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Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Who Killed Tobacco Heir Zachory Smith Reynolds?

     In the early morning hours of July 6, 1932 twenty-year-old Zachory Smith Reynolds was shot in the head following a party.  Smith, as he was known, was a well known pilot and the youngest son of tobacco tycoon R.J. Reynolds and his wife Katherine.  Smith's death shocked the country.  Everyone wanted to know who killed Smith Reynolds.

     Smith's wife, Libby Holman, immediately told everyone that Smith had shot himself.  Some can easily believe this as Smith had reportedly been suicidal in the past.  Still others think Libby Holman, an actress, had murdered her husband.  There were two other people in the house with Reynolds that evening besides Holman, Smith's friend Albert Bailey Smith and Libby's friend Blanche Yurka.  The trio managed to get Smith to North Carolina Baptist Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:25 a.m.

     Police found Smith's death suspicious from the beginning.  Libby Holman and Albert Bailey Walker were eventually indicted for the murder of Smith Reynolds.  The case continued to get press coverage all over the country as rumors circled around that Holman and Walker were having an affair and wanted the young millionaire out of the way.  The Reynolds family, however, thought Smith had committed suicide and urged the D.A. to drop the charges.  Eventually the charges were dropped because of lack of evidence.  Apparently, police could not prove the pair were having an affair or that they killed Smith.  Questions about the death of Smith Reynolds have lingered ever since.  What was going on in the life of Smith Reynolds that could have led to his death?

     In the summer of 1918 R.J. Reynolds, the wealthy tobacco tycoon, died after a battle with cancer leaving behind a wife and four young children.  A year later his widow, Katherine Reynolds, began dating a school master who was about twenty years younger than her.  The couple married in the summer of 1921 and moved into a small cottage on the Reynolds estate, leaving the children alone in the main house with their governess and other servants.  When forty-four-year-old Katherine became pregnant in 1924 the couple moved into an apartment in New York City to be near her doctor.  It was a difficult pregnancy and Katherine died a few days after giving birth to a son.  Smith and his siblings were orphans and now their stepfather, Ed Johnston, and their paternal uncle, William Neal Reynolds, were in charge of their care.  The children spent most of their time away at boarding school.

     Smith Reynolds dropped out of school when he was fifteen years old and went to work with his older brother, Dick, at a new subsidiary of the family business, Reynolds Aviation.  Smith enjoyed flying and was good at it.  He earned a private pilot's license in 1928 and in May of 1929 at age seventeen he became the youngest person in the country to earn a transport license.  The exciting young millionaire became a celebrated pilot.  

     It was during the summer of 1929 that Smith began dating Anne Cannon, a textile heiress.  Anne reportedly became pregnant and the couple were forced to marry by Anne's father in November of 1929.  The couple allegedly fought frequently and separated before the birth of their daughter.

     In the spring of 1930 while visiting his friend, Broadway producer and John Deere Heir Dwight Deere Wiman, Smith met actress Libby Holman.  He reportedly became infatuated with Holman instantly.  Holman later reportedly claimed that Smith proposed marriage to her shortly after they met, but she turned him down because he was still married to Anne.  But Smith was persistent.  He followed her around the country in his plane.

     In November of 1931 Smith obtained a divorce from Anne.  A few days later he married Libby Holman.  By the summer of 1932 the couple were expecting a baby and were spending the summer at the Reynolds family estate in North Carolina.  It was here that Smith Reynolds was shot in the head.

     Libby Holman reportedly told friends after Smith's death that she was so drunk that night she didn't remember what happened.  She reportedly didn't remember whether she shot him or not.  A few months later, in January of 1933 Libby gave birth prematurely to a son.  The baby only weighed three and a half pounds and struggled to survive, having to spend time in an incubator.

    Libby would spend the rest of her life under a cloud of suspicion.  Allegations remained that she had only married Smith Reynolds for his money and then plotted to kill him.  Others say Smith was a troubled young man who took his own life.  What do you think?  Will we ever learn the truth about the death of Smith Reynolds?

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