Theodore Durrant "The Demon in the Belfry" | Part 1 | Morbid: A True Crime Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Elena I'm Ash and this is morbid [Music] [Music] it's morbid and we're waiting on some
chili that's what I have for you today we got Chili's for lunch we got a few recordings that we're doing back to back
to back to back to back to back to back today so we're like let's just let's supplement our lives with some chili
cheeseburgers because health and wellness honestly shout out to Bridget it's Marquette right yeah Marquette
Marquardt I always say it wrong you know what Bridget from Girls Next Level podcast go listen to it it's [ __ ]
awesome yeah if you're not listening like what are you even doing with yourself Bridget has a name like my last
name that like it looks crazy a little bit and it looks like whoa how do I say that and then you hear it and you're
like oh I know and I'm like a really big fan of hers as we all know and and Holly
Madison too so I really didn't want to [ __ ] up her name but I did yeah I think
it's more cool but anyway I saw Bridget post a picture with a cheeseburger so then I ordered a cheeseburger so thank
you for that Brigette Brigette and again go listen to their podcast because they
are two delightful human beings yeah their podcast is awesome it's just like you know what I was gonna say it's light
but it's really not it's not it's actually pretty heavy the things those girls went through but the way they
presented is so light like you're just I I feel like I'm just choking um yeah we get this a lot that people
feel like it's like you're just hanging out with friends yeah that's how I feel about their podcast I definitely feel
that way it's like a slumber party and they're one of the only podcasts that I'm like week to week minute to minute
waiting caught up and just waiting for the next one so but you know what they're great I have three podcasts like
that you know what let me just shout them out because like love is Love Love Is Love love you know what let's end
this year with some love because is everyone all right no the answer is no everyone's angry everyone's like there's
just a lot of [ __ ] so let's send it on a good note and 2023 is my wedding year so
so yeah let's get it together let's say goodbye to 2022 but no my favorite three
podcasts right now that I'm listening to like week to [ __ ] week I'm like I need it give me it it's oxygen watch
what crappens yes as always yes Girls Next Level yep as always these days and giggly Squad there you go so [ __ ]
good and it's nice it'll get you through your day I think when this comes out I'm
looking at the calendar right now I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be 2023. yeah oh my God happy time happy
New Year they're like new year was like 80 days ago but yes we are also nowhere near
January right now as we record this so you know what in the future Happy New Year
you know what Elena happy New Year happy [ __ ] New Year I hope yourself I hope all of your holidays were beautiful and
I hope you're ready to start this year and have a great one and feel good and be good and do good oh my God while
you're listening to this it's officially my [ __ ] wedding year there you go let's [ __ ] go baby oh and you know
what before we get into this episode I need to tell you guys a crazy story my dream oh yeah this is gonna [ __ ] your
[ __ ] up okay so I've heard this thing where if you lose a dream I don't know if you I know some of you lucid dream
because you've sent us like listener tales about it so yeah to our to our chat with Andrew from
let's not me yeah lucid dreaming I've heard this thing where you're supposed to or you're probably not supposed to
ask people in your dream like once you figure out that you're lucid dreaming ask the next person you see and anyone
else you see what's the date and time and I always thought these things are kind of [ __ ] and I thought they were
maybe just like everyone's personal experience and like you're like it's a Tick-Tock Trend yeah I was kind of just
like I don't know but then I was like I want to try that though if I can like remember to do it but I figure I can
never remember anything in my lucid dream like I can't remember to do something in my lucid dream but usually
did but this time this past weekend I was lucid dreaming and I had this dream that somebody was chasing me with a
knife and I like barricaded myself in a bathroom and then I realized I was lucid
dreaming so I was like oh he's not there anymore and I opened the door and he wasn't because I was like it's a [ __ ]
dream I can I can control this dream Ken and he wasn't but two women were and all
of a sudden in my head I was like oh ask them the date and time so I was like excuse me ladies can you tell me what
the date and time is and they both turned around and looked at me and was like why would you ask us that and I was
like I don't know I just really want to know the date and time and they were like why why do you want to know it and
they started yelling at me getting in my face could not believe I was at it's like I
asked them like I don't even know like it's ask them something really personal about themselves they got that angry so
I like scooted through them because I was like oh get away from me you're terrible and I was like damn and I came
across John and I was in like someone else's living room and I saw John and I said John what what's the date and time
and he grabbed me by the arms which was terrifying in my dream because that's not a joke because that is not a John
move and he got right in my face was like what don't ask that don't ask me that and he started like yelling at
myself this story three times now and I'm still as terrified as the first time and I like to [ __ ] around and find out
so I saw a couple of people in the kitchen behind him and I yelled hey guys what's the time and date and they got
angry and started coming over with him and all of them were surrounding me yelling at me and I woke up as that
happened Elena gets into my car and she goes dreams aren't what we think no they're not and I was like something is
up down girly what there's a simulation happening and they get pissed when you start poking holes in it something's
happening but guys I couldn't believe that that actually happens like I thought that was [ __ ] I fully
thought that was [ __ ] I'm not trying it but it they get mad at you ask your dream people what the date and time is I
want to see if anybody gets the date and time all right Dave was saying though to
be careful lucid dreaming because night terrors yeah like walk yourself in a night that's only that's when you uh you
put yourself in a lucid dream right if you're just accidentally lucid dreaming then you're fine go [ __ ] ask people
what the date but like be prepared to be scared yeah because that's a that's a disheartening experience now I'm gonna
start looking it up though looking more into it because I was like that was a wild experience the government's coming
for it like truly Wilds they're coming for you yeah there's a lot but I just want to let you guys know that and with
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h-e-l-p.com slash more orbit I'm in a I don't know why I keep going into a place of like connections to Jack
the Ripper I don't I don't I don't mean to it's literally just happening so I feel like
that's telling me something like I'm gonna solve the case or something perhaps but Tobias already did that's
