The Career Girl Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Alina I'm Ash and this is [Music] morbid and that's the computer and that
is life save it for the outakes oh I said that and my send it to Daryl voice and I'm wearing that's hey look at that
hey uh so hey what's going on we just changed the lighting in this room cuz we got little fancy light bulbs yeah on
Mikey's recommendation and that was a great recommendation that he had yeah they're these cool light bulbs and you
can change them to different moods yeah right now we're in peaceful yeah earlier
it was so dreamy but I was like like it's a little too dreamy Wy in here I think I'm about to off it's cuz it's
gloomy outside of Massachusetts today which is delightful yeah always welcome but you can't have too dreamy a mood
when it's gloomy outside or you'll just fall asleep exactly and we have a ton of
candles lit and stuff so the vibe is right it's hella cozy in here hella cozy and it smells like the witchiest shop
you've ever walked into true it does I just did some Sage before that we did some Palos Santo we really cleansed our
asses up in here just star ass not like a not like an enema but like a I did like a spiritual enema yeah there you go
a spiritual anema occurred in this room and we feel good yeah yeah how do you feel today listener how do you feel I
just said let us know listener hello listeners everybody listening was just like what the [ __ ] like did we break up
like what are you dating someone else why are you calling me listener weirdo weirdo weirdo how do you feel today
listener was that in my body it was a soul it was it was a soul it was it was it
was what's happening I don't know I'm so tired I had more end of the world anxiety last night so I didn't sleep
good somebody a couple people messaged me actually and were like ash I felt crazy that I had into the world anxiety
until you said you had it and like that made me feel better so you are seen you're all in this together yeah I
reached out to a therapist last night it's true and then me and Mikey were like we will be very real with you and
try to logic it to the other side it really did help so you know we try thank you we're all in this together guys
we're all just trying to get through the day you know couldn't have said it better myself just trying to get to
lunch really and we did that we did that had some chicken fingers we did we had chicken fingers so we're okay anyway
quick little side note what's up just before we start okay um Takis M controversial what the [ __ ] is up with
those uh I know weird out of the blue but it's not if you were in my head cuz or in the room in the room I keep seeing
people eating Takis and I was like well I love a strange snack so like let's do this and usually they're they're like
fiery they're spicy and I love a spicy moment and I've never had them so today I said I said to Mikey and Ash I said I
want Takis and they said order Takis on door Dash Why leave the house we live in
the 21st century you can have whatever you want go get you some Takis so I did I ordered one and I said oo this is
yummy it's it's very artificial but it's very spicy and I enjoy that you liked it
in the moment I had one bite and I was like too spicy too spicy I liked the spice but I was like wow this is
extraordinarily artificial and I like Taco Bell so that's saying something yeah that's the most AR but I was like
okay like this is fine within 10 minutes I felt like I was going to throw up yeah
for like 20 minutes yeah and I was like oh I'm not going to eat Takis again and I'm not I'm not saying takis are like
poisonous or something you know like I'm not trying to down Takis they just aren't for me and I'm a little sad about
it and I just wanted to share that with you guys that's the thing you were really excited to try them yeah and I I
I think I'm a little sad to know that my body has like um a food boundary a limit
yeah I've never met I've never met that boundary before and I just met it with Takis do you remember when I met it with
the Captain Crunch Slurpee yes we all no no when you met it there that was crazy
that was such a different time in my life where I was willing to put a 711 Captain Crunch Slurpee that I bought for
perhaps 90 maybe 89 cents was blue it was blue it was [ __ ] the most artificial blue and then let me tell you
something I was blue for quite some time you were you were green for a yep yep but yeah it's a weird moment when you
figure out like oh I can't just eat anything growing up is weird it's horrible and again weird because I've
never I love spice and I still like it just made me feel yucky for a little while so I was like oh maybe that was
just a little too much and that's the thing it wasn't even like you ate them like too fast or anything like that like
she just had a few you don't even have that many really no but me and Takis we're not Elena's Taki Journey that was
my Taki journey and I just wanted you know I just wanted to share that with you now you can't do the thing that they
do on Tik Tok remember we were talking about it the other day pickle I wanted to have you try that you wanted to have
me try that I love that no honestly I wanted to try it until I had a talkie and I was like I don't like this and
then you're like no I was like but you I want to have you try that it's a sad day
when you meet your food limit when you meet your maker the yeah that is a sad day I thought it was happening for a
second but alas I did not I'm good now though yeah you look great she dyed her hair darker yeah I DED my hair darker I
ate a cad Berry Egg and I was right as rained everyone's like maybe that's why no everybody's like where what boundary
is that though explain your boundary if you don't like cadburry eggs you can get
the [ __ ] out of here cream eggs guys so good so good I even like the caramel ones yeah those are the cre on are my
favorite Superior uh but you know what we're not here to talk about that nope but you know we have we had to get our
you guys are like who we talk to so we had to like get all that out real quick no one else cares about my talk Journey
yeah or two minute like hey what's up Corner listener listener dear listener so we are in a part two situation right
now yes and I left you guys on a little bit of like a excuse me what yeah I was pissed at you yeah and it was mostly
because like this whole next part of this is just so infuriating at times and you can just see how ridiculous and how
negligent a lot of this was yeah um so when we left you we were um talking about detective Eddie buer there the
detective who was um incredibly racist I was going to say the racist got it I was
like I don't know a nice way to say that and I don't care uh so he's an incredibly racist detective and he was
kicked off of the case and then he decided to insert himself back into it he apparently photos were found in
George whitmore's coat pockets they were of a woman he said he found those in the
trash and then he was just using them to like kind of like hype himself up to his
friends and be like this is my girlfriend yeah you know he's a young kid like he's a young like you know he's
like he's he's a teen and like I I have a feeling he has nothing to do with this
that's adorable it is that's it was he's in a weird way trying to be like this is
