Investigation
Investigators found that Owens had been unwell in the days before his death. The inquest ruled that the keeper had suffered some sort of fit, which killed him. However, on the night of the murder, a local captain saw a vessel cruising without running lights; presumably, this was some sort of rum runner. The boat's wake led directly back to the lighthouse. A later autopsy complicated matters still further, revealing that Owens had suffered a cracked skull. And a federal agent would later testify that he overheard a suspected rum runner, Guy Parkhurst, say, "There go the rats that turned us in. Well, the lighthouse keeper got in the headlines. We did that. What these rats get will be worse."
Owens was also a known womanizer, who counted among his lovers two women who had left their husbands. Some felt that one of these jilted men may have killed the keeper. In the event, the autopsy revealed an enlarged heart, suggesting that Owens had suffered from heart disease. The verdict of natural causes stood, and the case was closed.
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