true so maybe me and Tobias together are going to solve the case maybe I think so
uh 2020 let's manifest it so this doesn't technically have like a connection to the Jack the Ripper case
but they it was during the same time period kind of and people were using that case with this case so it kind of
connects okay so this is the case of Theodore Durant the demon of The Belfry that's disappointing because Theodore is
one of my favorite names well technically his full name is William Henry Theodore Durant but I know that
you also love the name Henry so yeah that's like my two future children's names so that sucks so there's that but
this is a wild case um there's a book called Sympathy for the Devil the Emmanuel Baptist murders
of Old San Francisco and it's by Virginia McConnell I highly recommend you go read it because it's got a lot of
good insights into this case and her particular insights into it and I thought they were very interesting so I
recommend you go find it also I'm pretty sure and I will look for it hopefully I
can find it I think there's like um you can read it for free online I think I'll
have to see if I can find it also you should name your band that if you're a musician Sympathy for the Devil we are
Sympathy for the Devil thank you Cleveland hello Wisconsin I think that's great uh but yeah do that uh this is
another case like I said that has some kind of weird connection to Jack the Ripper in the sense that the fear from
it was rooted in Jack's murder for pleasure way of living because that was new right you know this like this whole
murder for murder sake was not something people were used to at this point usually it was for game you know so this
is the story of Theodore Durant he was a Canadian immigrant to San Francisco California in the late 1800s he was a
medical student known as a very kind very giving man and also was the assistant superintendent of the 21st
Street Emmanuel Baptist Church Sunday school sure yeah lastly he was a vicious murderer who was able to blend into
society and blend into the world of decency without issue weird so he had a lot of layers yeah but of course with
any case like this there were people who thought he was there was people who actually kind of couldn't and still now
can't determine whether he did it or not he 100 did it okay like this isn't one of those cases where it's like I don't
know maybe it was someone else like 100 he committed these crimes awesome he was
convicted of committing these crimes but like people find any way to just go against what reality is at this point so
there's that but it's still a wild story it went across the nation it went overseas like it was a big story at the
time so let's talk about this [ __ ] here first like I said his name was actually
William Henry Theodore Durant he was born on April 24th 1871 although later I think in part two of this case I'm gonna
talk about the trial and he'll tell you he doesn't even know if that's his real birthday except he does so okay we'll
get into it was he like trying to to clean insanity or something no no just being a dude no he was just being a dick
I was just saying that like you know he was trying to be very specific when they
asked him what his birthday was and he was like well by reports it's this date but you know I was there as an infant so
I don't know well like he was literally it's one of those his parents were William and Isabella Durant and they had
him in Hamilton Ontario after their marriage they had Theodore and two years after Durant's birth or Theodore's birth
his sister Ula mod was born oh that's a dope ass name it's a cool name she went by mod and eventually became a famed
dancer of course she did with the name yeah which made her brother's later crimes even more shocking that she was
like this famous dancer the family had another boy in 1877 but he unfortunately passed away only weeks after birth from
infantile convulsions oh that's terrible is that basically like a seizure I think
so and I think his name was Edward his name was going to be Edward now apparently the Durants were not like
a match made in heaven they were not turbulent really but people just found their Union very odd she was apparently
very ambitious and very excitable she was always on the go and sounds kind of like an extrovert his father on the
other hand was allegedly very quote unquote drab and boring um of course opposites can attract I was
gonna say but his father also like had an unpredictable personality not like an exciting sense but in like a scary Moody
sense so people just were kind of like I don't know about you guys but they had both
met when they were working at the Charles and Hamilton Shoe Factory in Toronto she left to be a homemaker once
they had Theodore and he stayed working there so according to Virginia McConnell it
seems who wrote that book that I mentioned it seems for the devil Sympathy for the Devil it seems like
William May William the father may have suffered from bipolar disorder okay that's what Virginia is surmising from
her research he had some unstable moods he like I said his behavior was a little
unpredictable at times and this may have been exhaust exacerbated by their son Edwards tragic and untimely death yeah
definitely again that is not like a blanket diagnosis overall bipolar disorders no this is just what she is
surmising from what she read okay that's all now William traveled to England a few times for unspecified treatment for
his like what was going what he was had going on mentally and was not present in
the home a lot as the kids were growing up Isabella however was there 24 7 and she formed a very strong bond with her
children which means Theodore was there with his sister and his mom 24 7. okay also it
seemed kind of like Isabella was like sure sure you go we're fine here like she it was kind of one of those things
where the dad was just not really around yeah he was doing points you know probably like I mean there wasn't a lot
understood back then about mental health so it was probably annoying to her that
he was going through mood swings exactly was so she was probably like yeah just get out I got this right so it became
kind of she was the main caretaker now in 1878 William returned from one of his treatments in England which we don't get
any specifics for what these treatments were or what they are for it's just kind
of like his treatment quote unquote so he comes home from a treatment in England and told his family he was going
to move to San Francisco where he believed he could get a better job and make more money San Francisco
California is he taking them with him well he said he was going to but not right away he said once he got himself
stable there he would bring out the family okay I can kind of understand that kind of set everything up get a job
get a place to live yeah get it all set for you guys but again Isabella was left
alone with the kids so in 1879 he eventually did bring them to San Francisco so the next year he brought
them to San Francisco it took a while to get set up sure did but he was not able
to hold down a job because of these what he was going through okay like because of his erratic moods because of his
erratic Behavior he just wasn't able to hold down a job he had a lot of outbursts and you know it was kind of it
was left unchecked at this point so employers at this point and at this time were definitely not willing to deal with