my girlfriend yeah and detective buer there decided to declare that that person in those photos was Janice Wy
incorrect I feel so now he is being charged like he's being looked at and suspected at the very least of killing
Janice and Emily yeah and that's where I left you which was like oh no what's going to happen that really is where you
quite now detectives interrogated you're like you quite literally ruined my life
pretty so detectives interrogated George Whitmore for 26 straight hours Jesus 26 straight hours and after which he not
only confessed to the assaults of Elba barrero but also to the murders of Janice Wy and Emily hofford yeah after
26 hours of straight prodding I might confess to a lot of [ __ ] that I didn't do I think a lot of people would yep he
also confessed to the murder of Minnie Edmonds who we talked about that was uh killed a week before Elba barrero was
attacked right at no time was he informed of his rights so that's not good or asked whether he wanted a lawyer
that's illegal the interrogation interrogation resulted in him signing a 61-page confession that included very
intimate details of the Wy hawford murders only the killer would have information about or someone that was at
the scene or the detectives including descriptions of the broken bottle during the attack and the knives used to kill
both women the the fact that the knives broke like all those little details that
they hadn't released to the public yet right um according to the Whitmore statement he had entered the apartment
building unseen so he said he somehow got into that apartment building and no one saw him okay um and had been on his
way to the roof when inexplicably he just left the stairway and entered the corridor for no re he
couldn't come up with a reason why he did that probably because it didn't happen and he said he entered the
corridor on the third floor and just began trying doors until he came to Janice and Emily's which he found
unlocked but it wasn't does everyone remember part one uhhuh that door was locked it was locked when Pat got home
right that door was not unlocked and they found no evidence that it was unlocked in fact that was what was was
[ __ ] them up about like obviously aside from the obvious brutality that's what was [ __ ] them up about this
crime scene is they were like how did someone get in there's no way somebody got in B there's this open window but
we're on the third floor and there's no fire escape but now he's saying in his confession the door was the door was
unlocked it reminds me a lot lot of the Jesse mkelly thing I was thinking about that where there's there's blatantly
wrong details but they are just pretending that's fine like just what don't worry about that like no look at
this other detail right details right though and it's like well that's wrong and that's a big one like that should
negate the other ones so for eight months frustrated investigators in Manhattan had been under intense
pressure to solve the Wy Hofer Murders At this point but they had not made even a single step of progress at this point
despite the you know know a lot of efforts they were canvasing the whole place and they had unrestrained
resources like the entire Manhattan Police Department was on this and because of this reports of whitmore's
arrest came as a huge relief not only to the residents of New York but also to the investigators and politicians who
were feeling that intense pressure so this is not a good mix of things because everybody's like great we got someone
don't care if it's the right person mhm within days of his arrest however several people be to doubt The
credibility of the confession at his arraignment for the murder of Min Edmonds he actually recanted his
confession with his lawyer telling the judge that George had been coerced into signing the document by Brooklyn
detectives and was beaten into it oh no during that interrogation like he was very much not doing that under his own
valtion and you know if detective buer if he was there you know that guy was definitely beaten yep that's so sad that
like hurts my heart yeah and George even like requested to take a lie detector to
prove that he was telling the truth I mean come on like he's not going to obviously there are cases where
someone's to killer and they're like yeah I'll take a lie detector test cuz they're just so confident but this guy
is younger his IQ is very low oh and he is like not understanding what's going on no one's even and the other thing is
like he's not understanding because like he's dealing with that whole thing but also no one's explaining things to him
like no one's even trying to make him understand what's going on so it's like he's not going to yell I'm going to take
a lie detector test just to be like I can take lie detector test and I can fool it you know like he's doing that
cuz he's like I'm innocent and that'll prove it right and he's a teenager he's 19 19 years old oh my God despite his
continued claims of Innocence Deputy Police Commissioner Walter arm told reporters quote this man came up with
details that could have only been known by could could have been known by no one
but the police and the man who committed the crime he had information that was Never released publicly and like again
we said the person who committed the crime and the detectives Brooklyn District Attorney Edward silver made
similar remarks to the Press he said I would not proceed as speedily if I did not have more than a
confession what else do you have so yeah that's the thing let us know what else you have proceed speedily to tell us
what else you have now for some of the investigators leading the team in Manhattan it was really that extent of
the details in the confession that were actually supicious to them as well in fact it was as though the confession was
a little too good a little too detailed it didn't just contain information never
released to the public it contained details about the crime scene so minute that only someone processing the scene
with a Keen Eye would have noticed them that's exactly because like in the in the craziness of all of whatever took
place not no killer is going to notice like the tiny little details this Blood Stained over here and
like he's going to be like it was chaos I know what I did I know what I saw in that moment but that's it but he's like
you said he's not going to notice these little details that a crime scene technician would exactly then there was
the photographs that were found in George whitmore's possession at the time of his arrest which detective buer
claimed were of Janice Wy when he was shown the photographs he repeated what he said he said that's I don't know who
that is I found them in the trash I don't I honestly don't know who that girl is if it's Janice Wy I didn't know
that I just found them which of course they were like yeah yeah like likely story but then they asked Max Wy
Janice's father oh no and they had him look at them and he told investigators they were definitely not photos of his
daughter and he had never seen the woman in those photos before and he was definitive about that wow and these
weren't like strange photographs that you were like I don't know maybe it's a woman like he knows his daughter he's
looking at the woman's face he's like that's not my kid like I think he would know yeah and again for this man he's
