Ep 70 Eugene Monroe

Jess and Tiff, known as the Curious Cousins, discuss various topics in Oklahoma. Jess is injured and talks about her tailbone pain. Tiff talks about her kids participating in a reading incentive program by the Oklahoma City Thunder. They also discuss a STEM field trip and seeing Thunder players. They mention an upcoming paranormal investigation with Spooky Okie. They then discuss the author Jamie Rubio and her research on Eugene Monroe and the Preston Castle. They recommend listening to the Morbid podcast for more information. They talk about Eugene Monroe's background and his various names. Hi, I'm Jess, and I'm Tiff, and we're your Curious Cousins, where we talk about everything kooky and spooky in the state of Oklahoma. Welcome to episode 70. Welcome. How are you? I could be better. Oh, Jess is injured. I, okay, I've hurt my tailbone, and I have no clue how I've done it. Oh my gosh. But like, it hurts so bad. I had to buy a donut butt pillow for myself today, and it's currently at my house. Yay. I'm so surprised. Yeah. But like, I, it just, it hurts. It's sore. It's like as if I had, no, I did not slip and fall on the ice. Normally that would be a very accurate guess, but unless I sleepwalk, which I don't think I do. And go outside. And go outside. But it's just, it's like super sore, and like, I don't, I don't know, I don't know, but it's been bothering me a lot today, so. Sorry. I'm sitting on my mom's butt pillow. Oh, but. So I could be better. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I got to experience something really fun today. If you are an educator, you may be familiar with a lot of the programs that the Oklahoma City Thunder puts on, and so one of them is like a reading incentive, and so my boys do the reading incentive, and we just have to record that they read 20 minutes every day in the month of October, and I think it's getting ready to start again in February. And if they achieve it, they get sent a basketball ticket, and this year the boys got these Thunder like beanie hats and scarves, and they're really, they were really cute. They're really nice. Yeah. They love wearing them. And so, also, as an educator, I think it's through third grade, third grade, through like seventh grade, you can sign up to be like a Devon Explorer teacher, and they will send you, you can get online, and you can download these lesson plans for STEM activities, and they're really, really fun. And then if you take pictures of it and submit it, you have the opportunity to like win up to $500 a month. Oh, yeah. Cool. So there's that. And then there was another program that they sent out, and it was their STEM field trip day. And they have, I think, a couple, I feel like they have like four dates all year long that they do it, three of them. Of course, we're in Oklahoma City. And then one is up here in Tulsa, and for $10 each, the kids get to come to a game, and they get to watch the G League, which they're called the Thunder Blue play. And the cool thing is sometimes actual Thunder players may be on reserve or may have to be practicing with them. So today, we got to see two of them. Oh, fun. We got to see Lindy Waters III, and he actually played at Oklahoma State, so that was really cool. Oh, cool. Cool. And then there was another one. I can't remember them, but Rumble was there, and the Thunder Girls were there, and Loud City was there, and all the drummers and everything. And then they would constantly be having STEM trivia questions, but then a little, I would say a little girl. She's probably a little girl because she's just younger than me, but she was doing science experiments that they could do at home, kind of on the sideline from Science Museum, Oklahoma, AKA the Omniplex, because that's where I grew up calling it. So it was just a really cool experience, and the only not cool thing is Tulsa's construction in and around the BOK Center, but my students, I mean, it was a great thing because they could be as loud as they wanted, and it didn't matter because you're inside a giant arena. It was really cool. And you're supposed to be. Exactly. So it was really, really cool, and I had a ton of parents that went, like, I ended up having to buy 141 tickets. Oh, wow. So we had the entire Section J just for our school, so it was really cool, and they even put our name up on the jumbo drum and stuff. Oh, how fun. So it was just four schools, so there were only school-age kids there, which made it really even cooler. Yeah, absolutely. So that was a really cool thing. Sounds like a fun time. It was. We had a good day today. And of course, we had two days of distance learning before that, so it was kind of nice to kind of ease back in a little bit. But, Jess, do you know what this weekend is? I do. We're going paranormal investigating. Yes. With Spooky Okie. Yes. We're going to Masonic Lodge in Cleveland. Yes. I'm so excited. I'm so ready. Not that I'm not excited, but you're a little more excited than I am. I just think it's going to be a fun time. I'm excited to meet her. Yes. Like, actually meet her. Yeah. I'm so excited to actually get to talk to her, just go around. Yeah, I'm excited to talk to her. And I'm glad it's not four hours away. I think I said that last week. Yeah. Because my mom's birthday is actually on Sunday. Yes. So happy birthday, Mom. Yeah, happy birthday. Happy birthday when this comes out. Yes, yes. I'm excited just for the ... I, first and foremost, when we go paranormal investigating, I love to hear about just the history first. