The Kidnapping & Murder of Marion Parker (Part 1) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Elena I'm Ash and this is [Music] morbid hey what's up hey I like that thanks you're welcome
thank you how are you I'm feeling good like I'm going to bring the mood down a little bit in a little bit but
always not always that you bring the mood down but always always bring it down that like a a sad case will it's
true it's true you know what brought my mood down this morning what found my first [ __ ] gray hair oh Lord
everybody B settle in can do you uh I mean I started going gray at like 18 yeah that's
horrible it's horrible it's just so sad aging you know [ __ ] that it's a beautiful thing it's
also just I decided to stop dying my hair and then my hair said oh no no baby continue it said no start up again start
up again yeah just days before her 28th year I'm saying that's when I mean you're lucky you went that far I know
hon especially our family history yeah we all have gray hair did you go gray before your sisters though I don't know
your other sisters your other sisters SS that aren't me um probably yeah it kind
of seems like you did yeah you know I'm just an old soul that's just me you kind
of are I get that I like that I liked your Tik Tok that you made this morning uh that you you guys help me make yeah
that was a full pod lab collaboration me and Mikey were the creative directors true you were like faint on this cup
hold the book like this drop the book like that yeah we did a Tik Tok um I'm trying to I'm trying to figure out
creative ways to get you all excited about the butcher game to market the book since you're the marketing genius
yeah I'm trying to get I'm trying to get more creative with it and actually it's
kind of fun so when I heard this sound which go check out you know my Instagram or Tik Tok to see the video but when I
heard that sound I love that sound oh my God it's the one that's like these are my ladies big mouth is such a fun show
and it's such a [ __ ] funny sound that I was like I need something to do to this and then I was like wait a second
perfect wait a second all the different languages of the book I got these International book covers let's go what
a boss [ __ ] thing to say I got these International book covers wow wow just boss [ __ ] doing Boss [ __ ] things
it's a pretty cool thing but it was fun and uh yeah you guys got a little sneaky
peeky at the Pod lab a little bit yeah a little bit you should shout out your handles probably on both I'm Elena to
the max Elena to the m m Max pretty sure let's double check that just to make sure it's absolutely correct the truth
yep Elena a l a i n a to the max on Tik Tok I'm not good at shouting out my things my handles know that's what
zillennials are here for yeah I think on Instagram I'm the same same thing look at that I try to keep it uh very simple
for myself and for others bold oh my God I love the cover photo W this is great all right tonight I said tonight it is
the day today's case it's going to be a tup a tup one because it's long there's a lot of information in it so I don't
want to like try to condense it too much and miss some information yeah and two man oh
man you're so brutal lately I know I apologize everybody what's going on in your psyche um this one's it's from the
20s from the 20s from the the the 20s um um speaking of ghosts it'll always happen who's excited
for that movie who's excited exited but yeah this is from the 20s it's um taking place in December of
1927 it is the murder the kidnapping and murder of Maran Parker oh no Marian Parker was a 12-year-old girl oh no um
so just know that ahead of time this crime is shocking yeah just be forewarned it is very brutal it is very
shocking and it's just like the whole story is just at the end of it you're just going to go what the [ __ ] that's
all you're going to be able to say I think okay yeah um so let's begin shall we let's
now Francis Maran Parker and her twin sister margorie were born on October 11th 1915 in Los Angeles California
their parents were Perry and Geraldine Parker and although they were almost always together like stuck to each other
at the hip um and they definitely preferred each other's company over the company of anyone else the girls were
actually really different in disposition and in personality which I think is a lot of times the case in twins yeah and
I think just like sisters in general sometimes now according to author James nyore uh quote Marjorie was very much a
girl who liked girly things but Marion had a slightly rougher Edge not afraid to get dirty or get hurt Maran was what
would be considered a tomboy now kind of sounds like you're twins yeah it really
does now although she had many girlfriends Maran preferred to spend her time outside of school playing with you
know what we would now like what society would deem to be traditionally like more
boy oriented toys like trucks and especially in the 20s it was very societal like these are boy toys these
are girl toys like you know trucks trains playing football with the boys in the neighborhood like she did she was
definitely a tomboy yeah um but despite her Rough and Tumble approach to play she was also very sensitive she was shy
she was a little reserved she didn't like to be away from home or be away from her parents for very long which is
very heart-wrenching when you consider the fact that she is the one who will be kidnapped and murdered oh no um she had
a very close bond with her father Perry um she would actually often spend afternoons by his side at the First
National Trust and Savings Bank where he worked as an assistant cashier so she would just like hang out with him there
that's so sweet um the girls also had a very close relationship with their brother they like adored him Perry Jr he
was several years older than Maran and marjerie but he always made time for them like it was just a really good
family yeah um in many ways Maran Parker was like most girls of her generation and age she loved movies she loved radio
plays is just like very 20 she loved to dance to the music on her to music on her
parents photograph she loved to make her siblings and parents laugh with jokes and Impressions she was just a typical
12-year-old cool chick yeah just you know they just sound like a very like like for lack of a better way of saying
it like all American Family very wholesome very just like very tight bonds seem to all love each other and
take care of each other now unfortunately because it was the 20s and she's only 12 years old these are really
the only things that we we know about her life we don't have a whole lot of details other than that but I think it
gives a good picture of her family life her relationships inside of the house outside of the house you know what kind
of what kind of gal she was it sounds like that pretty much like mostly would cover it for a 12-year-old like I think
you got a good amount of information of who she was well thank you and thank you
Dave yeah shout out da so the week of December 15th 192 27 was a hectic one at Mount Vernon Junior High you know the
Christmas season is in full swing the students are all excited about the holiday and the holiday break the