that or understand it but that we didn't know they just weren't willing to know but things got so bad that the whole
Durant family had to move in with William's parents for a time because otherwise they would have just been
without a place to live oh man Theo however was doing all right okay he was popular with his peers and his teacher
said he was a good student never gotten any trouble he especially excelled at things that let him get his hands busy
and Tinker with things he liked mechanical stuff technical stuff electrical things he reminds me a little
bit of Peter cliff in that way yeah in that manner sure but he eventually went to Cogswell polytechnical College and
took more classes involving engineering and electrical things and he registered for the 1891 semester at Stanford
University sure unfortunately likely due to his family's Financial woes he was unable to attend that semester and it
did bother him so instead of letting it just stop him in his tracks though he did end up enrolling at San Francisco
Cooper Medical College in 1893 and decided his love of tinkering and opening things up to explore would serve
him well for a medical degree which is not a bad idea his mother really steered him in this Direction
with the hopes that he would be able to make money and raise his social standing
yeah which was huge back then 1890s like social standing is everything classes were very distinct back then and he did
he did well in school he received very high grades as a result he was also known to take extremely meticulous
lecture notes and he would share them with anybody if they asked oh so he was a very nice guy yeah as we will see
through this entire thing this is not one of those like yeah like he wasn't they didn't really show any signs of of
what was to come it's not one of those it's like oh no he literally went out of his way to help people
weird and like people knew him as a very kind genuine not at all weird human huh yeah
this is a very strange case in that sense it's very weird it's like he just he must have been hiding some deep dark
[ __ ] but I think something may have helped unleash it but it's weird this one's a weird one I'm interested yeah so
Theo had learned to work with what he had basically both financially and fashionably he was not a Bridge Troll
but he was slightly different looking when it comes to like the beauty standards of that time okay I don't
think he was like ugly by any stretch I'll let you know but I'm just kidding by the the standards of the time he was
shorter than most but men he was five foot five which does not translate into unattractive but it gave him a little
bit of a complex in his own mind he had very wide set eyes which were very noticeable okay and apparently he had a
notably misshapen head which I'm like how do you even tell that with her yeah like I don't know about that one
I'm looking for a pic right now and then they said he had like bigger lips which
I was like that's like an attractive quality but today what is happening here like and then you look up pictures and
you're like yeah I wouldn't it's a pretty normal looking dude I just wouldn't even notice like I'd just be
like hello sir yeah like it wouldn't excite me it wouldn't repel me I wouldn't I don't really see anything
misshapen about his head right it's a very stiff but it was very much like stated that he had a misshapen weird but
instead of focusing on those things that may have brought his confidence down he
really decided to focus on the sartorial part of his life he was going to be a fashionista
he was impeccably dressed at all times and he would actually put away clothing that was out of fashion or season same
and this was not easy to do on his budget at the time yeah he didn't have all this extra income but he made sure
he always had what was in fashion it was always in season he always was put together Stacy and Clinton would be so
proud they would he didn't put all of this on his parents either he didn't because you're thinking like okay so his
parents are having to pay for this [ __ ] wardrobe of his but apparently he didn't want to do that because again
he was a weirdly nice guy for some period of time he got himself a job at the morning call which was a daily
newspaper in the area he became a delivery boy and he did other things around it and he saved all of his money
he gave some of it to his parents wow and then sock the rest away to buy himself things like a bicycle and other
things he would eventually move on to work at a lot of department stores across the city he also did clerical
work at the Manheim insurance company and he was known to be very handy which again is very disconcerting when you
hear what he eventually was convicted of doing oh great he would use his skills to help out like his electrical
tinkering technological skills he would use them to help out friends and family and neighbors and he became known as the
handyman who would help you out in a pinch for anything you had electrical issues Theo will come over for no charge
and I'll help you out that's just crazy eventually he actually became the volunteer handyman at the 21st Street
Emmanuel Baptist Church he would paint repair anything around the church he would build things for
Gatherings he would build stages for the events he was giving he was kind he was
helpful what the [ __ ] happened I don't know well I can tell you what I think at
least contributed to something snapping that was already there there had to have
been something already there yeah you don't do what he did and we'll obviously get into it without some kind of
Darkness being inside of you so in the spring of 1894 Theodore contracted a quote near fatal case of
viral meningitis which is the inflammation of the lining of the brain caused by a virus or bacteria it can be
life-threatening yeah it has severe consequences especially back then nowadays we have antibiotics and medical
intervention that makes this just not what it was once but this was a mixture of no medical advances in this area and
horrific sanitary conditions because of the 1800s of it all yeah there's always that of it yeah and it would make this
illness pretty fatal most of the time he contracted it a very severe case of it and his mother Isabella was the one to
actually nurse him back to health but he lost 40 pounds during the illness holy [ __ ] and according to the previously
mentioned Source um the quote there was undoubtedly some neurological damage yeah so boom so that's what I think
kick-started some of these thoughts he was having and some of these things he was doing because we talked about how by
the standards of the day I guess like he was shorter he was like the wide set eyes or something like that I don't know
I don't think he's even that way I don't think he's unattractive I don't I'm not
like but it's like no I'm just like you're a guy yeah you're just like you're a man that's fine but apparently
he had some kind of complex I don't know if somebody had said something to him or
what but he had to pretend and I I do believe it has to do a lot with stature I think stature had a lot to do with it
back then like by five not that tall and he wasn't like a big guy either so I think then it was like important to be
tall and really like statuesque I didn't even know that I mean Napoleon did like
things didn't he he did things well he had Napoleon complex yeah that's what I'm saying but you know he did stuff
well that's the thing it's not right but it's you know it's not right before okay