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I like knowing the history. And so that's what I think what I like to do. Yes. And then, of course, the spooks behind it. I like learning about the history, about the spookiness for sure. Right, yeah. But I do like ... It's fun to me to think that there might be paranormal type stuff. I mean, ideally, I would like for someone to come up to me that I know is clearly dead and be like, hey, I'm a ghost. Paranormal activity. I get it. But that likelihood, that's never going to happen. But yeah, so I'm so excited. I'm so ready. Nice. I can't wait to tell you guys about it. Well, do we have any business on that? No. I think that's it. Well, tell me a story. I will. Like I told you last week, it's kind of an oldie but a goodie. I like the old ones. So I'm going to cover Eugene Monroe. Never heard of him. Never heard of him. Okay. Well, first and foremost, there is an author out there by the name of Jamie Rubio. Oh, I was going to say, it's just Jamie. Oh, it's Jamie. It's what? Look how it's spelled. We can start this whole part over again. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Just say Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie. There is an author out there named, I think it's pronounced Jamie. I could be completely wrong. Rubio, Jamie Rubio. And she has done a lot and by a lot, like pretty much all of my research was from her. Okay. Regarding not only Eugene Monroe, but also the Preston Castle out in California. And of course, his victims. And I don't know what started her down the Eugene rabbit hole. I think it had something to do with her first and like diving into the Preston Castle, which I'll kind of briefly talk about. But I did want to say that if you really want a really great in-depth episode. Quiet. Be quiet. If you want a really good in-depth episode about the Preston Castle. Go listen to Morbid, a true crime podcast. I think it's episode 530. It was just out a few weeks ago. And they really dive deep into the Preston Castle. Just the history of it and the haunts mostly. So, but Eugene actually. Is that Harrison? I think it's Edison. It's in the bathroom. Edison. Edison. Edison. Be quiet please. We can hear you on the podcast. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, I was getting distracted. I know. I was too. You know, you want to hear something crazy? Last night when I was editing, you were saying something. Like, you were making a comment or something. And right in the middle of it, I hear this. It sounds like, help me. And I go, I'm like, what? What? And like, I listened to it probably like 50 million times. And I think it was one of your children. Okay. But like, I was like, no way. That's so weird. That's so creepy. And I was going to text you. But then I was like, no, I think it's just one of her kids. We still have the original. I mean, I cut it out. But we still have the original. And I was like, I don't know. I can't remember exactly where it was at. Okay. Here, wait. Let me take this off. Okay, I know. Like, it was kind of cool in here. I know. And then I was like. Yeah, the heat just clicked on too. I don't know. Because we're on TV. We can go have a drink. Okay. I'm ready. I don't know where we were at. You were talking about morbid podcasts. Okay. If you want to really just start there again. Okay. So if you want a really in-depth kind of investigation or podcast about the Preston Castle there in California. First off, it was the alternative originally for juveniles. Instead of sending juvenile, essentially delinquents, to San Quentin Prison, they built this Preston Castle. I was going to say, I've never heard of it. So I wasn't really sure what you were talking about. It actually has a different name. And I'll go over it later. Yeah, let's call it Prison Preston Castle. Right, exactly. That's a great idea. Exactly. So that was kind of their alternative. And so it was really a prison, but for juveniles. Okay. And anyways, Morbid, a true crime podcast, I think episode 530 or so. They cover it, really. And really, they cover the history of it. They do hit on Eugene. And then they cover a lot of the haunting and stuff. Because you can go and visit there for sure. Oh. So like I said before, Jamie Rubio, I kind of reference both of her books, a lot of her articles in this. And then the Tulsa Tribune, I also did a lot of research. Cool, cool. So Eugene Monroe was born January 31st, 1931, here in Tulsa. He sometimes went by Eugene Jefferson. His mother married a man with the last name Jefferson. And I could never find what his first