school's Christmas party was just a few days away and to make matters worse the the school principal cor Freeman was
actually out on the 15th oh okay so this left one of the teachers Mary Holt in charge of the students coming and going
for the day oh that's a lot of responsibility especially if you're not used to it you know
and it happens to be on a holiday week where it's chaos like it's already chaos according to nyore uh quote Mrs Holt was
quite strict about student deportment and even more careful about strangers visiting the building but that's good
she was very overwhelmed by the Dual responsibility she had that day she was still acting as a teacher and acting as
like guarding who was coming and going so she let her guard down a little bit unint of by you know there's a lot going
on and that probably haunted her for the rest of her life yes now that afternoon
a young man entered the school's front office and walked up to Mrs Holt at the reception desk and said he would like to
see the Parker girl now the man was small average looking he said his name was Mr Cooper
and he said that he worked with Perry Parker at the bank he said Mr Parker has been in an accident and is calling for
his daughter just one there you go uh so slightly confused Mrs Holt said The Parkers have two daughters
and the man said he wants the younger one they're twins twins in hindsight that should have been the red flag yeah
and to be honest I'm a little confused here why she didn't catch on to that yeah like I'm not she lived with the
guilt for the rest of her life course this was negligent big time and I would be [ __ ] furious oh my god well this
obviously this is way before the days of like who are the three people allowed to
pick them up let me check their sheep that kind of thing but oh my God and this is why it needs to be if you to
your kids if you I will never send someone that you don't know to come get you never ever ever never it will never
happen no um again this should have been a pretty big red flag because the man seemed not only ignorant to the fact
that the Parkers had two daughters yeah but also that they were t TNS and there wasn't an apparent obviously there's
always a quote unquote younger one in twins but like let's be real he's not being like the one that's 3 minutes
younger right so Mrs HT said do you mean Maran why you giving him that information yeah why like what you're of
course he's going to be like yeah what do you think he's going to be like oh no I don't know who Maran is he's going to
be like yeah of course yeah Marian and he said yes yes ma'am and he said that's that's her name oh no later Mary Holt
would tell investigators that the man seemed to know Maran and could describe her and he seemed so confident that it
never occurred to her that he could be lying why wouldn't you just call like OB again we know I'm sure she lived with
the guilt forever but you got to call the parents to say hey was somebody else supposed to pick Maran up today and why
the whole situation like I'm like why didn't that grub you as strange that he's asking for one of his daughters
when he's been in an accident well and that's that's part of thing too and it's also like I know we're supposed to be
looking at this and being like I know she live with the guilt for the rest of her life I'm going to say right now [ __ ]
that [ __ ] this was negligent and it was stupid and somebody a whole family paid
a the biggest price you can imagine for it I think it's [ __ ] up I think it's [ __ ] up that Mary Hol just handed over
this child to this stranger I think it's [ __ ] up yeah I do too I'd love to be to be nicer about it but no I wouldn't
actually well I'm sure the family would to yeah I'm sure the family felt the same way it's a mistake but it's a
mistake you can't make and that's just the way it is and it sounds like it's a mistake that cost somebody's life you
know it absolutely was now also what she wasn't realizing is that during their exchange she was actually feeding him
pieces of information by giving Marian's name Away by saying The Parkers have two
daughters you're just handing this stranger more personal information about this family and these children and just
the fact that you have to say The Parkers have two daughters obviously you're dealing with somebody who's not
supposed to be here to pick one of them exactly and by giving him these little details in these little pieces you are
allowing this man to come off as more familiar than he actually is yeah and also the man said he worked with Perry
Parker and knew details about Mr Parker's employment which of course gave him a little more credibility but still
Mary Hol never bothered to ask even the most basic questions like what type of accident happened why was he only asking
for one of his two daughters or why a coworker was sent to get the little girl instead of a police officer or any other
member of the family yeah instead she just sent for Maran and handed her over to this man oh no [ __ ] that that's
[ __ ] up honestly honestly cuz like why wouldn't her older brother be there why
wouldn't an aunt or an uncle be there you know like here's the Mary hle felt the repercussions from these this
mistake for the rest of her life I'm not taking that away but I'm that's [ __ ] up I mean that's [ __ ] up I I when I
read this I could not believe that this little girl was handed over to a complete [ __ ] stranger who didn't
even do the basic [ __ ] to get this little girl this woman just fed her the him the information that's the
responsibility that you take on it in that role like if if you weren't prepared like obviously it's hectic
sure but this isn't like you're a server and it's a hectic time at the restaurant
you give somebody the wrong dish like this is you're the wrong kid to someone this is big like you're handing out
someone's baby to someone else that's a big deal right oh it made me so angry reading this like I was feeling I'm so
stressed out right now cuz who the [ __ ] is this man it's going to get really bad
and I need you I'm not going to go into DET we don't know details about like what happened during her captivity okay
the aftermath is rough so I just want everyone to know that now when Maran appeared in the front office the man
told her the story your father's been in an accident he sent me I work with him at the bank and you know he he asked to
see you so Maran probably more concerned about her father than her own safety at that
moment cuz remember she has a deep deep bond with her father right um she just left with him willingly she's she's 12
you know like what is she so as James nbor points out this was the 1920s also a time when children trusted adults and
authority figures with a certain Blind Faith yeah I mean you weren't allowed to question adult Authority back then so
it's that's what makes it even more up to the adults in charge to make sure that that child's Blind Faith is not
placed in the wrong adult yeah so it didn't occur to her that her teacher would hand her off to a stranger without
completely verifying this story she just took it as okay this must be true my teacher would never hand me to this man
or or she would never even think that an adult would lie to her about something so serious like her father being why
