Because of the Hate: The Murder of Jerry Bailey

by Kirk McCracken

"Because of the Hate" is the true story about the murder of Jerry Bailey, a beloved high school football coach in Oklahoma. In 1976, Jerry Bailey had resigned as the Sapulpa High School head football coach but was murdered by his assistant Paul Reagor Jr. The book goes into detail about the day the coaches went missing, the murder, the trial and the fall out from it. Five years removed from winning a state championship in Nowata, Jerry Bailey had ended his run as the head coach at Sapulpa and was ready to move on to another high school and another football team. However, Bailey and his assistant, Reagor, left school on a January morning and never returned. An exhaustive search eventually found both coaches the next day but only one was still alive. Reagor was found inside of an abandoned farmhouse several towns away from Sapulpa and Bailey was dead inside of the truck of Reagor's car. Why did Reagor kill Bailey? Why did they leave the school that day? The town of Sapulpa has never really discussed the murder out of respect for Bailey's wife and children. It left nothing but rumor, speculation and questions, but now, over 40 years later, every question can be answered.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Book Club

240 pages, Paperback

Published January 11, 2018

Reviews

[Holli Borgers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard read

I applaud anyone who takes the time to write a book, but this was a hard read. Some of the same points were made over and over again in the same paragraphs, but just reworded and sometimes they conflicted. It could have been half the length - too many football stats and unimportant info that clouded the storyline.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story

I have been a lifelong resident of this area and was unfamiliar with this story. I have coached games on the football field in Sapulpa and seen, many times, the Bailey field house. It is nice to know its history and namesake, and I will be much more reverent upon my next visit.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was suspenseful right out of the gate; a couple of high school teachers go missing and everyone starts looking for them and wondering what's going on. After that, things slow down considerably and the reader is inundated with football stats for each participant in the story. Next up is a series of trial transcripts, then twenty-five pages of obituaries.

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m going to open this review with a criticism that needs to be pointed out to this author. I hate to open reviews in a negative light but this really irks me... a distinct lack of clear perspective. Mr. McCracken, pick a perspective and stick with it! Because this book is full of head-popping and it is disorienting to the reader.

If you have never heard that term before, head-popping is a common term used in writing/publishing that refers to author’s jumping from one person’s perspective to another in their writing. This leads to the story/manuscript feeling disjointed and it is something this book has in abundance. Personally, I found it frustrating as I tried to maintain focus.

There simply is no consistent story-telling perspective and someone needs to be honest enough to tell Mr. McCracken as much. Perspective is simply Writing 101, learn it! This issue alone would have kept the small independent Oklahoma publisher I work for from touching this manuscript.

This issue also leads me to believe this author did not employ an Editor. Aside from head-popping this book is full of errors, disjointed and immature writing, and let’s face it...paragraphs upon paragraphs of unnecessary filler material that have absolutely nothing to do with the actual subject at hand.

I kid you not; there is an entire chapter about nothing but football. What does that have to do with anything other than the fact that this author obviously likes football and yeah, the man who was murdered was in fact a football coach. Talk about that fact, that’s fine. But, the reader does not need to know in detail about football plays that are not integral to the subject matter. A content editor would have had a field-day red-lining the heck out of this book to eliminate filler material.

Admittedly I was disappointed in this read but I read it for a few reason, the first being...my family is from Sapulpa and Keifer and they have lived there for over one-hundred years; so I am very interested in the events of that area. In addition, many of my family members worked at or attended Sapulpa High as well and did so during the time these events took place so I am familiar with the subject matter. I’m also a local history buff. Generally that’s all I need to direct me to read something by someone local. So, when a friend of mine directed me to this book to get my opinion about it, I was of course, intrigued. Unfortunately, that’s where my interest ended because this book certainly did not hold my interest. I was battling for focus from page one!

I found that reading this book honestly felt more like reading a high-school term paper and well... that’s unimpressive to say the least. However, term papers have one thing that is completely missing from this book as well. Source citing’s. Where are they?

This book is not listed as fiction and it discusses actual events, a crime, a trial...yet not a single source is cited to back anything up? That’s sloppy and irresponsible of this author. Even if quoting something found on Google you cite it. I suggest that if Mr. McCracken really wants to learn how to write a book based upon real events that he check out “Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men” by Harold Schechter. Now, there’s an author he can learn from who writes about real events, knows how to maintain perspective...and knows how to cite the material...properly.

To close this review I just have to throw in here that I have written article upon article about self-published authors jumping the gun and publishing their books before they are ready to be published. “Because of the Hate” by Kirk McCracken is regretfully, a case study in an author self-publishing something that was not yet ready to be published and honestly, probably shouldn’t have been.