probably hoping they're catching the guy of course who did this to his daughter so he's going to hope that this is the
guy so he's not going to if anything he's going to kind of not hope I it's like hard to word it but he's not going
to want this to not be the end of the the closure that they want you know what I mean so for him tose closure yeah so
for him to say that's not her that's not her like he's going to want this closed
and if it's not the guy he wants the right guy like he wants the right guy off the streets that did this definitely
finally there was also George whitmore's Alibi and this one's this one blows my mind he claimed he was at work when this
was happening washing dishes in a Wildwood New Jersey restaurant at the time of Janice and Emily's murders so
he's all the way in New Jersey that's what he's saying is his Alibi nearly all of George's co-workers confirmed that he
was at the restaurant at that time time and they distinctly remembered this and they said they remember this because we
were all watching together a televised speech given by Dr Martin Luther King at the March on Washington when Whitmore
was supposedly in Manhattan killing Janice and Emily and that hold that held no ground whatsoever like they were just
like what all his co-workers were like he was there with us he was watching it and they're just like he was in
Manhattan killing two women it's like he's a whole state away I know obviously New Jersey and New York are close but
like what but it's like he has an alibi that people are confirming like how is that not worth anything oh it makes you
feel like so shitty that there wasn't like cameras and [ __ ] I know cuz you're like oh I just want them to be like see
here he is he's watching dishes right there now in October whitmore's attorney successfully petitioned the court for
his client to at least be evaluated by a psychiatrist at the very least after what he described as quote the longest
study of one patient in bellevue's history the hospital's director of Psychiatry Dr Arthur zitrin declared
George Whitmore sane and able to S stand trial for the murder of many Edmonds but
he although he was declared sane that didn't necessarily mean that he was competent to stand trial okay he had
actually like we had said dropped out of school in the 8th grade I believe it was
and had an IQ that was well below average so he he didn't even know what was like he he couldn't understand the
complete heaviness and gravity of everything that was happening and he couldn't understand how he was being
[ __ ] with yeah he's like I was at work these pictures are a different girl I found them in the garbage yeah like he's
telling you the truth I found these in the garbage that's not even of her I don't even know her I was at work when
this happened I have people that to like confirm that for you how scary is that that you can have all of those
restaurant of co-workers say that you were there all of that defense behind you and they can still railroad you yeah
that is so scary and despite that and all the questions surrounding the confession and the supposed evidence
against him the district attorney in Brooklyn moved forward in the case against George for the assault of Elba
barrero that's shocking yeah well shocking it is and it's not unfortunately now in November 1964
George Whitmore went on trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court for the attempted sexual assault of ela barrero in court
barrero told the jury her asent caught up with her on the sidewalk and grabbed her from behind in November 1964 George
Whitmore went on trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court for the attempted sexual assault of Elba barrero m in court
barrero told the jury that whoever attacked her had caught up with her on the sidewalk and had actually grabbed
her from behind and she said snatched her pocketbook placed his right hand over her mouth and his left hand around
her neck NE and said if you scream I'll kill you that's so scary now barrero then claimed that she and her attacker
quote walked face to face for two blocks to 192 Bristol Street where the asent took her down a flight of stairs to the
basement pressed her against a wall and briefly removed his hand from her mouth this is when she started screaming mhm
following her testimony Elba barrero again identified George Whitmore as the person who attacked her that day so wait
she said they walked face to face yeah I don't even know how to picture that yeah
I don't know if like like one of them was walking backwards and the other was walking in front of it that's what it
sounds to me that's how it's described I'm not sure exactly what the Yeah Logistics of that are but then she also
when it had originally happened said she couldn't couldn't quite remember the person's face yeah so it's just weird
how that changed up a little bit like I'm not saying that she's lying I'm just like did somebody tell you to say that a
certain way so it sounded better yeah there's definitely some strange things surrounding this because I mean right
from the way that they made her identify him was completely tainted completely wrong yeah so it's like they a lot of
this is like uhoh from the start yeah now under cross-examination um Elba barrero admitted to whitmore's defense
attorney Jerome leftow that she had already met with lawyers from Newsweek to discuss the $10,000 reward
money and when asked whether she had met with them before or after her appearance
before the grand jury she replied I don't know oh however on redirect she told the uh
assistant district attorney that she had been entirely unaware of their reward when she went before the grand
jury okay so that's a little flip FL whatever her whatever the like you know intention here is it's just not coming
off clear what's happening here you're not coming off clear in what is going on here not at all and after a week of
testimony the allwhite all male jury deliberated for nine hours so um not a jury of his peers whatsoever no they
deliberated for 9 hours before finding Whitmore guilty of the assault and attempted rape of Elba Barrera wow the
conviction carried with it a maximum sentence of 10 years for the attempted rape and 5 years for the assault and
they said quote unless psychiatrists find him to be a Perpetual sexual menace to the community in that case he can be
imprisoned for life oh my God yeah and that's just this one crime there's others that he's going to trial for yeah
there's more that are coming however judge uh David malbin elected to withhold sentencing in the case pending
the outcome of the cases against Whitmore for the Wy hawford murders and the murder of many Edmonds okay now
while they waited for the judge's decision Jerome leftow had petitioned the court for a new trial after
receiving a sworn affidavit from one of the jurors claiming that quote another member of the panel had made invidious
remarks to the Jury Room about black people MH the affidavit also noted that during the trial for the attack on
barrero jurors were made aware of the additional charges against George Whitmore for the three murders that is
completely not okay that's the thing I'm like how many conflicts of interests are
we at now like 47 and leftow obviously argued that this could have further biased the jury against their client