would especially having it be S for nefarious purposes she's 12 yeah in fact if someone had asked one or two
clarifying questions that day even just one or two questions just to to get a little more information from this guy or
taking the time to even call the bank yeah and say hey did an accident happen with Perry Parker was someone from your
bank sent to pick up one of his children from school the story would have a totally different outcome absolutely and
I just don't understand not not trying to one call home or two call the bank and that's why I don't have sympathy for
the other side of this equation I just don't yeah now having not sensed anything strange about the incident um
neither Mrs Holt nor Mrs Freeman thought to say anything about it to margerie Mrs
Freeman was another uh worker at the school sure um margerie was waited a long time outside the school for her
sister once the day had ended because they always went home together oh no and the girls you know they walked home
together and so when the school was finally locked up for the day margerie headed ended up heading home without her
sister after waiting for her for a long time cuz no one told her what the yeah this is all just like
a lot of information cuz I'm also like I'm sorry Mrs Holton Freeman so a man came
in and said Perry Parker was in an accident and asked for one of his children barring all the stupidity that
happened there that you just allowed one of the children to go with a stranger you didn't think to tell her twin sister
your father's been in an accident yeah and maybe try to call her mother or something and so be like do you want her
to come home some else picking her up you just you just let her sit outside of school and wait for her sister and not
have any [ __ ] clue what happened oh man this is why I'm like yeah you earn that guilt cuz it's like I don't know
what to tell you that's [ __ ] up uhhuh so she went home and when she got home margerie explained that Maran hadn't met
her outside of school and she didn't know where she'd gone and at first The Parkers weren't like super concerned
because there had been times when it's the 1920s yeah of course when she'd gone home with a school friend or stayed late
to help a teacher at school but it was out of character her for her to stay out by herself without telling anyone that
was the thing that bothered them so Perry called the school schol Perry Parker mhm who has not Mary H answered
okay and Perry thought it was a little unusual because Mary H said Oh Mr Parker how are you
feeling and he he was like I'm feeling okay but like it didn't raise any alarm he was just like I'm okay how are you
but when he asked whether Maran was still at school and Mary Holt explained that she'd gone home with the man you
sent to pick her up oh my God he dropped that Pleasant demeanor he was pissed and alarm like he was
freaking out he was exactly how anybody would be he was like what the [ __ ] do you mean you sent her home with a man
and he said there has not been an accident I have not been an accident no one has been sent to pick up my child oh
my God you can just like you can barely even imagine the Panic running through that man's entire body I'm angry and
upset for him I can't even imagine angry and upset he's feeling that but also [ __ ] Panic the panic and he said in
fact and this is even worse he said he had been home all day with his wife because it was his wife's 40th birthday
oh my God and that's enough like why didn't you just call home just call home and it live they literally would have
said we didn't send anyone to Center and you deal with the situation then call the police this could have ended oh my
God oh my God it's her birthday yeah their mother's birthday oh no now throughout the the early Decades of the
20th century kidnapping for ransom was pretty common like it was actually a pretty common feature in the press and
it was not unheard of for this kind of thing to happen like not this exact thing but like for children to go
missing and to turn up dead with little or no explanation it was kind of a thing
Jesus cuz a lot of people were trying to get money and extort people and just a few years earlier in Chicago was Leopold
and lobe oh God they kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks for the thrill of it mhm none of this was
lost on Perry and Geraldine Parker and they wasted no time calling the police but before Perry could even finish
dialing the number the doorbell rang okay so he answers the door and it was a Western Union messenger with a telegram
and it was addressed to Perry from a sender in Pasadena the telegram said do positively nothing till you receive
special delivery letter and it's and so they were terrified of course terified for Marian's safety so they did as
instructed and they waited yeah I now oh my God the second telegram came a short
time later this time from alhamra about 10 I hope I said that right about 10 miles outside Los Angeles and it said
Mary in Secure use good judgment interference with my plans dangerous and it was signed George Fox Okay um no one
in the family recognized that name nobody knew who that was but margorie told her parents that a day or two
earlier there had been a man driving a gray car alongside the street car she and Maran had been riding in he had been
gesturing for the girls to get off the car and come talk to him oh no but they didn't like to be around strangers so
Maran was like [ __ ] no this story only further supported the Parker's belief that their daughter had
been kidnapped and was obviously being held for ransom now not wanting to piss off the kidnapper Perry and Geraldine
didn't call the police that night and waited for further instructions they were worried somebody watching the house
that I can't imagine that predicament cuz you're fighting internally I'm sure with yourself do I call the police is
somebody watching me if I call the police are they going to kill her but then every Instinct inside of you is
probably saying call the [ __ ] police I just want help like I need help somebody needs to help like that's the
like the massive amount of just helplessness and frustration and sadness that would oh and what ends up happening
and we'll obviously get to it is things go so arai and they go so arai through no fault of Perry's and geraldines and
Maran pays for it oh and it's like and they did everything that they were they did everything they thought they were
supposed to and actually like the the police kind of [ __ ] this up and the Press [ __ ] it up no and these two were
doing everything that they could to get their child's home safely now they did they waited further
instructions but then the morning came and they still hadn't received a third telegram so they finally called and
reported the kidnapping cuz they were like we can't we just waiting around and that morning as detectives were sitting
with The Parkers in their home to take their statements that third telegram came and it was addressed to PM Parker
with a lot more details and instructions in this one it said use good judgment you are the loser do this secure $75 $20
gold certificates US currency $1,500 at once keep them on your person go about your daily business this as usual leave
