Episode 1

In the first episode of Murder and Mayhem, the hosts discuss two infamous cases. The first one is the murder of the Black Dahlia in 1947, where a young woman's body was found cut in half. The case remains unsolved. The second case is the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963. The kidnappers demanded a ransom from his famous father and were eventually caught and convicted. These cases highlight the mysteries and crimes that have captivated the public. Welcome to episode 1 of Murder and Mayhem, where you'll listen to interesting murders, crime cases, and unsolved mysteries. We're your hosts, Ashley Rocha, Paula Lopez, and Madison Cullen. Join us today. Now we'll start with our first case. The Black Dahlia was a murder of a 20-year-old in 1947. She was Hollywood hopeful, and the offenders have never been solved. On the morning of January 15, 1947, a mother was taking her child for a walk around the neighborhood when they stumbled across a gruesome sight. The body of a young naked woman sliced clean in half of the waist. The body was just a few feet from the sidewalk and posed in such a way that the mother reportedly thought it was a mannequin at first glance. Despite the extensive mutilation and cuts on the body, there wasn't a drop of blood on the scene, indicating that the young woman had been killed off-grid. The investigation was led by the L.A. Police Department. The FBI was asked to help and quickly identify the body just 56 minutes in fact after getting the fingerprints via soundproofs from Los Angeles. The young woman turned out to be a 22-year-old Hollywood hopeful named Elizabeth Short, later dubbed as the Black Dahlia by the press for her rumored pretension for sheer black clothes and the Blue Dahlia movie out at that time. Short's prints actually appeared twice in the FBI Massive Collection. More than 100 million were on file at the time. First, she had appealed for a job as clerk at the Ferry of the Army Camp Cook in California in January 1942. Second, she had been arrested by the Santa Barbara Police for underage drinking seven months later. The Bureau also had her mugshot in its files and provided it to the press. In support of L.A. Police, the FBI ran records, checks on potential suspects and conducted interviews across the nation. In an interesting potential to break the case, the Bureau searched for a match of fingerprints found in the woman's letter that may have been sent to authorities by the killer, but the fingerprints were in the files. Who killed Black Dahlia and why? It's a mystery, but murder has never been found and given how much time has passed, probably never will be. Imagine how traumatizing it must have been for the little girl and her mom. And that it will never be solved is like crazy. Our second topic is the fake Sinatra Jr. kidnapping. On December 8th of 1963, a group of amateur criminals hoping to strike a rich engineered one of the most infamous kidnappings in American history. It consisted of a seven-week, 223-year-old, a former high school classmate and a French lawyer. They and Joe had been following a senior singer from city to city, waiting to make their move. Their target, none other than Frank Sinatra Jr., son of one of the most famous singers in the world, Old Blue Eyes himself. Their plan was bold but simple, smash the young Sinatra and demand a hefty ransom from his wealthy father, the abduction. The pair decided to strike on the evening of December 8th, 1963. Just days later, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Sinatra Jr. just began his career in music, was performing at Harris Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe, Northern California in Nevada. Around 9 p.m. he was resting in his dressing room with a friend when Kenyon knocked on the door, pretending to be delivering a package. Kenyon and Sinatra entered tied up Sinatra's friends with tape and bled for the victim. They took him out on the side door of a waiting car. The singer's friend quickly freed himself and noticed where authorities were set up and the kidnappers were actually stopped by the police, but they left their way through and drove to their hideout in the suburbs of Los Angeles. By 9.40, the FBI office in Reno was brought in on the case. Agents met with young Sinatra's father in Reno and his mother in Bel Air, California. The motive was presumed to be money. The FBI recommended that Sinatra wait for the ransom, demand, pay it, and then allow the railroad to track the money and find the kidnappers. On December 8, 1963, Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped at Harris Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada. Barry Kenyon, Joe Ansler, and John Irwin, who all participated in the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963. The following evening, Kenyon called a third conspirator, John Irwin, who was to be the ransom contact. Irwin called the elder Sinatra and told him to await the kidnappers' instructions. On December 10, he passed along the demand for $240,000 in ransom. Sinatra gathered the money and gave it to the FBI, which photographed it all and made the drop for Kenyon's instructions between two school buses in Sepulveda, California, during the early morning hours of December 11. Suitcase used in Sinatra kidnapping. Agents used the suitcase for the ransom cash provided by the Sinatra family. Ransom dropped in Sinatra kidnapping. The ransom was delivering between these two school buses in Sepulveda, California. Sinatra was found by the air after walking a few miles and alerting the security guard to avoid the press. He was put in the trunk of a guard patrol and taken to his mother Nancy's home. While Sinatra picked up the money, Irwin had gotten nervous and decided to free the victim. Young Sinatra described what he knew to FBI agents, but he had barely seen two of the kidnappers and only heard the voice of the third conspirator. Laying fingerprints found on the envelope to be covered at the house rented in Elmsville. Still, the beret tracking clues back to the house of Sinatra had been in his counterpart and granted even more evidence. Meanwhile, with the FBI being reconciled in the press, the criminals felt their noses tightened. Irwin broke his first spilling beans to his brother who called the FBI office in San Diego. Hours later, Kenan and Elmsville were captured and nearly all the ransom money was recovered, although the defense tried to arrest Frank Sinatra Jr. to entertain the kidnapping as the police stunt. The FBI had strong evidence to the contrary. The clincher was a confession letter written earlier by Kenan and left his safe deposit box. In the end, Kenan and Elmsville and Irwin were all convicted. Bye.