this is they biased everyone against him from the start putting him in an interrogation room and telling him
that's the suspect and then having Elba barrero identify him you've already biased her again he think she thinks
he's a criminal wow and now he there he's in there you're NE you can't tell them that he's up for three murders like
that's what are you doing that's insane and then this jury member signed a sworn
affidavit saying members of this jury are racist and made racist remarks against black people while deliberating
that's so heinous it really like that breaks your heart what the [ __ ] and both
the prosecution and the judge were wholly resistant to the claims didn't want to hear it that's with judge malbin
telling reporters quote I'm not going to make searching inquiry we want to protect the sanctity of the jury as to
what happens in the Jury Room during deliberations we want to protect this racist ass jury is basically what that
man just said yeah I want to let them be racist if they want be racist I don't like what no I'm not doing this WOW cool
cool wow meanwhile one of the jurors later said that he actually heard another juror say in that room quote
this is nothing compared to what he's going to get in New York oh my God so they were well aware and all assumed he
was guilty and were like kind of giddy about it like can't wait to watch that that's gross while the prosecution and
the majority of law enforcement were honestly committed to believing whitmore's confession and guilt were
genuine which is really upsetting there were many who had been skeptical of the case from the start like there were a
lot in of investigators that were like I don't buy this like I think this is [ __ ] up and dirty which is at least
good good good I guess now just two months after his conviction for the attack on Elba barrero a source within
the Manhattan District Attorney's office told reporters that the case against Whitmore for the murder of Janice and
Emily was quote Shot full holes so he told the reporter like this is [ __ ] wow not happening now officially the
DA's office refused to comment on the state of the case against Whitmore but many in the Press felt that there was a
strong possibility that the case was going to be dropped against him that's how bad it was I hope so now the
district attorney wasn't the only one skeptical about the potential for a trial against Whitmore George's own
lawyers were feeling pretty confident that the charges were going to be dropped and they were more than happy to
fill in the reasons why like they were like like [ __ ] this his lawyers said quote the facts show that a picture the
police said was of Miss Wy and was supposedly stolen from by Whitmore from her apartment is not a picture of Miss
Wy it is instead a picture of a girl named arleene Franco who lives in Wildwood New Jersey oh they found her
and that's where he works that's where he works where whitmore's father runs a junkyard dude and he said he found it in
the trash yeah whitmore's lawyers went on to emphasize the number of other discrepancies in the case against George
including that several people placed him in New Jersey at the time of the murders
and that he had an intelligence quotient of 60 oh and could not possibly have comprehended the language in the
confession that he supposedly made wow there's no way that he could understand all of that language so it's just point
after point after point after point of why he's not guilty oh and that button that was taken that Elba barrero had
ripped from her attacker's coat yeah the FBI gave a report that stated the button did not match whitmore's
coat so what are we even [ __ ] doing here so they introduced that button in that trial and they used it kind of as
like here it is like a smoking button didn't even match but they said it did yeah they were like this is from his
coat what the [ __ ] how are you even able to get away with that well just two months later Judge David malbin who
didn't want to hear about the racist jury wanted to let them be racist they wanted to did he also not want to hear
all the evidence as to why this black man didn't commit this crime yeah he was like no I don't want to hear it he
vacated whitmore's conviction in the barrero trial after it was determined that the jury had been racially bi
racially biased and may have been influenced by learning of the other charges against him maybe perhaps weird
two months later he was like after all this heat came he was like you know what you're I think you're right on second
thought I just can't sleep at night given the questionable on second thought I just can't sleep at night it's like
wow yeah given in the questionable nature of the confession and the evidence against him in the other case
we would all assume at this point that the charges are going to be dropped like looking at everything I've just told you
so yeah logical brains would be like absolutely going forward with based on these [ __ ] I'm like nah yeah in April
the district attorney in the Edmund's murder case proceeded as though nothing had changed I really hope that he like
ended up suing the district attorney at some point in that case the jury deadlocked but the prosecutor vowed to
try Whitmore again what in the meantime I'm wait I'm actually shocked that they deadlocked yeah right in the mean
because I think they had nothing I think that was liter they probably deadlocked
based purely on like some of them were probably racist yeah you know what I mean like it's like they didn't have
anything in that case like that was just like a what evidence do you have they have that confession that's about it
right and it's a shitty confession in the meantime the district attorney in Manhattan decided not to pursue the case
against Whitmore for the murders of Janice and Emily but that didn't mark the end of legal troubles for George
Whitmore don't think that was the end of everything the following year the district attorney in Brooklyn retried
George for the attack on barrero and he was found again guilty so that was vacated that's why they were able to
retry him they retried him again for the Elba barrero attack and he was found guilty sent this is a Manhunt and he was
sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison oh my God the conviction would be overturned a year later but had he
already spent a year in prison at that point and probably longer on the ground that the judge had refused to allow the
defense to cross-examine police concerning the false confession in the Wy Hoffer case why for what reason why
not just like nah yeah I decided I can sleep at night these days different judge uh no that well that was the same
judge that they were they were talking about that's why it was um overturned yeah oh now the same year it was alleged
that Whitmore was actually under the influence of truth serum which he when he was evaluated at bellw hospital that
like before this all started okay finally that came out that's kind of shaky right that's kind of shaky but
it's a but he was under under the influence of that and during that time he kept insisting he was in innocent
they they usually use truth serum to be like tell us that you did it he was like
no I'm innocent and his confession he kept saying my the confession was coerced I was beaten into saying this
