat in which Gourley was sitting. The bullet hit him in the back. Gourley turned to face the shooter and was hit in the chest, and finally there was a shot to the mandible. Two of the three shots were lethal wounds. Powell was hit in the calf of the leg, but said he was unaware of the wound.

The assailant left Gourley’s billfold in the back seat without taking any cash from it. There were two $100 bills folded inside. The assailant ran rather than follow through with the robbery. Powell said the man jumped from the car while it was moving and fled. The closest hospital was General Hospital, and it had an Emergency Room famous for being the closest thing to a trauma center Nashville had in 1968. Instead, Powell drove back to the dealership at high-speed, arriving with the horn honking. He got out of the car and collapsed to the ground. This is when he first realized he was wounded.

Ambulances were called for both. Gourley was transported to General Hospital where he died. Powell went to Vanderbilt. The story of the holdup (today it would be called a carjacking) told by Powell had a few holes in it. There was the provision in the contract between Capitol and General Motors that gave Powell the right to succeed to the franchise in the event of Gourley’s death.

In addition, there was a construction worker at the nearby Kroger warehouse, who said he saw a black car stop and two men get out. They were talking. One man opened the trunk of the car. The other returned to the passenger side front seat. The first man, supposedly Powell, took something from the trunk and got in the back seat. Shortly thereafter, something that sounded like four gunshots rang out. The man in the back seat got out of the car, moved to the driver’s seat, and drove away.

Powell was indicted for first degree murder. Jury selection concluded and the trial began July 21, 1969. It had taken 117 candidates to fill the box. Criminal Court Judge Allen Cornelius presided. The supposed eyewitness was destroyed on cross examination. A .38 caliber pistol, the correct caliber to have been the murder weapon, was discovered months after the shooting by a man looking for bottles on a construction site in the neighborhood. The barrel was stuck into the ground. The pistol had rusted badly and proved worthless for ballistics analysis. But to add more spice to what was already high drama, the pistol was traced to a former Capitol employee, Robert O. “Bob” Frensley, who said he had given it to Powell. When Powell took the stand and told his story, he denied having anything to do with the pistol.

The presentation of forensic evidence was in its infancy in 1969. Powder residue could not be found on Powell’s pants or the calf of his leg where the bullet entered. Could he have shot himself while holding a pistol far enough away from his leg to get this result?

After ten days of trial, all of Nashville was awaiting the press accounts and the transcript of the closing arguments. District Attorney Tom Shriver led off for the prosecution. His presentation lasted an hour and was an item-byitem recap of the facts blended with the prosecution’s theory of the case. There were no theatrics, but that is what Jack Norman Sr. and John Hooker, Sr. were there for. Hooker in particular was noted for his eloquence in argument. Without question, when he got on a roll, he could sway a jury. His wife told friends he practiced his final argument for ten hours before her and a mirror. He was ready.

John Jay Hooker, Sr. & Jack Norman, Sr walking the halls of the courthouse.

Following Shriver’s summation, Judge Cornelius called a five-minute recess. When the jury returned to the courtroom, Cornelius looked to the defense table and said, “Alright, what says the Defendant?”

Jack Norman, Sr. stood and said, “Charge the jury, your honor.”

Norman, an attorney with great oratorical skill and also a trial lawyer with an ego, made the sacrifice. He jettisoned his argument in order to block his old adversary from the lectern. Hooker was silenced.

Nashville’s trial of the century ended a few hours later with a “not guilty” verdict.

If you found this story interesting and would like to learn more about it, make sure to save the date for the NBA’s Historical CLE on November 3 at the Nashville Public Library.

JOHN C. MCLEMORE represents both debtors and creditors and is best known for his work as a bankruptcy trustee. He is admitted to practice in federal and state courts in Tennessee as well as the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. McLemore is also well known among the local law community as a photographer for NBA events, documenting the people, places, and events that comprise Nashville’s Legal History.

Below: Courtroom sketch of Shriver addressing the jury.