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many hunters, trappers, traders, explorers, Indiit was studied. Old Joe was later stuffed, placed ans, smugglers, soldiers and settlers he crossed inside a glass casket and put on display at the paths with. In modern times, he was not known Wakulla Springs Lodge. to have harmed anybody or anything. Newspaper reports from 1985 say Ross’s first However, Joe’s luck finally ran out on the confession occurred as he was being questioned night of Aug. 1, 1966. A poacher in a flat-botabout a rash of burglaries but hadn’t yet been tom boat paddled into his realm, saw some eye given his rights. So that confession couldn’t be shine, lined up a shot with a .22 used. Years later, as Ross faced rifle and fired. The dastardly a first-degree murder charge for “assassination” of such a promikilling his wife, he supposedly Established nent Wakulla Springs resident confessed again to slaying Old homestead at prompted Edward Ball, himself, Joe. However, by that time the to offer a $5,000 reward for inforWakulla Springs point was moot because the statmation “regarding the murder.” ute of limitations had passed. Ross prior to any The reward went unclaimed and wound up on Death Row for murconstruction was withdrawn around the time dering his wife but appealed and of Ball’s death in 1981. is now serving a life sentence in in the area. The sole suspect in Old Joe’s Franklin Correctional Institution Estimated age slaying is Wilton Amos “Skebo” in Carrabelle. His statements are around 200 Ross, who is said to have conthe closest thing we have to solvfessed twice to killing the gator ing the mystery. years. Weight — once right after the incident Today, a plaque on Old Joe’s cof650 lbs. Length and again in either 1982 or 1983. fin reads: “Established homestead 11-foot 2-inches. at Wakulla Springs prior to any The story is Ross didn’t necessarily single out Old Joe for killconstruction in the area. EstimatLived at springs ing. A newspaper article from the ed age around 200 years. Weight on sand bar 1980s states that when he real650 lbs. Length 11-foot 2-inches. across from ized the gator he shot was too big Lived at springs on sand bar for his small boat, he decided to swimming area. across from swimming area. Was just dump the body there in the murdered by assailant unknown — From a plaque spring. The carcass was fished on Sunday night Aug. 1, 1966. on Old Joe’s coffin from the water and sent up to Had never molested man, woman, Florida State University where child or pets.” TM
The sheriff’s sergeant who obtained a confession in the killing of the Wakulla Springs wildlife refuge’s mascot, Old Joe, didn’t find that development newsworthy. It went unpublicized for two years. Leon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Keith Daws said he didn’t think the revelation about who took Old Joe’s life would make much difference. The giant alligator’s admitted killer, Amos “Skebo” Ross, is on death row for slaying his wife. While Daws and the late Capt. Joel Broom of the Gadsden Sheriff’s Department were questioning him on that crime, Ross confessed to accidentally killing the 11-foot-2 gator on July 31, 1966. Ross said recently he “never told anyone. I just never messed with it.” Evidently, Broom mentioned it to someone at the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission because the news was included in the commission’s weekly log two years ago. But nobody else noticed the breakthrough in the case until the Tallahassee Democrat made some calls this week to check on the status of the $5,000 reward for Old Joe’s killer. “Ross was a poacher,” Daws said. “He said he had just shot at a smaller alligator and couldn’t find him. When he did see alligator eyes, he just shot. Since Old Joe’s body was too big and he couldn’t fit it in his boat, he wasn’t any good to Ross, so he just dumped him into the spring.” — ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1984
OLD JOE IN HIS GLASS CASKET AT WAKULLA SPRINGS
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PHOTO BY HANNES GROBE (OWN WORK) [CC BY 3.0 (HTTP://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/3.0)], VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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