Baltimore

Walter Henderson aka “Walter Kidd” (He preferred to be called The King) was a loud and colorful Baltimore gambler and probable dope dealer, associated with Melvin “Little Melvin” Williams.

Henderson had a friend with the older brother Leslie “Ike” Atkinson, a one-time US Army master sergeant and convicted drug trafficker. Henderson probably Ike Atkinson that Frank Matthews was dealing drugs. That may have been the reason that in August of 1969. That might especially be true in light of the fact that the  Baltimore state's attorney's office was planning planned to seek grand jury indictments against Henderson

Whatever the reason, Irvin Lee Wilson walked into Sports Bar on the 1500 block Pennsylvania Avenue, at about noon, a bar that Henderson owned, and shot Henderson in the face, chest and stomach.

Wilson turned himself in an hour later. The exact reason he murdered him is still unknown. He was found guilty of first-degree murder "without extenuating circumstances."

Wilson’s doubtful story was that he made three attempts to quit serving as a dope delivery man for Henderson and that Henderson refused to let him go because he "knew too much" and that on the day of the shooting Wilson said he went to the Spot Bar and asked Henderson for $10,000 as his final pay. Wilson said Henderson told him "No scratch and if you don't like it, you know."

Wilson added that he shot Henderson in self-defense after Hender son made a move to pull his gun from under his shirt.

"I saw just the barrel ... I think it was caught in his shirt," Wilson said. "I knew I had to do something before he got the gun out."

However, the state's attorney produced an autopsy report that stated that the fourth bullet, which struck Henderson directly in the forehead was "not fired at close range" and that there was no proof that Henderson was carrying a gun at all.