Murder in the First Degree

Murder in the First Degree

Because William Branham’s parents and siblings were frequently in the news, historians have a unique glimpse into the family dynamics and moral standards that produced the central figure of a destructive cult. With many other destructive groups, those accounts are seldom recorded real-time, and often whitewashed from the more critical details. With recorded history for his father Charles and brother Edward, however, William Branham’s upbringing is documented.

A few years after Charles Branham was arrested for producing liquor for the Wathen Liquor Ring which supplied Chicago, Edward Branham shot and killed a man. Edward claimed that John Burse was twirling a pistol whcen it discharged, but witnesses saw Edward Branham shoot with intent to kill. Charles Branham told police that the pistol “fell to the ground” and he did not know who fired the fatal shot.

Edward Branham was charged with Murder in the First Degree. A few months later, however, Edward died. Interestingly, the obituary states that William Branham was living in Kansas – a part of the timeline that is mysteriously missing from Branham’s life story accounts.

You can learn this and more on william-branham.org

Edward Branham:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/edward_branham

Charles Branham:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/charles_branham

R. E. Wathen Distilleries:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/topics/r._e._wathen_distilleries