and because of this there was an investigation requested into this cuz now they're like wait a second were did
you beat him into this now days after this was revealed New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller refused the request
for an investigation he said he quote had no jurisdiction over the courts and therefore it would be inappropriate to
seek to intervene in matters pending before them he's like I don't want to like seek
out Justice you know like we don't want to do that it's like I don't want to make sure that people aren't being
beaten into into confessions we don't want to check up on any of our systems in place we just want to let them roll
you know that that answer is essentially why bother why bother yeah I don't really want to is really the answer I
don't feel like doing it feel like it the DA's office tried Whitmore for a third time and he was again convicted in
sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison how many years and years of this man's life
for disrupted deal with this [ __ ] by 1972 George Whitmore had begun to lose complete hope of clearing his name like
he was like this is it then a journalist from the New York World telegram received an affidavit from Elba barrero
sister stating that prior to identifying George Whitmore as her attacker Elba had
already identified two other men as the asent kind of iconic that her sister was
like hey love my sister but it was in an affidavit she was being truthful on the
affidavit saying like I'm not saying he didn't do it I'm not saying she's not but I'm just telling you she identified
two other guys before that so this that doesn't hold a lot of weight wow the way
he was identified and the fact that two other people had already been identified
I mean come on and how many years later did this come out like Jesus Christ this
poor [ __ ] man yeah and in fact Elba had only identified Whitmore after detective Bulger RAC his partner
[ __ ] had made her aware of the $10,000 reward being offered by Newsweek so they literally just waved a bag of
cash in her [ __ ] face and that is precisely when she agreed to change her statement that's disgusting that is
disgusting like I know that's a lot of money but that's not worth sending somebody to jail to prison for the rest
of their life yeah like that's [ __ ] up that's on another level at the request of the newly appointed Brooklyn district
attorney Eugene gold the case was reopened and the statements from elba's Sister were
confirmed and that's when whitmore's convictions were overturned and he was officially
exonerated so luckily the new Brooklyn district attorney was like whoa whoa open that ship back up put these these
in here like put all this new information in here and he got it overturned wow after being released from
prison in 1973 George sued for violations of his civil rights but he lost his case in what [ __ ] world and
received no compensation how did he lose that case no compensation what this whole legal
circus and truly nightmare he found himself in for years and years actually ended up being the cat one of the
catalysts for abolishing the death penalty in New York as well and it also aided in the Supreme Court
um Miranda ruling in 1966 that guarantees criminal suspects the right to consult with an attorney oh wow okay
so something good came out of it somewhere I suppose that's the thing though it's like yeah cuz I know we talk
about the death penalty a lot and like you say like you're a little less gray I'm always pretty gray but then a case
like this comes along and it's like that'll throw you for a loop that yes like genuinely cuz he would have been
facing the death you can [ __ ] it up so badly and then what if all of that came
to light after they had already put this man to death yeah like he was he would have been sent to death for these
murders wow that's that like that actually just turned my stomach yeah and what makes the cases against George
Whitmore so egregious is that the charges against him in the two Brooklyn cases were mostly just a pretense that
would have validated the charges against him for the murders of Janice and Emily
right making Eddie Bulger there and the Brooklyn detectives look like [ __ ] Heroes that was the whole the whole
thing behind this was Eddie buer and his little cronies wanted to look like [ __ ] superheroes at the end of tell
me that that man got Karma please tell me the problem here was that even before Whitmore went on trial for the attack of
Elber barrero investigators in Manhattan were fairly certain he had nothing to do
with the Wy Hofer murders investigators were like no we don't think he did this so even though detective buer was like I
want to get my hero status and get this all most of the investigators like [ __ ]
off this doesn't work in October 1964 police arrested out of this was like something totally different arrested
35-year-old Nathan Delaney for the murder of a rival drug dealer oh wow as this was his third arrest for a violent
crime Delaney knew he could receive the death penalty it's a three three strikes
rule for the murder and he so he offered to tell the da the name of the real killer in the Wy Hofer case damn at the
time there was still intense pressure to close this case and the da Off Da office
knew the case against Whitmore was in shamp like he didn't do it MH so they agreed to delay these conditions cuz
remember there's still a case against George Whitmore for this part yeah they only were able to exonerate him for the
Elba barrero situation and Minnie's Minnie Edmond but like this they're still still hanging over his they was
still trying to fit pieces into this one now according to Nathan Delaney he had been at home on the afternoon of August
28th 1963 which is when Janice and Emily were killed and he said there was a knock on his door so he opens the door
and Delaney was surprised because he saw his acquaintance whose name is Richard Ricky robbles okay he was covered in
blood invisibly shaken now Ricky who had just been released from prison told Delaney that
he had gone out looking for drug money and had killed two women what and the way he said it was that he said quote he
just iced two dames what the [ __ ] that's how he described it and Delany claimed he gave Robel a new
set of clothes and his wife Delaney's wife gave him a gar garbage bag for the bloody clothes which I was like wow you
guys are disgusting yeah now Nathan Delaney agreed to wear a wire holy [ __ ] and together with his wife present they
engaged Ricky Robel in the conversation just a regular conversation and during that whole time talking he again
admitted to killing Janice and Emily on The Wire they were able to like steer the conversation to like remember that
time and he was like oh absolutely so he was just looking for drug money he was so we'll go he'll explain so all of this
was recorded him admitting to the whole thing and it was submitted to the prosecutor and the taped confession was
enough to get a warrant for his arrest and Ricky robbles was taken into custody on January 27th
1965 at the station Ricky robbles maintained his innocence and asked for a lawyer so nice that they gave him that
in case you were wondering he is white feel so so he got a lawyer and he was I'm sure they read him his full R yep um
he was promptly provided a lawyer and the two were left alone in the administrative office and after about 25