name was. But throughout life, Eugene would often change his surname to Jefferson. So he would go by Monroe. Sometimes he'd go by Jefferson, sometimes. It's speculated that his biological father, he just was never around or a part of Eugene's life. He's never really mentioned in anything. Okay. Around 1940, or at least by the 1940 census, Eugene had been removed from his home and placed in the Institution of Deaf, Blind, and Orphans in Taft. So Eugene was around nine years old when the census was taken. And the institution had reported that Eugene had only had, at this point, a second grade education. So was he just like neglected? Well, we're getting there. So between the marriage to Mr. Jefferson in 1940, Eugene's mother passes away. This is probably the reason that he was placed in this institution. Although it was really kind of weird because he did have relatives living in Tulsa. So I'm not sure why he was in it. Maybe they just didn't want to add to their load. Yeah, their brood or something. Yeah, you're probably right. Eugene's first known brush with the law resulted in his first arrest in 1945 in Tulsa for shooting at a preacher with a baby gun. Oh. Okay. So at this point, he was born in 1931. This was 1945. So what, he's 13 years old, 14 years old? 1931. 45, 14 years old. Somewhere around there. Yeah. A young teenager, yeah. So he's not very old. Between 1945 and 1947, Eugene is relocated to Los Angeles, California. And he's using the name in California, the name Eugene Jefferson. So first and foremost, he is very young still. So just keep that in mind. So why Los Angeles? It doesn't really say why he moved to Los Angeles. But I'm going to give a trigger warning right here. This is going to have some sexual violence in it, especially sexual violence of a minor. This might be a good one also that there's a lot of sexual violence in this episode. Not a lot, a lot, but pretty much every victim he has was brutalized in some way. And so I'm going to give that blanket warning right there. This may also not be for all of our young listeners. So this might be one that... Or any listeners that might be triggered by that. Exactly. So this might not be an episode for everybody. And if not, we'll see you next week. Great. All right. So with that, July 18, 1947, Vesta Bell Sappender was found raped and murdered in her bedroom. That's quite a name. She was sexually assaulted, then choked to death with a thin hemp cord. Oh, my gosh. Eugene was quickly identified as a suspect by none other than Vesta's little brother, Carlisle. Eugene was reported to have been at the Sappenders' home delivering furniture when Vesta returned home from school. So she was school age? Yes. She was 14, I believe. Okay. She was probably like 15 at the time. She was 17-ish, I think. What year was that? 1947. Oh, 16. 16, yeah. 16. Yes. So according to Carlisle, he arrives home after playing with some friends to find Eugene Monroe already there at his house. Oh. This is one of the quotes from Jamie Rubio's reporting. Monroe, delivering furniture to the Sappenders' home, talked to the girl's younger brother and asked to use the bathroom, according to Detective R.R. Coppedge. While the brother remained outside, Monroe went upstairs, he said, and came back down. He asked the boy where his sister was and was told that she was upstairs. The suspect, according to police, said he had not seen her. The brother and Monroe then reentered the house and found her bedroom door locked. This was broken down and the body was discovered. So unfortunately, the little brother discovered the body and Eugene. The slain girl had been keeping house for her father and brother and was hanging curtains when the murderer entered the room. Monroe, who was using his stepfather's last name at the time, which was Jefferson, was questioned but later released, Coppedge said, since there were no witnesses to the crime nor could evidence be corroborated. So given the lack of evidence and the one witness being the victim's little brother, who was 14 years old, okay, so Carlisle was 14 years old, the DA could not pursue charges and let Eugene go. Detective Coppedge declared, I am certain this boy did the job, but we were just never able to prove it. He was the only one in the house at the time and had ample time to commit the act. So kind of like what they imagined had happened was when Carlisle returned home, Eugene was already there. And Carlisle just thought his sister, I mean, it was the time after school, she should have already been home. She was supposed to be hanging curtains. That must have been like knowledge between the brother and her. And so when Eugene asked where she was, he was like, oh, she's probably upstairs, you know. So Vesta's own father reported, and this was by Vesta's sister, Agnes, to have had a bad feeling about Eugene because they had met before. The father had a bad feeling? Yes. He had told Carlisle, the little brother, that he did not want Eugene anywhere near the house or to even let him in. Oh, no. I mean, can you think of, I'm just thinking, I