but it's okay but I think he tried to make up for it but with a lot of bravado and a lot of like I'm like a God I'm
this like sexual like a sexual prowess a very much a Napoleon complex and so I think that that inflammation there that
uh meningitis definitely popped something off that made him feel more obsessed with that like it almost
like kick-started a lot of obsessive thoughts okay I can see that yeah it's the only thing I can point to to be
honest and it's the only thing anybody can it's like there's nothing else that's what it's I mean that's what it
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onepeloton.com home Dash trial there does obviously you can point to as well there is some kind of mental
illness that is running through the family as well but again mental illness doesn't equal murder people so it's like
you can't point to just like well his father had something going on that's like I think there had to have been
something yeah so the next year on Wednesday April 3rd 1895 this was the next year after he had like recovered
from this illness um the family of 21 year old Blanche Lamont and this is 21 year old by the
way barely out of teenagers I know what's going to happen now that you've specified that they were beginning to
panic a bit on this night because she had not returned home after um after that afternoon she had a violin lesson
and it wasn't like Blanche to disappear without notice Blanche had moved to California recently from Montana and she
had been a school teacher in Montana but she was in California taking courses is
to further her education all right she was staying with relatives in California so she had last been known to be with
her friend Minnie Edwards who was questioned and many told investigators that she indeed was with Blanche that
day that she went missing and together they had left classes and were waiting together for a streetcar to come all
right and if you look up like what us we can post some pictures because I have this really old ass book that I found
that is called report of the trial of William Henry Theodore Durant she is holding it right now it's like leather
bound it's this cool old ass book but in it they have a lot of pictures of like the streetcar and all that stuff I'm
interested so we'll try to post I'll I'll make sure that those pictures get posted with this
um but it's interesting so they were waiting for the streetcar together and as they waited Minnie said she was
talking they were talking together just chit-chatting about what they were gonna
do I think they were making plans together and she said a man came up behind them and clearly knew Blanche and
she said he tipped his hat towards her all right and then offered to carry her books for her so this is the 1800s
version of flirting yeah basically and they all got on the streetcar together but Minnie said she went on the inside
of the streetcar and these she let them sit on the outside which again when we post the picture I think it'll make a
little more sense okay part of a street car is like outside seats where you're just like sitting almost like a trolley
or like even like a hayride or like you can sit in the middle or you can sit on the edge yeah and like the outside of it
was literally like you're facing out into the street and it's open yeah okay you're just sitting there I could then
there was like a fully covered inside so Minnie said she sat on the inside because she wanted to let them just she
was like clearly they know each other she's she's being a good gal pal yeah she was like they seem to like each
other like I'm just gonna give them space to catch up find her own like good for Minnie she was just trying to be a
good gal friend now several other Witnesses corroborated mini story and remembered seeing this man because
apparently at this time it was not allowed for women to be in the company of men at the school oh so this many
Cairns were out there taking notes this day scandalous and weirdly not one of them could give a physical description
of this man so they weren't taking like proper notes yeah so I'm like I don't know you weren't doing your job too busy
gossiping a woman named Elizabeth Crozet told investigators that she got onto the
streetcar and saw one Theodore Durant sitting on the seat next to a young lady and they seemed to be enjoying each
other's company Elizabeth recognized Theodore because he was friends with her grandson Jim and
she liked Theo she had thought he was very kind very helpful very generous young man in fact she knew him to be
such a gentleman and so helpful that she was she was older and so she was just about to approach him on the streetcar
and ask him to be her hero and help her get off the streetcar at her stop oh because she knew he would yeah she was
like absolutely he would do it but she said before she could get to Theo Theo and this young lady she didn't know got
off together at the 21st Street in Valencia and started walking together in the direction of the Emmanuel Baptist
Church okay she was able to say all that okay so the woman there was another woman who lived across the street from
the Emmanuel Baptist Church her name was Caroline leak she told investigators that she also knew Theo very well
because he was the church's handyman and also was the assistant superintendent of
the church's Sunday school he passed out the hymn books at the services was an officer in the young people's Christian
Endeavor society and served as Usher on most Sundays damn Theo is doing it the most she also said she saw Theo out her
window that day when when um what was her the Elizabeth Crow set what Elizabeth crossette said that they had
got off the streetcar Caroline leak said I saw her hit Theo out my window and that he was with a
woman that she didn't recognize and they were walking towards the church I'm trying to keep this all noted but now I
just have Melissa Etheridge stuck in my head there you go come to my window you know but she was certain of this because
she also had a Karen moment and thought it was very imprudent for this young hussy of a lady to be walking into
church with a man alone they're going into church yeah like calm down she was so bothered by this that
she sat by her window to watch and see if that when they came out together wow she said she sat for a long time but
they didn't come out what a creep yeah so what we have is we have made just to give you a quick little rundown we have
many Edwards who is blanche's friend one they were standing at the bus stop the streetcar stop
Theo walks up and says hey girl hey and they start flirting direct quote they get on that street car Minnie kind of
sits away but she sees them get on the outside of the streetcar we got Elizabeth crossette who knows Theo very
well saw Theo in the presence of Blanche she didn't know his Blanche at the time
but later said yes that was blinch didn't know her said they seem to really like each other it was really cute she
was gonna ask Theo to let her off the helper off the streetcar but he had left on the stop for the church then we got
Caroline leak who throws Theo knows him very well seems to take a liking in him as well because knows every [ __ ]
thing that he's ever done Caroline and she's looking out her window she sees Theo in the presence of a young lady who
she later said yes that was Blanche uh Blanche Lamont they were entering the church together and they did not come
out I'm nervous about this church because every time you keep saying the church's name your eyes do this weird
