COLD CASES This page intentionally left blank COLD CASES Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America He´ le` na Katz Copyright 2010 by He´le`na Katz All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Katz, He´le`na, 1964– Cold cases : famous unsolved mysteries, crimes, and disappearances in America / He´le`na Katz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-37692-4 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-37693-1 (ebook) 1. Crime—Case studies. 2. Cold cases (Criminal investigation)—Case studies. I. Title. HV6251.K384 2010 364.152030973—dc22 2010004507 ISBN: 978-0-313-37692-4 EISBN: 978-0-313-37693-1 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Greenwood An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America Contents Preface ix Timeline: Milestones in Forensics xi The Cigar Girl: The Death of Mary Rogers (1841) 1 Polar Poisoning: The Death of Charles Francis Hall (1871) 11 Bloody Murder: The Death of Abby and Andrew Borden (1892) 25 Help Wanted: The Murder of Nora Fuller (1902) 37 The Missing Socialite: The Mysterious Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold (1910) 45 Killing Spree: The Axeman of New Orleans (1918–1919) 53 The Wizard of Whist: The Murder of Joseph Bowne Elwell (1920) 63 Married Lovers: The Murders of Edward Wheeler Hall and Eleanor Mills (1922) 75 Hollywood Murder: The Case of William Desmond Taylor (1922) 85 The Wrong Man: The Murder of Father Hubert Dahme (1924) 99 Pull a Crater: The Disappearance of Judge Joseph Force Crater (1930) 107 The Mad Trapper: Who Was Albert Johnson? (1931) 117 Preying on the Poor: The Cleveland Torso Killer (1934–1938) 131 Downed: The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (1937) 143 vi Contents The Case of the Missing Activist: Lloyd L. Gaines (1939) 157 Millionaire Murder: The Case of Sir Harry Oakes (1943) 165 Georgette Bauerdorf: The Mysterious Death of an Oil Executive’s Daughter (1944) 177 The Black Dahlia: The Murder of Elizabeth Short (1946) 183 Unknown Child: The Boy in the Box (1957) 193 Escape from Alcatraz: Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers (1962) 205 Presidential Friend: The Murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer (1964) 217 The Millionaire’s Daughter: The Murder of Valerie Percy (1966) 225 Material Man: The Disappearance of Jim Thompson (1967) 235 Cryptic Killer: The Case of the Zodiac Killer (1968–1969) 245 The Vanishing Hijacker: The Disappearance of D. B. Cooper (1971) 257 Missing Sisters: The Disappearance of Katherine and Sheila Lyon (1975) 271 The Union and the Mafia: The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (1975) 277 No Hero: The Murder of Actor Robert Crane (1978) 287 The Milk Carton Kid: The Disappearance of Etan Patz (1979) 299 The Missing Medic: Kathleen Durst (1982) 309 Paper Boy: The Disappearance of Johnny Gosch (1982) 319 Fishing for a Killer: The Murder of Matthew Margolies (1984) 327 Dog Breeder: The Case of Camilla Lyman (1987) 333 Amber Alert: The Murder of Amber Hagerman (1996) 339 Child Beauty Queen: The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey (1996) 347 Rap Race: The Death of Tupac Amaru Shakur (1996) 357 Rap Race Part Two: The Murder of Biggie Smalls (1997) 363 Bringing Down a Congressman: The Death of Chandra Levy (2001) 369 Contents vii Murder on the High Seas: The Case of Basketball Player Bison Dele (2002) 379 The Collar Bomber: The Death of Brian Wells (2003) 387 Selected Bibliography 395 Index 397 This page intentionally left blank Preface The popularity of such American television series as Law & Order and CSI, where cases are neatly solved in one-hour episodes, may lead viewers to gain an unrealistic expectation that every crime can—and will—be solved. Cold Cases helps to address this issue and give readers a better understanding of criminal investigations by taking them through cases from when the crime was committed to where the police investigation reached a dead end. This book examines 40 well-known cases of unsolved murders and suspicious disappearances in North America over a period of more than 160 years, from the death of Mary Rogers in 1841 to the bombing death of Brian Wells in 2003. Every case, except for two involving Americans who met their demise in the Canadian Arctic, occurred in the United States. Cases are organized chronologically to give readers some insight into the evolution of criminal investigation techniques and forensics since the 1840s. The book uses an engaging yet authoritative tone to make the topic more accessible to high school, undergraduate, and community college students as well as members of the public. Each