"Silent man"

Associated Press · September 8, 1955

John A. Cane, 61, was disclosed today as a life termer at Oklahoma's state penitentiary who pretended for 18 years to be deaf and dumb. He first broke that vow three years ago at a parole board hearing where persons present were cautioned to keep the secret because of possible reprisals against him by prisoners who might fear he had heard their secrets. Cane said an electrical shock received in his prison work snapped him of a "dream world." He was sentenced for the murders of his wife and 3 children in 1934.