After being paroled for the final time in 1959, Burkhart was pardoned by Oklahoma governor Henry Bellmon in 1966 for his role in the Osage murders.

Ernest George Burkhart was born on September 11, 1892, to a poor cotton farmer in Greenville, Texas.

In 1912, aged nineteen, Burkhart moved into his uncle's ranch at Fairfax, Osage County, in search of fortune after the discovery of oil in the region.

[13] A warrant for Hale and Ernest's arrest was issued on January 4, 1926, for the murders of Bill and Rita Smith.

According to David Grann, Hale later turned himself in wearing "a perfectly pressed suit, shoes shined to a gleam, a felt hat, and an overcoat with his diamond-studded Masonic lodge pin fastened to the lapel.

"[15] Hale maintained his innocence, so federal agents focused on interrogating Ernest; he broke and turned state's evidence after being confronted with outlaw Blackie Thompson (who had been in state custody for murdering a police officer) willing to testify that Ernest tried to hire him to do the killings.

Only three years later, he and a woman named Clara Mae Goad robbed Burkhart's former sister-in-law's house, stealing $7,000 ($152,238 in 2023).