can't imagine like Carlisle the rest of his life thinking. It was his fault. It was his fault. I know. But here's the thing. Most likely it had already happened by the time Carlisle had come home. Right. It already happened. If Eugene showed up before he was even home. Yeah. I mean, he did let him inside to use the bathroom, and it doesn't ever say like what was the time period between Eugene going into using the bathroom and then coming back out. If he was just using the bathroom, you would probably assume it was pretty quickly. Carlisle might have noticed if it had been longer than just a quick bathroom break. Right. But you don't know what people are doing. I mean, maybe they got to go, you know. So there's just that thought. Like I just, I hate that for Carlisle that he, maybe he had to live with that. For a short time there was one other suspect, one of Vesta's friends, 16-year-old Benjamin Allen, who was also questioned and released. He was the only other person to see Vesta on the day she died when he walked her home. So he had walked her home from school. He had adamantly said, I saw her off. See you later. She got to her house. That was it and came home. Here's a kooky fact. The press coverage of Vesta's murder was not great. You know, this 16-year-old girl murdered, sexually assaulted in her room, potentially with her brother outside playing, and nobody saw anything. And here's the reason why it was not. During this time period there seemed to have been an uptick in female murder cases, especially since just six short months before Vesta's death, L.A. was slammed with the Black Dahlia case. Ah, okay. And also, if you're thinking, this is the 1940s, L.A.P.D., they were extremely corrupt. And they were notorious, they're still notorious, but they were notorious for doing kind of shoddy work. So just think about that, that they are really probably overwhelmed simply with the Black Dahlia case right now. Right. So simply put, due to a lack of evidence and the heap of a mess that the L.A.P.D. was dealing with at the time, Eugene was never charged and Vesta's death was just kind of... Brushed and rubbed. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Oh, man. Again, as reported from Vesta's sister to author Jamie Rubio, her father was positive that Monroe had murdered her sister. Agnes even mentions that a police officer or a detective, she couldn't remember which, would come by to check on the family from time to time. The family had always been very upset that Monroe had never been charged with a crime. Oh, wow. Okay. So now we're going to fast forward a little bit to 1949. Eugene was held by Los Angeles police as a suspect in another rape-murder case, but again, was released due to lack of evidence. And this one doesn't even mention, like, who the victim was, what happened, what the circumstances were. I mean, nothing. Oh, man. Shortly afterwards, Eugene was again arrested by L.A.P.D., but this time for burglary. He was then sent to Preston School of Industry, an alternative center for incarceration of juveniles. Previously, like I mentioned before, juvenile offenders would serve time at San Quentin along with adults. This school was probably more familiar to some of our listeners or some people as the haunted Preston Castle. And like I said before, for more information on the Preston Castle, please go listen to Morbid, a true crime podcast. They go into the history and the haunts of the school. It is episode 530. So they just do a really good job of it. Yeah. Okay. When Eugene arrived at the school, it was run by Robert Chandler. Mr. Chandler believed that the school should have minimum security. Oh. Oh, no. The mission of the school was to be more like an actual school or maybe a boarding school to help with the rehabilitation. Yeah, but there's a reason why they're there. They did not want it to seem like these offenders were in prison. Unfortunately, many of the offenders or residents were violent and should have had more restrictions, Eugene being one of them. Eugene was known at Preston for having a violent temper. Oh, so like he's like the baddest of the baddies. Right. When he spent time in isolation, he would tear up the cell, meaning he would shred his mattress. He was known to rip pipes out of the wall. Holy cow. And would even self-mutilate himself hard enough that he left visible scars on his face. Oh, my goodness. Now, this is the most famous case that Preston Castle is usually known for. It is the death of Anna Corbin. So on February 23, 1950, housekeepers going about their daily duties made a grisly discovery. That of the brutally murdered body of 52-year-old Anna Corbin, Preston's head housekeeper. She seemed to have been attacked in or near her office, then dragged to a storage-like room. She also was strangled with a hemp cord very, very similar to that found around Vesta Stapenter's neck. Oh, my goodness. In fact, in later comparisons, they were tied in the same position. Oh, my goodness. There had been a vicious, and I cannot stress enough, this vicious struggle. Anna