out police and detectives make no public notice keep this affair private make no
search fulfilling these terms with the transfer of currency will secure the return of the girl failure to comply
with these requests means no one will ever see the girl ex again except the angels in heaven oh God the affair must
end one way or another within 3 days 72 hours you will receive further notice but the terms remain the same it's like
literally making my stomach hurt yeah now unlike the previous telegrams which had only which had included what
appeared to be a man's name this one just was signed fate oh god what the [ __ ] yeah uh the telegram was
accompanied by a note like another note with it and this one and this is heartbreaking was from her handwritten
by Maran I'm not going to read the whole thing you can look it up online it's got
wrenching it's literally like addressed to like Daddy and mother um she wrote I wish I could come home home yeah of
course and she said I think I'll die if I have to be like this much longer won't
someone tell me why this has happened to me Daddy please do what this man tells you or he'll kill me if you don't and it
was just signed Mariam Parker oh my God yeah now upon reading the telegram the detectives were immediately struck by
the small amount of money being demanded by the kidnappers it didn't sound like a
lot and the unusual way that they were really assisting it be delivered to them adjusted for inflation now their demands
would be like little over $27,000 which it's not a small amount of money obviously but not really a ransom
demand for a whole ass child no I would say no um but either way investigators agreed to work quietly on the case and
allowed Perry to gather the funds and make the exchange with everyone agreeing not to alert the press or do anything
else to jeopardize Marian safer return so everybody was like shut the [ __ ] up we're all going to work on this quietly
do what we got to do so at first it seemed like everyone was doing what they need to do after giving his statement
Perry went to work and just acted like nothing was wrong because that's what he was told to do oh my God this man had to
go to work and just deal with people all day knowing his child is in the clutches
of people who are are going to kill her and like just oh my oh my God and after withdrawing the amount of money needed
from his account he went about his day just as he had been instructed to do um but he did remember to write down the
serial numbers for the bills so that they could be tracked later because they said hopefully we can catch them this
way smart meanwhile detective spent the day interviewing Marian's friends and the staff at school in the hopes that
someone would remember seeing anything out of the ordinary that day um with Mary Hol obviously being the most
important witness now obviously I know I'm I'm going hard at Mary with which I stand by but she was [ __ ] devastated
of course I mean it's not like this woman I'm bad mistake there was no intent in ill will or anything there was
no intention for something like this to happen she never thought in a million years this was going to happen um and
she had a hard time remembering anything because she was just in a state um she said the man was young she said but
otherwise he was kind of unremarkable like there was which I understand sometimes it's hard to pick out anything
you're like I don't know you have brown hair I mean she's probably seen how many
adults come pick up their kids like throughout the whole day she did say he was about he appeared to be about 25 to
30 years of age she could say like 5'8 in in height around 150 lb having a slender build and thin features he was
smooth shaven medium complexion dark wavy brown hair which I'm like actually that's pretty good Des but he also looks
like a lot of guys I know especially at the time and they weren't really able to
get a lot much more out of her other than that description because she was so overwhelmed by guil guilt that she
actually needed to be sedated oh wow so when I say she she felt she felt the weight of it she felt the weight of it
it doesn't help and it doesn't change it but she felt the weight of it she to do
absolutely not bad mistake I would never forgive her but that's me yeah it's and
I can understand why this family probably wouldn't either but when Perry returned from work that afternoon he was
surprised to find that the kidnapper still hadn't called but a few hours later the pH phone finally rang and in a
calm even voice the man on the other end confirmed that per um he said you got the money and Perry said yes and then he
said he would call back with instructions in 5 minutes okay but nearly a half hour passed before he
called back again so he's just toying playing games the kidnapper instructed Perry to get in his car and travel alone
a few blocks away then Park on gramar SE where the exchange would be made okay not wanting to risk anything Perry did
exactly as he was told he did not alert authorities when he got to the location there didn't appear to be anyone so he
waited and he waited and he waited hours went by and this man is waiting with cash for his child by
11:45 p.m. no one had come so he realiz how you make the decision to leave that's the thing so he's like something
went wrong so he went back back home and that's where he learned that the police
had been following him from the moment he left the house so he said oh no what if the kidnappers saw them and he didn't
alert them right like he did what he was told and they [ __ ] it up like let him
go like the I'm sorry let him go L I don't know especially you already have the serial numbers about it yeah you
know what I mean like it sounds like they were in sounds like they were pretty like they they were following him
it was pretty obvious oh no things got worse the following morning when Perry learned that the previous day the Press
had been alerted who the [ __ ] alerted the Press I don't know but now it was on
all the [ __ ] front pages exactly what they told him not to do all of Los Angeles all of them the Los Angeles
record said hunt kidnappers of girl others focused on the fact that Maran had been taken from school without any
resistance from the staff which I'm like you can talk about that later when she's
safe yeah but despite his best efforts to do literally exactly as he had been told by the kidnappers it seemed like
everything had gone [ __ ] wrong and The Parkers were like [ __ ] the worst is going to happen and we we didn't do it
now that afternoon another telegram came to the house oh no and this one said when I asked you over the phone to give
me your word of Honor as a Christian and honest businessman you didn't answer why
because those two closed cars carefully followed your car North on Wilton to 10th and stopped shortly off Wilton and
proceeded to circle the block on gramarcy had they not done that it sounds like they would have passed the
money and gotten the girl it's horrifying and it was exactly as he had feared they spotted the police car and
they had blown the opportunity to get Maran back and what's even worse is what they
wrote next in the telegram they said she was so eager to know that it would only