thing that says to me ashkel remember that church remember that church this was the last anyone saw of
blanchola yeah I had that feeling she entered the Emmanuel Baptist Church with Theodore Durant and she never came back
out okay so immediately the following day she was reported missing since this story included and remember the 1800s of
it all since this story included the salacious bit that she was last seen alone with a man no they assumed she ran
off and eloped with him where are my pearls now this this sounds crazy because you're like this random man that
like yeah she knew him but like she's just running off in a loping with him right this wasn't completely out of left
field because Theo and Blanche did know each other Minnie was a new friend of blanches so
what many didn't know was that Theo and Blanche had dated pretty seriously oh so when Minnie was saying like this
guy came up I didn't know who he was but they seemed to kind of know each other they did Minnie was a new friend she
just didn't know that they had dated that history they've dated pretty seriously pretty seriously in the sense
that it was like three months of dating but back then it was like we might as well propose now I was gonna say that's
a whole courtship exactly and the before this event happened it was like months earlier he had proposed oh [ __ ] and she
had told him it's not a no but it's not a yes I would like to slow things down okay fair so she said I'd like to slow
things down I'd actually like to call this off for right now just let me have some time okay but like maybe just let's
see what what else is good like I just want to slow it down that's all I want to take a step back from this
relationship I'm not sure if this is what I want so she had basically called it off she had technically rejected his
proposal but people took this like I just want to slow down we'll see what happens later as like well maybe she
changed her mind and just decided to elope with him okay I could say that for sure it's just people reaching us like
hopefully nothing bad happened yeah yeah so that Friday there was still no sign of Blanche and that happened on a
Wednesday is she and no one had heard from her either and now it was starting to get to be a scary situation they were
trying to keep this from turning into tabloid gossip and getting more salacious so the family kept a lot of
the details quiet and weren't telling a lot of people besides investigators they
just didn't want to ruffle any feathers here and the investigators were just quietly
working to find her this led to Theo Duran actually stopping by the relative's house where Blanche lived he
stopped there on that Friday and dropped a book off to her sister Maud um and dropped the book off and said I
promised Blanche I would let her borrow this book can you give it to her huh and
her sister was like um she's not home and he was like and at that time she was missing but he didn't
she didn't want to let him know that of course they were supposed to keep it quiet and he was like oh where is she
like asked questions and was like but seemingly a court like mod was like now looking back on it it almost seemed like
oh really like she's not home weird like almost like he's enjoying the fact that
her sister had to play so it's like and to me this is a perfect way for him to just use this as like I didn't know she
was I didn't I even brought her a book right I loaned her a book on Friday that's how much I didn't know that she
was missing so the next week was when everything came public because the family couldn't keep any the secrets any
longer now they just wanted everybody to know because they just wanted to find Blanche so they opened up everything and
now police actively were speaking to anyone Blanche may have been with or dated at any point I'm confused because
they interviewed a lot of former suitors but not the one man who she was seen with that day it didn't interview him
they really focused more on this man named Tom Vogel who was a doctor that she had dated okay
now Vogel pointed this out and said Theo was with her that day like several people are saying he was with her that
day but even her family was like no that's not possible like wow Theodore had nothing to do with this and they
literally said no not possible how sad is that because I'm getting the sense that off Theo did this
um that's and you know what that's how much of a front he was able to put on and have people buy at this time
um to hit her sister blanche's sister Maude Lamont actually posted ads in the classified sections of the newspapers in
the area that said Blanche no matter what has happened come back to me oh and she never got a response My Heart by
this time news was flooded with the details of this case so far they'd printed the details now they were
finally printing details of Theo being the last one to see be with her here we go and now about their relationship that
they had so gossip started formaling but it formally forming but it was mostly just kind of like harmless gossip at
that time no one actually believed Theo had anything to do with blanche's disappearance okay it was more now
people were like teasing Theo about it because they were like this is [ __ ] like that's so crazy so they'd be like
oh feel like did you really do that and he's like oh well no like and they were like of course not ah yeah I hate that
nine days after Blanche went missing another woman connected to Theodore Durant was supposed to be showing up at
a party who's that in this party well the party that she was supposed to go to was Tom vogel's party oh [ __ ] there was
a lot of like inner inner hanging out here world class exactly um and she didn't show up to this party
this woman was Marion Minnie Williams I know there's a lot of the same names too
makes sense you know 1800s uh and again this is not to be confused with Minnie Edwards who is blanche's new friend no
this is Minnie Williams Minnie Williams had met Theo through the church where she was working as a quote domestic
worker so she was a maid yeah she was vivacious and brought a lot of life into anywhere she went in fact she too like
Theo had come from Canada and when she first moved to California she settled in Almeda and she got work as a maid for
Clark Morgan who was the former head of the California casket company [ __ ] she
was Cobb she was apparently not a great maid but they kept her because the family adored her so much and came to
think of her as such a happy presence in their home that they were like I don't even care that she's not that great of a
mate I like to think that's why the pub that I worked at kept me for so long but I'm fun but you're great yeah but
she was that kind of person she was just like a really awesome person foreign [Music]
on a job at the church in San Fran that's where she met Theo he had just gotten out of a relationship
with a woman named Flora who was in a much higher social class and was actually engaged to her for a small
period of time but they had broken things off too oh and he showed a great interest in Minnie when she showed up so
he was very interested in her but then quickly showed her that he was very interested in having a sexual
relationship but the times they were a different and unmarried it was forbidden yeah
forbidden and honestly Minnie was of a lower social class than he was so there was several things going against this