fought like a hellcat. The room was in disarray from the fight. Anna was eventually thrown brutally to the floor where she hit her head, or her head was met with the floor by force. Oh, my gosh. And she received a skull fracture. Oh, my gosh. This would prove to have been fatal on her. The weird thing was, not that it's weird, but it's weird when we start to look into a lot more of Eugene's history, there was no sexual assault on Anna, but it is fully believed that it was planned because her underwear were located around her ankles. The attempt to possibly assault her had been brutal enough that the murderer's shoe polish, and I want you to remember that, shoe polish, rubbed off onto her panties. Once the murderer had determined that Anna was dead, he dragged her body to the corner of the storage room and placed rolls of carpet over her. Oh, my gosh. When this was found out, the school was immediately placed on lockdown, and every single person associated with the school, it doesn't matter if you were an employee or an inmate, you were questioned by police. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Sheriff George Locutt sat through each and every interview, and I wanted to say there was like somewhere up to like 600 of them. Oh, my gosh. Listening to each prisoner answer questions and take a lie detector test, which was administered by criminology expert at the time, Alfred G. Rydell. Oh, wow. Three boys were initially suspected based on their stories given. They didn't check out, and the lie detector showed some discrepancies. 19-year-old Eugene Monroe was one of these boys. The other two were quickly cleared. Further interviews and statements would quickly move Eugene to investigators' prime suspect. He was lying. His story changed. He had no alibi. Witnesses could place him at or near, sometimes even within 200 feet of Anna's last known place. On top of all that, Eugene was ill-tempered toward the investigators. Of course he was. He wasn't doing any favors. Right. This is another quote from Jamie Rubio. Preston historian John Lafferty transcribed the oral history for the Amador County Archives years ago in respect to this particular case. The following quote was given by Gula Waite, who had been the executive secretary at Preston. Gula? Yes, but I want to take a pause here. Secretaries know everything. Secretaries of any business, I swear to you, run that business. It should be the secretary. In that office, my desk was between the office they used to interview the boy they thought was guilty, the guilty one, and on the other side was the superintendent's office. They probably weren't very thick-walled. Probably not. They kept having these meetings. The sheriff and everybody met over there, and I was, I'll never forget, the psychiatrist that had been assigned to the job would go over there and interview the kid, and I would hear the voices through the wall, and then I'd hear the boy's voice rise and rise and rise and rise and rise and rise and rise and rise, and it would get up there very high like he was about off the edge, you know, and then the psychiatrist came out and he indicated he, Monroe, was right on the edge. Something awful happened there. He came around and told them they were right on the edge of getting a confession, and Sheriff Lowcutt was there in the building and he misunderstood or something, or something happened, and they got up and took the boy, took him out, and put him up in the county jail. So they never did get an actual confession out of Eugene. I just want to say, too, let's all admit, if she's hearing all this stuff going on, there's not one person who would be like, let's go, like, have my ear up to the wall. You know what I mean? Oh, absolutely. Lowcutt sounded like she probably didn't even need to have her ear up to the wall. They were talking loud enough. Several witnesses stated that they saw Eugene constantly polishing his shoes, especially after the murder. Oh, my goodness. Furthermore, blood was found on Eugene's shoes and belt, and his clothing was found, you ready? Yeah. Burned in the incinerator. Oh, how convenient. Eugene was charged with murder. Oh, wow. Witness testimony came from William Mercer, another inmate at Preston, who claimed to have witnessed Eugene hit Anna, but Mercer ran off scared, thus he didn't witness the actual murder. Allegedly, this is per William Mercer, Anna had caught Eugene and William in an intimate sexual way. Yes. She told them that she would have to report them. Hello, it's 1950, and in most states, homosexuality was illegal at the time. Now, before we get all excited about this witness testimony, William recanted his statement during the preliminary hearing. Is that because he didn't want people to think that he was? Well, this is his reasoning. Okay. Actually, hang on. He would recant his recant during the actual trial, though. Let me guess, he recants his recant. Possibly. William claimed that Eugene's lawyer threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't recant his statement. The lawyer did? Yes. Like