Dragon. Before Evans gained control of the Klan, Grady had been considered a potential successor to Simmons. After Grady dismissed a Klan-backed law that would have banned the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization, Evans revoked his membership. Grady subsequently leaked his correspondence with Evans to the media. In August 1923, Evans participated in a Klan parade in the heavily-Catholic borough of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, which was attacked by local residents. One member of the Klan was killed; Evans declared him a martyr and hoped that the death would inspire new recruits. The incident gave a fillip to the Klan's recruitment efforts but increased Stephenson's animosity toward Evans, whom he blamed for the incident. Stephenson's proclivity for ostentation irritated Evans. Although Stephenson left his official Klan position after a short tenure, the Klan's northern supporters, under his leadership, had begun to rival those in the South. He had been a skilled campaigner and demagogue, and he remained a well-known advocate of the Klan's platforms after resigning. Evans avoided publicly clashing with him, fearing that it would hurt the candidacies of Klan-backed politicians since Stephenson was closely involved in the successful gubernatorial candidacy of Indiana Klan-member Edward L. Jackson, and the Klan members had significant electoral gains in that state in 1924, including the election of several candidates to the state legislature. After those victories, Stephenson showed further disdain for Evans. Although membership in the Klan was limited to men, Simmons, after losing control of the national organization, attempted to create a parallel white supremacist organization for women. Evans established a women's group and sued him. Evans won the lawsuit, leading to a public war of words with Simmons, whose lawyer was soon murdered by Evans' press agent; Evans denied complicity. In 1924, Evans paid Simmons $145,000 for a promise to abandon the latter's claim to Klan leadership. Then, Evans moved the Klan's national headquarters to Washington, D.C., where the murder of Simmon's lawyer had received less publicity. To Evans' consternation, Stephenson also formed a women's auxiliary group. Evans and Stephenson subsequently exchanged allegations of sexual impropriety. Police charged Stephenson with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a young woman; he maintained that the charges were orchestrated by Evans. After a sensational trial, Stephenson was convicted of second-degree murder and given a life sentence; the publicity about the leader's behavior caused thousands of members to abandon the Klan. Klan growth