Carl Weiss did not look like an assassin. In fact he was a talented Baton Rouge, Louisiana, doctor. The assassination of the Louisiana demagogue Huey the Kingfish Long in the marble corridor of the state capitol building in 1935 is one of the great mysteries of modern times.

Long ruled over Louisiana politics during the Depression era. Powerful and feared by his opponents, Long was admired by the common folk of Louisiana who had supported him through his climb to the pinnacles of power within the state, first the governorship, then the Senate. He was an ambitious and egotistic showman, with a flair for the theatrical. He called himself the Kingfish after a clever and devious character on the popular radio program "Amos 'n' Andy." He was the Kingfish--all the other politicians were little fishes. He made Louisiaina State University the best public university in the South and led cheers when LSU played its great rival, the University of Alabama. His second book, My First Days in the White House, was said to have alarmed President Roosevelt. He achieved his greatness by promising and delivering public works projects under the banner of "Share the Wealth," as well as by leaning heavily on his opponents. He paved roads, provided free schoolbooks and school lunches, created charity hospitals. By 1935 Long virtually ruled the state. He controlled nearly every state job, including schoolteachers'. In addition, he had increased by hundreds the miles the concrete, asphault, and gravel roads in the state, and built over 40 bridges. His suppliers were paid $2.00 a ton for gravel, while the going rate was $.67. He pointed out, in his put-on bumpkinism: "We got the roads in Louisiana, haven't we? In some states they only have the graft." He grew rich through kickbacks in the process, but created many enemies.

Weiss appears to have been among those who sought Long's demise, although whether or how deeply he was involved with the anti-Long faction has not been demonstrated. Long himself had just discovered the plot, which he called the "Desoto plot" because it had supposedly be hatched in a meeting at the Desoto Hotel in New Orleans. Indeed, Weiss's wife's family had long been aligned against Long in state politics. His father-in-law, a judge, was an outspoken critic of Long. At the time of his assassination Long was supporting a redistricting bill that would have ended this judgeship. It was also rumored that Long was about to announce that the Judge's family was "tainted by colored blood," the kiss of death in Louisiana politics--and also Louisiana society--at that time. Could these have been behind Weiss's actions?

On the day of the assassination, Sept. 8, 1935, Weiss attended Mass with his wife, had a pleasant Sunday dinner with his parents, following which the two couples went to the summer home of the elder Weises to spend the afternoon swimming, playing with the baby and dozing on the screened-in porch. That evening, after arriving home and putting the baby to bed, Carl called the anesthetist who was to assist him in a tonsillectomy the next morning to confirm arrangements, then showered and changed into a white linen suit, such as was worn by men of his station in Louisiana in the summer time during that era. After some light banter with his wife, he said that he had to make a call but would return shortly. It was 9 p.m.when he left the house.

He drove briefly to the hospital, then on to the capitol building. The accepted story is that when he entered the building, he had with him a .32 caliber pistol that he had brought back from Europe. However, Donald Pavy, in his recent book Accident and Deception: The Huey Long Shooting, maintains that Weiss left the pistol is his car. In the capitol, he walked quickly down the corridor to the governor's office. Long and his entourage were entering the corrdior after a quick walk from the legislative chamber. The reason for the Kingfish's presence in the capitol at this time was his plan was to use the governor's office to issue a press release blaming President Roosevelt for the deaths of CCC youths during a Florida hurricane. How did Weiss know he would be there--it was Sunday night, after all? Long was in typical political stance, striding along with the confidence of the powerful, bellowing over his shoulder to his aides, collar unbuttoned, elbows swinging, his large girth bouncing, while the bodyguards struggled to keep up. Weiss appeared, suddenly and, according to the official story, pulled his pistol, and apparently fired several times at close range. Pavy, however, contends that Weiss in frustration had merely taken a punch at the much larger Long. In any case, turmoil ensued. Weiss was wrestled to the floor, but was reported to have fired again at the bodyguard, who released him. As he regained his feet, the corridor exploded in gunfire. Bullets richocheted off the marble walls and floor. When the smoke cleared, Long's guards were still firing into the dead doctor's body.

Long in the meantime had raced down a hall to a stairway to the ground floor, where an aid flagged down an unknown car and raced him to the hospital. He died after a botched surgery. The best surgeon in the state had been summoned but was delayed en route by Louisiana's ever present road construction. Ironically, the only local surgeon who might have saved him was lying dead on the capitol's marble floor. It was never determined if the bullet that killed Long came from Weiss's gun or was one of the bullets that went flying in the corridors following the inital assault. Questions as to whether the vest worn by Long showed the powder burns that would be expected from a close range shot were never satisfactorily answered by the official record either.

Sources: Clarke, James. American Assassins. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1982. "McKinley, James. Assassination in America. NY: Harper & Row, 1977. Zinman, David. "An L.I. Legacy: Seeking Clues on Huey Long." New York Times 26 Dec. 1993: 13LI.