Archives West Finding Aid

On April 4, 1951 while hitchhiking in norther Montana, nineteen year old Frank Dryman was given a lift by Clarence Pellett of Sydney, Montana who chose to murder Mr. Pellett. He was later apprehended in Canada and expedited back to Montana where he was tried and convicted to the murder. Although originally given a death sentence, the sentencing was appealed. Mr. Dryman's defense attorney, Jerry O'Connell worked over the next four years appealing the case. In 1955 a jury in the 9th Judicial District Court handed Frank Dryman a sentence of life in prison, which he served in the Montana State Prison until 1969 when he was granted parole. In January 1972, after failing to report to his parole office for three months, Frank Dryman was declared and absconder.

Clarence's grandson, Clem Pellett, began researching on the current whereabouts of Mr. Dryman. Working with the Montana Parole Board and the Montana Historical Society. In 2010, after a year of searching, Mr. Dryman was located in Arizona City, Arizona where he was running a wedding chapel and going by the name Victor Houston. Mr. Dryman was arrested and brought back to Montana as a parole absconder. As of 2017 he was serving out the remainder of his life sentence in the Montana State Prison.

Born in Butte, Montana, O'Connell attended the parochial schools and Butte Central High School. He graduated from Carroll College (formerly Mount St. Charles College), Helena, Montana, in 1931, and from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1934. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1934. O'Connell served in the State house of representatives 1931–1934. He served as member of the Montana Public Service Commission 1934–1936. He served as delegate to the Democratic State conventions 1930–1940. O'Connell was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth Congress (January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939).[1] He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress and again in 1940 to the Seventy-seventh Congress. O'Connell worked as a newspaper editor and publisher in Hamilton, Montana, from 1939 to 1941. He commenced a law practice of law in Butte, Montana in 1940. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1944. O'Connell returned to Montana in 1950 and practiced law in Great Falls until his death there on January 16, 1956.

O'Connell was a long-time progressive. In 1955, he appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which questioned him widely about possible communist ties, including his support of Henry A. Wallace's bid for president as a Progressive in 1948.

In addition to using the material he collected to help track down Frank Dryman, Clem Pellett used the whole experience as inspiration for the book, "Dastardly : The Story is Fiction, the Evil is Real", which was published in 2013.