minutes robo's lawyer needed to leave the room and asked the officers waiting outside to watch his client until he
came back m in the interrogation room the detectives offered Ricky some food and he declined and at which point one
of them said Rick did you ever think it would wind up like this and without thinking he
replied he thought it would from what he read in the newspapers that he thought someday he would be arrested for killing
those two girls so his lawyer left the room after 25 minutes to go like get something to
eat or drink or like piss or something like that just for a second and those detectives were like hey Ricky you do
this and he was like sure did sure did like like as soon as his lawyer left but does
so does that matter though that his lawyer had left the room is that like is that a conflict I think it's I I I it
ended up working out it worked out so I think it's fine it's okay cuz I think it
was just in casual like they weren't interrogating him they were just like did you ever think and they didn't even
say did you ever think you would get caught they just said you ever think it would wind up this way yeah that's inoc
and he was like yeah it's crazy I murdered people and they were like wow I didn't know you were going to say that
so what like I don't understand so when they asked what happened replied don't know I went to pull a lousy burglary and
I wound up killing two girls just to be that callous about it now according to Robel this is what happened he had gone
out that morning with the intention of finding an apartment to Rob which is what led him to the building on East
88th Street which he said he chose because there was no doorman at the time I thought there was though doorman but I
don't know if the doorman was on break or like wasn't at the door at the time when he entered the lobby no one was
present so he just walked right in and he was able to get into the maintenance Corridor and found his way to the third
floor that's terrifying when he found all the doors locked including Janice and Emily's cuz remember it was locked
even though George whitmore's confession said it was unlocked Ricky robbles is saying it was
locked were locked Robel poked his head out of the windows and saw that a window
in apartment 3C was open so he's in the maintenance like hall there's Windows he
peaked out the window in the corridor saw that there was an apartment with a window open so he climbed out on the
ledge and slid over to the window which is how he got into the apartment so one of my comments in part one was like he
couldn't like nobody could like scale a building he literally essentially did so
technically he didn't scale up no right but but he scaled over sideways what the
[ __ ] which they were they were not even thinking that was a possibility because
you really wouldn't like a third floor in New York like obviously that's not super high for New York but but like
you're going to land on concrete it's like that's that's at the very least wow you think you're safe at that point
you're on the third floor yeah like why not your window over a ledge he went through over a ledge to get into that
apartment that's terrifying so Janice Wy oh my God was just in her room and this
man just crawls through the apartment Window and she's probably like getting ready for work at this Point like ready
to head out for her day so once inside the apartment Ricky Robel found Janice Wy in her bedroom he said quote with a
sheet wrapped around her and he said he immediately decided to sexually assault her oh my God so she was still sleeping
yeah now according to delany's wife while he was assaulting Janice Robel quote heard the front door and he got up
against the wall and then the girl with the glasses came in that's Emily em just
as she got to him he tried to take her glasses off her face as soon as she walked in and she said don't touch me
leave my glasses alone so as Robel tied the two women together he heard Janice tell Emily to do as he said and they
won't get hurt so Janice was being like let's just whatever he says and we're not going to she really thought they
weren't going to get hurt oh my God but Emily was angry she just walked in her [ __ ] apartment and she sees this guy
sexually assaulting her friend and roommate like she panicked too and so she repeat repeatedly had said she
wanted to quote get a good look at him to identify him later oh and she was trying like she was pissed yeah but this
caused Ricky robbles to panic and he went into the kitchen where according to Delaney's wife quote he thought it over
and in about five minutes decided he was going to kill them with his decision made Robel GL grabbed the glass bottle a
kitchen knife and then returned to the bedroom and stabbed both women to death with both of them finally dead he stole
about 20 or $30 from Emily's purse and then fled the building and they were each stabbed over
60 times with three a broken bottle a knife that ended up breaking and then a bigger knife so he went back and forth
between that kitchen at least twice did he ever did they ever say if he was like
under the influence cuz that just seems so he was um he was a heroin addict and he was breaking into this apartment to
get money to get more heroin so that is part of this is that he was that was the
intention here is to get money and he specifically he is quoted as saying to get more heroin that was the whole
point now I don't like that he decides to try to use Emily as like well she said this so I pan and that's when I did
it and it's like no you piece of [ __ ] you that wasn't it no like you're you're
a piece of [ __ ] and you were going to like like just run out of the apartment don't try to put it on her cuz that's
the thing I want to get a good look at you get out of there get out of there get the [ __ ] out of there then you
shouldn't be here in the [ __ ] first place yeah cover your face and run out wow but I just don't like regardless of
whether she said that or not CU we don't know if she said that the only people who know whether she said that is Janice
and Emily and him and he's the only one that can talk and to be quite honest he's not [ __ ] credible as far as I'm
concern so he's a piece of [ __ ] so Ricky Robel went on trial for the murders in
October 196 5 and a jury deliberated for 5 hours before finding him guilty you scared me guilty two charges of felony
murder in the first degree good after the verdict was read reporters asked assistant DA John Keenan why police had
pursued George Whitmore when they knew he was not the real killer and Keenan replied quote there were good and bad
policemen and he insisted that the defense had used Whitmore as a quote smoke screen to Cloud the case at least
he was honest like there's good there's some bad [ __ ] policeman out there and that's the truth they were on it there
are bad ones a month later Ricky robbles was sentenced to life in prison with the
possibility of parole after 26 years why yeah he is also you know he's not getting parole it's not happening no now
once investigators settled on George Whitmore as their suspect nearly everyone seemed convinced of his guilt
and never bothered to consider any alternatives and look what happened regardless of any of the evidence after