This gets 1 star from this reviewer.

[Frank Gantz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I moved to Sapulpa just weeks after this tragic event. For the first two football seasons after the death of Coach Jerry Bailey, I played quarterback for the high school team.
I knew what was in the news, but folks who knew Coach Bailey didn’t really talk about his murder. For that reason it was good to read this report. It was a quick read, and I was caught up with reading about people and places familiar to me.
The big weakness of this book was the amount of detail about things that really weren’t pertinent to the main subject matter. This would have been much better if it was only half as long.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was okay but this is not interesting for me a non American.Lots of filler.Whole chapters about American football and about the victim's career which was again American football. From the second chapter you know who did it and why. I kept on reading but then we get the trial and everything is repeated again.

[Avid Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

More of a condensed history of Sapulpa,

I was born and raised in Sapulpa,and have always been curious about this murder. Why the book answered some of the questions; there was an overwhelming amount of irrelevant information.

[Mollee Lemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Being born and raised in Oklahoma I absolutely love reading books about my state! This book is about the murder of Jerry Bailey in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Jerry was the head football coach at Sapulpa High School. Jerry was murdered by his coworker and good friend Paul Reagor. Reagor murdered Jerry because he believed that Jerry had everything to do with him not getting the head football coach position. Jerry had done nothing but recommend Paul Reagor. Reagor never spent any time in jail for Jerry's murder. He always pleaded that he was mentally unstable and suicidal and every time doctors found nothing wrong with Paul and sent him on his way. Paul ended up dying by committing suicide and walking out into the road in front of a semi-truck. He didn't die instantly; he lived a few years with his injuries before finally passing away from them.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook

this was like hearing a high schooler's paper that they forgot to work on until the last night so they just throw in as much random barely related stuff to make it the required length.

included in this book:
-extensive high school sports stats
-extensive history/background of at least three small towns, not just the town the murder happened in or the victim &perp lived/worked in
-many different court transcripts read verbatim, at length
-SEVERAL obituaries of random people read IN FULL at the end....

I'm sure there's more but I've lost interest and can't wait to click "remove from library."

[Angela Stillson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really interested in this case after watching an episode of Murder under the Friday Night Lights on the ID channel and was disappointed in this book. I wish it would have stuck to the story and not given so much detail about football and about the history of different towns in Oklahoma. I didn't really care about that, and I skimmed over that part. I did like knowing what happened to everyone after the trial was over, but the author did not need to include the obituaries of EVERY single person involved.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anatomy of a grisly murder

The story of Jerry Bailey's murder on January 22, 1976, is told in its entirety in this book. I was not aware of this case, so everything about it was new information, and I appreciate the work of the author in presenting it to the reading public.

The murder of Jerry Bailey was completely unnecessary and unjustified, brought on by a misunderstanding or delusion on the part of the murderer.

107

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not necessarily riveting reading, but interesting, informative and sad...

I had never heard of this sad story, and come away with more questions than answers, as likely almost everyone associated with the case at the time.

One sad deal, and addresses issues such as mental illness, court systems, and the importance of small town football in a somewhat haunting fashion.

[Erika Baughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being from Broken Arrow (mentioned in the book and. It far from Sapulpa), I had never heard about this until a friend sent me a clip from a show. Hearing about what happened was sad but crazy at the same time! I did like how the author went in to the history of the programs also that Bailey coached. You got the full picture of him.

[Chris S Holder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questions answered.

I heard bits and pieces of this story growing up. Glad to have all the pieces connected now. I have found memories of Beverly and Guy. Sounds like Jerry was a great example.

[Crystal Karre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. McCracken did an amazing job on this book. I literally read it cover to cover. I am from Sapulpa and recognized so many places and people. I was attending the high school till summer of 1972. Thank for the excellent read. Well worth the time to read this...

[sandra terrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Book

Thank you for writing this book, I somehow feel Jerry Bailey knows and approves.Very well written and no doubt clears up a lot of confusion for a lot of people.

[Leonie Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

To much history about the game

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but tough writing to follow.

[Courtney (Campbell_Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very redundant.

[Becky Brennan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author brought out some interesting facts, but I wish he'd stick to the facts instead of the embellishments.

[Abby boyd · Rating 1 out of 5]

The murder could have been told in about 10 chapters or less.
Tons of info about football vs the murder.
Talked about other events that happened during this time frame. The Girl Scout murders, porn and football. Tons of fillers during the book.