be a short while before she would be free from my Terrior torture and when you then you mess the
whole damn Affair how do you live like the rest of your life yeah and they said they'll
give him one more chance saying pray to God for forgiveness for your mistake last night and it was signed fate
Fox uh it had another note in Marian's handwriting imploring her father to do as the kidnapp Nappers demanded which is
even worse because he did yeah and she being told that he didn't didn't know that he had done everything he was
supposed to do and that it was the police and the press that it [ __ ] it up and so she wrote please don't bring
anyone with you today and Perry Parker later said he does believe those notes were written by his daughter or at the
very least that even if they weren't composed by her she was saying it and somebody was transcribing it yeah now
The Parkers waited all afternoon becoming increasingly frantic as the hours are passing by and no call is
coming and they did however receive two additional telegrams during that time the first one said please recover your
senses rather than to kill your child but so far you have given me no other alternative of course you want your
child but you'll never get her by notifying the police and causing all this publicity I feel however that you
started to the search before you received my warning so I'm not blaming you for The Bad Beginning be sensible
and use good judgment you can't deal with a mastermind like a common crook or kidnapper Fox bait this person is
sadistic now the second telegram arrived a short time later and seemed to just reiterate the points made by the first
one um but a little more dramatic flare was in this one it said Fox is my name very Sly you know set no traps I'll
watch for them get this straight remember that life hangs by a thread I have a Gillette ready and I'm able to
handle the situation oh my God and it was signed fate this is I'm like oh this is awful yeah I'm having such a visceral
reaction to this right now yeah it really it's it's a cautionary Tale in about a hundred different ways now the
call finally came later that evening and Perry was given instructions to travel alone to Manhattan Place and wait in his
car if he failed to do that Maran would die and so he did as he was instructed he packed up the money he drove to the
destination and a little after 8:00 p.m. he saw headlights of another car coming
towards him and at first he worried it might be the police and this whole thing was going to be [ __ ] up again but then
when it pulled up next to him he saw the driver wearing a hat with a bandan covering the lower part of his face and
he rolled down his window and raised a sof shot gun pointed right at Perry and he said give it to me and Perry insisted
to see his daughter first so the driver was annoyed and then just gestured to the seat next to him and he looked and
he said he could see Marion wrapped in a blanket of some sort her head was nearly
covered by the material and later Perry said that he thought Maran was in some sort of days or maybe she had been
drugged okay um the driver said she was sleeping but Perry was like her eyes are
open and so he was like she was gazing forward unblinking like she looked out of it mhm but he said she looked alive
she had color in her cheeks she like she didn't look dead yeah now very eager to
get his daughter back he Perry reached out the window to pass the money to the kidnapper the kidnapper grabbed it from
him and told him to wait as he checked the contents of the envelope once he was satisfied he put the vehicle and drive
and rolled forward slightly and then came to a stop again and now that he was in the darkness like out of any kind of
light yeah he opened the pass he opened the passenger door and something large fell from the car and landed on the curb
then the car just sped off so when the car was out of sight Perry ran out of his car and ran to the bundle he could
see his daughter's face peering from the bundled blanket and he immediately reached down to pull her into his arms
and then he realized the bundle was surprisingly light and so he laid his daughter on the
ground and frantically untied the cord on the blanket and that's when he discovered that maran's legs were
missing oh my God and her arms had been severed just below the elbow oh my God she was
dead Perry's screams were loud enough to be heard by shopkeepers at nearby businesses I feel like I'm like going to
cry right now my God this has Honestly made me cry they ran out into the street to find out what was happening some of
them tried to comfort him the others went back to call the police it was chaos like this man was literally like
inconsolable obviously like you don't recover from that the [ __ ] do you do that to somebody yeah George Contreras
the lead detective in the case arrived a short time later with other investigators and Patrol officers um
they started cordoning off the scene and they initiated one of the largest manhunts in the state of California's
history now detective contrerus approached the body and in addition to the heart in details that I've already
given you he noticed some other things that were highly disturbing Marian's eyes were open like the like you said
she looked into days yeah when they looked closer they see they saw that uh the killer had used a needle and thread
to sew them open to make it appear that she was alive oh my God sewed her eyes open they had also applied makeup to her
cheeks to give her that complexion That Make Her made her look alive oh my God D we find out who did
this we do luckily don't worry now Marian's remains reach the morg a little after
900 p.m. and the coroner Dr AF Wagner began the autopsy right away uh he was a very experienced pathologist very
experienced coroner um but this one was really hard for him because he had lived
next door to The Parkers for the previous four years and knew this family very well my God now Wagner noted that
the remains at least you know that this doctor is going to be like I me most coroners and Pathologists are very you
know gentle and loving with a body but like this he knows this girl so you know at least there was somebody who cares
about her and knows her doing this I also think he's been the coroner in other cases that we've it sounds very
familiar Wagner definitely it does now he noted that the remains were incomplete and included only the head
the trunk quote down to an inch above the navl and the upper arms down to the Elbow joints uh there was a 2-in cut
along the left shoulder and the cause of death was determined to be strangulation um I guess luckily there's
no other signs of premortem trauma to the body so the idea that she was tortured or anything like that um
doesn't seem to be true okay um yeah I think they were just saying that exactly like physically tortured um also
Marian's internal organs all appeared to be intact and healthy uh she had not been beaten she had not been hurt in any
way physically until what happened yeah and these Cuts were made postmortem um there was however a towel
with the Belleview arms depart uh Apartments emblem on it and a piece of a man's shirt stuffed into her abdominal
cavity interesting the following day a man out for a walk in a lesan park found two bundles of newspaper lying beside