whole thing in many was a respectable woman of the time and wasn't going to give in to his
crazy desires so after they dated a bit he got bored and that's when he moved on
to Blanche I see okay okay so many what what people think is that Minnie was a maid he had just dated someone named
Flora who was way higher class than he was yes so the reports came out that he had very much tried to have a sexual
relationship with Flora as well and she was like no no no I'm not married to you
right and so he looked at that as like okay well she's not because she's a respectable higher class lady but Minnie
is just a maid like what is she like what the and it's like that's literally what he was thinking like she's lower
class than me so men are trashed and when Minnie didn't he got annoyed it's true this this man's is trash that's for
sure and when Minnie wouldn't do it he was shocked and probably a little shamed because he was thinking this was going
to be easy yep and then he decided to move on to Blanche who was pretty much in the same class as he was okay a lot
of class [ __ ] Happening Here so he moved on to Blanche and so at the time of Minnie's disappearance she was
actually many was interested in pursuing Tom Vogel oh wow this is wild I know this is a love rectangle it's very much
like Peyton's place so what's that it's wow it's like an old show I probably should have uh Melrose please I know
what that is that I didn't watch it but okay but you know it's like a scandalous
[ __ ] sure uh it's like Vanderpump Rules okay it's like that yeah there it is I
was like wait I know I know something relevant that's literally it so this is why that
evening that Minnie did not show up at this party she had put on her fanciest dress and got her hair done because she
was meeting Tom Vogel at his party then oh and do you think he was interested in
her I think he would I do too I'd like to think he was she had to take a train and then a fair a ferry to San Fran she
was committed she was committed Witnesses later came forward to say that they actually saw theodorant at the San
Fran Ferry Terminal imagine that and he was clearly waiting for someone Charles Dodge who was a fellow student
with uh with Theo and a friend from the Cooper Medical School actually talked to
Theo at the ferry entrance in fact he reported that he made a joke because of the recent headlines and said Durant
what have you done with that girl you made a way with I and he was obviously talking about Blanche and another man
named Frank sademan actually stopped and talked to Theo at the ferry entrance he
was the janitor for the church or one of the janitors for the church and knew Theo very well
sademan told police that part of their conversation including included Theo telling him that he was at the ferry
because he was looking for Blanche what he told him he had quote received a clue
that she will be leaving the city and going over to East Bay okay like what are you doing like sir do you
have her body that's everybody so he was basically being like I heard something that said that she was going to be
leaving on the ferry so I'm here to try to intercept her so I can bring her to her family I'm a hero yeah even after
this interaction with a witness yet another man who was he was friends with a Sofio and his name was Adolf home
which sorry about that name bro who was another friend from school and he saw him with walking with a very short young
woman and this woman was wearing what he referred to as a turban around her hair
and a cape okay Minnie Williams had left her home for that part for the part of the for the party for the party that
evening wearing those two things because she had gotten her hair done exactly she
didn't want to mess it up perhaps the most damning witness report was from Alexander Zenger he lived down the
street with an eyesight of the church so he was kind of like Caroline leak there
uh who's across the church he was just like won over from her busy body and he was a regular parishioner there he had
recently heard gossip and that maybe this is why Caroline was like they're going in there unattended because he had
heard gossip that young people were sneaking into the church late as night to like [ __ ] [ __ ] in the church so yeah
I know that's awesome I know that's a sin before the the land of Jesus like what are you doing up here that is not
good and he was not about to let this happen under his watch I don't even think I'd let that happen under my wall
he was peeking out that window and he saw Theo and Minnie enter that church around 8 PM Theo is with many in the
church many too in the church he had taken her from that Ferry Terminal they had walked to that church and he was
entering with her and remember to get out that church she has had relationships with both Blanche and
Minnie now he was on again like I said he was on his own don't care and [ __ ] watching like a hawk so he said
he watched the whole time and an hour later at 9 00 pm he saw Theo exit the side door of the church and many didn't
leave so did anyone go to that church and say so let me check that out no so at 9 30 only a half hour later Theo
showed up at Tom vogel's door where the party was because he was invited to the party oh I know these are all friends
party Tom said Tom Vogel said that Theo looked a little disheveled and frazzled and that Theo told him he was sorry he
was late but he quote had trouble catching his horse at the Armory I bet Vogel noted that he was a little weirded
out and he also said he noted that Minnie Williams never showed up to the party and she'd attempt she had planned
to attend and he wanted her to be there he did I think I know and her family said she never made it home either
now we have another missing young woman and nothing had moved in blanche's disappearance at this point then the
following day after many went missing April 13th blanche's Aunt her aunt um trifena Noble I believe that is a fast
ass [ __ ] yeah there's some cool names in here she received a package in the mail
now again this is the day after many went missing April 13th when she opened this package there was one page of
newsprint from the examiner newspaper and it had the names George R king and Professor schustein on it okay now I I
don't know why but she opened the newspaper page and inside was another sheet of paper that was folded like an
envelope kind of and when it was opened inside were three rings all having belonged to Blanche ooh I don't like
that yes so detective Edward Gibson was called to check this evidence out obviously and he had seen this as a very
bad sign for blinch's Recovery alive he wouldn't have time to mull this over though for very long because the exact
same day mini would be found oh a woman named Lila Berry was waiting for some women to arrive at the Emmanuel Baptist
Church they were going to be doing some kind of function and while she was waiting she and some of the other women
decided to pass the time reading okay so Lila went into the closet of the church
library to show a woman named Mrs Nolte where the books were kept and when they opened the door they were met with a
gruesome scene oh no there in front of them Minnie Williams was on a table spread completely eagle
clearly deceased there was blood all over the floors the walls the books they panicked yeah and sent for Reverend
George Gibson which seems like his name should have officer in front of it yup but nope they got the pastor they called
the pastor I he's not legal guys like we gotta we gotta call the legal people you