being kicked off the case in Manhattan detective Eddie Bulger believed his arrest of Whitmore would make his career
and vindicate him in the eyes of anyone who disapproved of his methods that was his whole how did that turn out for you
I was like did that help yeah did that work out like e you also hope that I mean this is like very obvious that he
just like steamrolled this entire thing yeah was any action taken against him neither he nor anyone else involved
in the false imprisonment and false arrest of GE Whitmore were ever held accountable at all for any of the
reprehensible actions that they committed nope wow they got nothing wow the fact that this man like
we were just saying like steamrolled this entire [ __ ] thing totally derailed it just was like bye see you
later like this is what I think so this is what happened and let's just throw this poor man in jail forever mhm and he
just got to he just got to keep on doing that probably who knows how many other cases race factored into that he was on
and he probably just did the like do you do the same thing like are other were other people falsely imprisoned because
of him like this isn't the first time he's done this or the last time like this is not something you just do and
that who who's I forget who the person was that made the comment of like there are good and bad police it's like you
sit there and you admit that and nothing is done about it yeah nothing's done they got nothing wow what a frustrating
case I'm glad that at the end like obviously like it's horrible but I'm glad that at the end of the day the
right person got put into prison but it's like but it's but it's he didn't so after he was released from prison George
Whitmore went back to New Jersey where he briefly owned and operated a fishing boat well good for him and eventually
worked odd jobs and just you know floated around and George um he he struggled a lot after this like he went
through a lot and he ended up dying of a heart attack on October 8th 2012 wow at
the age of 68 oh that's that's so young although his case in exoneration have become one of the most taught examples
of coercion and false arrest in the United States the state of New York never made any attempt to write the
wrongs committed against him or take responsibility for anything that happened during this just the fact that
he sued and didn't get anything in return like what he was put through his out but
it's so similar to like the Jesse Miss Kelly and the The West Memphis Three of it all like they don't get any get out
of here get yeah and deal with the rest your life deal with what's happening wow
now Ricky Robel when this was all going on cuz remember he was just out in the world while George Whitmore was being
railroaded here he watched the whole thing play out he watched Whitmore almost die for what he had done and he
was quoted as saying quote I didn't know what to do I didn't know how to get him
off and then he said I didn't want the guy to go to the electric chair but how could I help him without implicating
myself well that's the whole thing you couldn't but you knew what to do mhm why can't you implicate yourself you
this man should pay for what you did you did it he didn't like you that's what that's somebody that just like doesn't
have a conscience or a soul or any like that's that's completely soulless no and
there is there's a lot of sadness at the end of this case too so following the death of his daughter Max Wy did become
like a crusader against you know these kind of crimes and and he ended up authoring a book in 1964 titled career
girl watch your step oh uh like many in the media and law enforcement at the time Max wrote no matter how accustomed
to your own Community you may become never grow to feel safe in it feel threatened you are threatened you are
never safe that is such a social commentary on being a woman yeah no on September 24th 1968 Janice's mother
Isabelle actually died from cancer oh God and the following year Janice's sister Pam died of pneumonia oh my God
so he was like just alone he lost every both his children and after so much tragic loss in like the smallest span of
time in just like quick trigger warning cuz this is a very sad and to this case Max Wy checked into a motel in
Fredericksburg Virginia on September 21st 1975 and after calling the front desk to
report that he was having a heart attack he shot himself in the head with a 38 caliber revolver oh my God yeah during
the trial it was also learned that during the initial canvas the police had spoken to Ricky
robbles no but his mother no no lied to detectives and told them on the day of the murders her son was at her apartment
asleep on the couch you don't there's no excuse for that there's no [ __ ] see me
but I'm flipping this woman off right now no [ __ ] you no two people's daughters were
viciously brutal savagely murdered by your son you can go ahead and say I don't think he did it
but you know so well he was not asleep on your couch yeah you don't lie I understand like the inherent like need
or or urge to protect your child but not when they're in the wrong like that and
you don't lie you don't say he was there when he wasn't because it's like dude that's going to come back you don't know
that you're that's going to come back and how do you I'm sorry how do you live with yourself after I couldn't derailing
and and that's the thing thing derailing the investigation and then look at George Whitmore exactly like come on man
wow what a frustrating case all the way to the very end Ricky robbles maintained
his innocence until 1986 when hoping that he was going to win parole he admitted to the parole board that he
murdered Janice Wy and Emily hawford and Robel has consistently been denied parole and is currently serving his
sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility in Upstate New York wow because after he admitted to it he of course was
like no I'm innocent this is [ __ ] and that is the career girl murder case oh what a tragic frustrating
yeah Janice Wy and Emily hawford so sad and just how senseless that was and the brutality attached to such a senseless
murder like yeah wow wow like flabbergasting it really is and it's the crime itself is
so [ __ ] up and so brutal and so horrific and then the investigation afterwards is even it's the it's it's
also brutal and horrible and [ __ ] up well and I was so expecting I was I was so expecting you to say that it was
somebody that knew Janice and like had previously dated her or like felt as though she wronged them in some way like
they were going off of too like how just personal it is to stab somebody over 60
times and he and she seemed to get more yeah she did get I mean Emily was also brutalized but
like Janice too yeah it's just crazy he also he' come in there and immediately decided he was sexually assaulting her
and it was and I didn't go into the details cuz I just don't want to it was a brutal sexual assault she went through
a brutal sexual assault by this [ __ ] pig he is a pig before he did so it's like he he's a monster wow we need a
pallet cleanser brother yeah yeah we do so yeah well with that we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it
but not so weird that you watch somebody take the fall for a heinous crime that you committed yeah don't keep it that
weird blisten don't do that don't do [Music] that [Music]

