Bio

Paul Harold Orgeron was 49 years old and worked as a tile-setter. He had been an inmate in the past and had prior convictions for safe-cracking. He left school in the second grade.

He had a seven-year-old son named Dusty Paul. Orgeron had recently moved with his son from Altus, Oklahoma to southern Houston, Texas. His ex-wife, Hazel, said they divorced twice. She said the divorces were related to spousal abuse.

Orgeron briefly rented a room at a nearby boarding house. He used the name Bob Silver while he rented. The landlord later said the father and son were quiet and had not caused trouble.

He tried to enroll his son in second grade at Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School. School officials denied enrollment because he did not have the boy’s birth and health certificates. He left the school office and said he would return the next day with the papers.

Family members said Orgeron had recently "found God." They noted this at a gathering for Dusty’s seventh birthday the Saturday before. His fingerprints were on file from his earlier convictions.

Murder Story

Paul Harold Orgeron tried to enroll his seven-year-old son, Dusty Paul, at Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School. He was denied because he had no birth or health certificates. He left the school office saying he would return with the documents.

Minutes later, around 10:00 a.m., Orgeron and his son were on the school playground. Orgeron carried a brown suitcase and gave two pieces of paper to a teacher, Patricia Johnston. The notes were hard to read. Orgeron muttered about having "power in a suitcase," the will of God, and having to "get to the children."

Orgeron asked the children to gather around him and waved the suitcase. Johnston saw a doorbell button on the bottom of the suitcase. She told the students to return to the building. She sent two students to get the principal, R. E. Doty, and the custodian, James Montgomery.

When the principal and the custodian arrived, Orgeron did not leave the school grounds. He then detonated the suitcase. The suitcase held perhaps six sticks of dynamite. Witnesses later said the blast felt like a large explosion.

Six people died in the blast. They were Paul Harold Orgeron, 49; Dusty Paul Orgeron, 7; Jennie Katharine Kolter, 54; James Arlie Montgomery, 56; William S. Hawes Jr., 7; and John Cecil Fitch Jr., 8. Eighteen people were injured. Principal Doty suffered a broken leg. Two children each lost a leg.

Police found a six-inch-deep hole in the asphalt play area. Some victims were burned. One girl was blown more than 100 feet away. The Texas National Guard was called to protect other schools. The school was evacuated while police searched for other devices. Teachers took roll and found all students were present except those dead or injured.

Very little of Orgeron's body was found. His left hand was found in a hedge. Investigators used fingerprints from his prior convictions to identify him. His station wagon contained explosives and an August 25 receipt for detonators and 150 sticks of dynamite from Grants, New Mexico. Orgeron had prior convictions for safe-cracking.

Police managed to decipher Orgeron's notes:

First note

Please do not get excite over this order I’m giving you. In this suitcase you see in my hand is fill to the top with high explosive. I mean high high. Please believe me when I say I have 2 more (illegible) that are set to go off at two times. I do not believe I can kill and not kill what is around me, an I mean my son will go. Do as I say an no one will get hurt. Please. —P. H. Orgeron

Second note

Do not get the Police department yet, I’ll tell you when. Please do not get excite over this order I’m giving you. In this suitcase you see in my hand it fill to the top with high explosive. Please do not make me push this button that all I have to do. And also have two 2 more cases (illegible) high explosive that are set to go off at a certain time at three different places so it will more harm to kill me, so do as I say and no one will get hurt. An I would like to talk about god while waiting for my wife.

The school was open the next day. Houston Independent School District later named two elementary schools for victims: Kolter Elementary School and Montgomery Elementary School. A fifth grader at Poe that day, Lawrence Eugene Schacht, was later involved in the Jonestown Massacre.