gotta call the legal people in here so Reverend Gibson did the sensible thing and when he saw the body he called the
Golden nope he didn't he called the Golden Gate undertaking company and asked them to please remove the body
secretly from the church and not let anyone know about it why because he didn't want to scare
parishioners uh I think it might come out that she was found there because here we are
today yeah so then the other The Undertaker came and was like no this is a literal murder scene you actual idiots
and he called the police like the Undertaker was the one that was like nah I'm not just gonna remove this body
that's illegal this is like the worst game of Television you're [ __ ] kidding me so he called the police he
was like what the [ __ ] he also called Tom Vogel because he was the closest doctor which oh [ __ ] would act as a
temporary corner here even though they actually have a corner holy isn't this like very scandalous it was yeah Vogel
was obviously shocked to see this woman was Manny Williams just so terrible for Minnie too that like he he was the one
who had to do it they reported initially that she was lying spread eagle with her
party dress pushed up above her knees and a knife handle was broken and lying on her chest okay when the coroner
actually came and made his report he said after a more thorough examination this was a brutal
slaying they had found strips of cloth shoved down Minnie's throat what the strips had been torn from her own
undergarments and they found a sharpened stick that had been used to forcibly shove the fabric down her throat oh my
God they actually found that the stick had been pulled from a table that she was lying on and the killer had had to
sharpen the stick with a knife before using it to push the fabric down Minnie's throat oh my god there was a
deep laceration on her forehead that went down to her nose and was bleeding extensively there was lacerations on
multiple parts of her body but her wrists were cut and her hands were almost completely it said so deeply
they'd almost been severed from the arms holy [ __ ] both of them yeah she had also
been stabbed several times in the chest with such force and rage that the knife had broken and the blade was still in
her chest oh my God the handle was left flying on her chest also it was a butter knife
what she had been stabbed with a butter knife that hard that the handle broke off and hard enough to penetrate her
heart with a butter with a butter knife do you know the force you have to use so he was
little but he was strong and it's like the force you have to use to get a butter knife through someone even a dull
scalpel won't cut through like flesh unless you give it a good like pop Force yeah like that's but a butter knife wow
it was also discovered unfortunately that Minnie had been violently raped before and after death oh my God
her cause of death though was thought to be asphyxiation from those pieces of fabric being shoved down her so she was
alive when that happened yep it was probably to keep her quiet initially he placed her time of death at
around midnight the previous evening but this was this was um what the initial examination but after an analysis of her
stomach contents he actually revised that time of death and said actually I'd say about 8 30 PM the previous evening I
don't know if we want to go back really quick I do but um our little pal who was
watching out to see if people were [ __ ] in the church he saw the mentor around 8 30 8 o'clock
basically and then he saw Theo leave at nine yeah 8 30 p.m is a perfect time for
that to have happened and then he must have he like cleaned up in the church somewhere yeah
himself up I mean yeah he must have now when they searched the area they quickly
knew this person had to know their way around the church that room was not known to everyone and the piece of the
table used and sharpened was not something that people would know was there to pull off huh also the knife he
used was one of the church's kitchen knives so he knew so he had to go into the kitchen find that and be able to use
it so news spread quickly that there was a murder in the church so the path calling
the pastor didn't didn't really work out for them um and it put they put together that
there was probably a connection to the missing The Disappearance of Blanche Lamont definitely some papers were very
typically 1800s and said in headlines that the body had been quote hacked to pieces with a dull table knife nice well
that is pretty true yeah to be honest like that's a pretty salacious headline yeah I don't think we need to put that
out there they also said that the assailant had evidently possessed all the ferocity of Jack the Ripper okay now
Blanche and Minnie again they both had dated uh Theo and they knew each other they were acquaintances oh wow they ran
in the same circles yeah the media also pointed to the connection obviously with
Theo to be like haha I think we have our guy and everybody's spotting him with these women all the witnesses and
Minnie's own friends pointed fingers at Theodore and were like I don't want to believe he did it but that's the only
[ __ ] thing I can think of well and then was Tom Vogel like yeah he showed up disheveled as [ __ ] and looked frantic
to my party he gave value to investigators and according to one article Theodore quote had written to
many yesterday asking her to meet him in San Francisco I'll bet you put that in writing yep and she did and it says um
that it was the Sunday Oregonian or Oregonian or probably Oregonian Oregonian right yeah that makes sense I
think so um in 1895 it said but she did not look upon his advances with favor because she was like you're a [ __ ] yeah
and he probably got mad at her well and who broke off she broke off their engagement I think it was one of those
like I think it was like a mutual thing where she was like I'm not gonna sleep with you and he was like well I'm bored
now and she's like then you can get so she was probably like [ __ ] you you're like you're a [ __ ] boy and then he's
like meet me in San Francisco she's probably because then he immediately went to Blanche so she was probably like
okay [ __ ] like no I wonder oh my gosh she must have been scared too because she knew that he moved on to Blanche and
it's like and she's like what the heck and that blitch is missing so detective Gibson was certain that
they had a connection that Minnie and Blanche did for sure and a killer that was common for both cases and even
though they had not found blanche's body at this point he was convinced that they
would find her soon and he was 100 sure they would find her on the church grounds oh and that is where I'm going
to end part one [ __ ] but don't worry part two is only like what like 12 hours away 24 hours away goodness girlfriend
you're killing us but I'm telling you there's more the trial is pretty wild we still have the discovery of Blanche yeah
it's a it's a wild one this is this one really interested me I'm I'm I'm here I'm ready I'm ready for part two I think
we should record it right now sorry everybody else I think we're going to so my guard so stay tuned and we hope we
keep listening and we hope you keep it we here but not to worry that when somebody doesn't want to date you
anymore you don't murder them because like wow you could date so many other people instead that's like a healthy
coping mechanism bye yeah don't do that yeah yeah [Music] foreign

