{"id":28279,"date":"2013-12-11T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-11T08:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=28279"},"modified":"2013-12-11T00:22:53","modified_gmt":"2013-12-11T08:22:53","slug":"day-history-december-11th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/day-history-december-11th\/","title":{"rendered":"This Day in History: December 11th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in History: December 11, 1964<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"sam-cooke\"<\/a>In 1964, Sam Cooke was a rising star in the music world. With hits including \u201cYou Send Me\u201d and \u201cCupid,\u201d Sam was teetering on the brink of superstardom. He had a distinctively smooth, soulful sound that appealed to a wide audience.\u00a0 Then, quite suddenly, on this day in history<\/a>, 1964, he was killed. So how did this handsome and talented 33-year-old end up dead from a gun-shot wound in a seedy Los Angeles hotel room?<\/p>\n

The official story has always been that a young girl named Elisa Boyer met Cooke at a party in Hollywood. The pair hit it off, drinking and flirting, After a time they left the party and continued on to a different nightclub, until Boyer eventually asked Sam to bring her home.<\/p>\n

According to Boyer, instead of bringing her home, Cooke kidnapped her and brought her to the Hacienda Motel. He registered under his own named with the hotel clerk, Bertha Franklin, then allegedly brought Boyer to the room and attempted to rape her. When he got up to use the bathroom, she fled with her clothes to pound on the hotel clerk\u2019s door, who didn\u2019t respond. Running away, she stopped for a moment to put her clothes on, and realized she\u2019d grabbed most of Cooke\u2019s in her haste as well. She found a phone booth and called the police.<\/p>\n

Back at the Hacienda, Cooke, clad only in a sports jacket and one shoe, allegedly forced his way into Bertha Franklin\u2019s office, angrily demanding to know where \u201cthe girl\u201d was. According to Franklin, he physically attacked her and eventually fell on top of her. She managed to free herself by biting and scratching Cooke, then grabbed her pistol and shot him at close range three times, followed by beating him with a broom.<\/p>\n

Two of the bullets did no major damage, but the third passed through his heart. According to Franklin, his last words were, \u201cLady, you shot me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This scenario may seem pretty cut and dried, but when you look a little closer, question marks start popping up all over the place.<\/p>\n