While the tragic loss of two young lives was particularly shocking, the Career Girl Murders is better remembered as one of the most egregious cases of police coercion and abuse in the state’s history. Eight months after the murder, investigators arrested nineteen-year-old George Whitmore, an intellectually disabled day laborer from whom they elicited a false confession, not only for the murder of Hoffert and Wylie, but also for the murder of a single mother in Brooklyn. Eight more months would pass before the charges against Whitmore were dropped, and several more years before police arrested Wylie and Hoffert’s real killer, twenty-two-year-old drug addict and burglar Richard Robles.

The murders of Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie were just two of several high-profile New York City murders that reshaped how wealthy and middle-class white people thought of urban life in the 1960s. More importantly, however, it’s more important legacy is the extent to which it shined a light on how race and class can influence a police investigation and jury verdict, and how justice can be delayed or diverted in the interest of efficiency and the illusion of safety.

References

Anderson, David. 1965. "Jury that convicted Whitmore to be questioned on race bias." New York Times, January 15: 19.

Bigart, Homer. 1963. "Killing of 2 girls yields no clue; police question 500 in a month." New York Times, September 27: 1.

Buckley, Thomas. 1964. "Youth is accused in Wylie slaying." New York Times, April 26: 1.

Clark, Alfred E. 1963. "Girl got phone threats 10 days before murder." New York Times, August 30: 13.

Gansberg, Martin. 1964. "East Side tenants sigh in relief at capture of slaying suspect." New York Times, April 27: 21.

Johnson, Marilynn S. 2011. "The Career Girl Murders: Gender, Race, and Crime in 1960s New York." Women's Studies Quarerly (The Feminist Press at City University of New York) 244-261.

Jones, Theodore. 1965. "Jury finds Robles guilty in Wylie-Hoffert killings." New York Times, December 2: 1.

—. 1965. "Witness says Robles pondered murdering girls." New York Times, November 4: 40.

Kihiss, Peter. 1964. "Brooklyn indicts 3-slaying suspect." New York Times, April 29: 48.

Lefkowitz, Bernard, and Ken Gross. 1969. The Victims: The Wylie-Hoffert Murder Case and its Strange Aftermath. New York, NY: Putnam.

National Registry of Exonerations. n.d. George Whitmore, Jr. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=358.

New York Times. 1963. "2 girls murdered in E. 88th St. flat." New York Times, August 29: 1.

—. 1975. "Max Wylie, writer, murder victim's father, is suicide." New York Times, September 23: 24.

—. 1946. "Suspect in slaying of 2 career girls found sane here." New York Times, October 17: 31.

—. 1964. "Whitmore guilty of rape attempt in Brooklyn case." New York Times, November 19: 43.

Roth, Jack. 1965. "Trial fading out in Wylie murder." New York Times, January 22: 17.

The People of the State of New York, v. Richard Robles. 1970. 27 N.Y.2d 155 (Court of Appeals of the State of New York, September 24).

Tolchin, Martin. 1964. "Victim describes Brooklyn attack." New York Times, November 13: 30.

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Brief Summary

George Whitmore was wrongfully convicted of murder due to police misconduct and coerced confessions, later exonerated after another man confessed.

Key points

The Taki Journey. Alina shares her experience trying Takis for the first time, leading to unexpected consequences.
Confession Controversy. George Whitmore's confession raises doubts among investigators, leading to questions about its validity.
Trial for Assault. George Whitmore goes on trial for the attempted sexual assault of Elba Barrero, raising serious concerns.
Elba Barrera's Testimony. Elba's inconsistent memory raises questions about her credibility in identifying Whitmore.
Racial Bias in Jury. A juror's affidavit claims racial bias influenced the jury's decision against Whitmore.
Conviction Overturned. Whitmore's conviction is vacated due to racial bias and questionable evidence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

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