essay of Cold Cases describes a murder or disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it, provides background about the victim, takes readers through the investigation, and explains how police excluded possible suspects before reaching an impasse. Some essays that appear later in the book, such as the case of the Zodiac Killer and hijacker D. B. Cooper, also include details of how modern forensic tech- niques were applied to a cold case in the hope of finding new leads. The final one focuses on the story of Brian Wells, in which a man was con- victed in connection with the case four years later. The trail sometimes x Preface goes cold, only to heat up again and lead to a conviction. Thanks to the continuous evolution of modern forensics, what was once impossible (such as identification through DNA evidence) is now possible. Also included is a timeline of when certain forensic techniques were developed, which will help readers better understand how criminal investigation tools and methods have evolved over the past 160 years and their impact on how cases are handled by police. Timeline: Milestones in Forensics 1248 The Chinese text The Washing Away of Wrongs (Hsi Duan Yu) describes the differences between death by drowning and death by strangulation. This was the first known application of medical knowledge to forensics. 1609 Franc¸ois Demelle publishes the first work on the examina- tion of questioned documents. 1686 Marcello Malpighi, anatomy professor at the University of Bologna, is the first person to describe human fingerprints. 1775 Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele finds a way to detect large quantities of arsenic in the body. 1784 In one of the first cases where physical evidence is matched and used to find a killer, John Toms is convicted of murder in Lancaster, England, after police find a torn piece of paper in his pocket that matches a piece that was found in his victim. 1813 Mathieu Bonaventure Orfila publishes the first formal treat- ment of toxicology in Traite´ des poisons, also called Toxico- logie ge´ne´rale. He becomes the father of modern toxicology. 1823 German anatomy professor John Evangelist Purkinje pub- lishes a thesis describing nine fingerprint patterns. 1835 Scotland Yard’s Henry Goddard compares the unique markings of a bullet used in a murder to match it with one belonging to a killer. It is the first time bullet comparison is used to catch a murderer. xii Timeline 1836 English chemist James Marsh develops a test that could detect the presence of arsenic in tissues. At a murder trial he confirmes arsenic as the victim’s cause of death. 1839 Henri-Louis Bayard publishes the first reliable procedures for the microscopic detection of sperm. 1840 Mathieu Bonaventure Orfila applies the Marsh Test in the murder of Charles Lafarge and detects arsenic in the body. His widow Marie Lafarge is sentenced to life in prison. 1851 Britain passes the Arsenic Act to curb the poison’s availability. 1853 Ludwig Karol Teichmann, a Polish anatomist, develops a scientific test to detect the presence of blood in unidentified stains on clothes and other items. 1858 Sir William James Herschel begins using fingerprints on contracts to authenticate them. He soon begins to notice that fingerprints are distinctive to each person and don’t change over time. 1880 Dr. Henry Faulds recognizes the value of fingerprints for purposes of identification and in criminal investigations. 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle publishes his first story about Sherlock Holmes. 1889 Jean Alexandre Lacassagne is the first person to note that gun barrels make unique marks on bullets that could help match a bullet to the gun that fired it. His compari- sons are based on the number of lands and grooves that each one makes. 1892 British anthropologist Sir Francis Galton publishes the first book about fingerprints. He describes the individual patterns within prints and argued that fingerprints are par- ticular to each person and don’t change over the course of a person’s lifetime. Argentina becomes the first country to use fingerprint identification to solve a crime. Francesca Rojas had killed her two sons and tried to blame the murders on someone else. Her bloody print is found at the crime scene. 1893 Hans Gross publishes Criminal Investigation, the first comprehensive book about the use of physical evidence to solve crimes. 1897 Sir Edward Henry develops a classification system for fingerprints based on five types of points. Timeline xiii 1901 Karl Landsteiner identifies the existence of four major blood groups and develops a classification system.