the road and when he opened them he found what would later be confirmed to be Marian's arms oh her lower arms the
other pieces of her body were discovered a few hours later in a gully nearby now Wagner couldn't say exactly
when Maran had died but later in court it was established that she had been killed shortly after the first botched
exchange on the night of December 17 so him saying I'll give you one more chance
was just all [ __ ] yeah no matter what had happened they wouldn't have given her back and it was that she was
killed after that botched exchange so she might have been given back to them alive had the police not follow been
[ __ ] up wow yeah now while Wagner performed the autopsy investigators wasted no time beginning their search
for the Killer and this is the part that they do right I mean they really [ __ ]
up that beginning but they go hard uh they quickly located the man's car in a parking lot on Ninth and Grand Street
several miles from the scene according to the parking lot attendant the driver was a young dark-haired man who said he
would be back for the Chrysler coupe the following day okay detectives would be staked out at the scene throughout the
night and into the next day but no one returned to that vehicle um and he was in fact much further away than anyone
would have imagined at this point the following morning December 18th the story of Mari and Parker's murder was on
front page of every single newspaper all across California each one we in the 20s
the 20s yeah uh each one was providing Grizzly details of how quote her lifeless body horribly mutilated was
left on a Manhattan street lawn for her father to discover after handing back the ransom the coverage of the crime was
honestly shocking by the standards of any era um and the Press printed large portions of the kidnappers telegrams
gave detailed descriptions of the moments when Perry Parker discovered his daughter's dead body including graphic
descriptions of the mutilation and horror contained within that bundle of little
blankets um they even one article wrote falsely quote death apparently came from
chloroform or loss of blood after a terrific lashing Jesus why you with things like this it's like it's already
[ __ ] horrible it's literally the worst it could possibly be you don't have to do nightmare why are you
embellishing but sell your papers with they're going to sell anyway and it's like that's fake [ __ ] you're just making
stuff up yeah where's your [ __ ] Integrity they wrote the horrible torture to which the little one must
have been subjected and also this was all P print printed with no verifiable details about the
murder and they had not confirmed anything with investigators they just made [ __ ] up and printed it for that
family to read false [ __ ] but conjure up more horrible images of their CH child's
last moments it's crazy like what the Press was able to get I mean it's crazy what press can get away with even now
but way back when it was so much worse now although residents of California had become kind of accustomed to reading
stories about kidnappings at this point this this came as a big shock this was a
different sort of thing this is on this is on another level this was horrifying so parents across the state were
freaking the [ __ ] out many decided to stay home rather than go out anywhere the next week's School attendance fell
dramatically no one was sending them to school cuz what the [ __ ] going to happen you just going to give them to a
murderer I I don't know how you would be able to send your kids to school I don't
even know what I would do I don't know but what's most surp what's like also a very surprising like outcome of this was
that the government of Mexico closed the border between the states to prevent F The Fox from escaping into Mexico wow so
this was huge that doesn't happen often no and those who didn't react with fear responded to the case you know the only
other way they knew how vigilante justice yeah as soon as Mary Holt's description was published in the papers
men who resembled the killer were targeted for harassment in violence so and like we said not great because a lot
of guys look like this guy yeah and it got really bad and you can't just go out like trying to assault any Tom Dick or
Harry that resembles this man like you don't know no and also it gets really bad according to journalist Cecilia rasm
quote one man who resembled the killer was arrested seven times within 8 hours Jesus he finally asked to just stay in
jail another lookalike was severely beaten by a mob and for safekeeping the police took him to jail where he ended
up hanging himself oh my God so it's like this got really bad what yeah now while the press and public
panicked and freak the [ __ ] out holy [ __ ] detective contras and the other investigators on the case continued to
pursue every single lead in every piece of evidence they had in a search of the area around the Parker's Home Police
found another note that had in been inexplicably left in a fire alarm box on the street near the house okay addressed
to PM Parker and apparently left after the first attempted exchange got botched the note said for all the trouble you
have caused margerie Parker will be the next victim oh my God nothing can stop the fox and they they who will try will
know the penalty if you warn anyone of this second success it will mean you next try and get me I am the fox you
will never know the rest of My Success you will miss her at 12:00 oh my God now upon further review
of this letter at the LAPD crime lab a handwriting analysts determined that the letter did not match the handwriting in
the previous letters and they deemed it a hoax who the [ __ ] would do that we say it all the
time people are always people and they always have been peopling there's always been pieces of absolute [ __ ] wow like
this is but I'm never I'm never not shocked no as you shouldn't be what the [ __ ]
yeah this family is I mean the way this man found his [ __ ] daughter yeah and then you're going to threaten his other
daughter cuz you're [ __ ] bored with your Jank ass life these are the people who if they were born in this era would
be on the internet telling people they're ugly and you know telling them to kill themselves on the internet and
social media forums that's these are they are the exact same person you're on the same level to like you you're just a
[ __ ] so well LAPD officers spanned out across the city in search of this killer others were sent to the Belleview
Arms Apartments because of the evidence found within the body um officers went room by room looking for anything that
could be traced back to the killer but they really didn't find anything meanwhile police in Las Vegas arrested a
man they thought might be the Killer and they turned him into the Poli uh Los Angeles
investigators the suspect was 25-year-old which is right in the ad ring Lewis Wyatt who was the son of a
Los Angeles doctor and and had a history of harassing and assaulting girls great
according to the initial reports from the press a spokesperson for the LAPD described why it is being in a position
to know intimate details of the Parker family life and said he was Keen minded well- educated and egotistical