the lawyer was going to beat up William. It seems he may have recanted a third time when he became scared of Eugene's friends seeking retribution. So he said his statement, he recanted because he thought the lawyer was going to bodily harm him. Then he recants that recant and said, yes, that's really what happened. Then he recants it again because he's afraid of Eugene's friend. Okay. And in the end, he reinstated his claim saying he gave into his conscience and that he only initially recanted due to fear. Oh, geez, Louise. So I'm sure at this point, it's probably not worth very much. Right. Eugene's friend and fellow inmate, Clarence Tillman, quote, claimed Eugene cut his hand in the shoe shop the day before the murder. And that accounts for the blood on his shoes and belt the day of the murder or why his clothes were in the incinerator. Right. Excerpts from Anna's own diary and letters to her daughter and sister claimed a few of the boys at Preston did make her feel uncomfortable. One even making sexual advances towards her. She named him Robert Hale. But get this. Robert was with Lillian Lee McDowell when Anna's body was discovered. He was one of the two housekeepers who had discovered her. And he had an alibi. He was doing housekeeping duties with Lillian in another part of the castle. So it wasn't Robert. Anna had reported to family that two boys had had knives removed from their persons. Either Anna removed the knives or she witnessed somebody removing them. In a letter to her daughter, Avis, Anna wrote, we took a sharp blade knife from each of the two boys of our house squad boys. Just now, one of the same boys asked me what I would do if a boy threatened me with a knife. I just said, I don't scare easy, Upton. He said, against a knife, you wouldn't have a chance. However, I don't act scared, I guess, for he started talking about other things then. Avis declared, mother told me two boys had tried to make love to her and that Upton wanted to marry her. Mother told him she was old enough to be his mother. I never find out who this Upton person is again, but so she was mentioned. Here's a kooky fact though. Although there was no DNA testing at the time, authorities did send the blood from Eugene's shoe and belt off to be tested. At that time, during the 1950s, they could determine if it was human or animal blood and they could even determine what type of blood it was. Do you want to know the kookiest part? It was human blood. But Eugene and Anna shared the exact same blood type. Oh my goodness. What are the odds? Yeah, what's the coincidence of that happening? What are the odds? That's crazy. On March 3rd of 1950, Eugene is charged with first degree murder and set to go to trial in April of 1950. Okay. Eugene was African American and thus was granted counsel with an up and coming civil rights lawyer, Nathaniel S. Cawley, who was affiliated with the NAACP. Now here's a kooky fact. Okay. Nathaniel was the one that William Mercer says threatened him with bodily harm unless he recanted his witness testimony. Hmm. So let's get into the trial. Okay. Trial number one. Number one? Yes, you heard that right. Spoiler, there will be multiple. Oh. The jury was made up of five women and seven men and it resulted in a hung jury. Think about all this evidence that we have. Yeah. Trial number two. Eleven jurors voted for conviction. One for innocence. Thus, a hung jury. Oh my goodness. At this point, the case had turned into a media circus. Oh, I bet. Trial number three. The defense attorney petitioned for the trial to be moved to Sacramento County and that request was granted. This resulted in an acquittal. What? Right. Are you kidding me? Yeah. On the hills of his acquittal, Eugene was paroled and sent back to Tulsa into the custody of his aunt. Oh my gosh. Surprisingly, Jess, while back in Tulsa, Eugene did not walk the straight and narrow. Oh, he didn't? No, no, he did not. I hope you can hear my sarcasm, everyone. Between October of 1950 and July of 1951, Eugene was arrested four times for sexual perversion. Now, I looked up the meaning of this. It is any sexual practice that is regarded by a community or culture as an abnormal means of achieving orgasm or sexual arousal. Sexual perversion is an older term that is little used nowadays, largely having been replaced by sexual deviance or, in a psychiatric context, paraphernalia. Four times. Four times. While awaiting trial for one of these four charges, Eugene was caught slipping notes to his fellow cellmates. What was in these notes, you ask? What's in these notes? Well, he was bragging, Jess. Oh. Bragging about getting away with murder. Can he be tried again for Anna Corbin's death? Absolutely not. That's called double jeopardy. Right. But what murder could he possibly be bragging about? Was it Anna's? Was it Vesta's? Was it Vesta's? Or perhaps one of Tulsa's newest unsolved murders? Or all? Police questioned Eugene and ran his fingerprints through the FBI database. Ding, ding, ding. There was a hit. They were a match to those found on some Venetian blinds found