Otto Arthur Cargill (February 26, 1885 – March 20, 1973) was a prominent lawyer, author, politician and buffalo rancher during Oklahoma's early days.

[5] Cargill's gubernatorial campaign claim that he opposed the Ku Klux Klan starkly contradicted at least one dark chapter in the life of a man who admitted to being a former member of the KKK.

Logan County Prosecutor A. I. Dinwiddie determined after a cursory investigation that there was sufficient evidence to charge Claude Chandler with homicide and try him in court.

Cargill indicated that he was taking Chandler to Oklahoma City in order that he be prosecuted in federal court, which he later admitted was a bluff.

Dinwiddie's insistence that Logan County officials had jurisdiction, and that Oklahoma county and federal statute had no legal mechanism by which to prosecute Chandler (claims which were confirmed by the Federal District Attorney Herbert Peck), served only to anger Cargill, who would not be deterred.

[8] Cargill voiced concern that "a Logan County jury made up largely of Negroes would have turned [him] loose".

There, jail personnel were substantially and anomalously weakened, although The Daily Oklahoman reported at the time that threats to lynch Claude Chandler "were legion".

I went to the scene of the murder and found [deputy] Adrean and [agent] Weiss lying in bloody dirt while Logan county officers stood and talked about holding an inquest.

I did not fool; I just took things in my own hands, ordered the bodies taken to Oklahoma City, the Chandler boy to be brought to our jail.

"[9] The following night, three men easily gained access to the jail, which was under the protection of one guard, and a mob abducted and brutally murdered Claude Chandler.

[10] Late in his career, he became embroiled in a wide-ranging bribery scandal also involving several justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.