particularly in believing that he has a master Criminal Mind huh now unfortunately Wyatt's fingerprints
didn't match those found on the ransom demands nor did the serial numbers on his $20 notes match those withdrawn by
Parker so they had to release him yeah now the first real clue finally came a few days later after technicians
finished processing the car that the killer had abandoned in the lot on the night of the murder mhm it was obvious
that he had gone to Great Lengths not to leave any evidence behind but he forgot
to wipe the steering wheel wow yep the fact that this [ __ ] went to I mean I'm happy went to Great Lengths and
didn't think to wipe the wheel he at least didn't wipe it clean because he left fingerprints behind and
the fingerprints were a match for those left on the telegram sent to The Parkers
and within a few days they had been matched to a set of prints contained within a juvenile court record for a
forgery case a few years earlier those prints belong to 19-year-old William Edward Hickman 19
who was also a recent Resident of the Belleview Arms Apartments so they already searched his place at that point
well for some he he ended up he wasn't living there at the time so for someone so young William Hickman had a fairly
significant criminal record that began in his mid- teens um he had been a star High School athlete in Kansas City but
he turned to crime in his mid- teens when he met fellow student wellby hunt and they started shoplifting committing
forgery all that stuff and it quickly escalated into armed robbery once they' completed High School in 1926 Hickman
and Hunt left Kansas City for Los Angeles where Hickman found a job as a messenger at the First National Bank
where Perry Parker worked as a teller so he worked at the same place now while employed there Hickman forged roughly
$400 worth of checks before being arrested he was given six months probation for that when his probation
ended he tried to get his job back but was unsuccessful obviously that LED investigators to theorize that this man
had a grudge against the bank and he just decided to take it out on Perry just randomly Perry's a cashier like
he's a teller yeah like he doesn't own the bank right but he took it out on him he's not in charge of this man's job
kids what the [ __ ] now 19 years old yeah having discovered the Killer's identity and address now detectives
returned to the bellw Arms Apartments and they learned that William Hickman had been living under the name named
Donald Evans and he had vacated the premises a few days earlier that's why they didn't find him at first I see
Neighbors confirmed that Donald Evans matched the description provided by Mary Holtz and fingerprints taken from inside
the apartment were a match for Hickman investigators also discovered in the apartment several razor blades copies of
newspapers reporting the kidnapping and a burned memo that appeared to be a draft of one of the ransom demands wow
despite this evidence Captain James Bean of the side Squad told reporters there's
nothing to indicate that Hickman took the Parker girl there I I would disagree and I would say
there's everything to indicate that where where do you think he took her H now when she was shown a
photograph of the teenager Mary Hulk confirmed that it was Hickman who had come into school the day that day and
left with Maran Parker she thought he was between 25 and 30 19 Perry Parker also remembered the the uh who William
Hickman was really and he told Detective quote the Eerie familiarity of the kidnapper speaking voice now makes sense
cuz he had talked to him on the phone oh my God yeah and Parker also remembered the incident that led to Hickman being
fired and he remembered him this that Hickman was denied his job after finishing probation but he couldn't
think of any reason why Hickman would have targeted him or his family right he's like I didn't have anything to do
with it and he said I cannot call to mind any words of Madness or Revenge that passed while I was talking with
Hickman while the motive might have eluded them at the time Hickman's familiarity with Parker could explain
the relatively small Ransom demand he knew he didn't have the money right that's what because they were baffled by
he just wanted some money and I think this was all just to hurt someone I don't even think the money was the
biggest part of it I think money was obviously part of it so do you think they were always going to kill her or no
I don't know I've started to question it the second like with his identity being
revealed now but that's what makes sense about that number now cuz it's they he knew Parker's position at the bank he
wasn't like running the bank so he knew the family didn't have that much money to speak of and he would only be able to
deliver that much right now the first real clue um to where Hickman was finally came on December 21st this this
is going quick at least and but just think of like normally this family would be getting ready to spend Christmas
coming up on Christmas and now they're just trying to find the man who murdered their daughter and burying their child
now uh police in Redlands California a town about 60 Mi east of Los Angeles investigated an auto accident and and in
that accident the driver who was a man matching Hickman's description fled the scene huh the following day
investigators picked up his Trail in Seattle when one of the $20 gold certificates withdrawn by Perry Parker
was used at a clothing store in the city and the shop owner identified Hickman as
the customer after being shown a photograph just buying [ __ ] clothes s child up yeah a few hours later Hickman
was spotted again this time in Portland Oregon where a gas station attendant um saw him filling his tank by that point
Hickman's photograph was unavoidable it was everywhere and as soon as the attendant recognized the driver as
Hickman he reported the sighting to authorities and said the man was headed in the direction of the Columbia River
Gorge that's where we're going to end for part one you [ __ ] uh it has a it hasn't ing
that at least has Justice being served in some way shape or form but we're going to stop there so that you can uh
you can take that in just happened cuz the rest is going to be very interesting my oh my what a tragic tragic case I lit
I knew you said right at the top like it was a murder and a kidnapping and a murder but I still hel held hope that
entire time that somehow the outcome was going to change and there's no way to describe this one like no you're like
it's bad and I don't know how else to describe it's brutal it's bad it's awful it's heartbreaking heartwrenching and
this poor family you just want to give Perry a hug man I just want to give him a hug and be like he didn't do anything
you just want to like you want to set time back and tell that lady maybe don't release this girl to a [ __ ]
19-year-old Strang hom nothing about this family my God call someone like this 19-year-old was able to trick you
into giving him a a child for ransom I'd be infuriated I don't know how you get past that oh man all right well we hope
you keep listening see you for part two yeah and we hope you keep it weird yeah I I don't think I got to tell
you yeah [Music] [Music] [Music]