at the crime scene of murder victim Dorothy Waldrop. And yes, it was one of Tulsa's most recent unsolved murders. Dorothy Waldrop was a 22-year-old pregnant housewife. She lived in an apartment with her husband, Robert, a taxi driver in Tulsa. Between the hours of 8.15 p.m. July 23rd and 1 a.m. July 24th, 1951, Dorothy would pass from this earth. This is another quote from J.B. Rubio. Upon arriving home at 1 a.m., Robert discovered the front door wide open and his wife missing. One of their neighbors was later questioned, and she remembered hearing a scream around midnight. But it was quick, and she didn't know what to think about it, so she didn't bother to wake her husband and went back to bed. I'm pretty sure this Dorothy Waldrop was mentioned in Oklahoma's Atticus book. Oh. Because I wrote the name down. I was like, oh, I should look this up sometime. I'm pretty sure it's the same thing. I think I remember you saying it. I knew her name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember what from. I think it's from that. Oh, I think you're right. Sorry. So, July 24th, 1951, I believe two young boys, they were, I think they were like blackberry picking or razz, because they were going looking for some berries, discover Dorothy's body on a grassy knoll by the apartment complex. She's pregnant. Dorothy had been strangled to death with a dirty handkerchief and raped. And they believe she was also raped post-mortem. Those blinds that would be the key to this case were found in some weeds outside the apartment near the body. They had been cut or torn from the window. Oh, my goodness. Eleven hours after questioning, Eugene admitted. Let me re-say that. After 11 hours of questioning, Eugene admitted to the murder. Eleven hours of questioning, that does kind of seem very, to me, because. That's a long time. That's a long time, but we'll get through kind of the facts of this case, and it'll probably come out. Judge W. Lee Johnson did order him to face trial due to the circumstances of the crime, aka most likely for sentencing purposes. Right. So later during this period, Eugene would claim that he had an accomplice, Odell, or sometimes called Eugene, McDaniel. It just depends on what your source said. Okay. During the trial, the prosecution called 13 witnesses. Two witnesses stated they saw a man the evening of July 23rd driving around the apartment complex with California license plates on his car. That's interesting. Edgar Razio, newspaper editor, testified that Eugene bragged to him about getting away with murder. Jim Cooley, police department janitor, also testified the exact same thing. So here we have two witnesses, not just the word of the cellmates on top of that or the notes that he passed. Right. The defense called zero witnesses. During the trial, Eugene was recorded as becoming visibly shaken and upset when the description of Dorothy's brutalized body was given. And I want to say, tough. Right. If you did this, tough. I'm sorry that you didn't want to listen to it again. He wept. He wouldn't look at Robert, Dorothy's husband. He folded in on himself. Good day, sir. Yeah. It's a good day. Exactly. This is again from Jamie Rubio. There was an interesting twist thrown into the mix. When defense attorney Amos T. Hall questioned the police chief on the stand about Harold Beddoe, M.D., who had seen Monroe during his interrogation, attorney Hall insinuated that he believed Monroe had been hypnotized into confessing. Really? Hypnotized? Yes. The police chief stated he knew nothing of the sort and that he wasn't in the room during the time the doctor was seeing Monroe. We could neither confirm nor deny that that had happened. Eugene was found guilty. Thank goodness. And sentenced to life in prison. Eugene's defense did ask that the death penalty, and consequently at the time the electric chair, be taken off the table and Judge Eben L. Taylor complied. This is kind of the icing on the cake of the heartbreakedness, I guess you could say. Okay. Robert Waldrop passed away shortly after this time. It was rumored he took his own life out of grief. You see, Dorothy and Robert had lost their firstborn child, a boy, during childbirth around a year or two before Robert would lose both his wife and second child. That's so awful. It is terrible. While serving his life sentence, Eugene found himself facing more charges for robbery out of Oklahoma City. Another 35 years was added to his sentence. In 1970, Eugene applied for parole and was denied. But wait, there's more. How much more could there possibly be? On August 14, 1981, Eugene was granted parole. No. He was given only 29 years of a life sentence plus 35 years. That's not long enough. No, that's not even close. There are lots of similarities between all three murders. They were each strangled in the same manner, two being strangled with the same type of garrotte, the hemp cord. Only Anna was beaten, but that was believed to be because she was the only one who fought back. Anna was 52. She worked in a prison-like school. She was tough. She even said so in