Theodore Durrant was the last person anyone would have assumed to commit a brutal murder, let alone two. He was well-known in town and well-liked. He served the town in countless ways; as the handyman for the church, the handyman to all his friends and neighbors, assistant superintendent of the church's Sunday School and all around friendly and giving man. But soon he would be linked to two absolutely horrific murders of two young women in town that he'd had relations with. Ones body would be discovered in the church that Theo seemed to love and the other? Well you'll have to wait for part two for that discovery.

Daily Inter Ocean. 1895. ""Another Body Found."" Daily Inter Ocean, April 15.

Dowd, Katie. 2016. ""The tale of the 'Demon of the Belfry,' San Francisco's forgotten Jack the Ripper."" SF Gate, October 31.

McConnell, Virginia. 2001. Sympathy for the devil: the Emmanuel Baptist murders of old San Francisco. Westport, Conn: Praeger.

New York Times. 1897. ""Durrant Breaking Down."" New York Times, October 18: 5.

—. 1895. ""Durrant is Found Guilty."" New York Times, November 2: 1.

—. 1898. ""Durrant is Put to Death."" New York Times, January 8.

—. 1895. ""Lunatic Tries to Kill Durrant."" New York Times, August 6: 1.

Peixotto, Edgar. 1899. Report of the trial of William Henry Theodore Durrant. Detroit, Michigan: The Collector Publishing Company.

San Francisco Caller. 1895. ""Clews Still Lead to Theodore Durrant ."" San Francisco Caller, April 18.

The Daily Picayune. 1895. ""A San Francisco Jack the Ripper."" The Daily Picayune, April 15.

The Morning Oregonian. 1895. ""Mysteriously Missing."" April 10: 3.

The Sunday Inter Ocean. 1895. ""Murdered in a church."" The Sunday Inter Ocean, April 14: 5.

The Sunday Oregonian. 1895. ""In a Pastor's Study."" The Sunday Oregonian, April 14: 6.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

The episode details Theodore Durant's life and the murders of Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams, highlighting the investigation and brutal crime details.

Key points

Happy New Year Wishes. Elena and Ash celebrate the new year and reflect on their hopes for 2023.
Lucid Dreaming Experience. Elena shares a terrifying lucid dreaming experience that left her questioning reality.
The Case of Theodore Durant. The story of Theodore Durant, a medical student with a dark secret, unfolds.
The Transformation of Theo. Theo was known for his kindness and meticulousness, but something changed after his illness.
Blanche's Mysterious Disappearance. Blanche Lamont went missing after being seen with Theo, raising alarms among her family.
The Disappearance of Blanche Lamont. Blanche Lamont's family opens up about her disappearance, leading to increased police involvement.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I couldn't believe that that actually happens like I thought that was [ __ ].

Elena shares her disbelief about a lucid dreaming experience.

6:28WatchJan 11, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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