On the afternoon of December 15, 1927, twelve-year-old Marion Parker was checked out of her Los Angeles junior high school by a man claiming to be an employee of her father, Perry Parker, an employee at a bank in the city. The man claimed Parker had been in an accident and he was to bring the girl to see her father, but this was just a ruse to abduct the girl. The following day, Marion’s parents received several cryptic ransom letters demanding $1,500 in gold in exchange for the safe return of their daughter. On December 17, Perry Parker delivered the money to the kidnapper, who took the money, then dumped Marion’s dead, mutilated body out of the car before speeding away.

References Associated Press. 1928. "Hickman to have new judge." Fresno Bee, January 25: 1.

—. 1927. "Confession stuns mother." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 4.

Berger, Jackson. 1927. "Kidnapper tries to dash out brains in frenzy." Los Angeles Times, December 25: 1.

Los Angeles Record. 1927. "Hunt kidnappers of girl." Los Angeles Record, December 16: 1.

Los Angeles Times. 1927. "'Fox' ponders 'crazy' plea." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Fugitive caught in breakneck race with Oregon officers." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman believed in Seattle." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman pronounced sane." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman's finger-prints found in apartment." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1.

—. 1927. "'I liked her' declares youth while he sobs." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Kidnapper grows sullen when 'pal' proves alibi." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1928. "New crimes confessed by Hickman." Los Angeles Times, October 14: 3.

—. 1928. "New horror in Hickman case." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 1.

—. 1928. "Slayer makes self-analysis." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 2.

Neibaur, James. 2016. Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

New York Times. 1928. "Hickman sentenced to hang April 27." New York Times, February 15: 25.

—. 1928. "Hickman's father goes to his aid." New York Times, February 1: 13.

—. 1927. "Youth arrested in child slaying at Los Angeles." New York Times, December 19: 1.

Overton, Gerald. 1928. "Hickman goes to death on gibbet." Fresno Bee, October 19: 1.

Rasmussen, Cecilia. 2001. "Girl's grisly killing had city residents up in arms." Los Angeles Times, February 4.

San Francisco Examiner. 1927. "Kidnapped girl's body tossed omn lawn." San Francisco Examiner, December 18: 1.

State of California v William Edward Hickman. 1928. 204 Cal. 470 (Supreme Court of California, July 5).

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Brief Summary

The episode details the tragic kidnapping and murder of Marian Parker in 1927, highlighting critical mistakes made by school officials and the investigation that followed.

Key points

The Shocking Case of Marian Parker. The story of Marian Parker, a 12-year-old girl kidnapped in the 1920s, begins.
A Teacher's Mistake. A teacher's negligence leads to a tragic outcome when a stranger picks up Marian.
The Panic of a Father. Perry Parker realizes his daughter has been taken by a stranger, leading to panic.
A Telegram Arrives. Just as the Parkers call the police, a telegram arrives with ominous instructions.
The Telegrams. The Parkers receive a series of chilling telegrams from the kidnapper, escalating the tension.
The Botched Exchange. A failed ransom exchange leads to tragic consequences for the Parker family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What the [ __ ]? That's all you're going to be able to say!

A teaser about the shocking conclusion of the story.

4:40WatchJun 13, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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