her letters to loved ones. Vesta was only 17 and just a young girl. Dorothy was 22 and pregnant, and I'm sure she simply worried for the life of her unborn child, not wanting to enrage Eugene, preventing him from striking her in the stomach area. Vesta and Anna also had similar knots behind their ear where the cord was tied. Yet, I'm going to tell you right now, that last tidbit was kept from all three trials regarding Anna's death. Both Vesta and Dorothy were sexually assaulted. Dorothy was even assaulted after death. Anna's assault was attempted, but her fighting is probably what prevented that from happening. On November 3, 2007, Eugene Monroe passed away in Los Angeles, California. I just want everyone to, like, Jess and I are really big about making sure that our victims are memorialized and remembering that their story is what we want to share. Author Jamie Rubio, she does a beautiful job remembering all three victims as more than just- It makes you wonder if there could be more. Let me get there. Oh, sorry. We want to remember them as more than just, like, quote, notches on Eugene Monroe's murder belt. She reminds readers that the victims were beautiful, vibrant women with families and futures. She believes that Eugene was guilty of all three murders, something that I agree with her. Yeah, I mean, from just the evidence that you- While doing all her research, she was led to believe that Eugene was perhaps an Oklahoma serial killer. Perhaps she will share more of her findings later on. I hope she does. Yeah, absolutely. During all of her research into Eugene Monroe, she came across a man named J. Paul, a former police officer from Kansas who has been researching a series of murders and rapes that took place in Tulsa during the 1940s and 50s. Oh, interesting. He actually reached out to her. He had started digging through the case files, and he noticed Eugene Monroe's name kept popping up as a suspect in many cases. Oh, my goodness. With continued research, he has come to believe that Monroe was the one who committed these crimes, and he even reached out to author Jamie Rubio after reading her blog, where she had mentioned her theory that Eugene Monroe might have been a serial killer. And it appears that this J. Paul feels the same way. Oh, my goodness. Wow. And that is the story of Eugene Monroe. Wow. Great job. Thank you. I didn't even know what to expect. That's kooky. That's just crazy. It's insane. It's insane. It's a shame that he was acquitted for Anna Corbin. He should have been found guilty for that. And the whole witness putting him at Vesta's house, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. That one, I can see that one would be harder. And I know, like, if we want to cut the LAPD some slack, but I know they have a terrible reputation of flubbing investigations all the time, especially in that time period. And they were under a lot of pressure, if I want to be nice. They were under a lot of pressure at that point because of the Black Dahlia case. So I can see where a little 17-year-old girl was the least of their worries. Right. But to them, but you remember that she has family that's still alive. Like, her siblings are still alive. And that's not right. That's not right. She should have been given as much attention that Anna Corbin was given and that Dorothy was given. So I'm glad that Oklahoma was able to find him guilty. I hate that he was paroled. I hate that he was on trial three times for a murder. And then, okay, you're acquitted. Okay, see you later. Go back to Oklahoma. What? No. But, yeah, definitely if you want to learn more about that Preston Castle or the Preston School of Industry, listen to Morbid, do some research. There's lots and lots of information about the Preston Castle out there. You can visit it for sure. So, yeah. Wow, great job. Thanks. Thanks. I appreciate it. It was very fascinating. Yeah, it was. It was like a roller coaster. That was. That was a real roller coaster. Oh, gosh, yeah. But, yeah. So history next week. Yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited. Anyway. I'll just, okay, it was going to be my paranormal. Oh, that's right. That I did. That's right. That's right. However, there wasn't really any paranormal to go with it. So, the notes were already done, so it's now my history. Perfect. I have plans for a different history. My brother has requested something, so. Oh. But it'll have to wait until next time. That's fine. That's fine. But, yeah. So, how about you tell the people where they can find us? Well, you can find us on all major social media platforms. You can just find us at Curious Cousins OK Podcast. You can also find us on all of your favorite listening platforms and just search for Curious Cousins OK Podcast. Please remember to rate, follow, and review us. Email us if you have any questions, comments, concerns. We love hearing from you. Yes. Show suggestions. We do love hearing from you guys. So, yeah. You can reach us at CuriousCousinsOK at gmail.com and just tell them what to keep it. Keep it kooky and spooky. Bye.