American Sherlock
Page 30
one of America’s greatest forensic scientists: Katherine Ramsland, “He Made Mute Evidence Speak: Edward O. Heinrich,” Forensic Examiner 16, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 2.
In 1910, when he opened the nation’s first private crime lab: Max M. Houck, ed., Professional Issues in Forensic Science (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2015), 3; carton 5, folder 5, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
“America’s Sherlock Holmes”: “Grains of Sand Convict Killer,” Reno Gazette-Journal, February 18, 1930.
nascent innovator of criminal profiling: Tom Bevel and Ross M. Gardner, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, 3rd edition (Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis, 2008).
CHAPTER 1
Her husband was fond of burning the rubbish: Criminal No. 3730, In the Supreme Court of the State of California, the People of the State of California vs. David Lamson (San Francisco: Pernau-Walsh Print. Co., October 1934), 114.
David Lamson in the yard: Ibid., 112–18.
garden trimmings, dead artichoke plants: Ibid., 117, 247.
palatial homes of professors and professionals: Theresa Johnston, “These Old Houses,” Stanford Magazine, November/December 2005.
the fourth year of the Great Depression: “Great Depression History,” History.com, October 29, 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/great-depression-history.
Herbert Hoover’s impressive three-tiered residence: “Was ‘Bathtub Murder’ an Accident?,” Decatur Herald (IL), July 1, 1934.
Professors and scholars at Stanford University continued to teach classes: “History of Palo Alto,” https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/pln/historic_preservation/history_of_palo_alto.asp.
Allene was a natural beauty: Per photos contained in the Lamson Murder Case Collection (SC0861), 1933–1992, Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University.
“In a few short miles one passes from sea level”: “The Campus as a Game Refuge” in “Clippings, articles, publications” in ibid.
engaged in the Stanford community: Ibid.
David was the sales manager: Supreme Court of the State of California, 14–15.
He had spent a year teaching advertising: “The 1930s: Continued Growth,” Stanford: 125 Years of Journalism, http://www.125yearsofjournalism.org/1930s.
“She needed something to occupy her mind”: Supreme Court of the State of California, 258.
The Lamsons were a modish couple: Supreme Court of California statement PEOPLE v. LAMSON, 1 Cal.2d 648 (San Francisco: Pernau-Walsh Print. Co., October 1934), 1.
moneyed figures in Palo Alto: Ibid., 17.
“I would say they were quite happy”: Supreme Court of the State of California, 111.
Details from this weekend: Various sources, including ibid., 28–29, 364–65.
horrible sinus infections: Ibid., 257–58.
Much of the tiny bathroom was bright white: “Experiment Summary,” dated June 20, 1933, in the “Lamson” folder found in carton 71, folder 31–41, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
she suffered from notoriously weak ankles: Frances Theresa Russell and Yvor Winters, The Case of David Lamson (San Francisco: Lamson Defense Committee, 1934), 30.
Allene Lamson’s “physical exam records” as a student: Lamson Murder Case Collection.
The tub was about halfway: “Testimony of Chief H. A. Zink Given at Second Trial,” Lamson Murder Case Collection, 7.
The doorbell rang: Supreme Court of the State of California, 121.
the sensation was startling: Details about Allene Lamson’s likely physical reaction to her injuries come from Dr. Jill Heytens, a neurologist with almost thirty years in practice.
Her torso dangled halfway out: Description of Allene’s body, including her braids, comes from a crime scene photo in Lamson Murder Case Collection.
“I hoed”: Supreme Court of the State of California, 117.
“I remarked that he was doing”: Ibid., 112.
“He said it would be perfectly”: Ibid., 121.
“I really cannot describe it”: Ibid., 130.
“My God, my wife has been murdered!”: Russell and Winters, The Case of David Lamson, 49. Note: there was much debate over that statement. Mrs. Place, the real estate agent, testified that he said “murdered” rather than “killed.” Her client, Mrs. Raas, testified he said “killed.”
“The first thing I saw was blood”: David Lamson, We Who Are About to Die (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936), viii.
“Of the rest of that morning I remember”: Ibid.
“Get the police to find the murderer!”: Supreme Court of California statement PEOPLE v. LAMSON, 2.
One neighbor said: “Husband Is Held When Wife Killed,” Healdsburg Tribune (CA), May 30, 1933.
“Some of the things I remember most vividly”: Lamson, We Who Are About to Die, viii–ix.
his neighbor Mrs. Brown found him: “Lamson Sits Silent as He Hears Charges,” Santa Cruz News (CA), June 16, 1933.
“The glimpse of a neighbor’s face”: Lamson, We Who Are About to Die, xi.
“She was down, cleaning up something off the floor”: “Testimony of Chief H. A. Zink,” 2–3.
Eight officers had responded: Supreme Court of the State of California, 138.
and the autopsy later concluded that Allene had died: Ibid., 29.
“Who could have done it?”: Supreme Court of California statement PEOPLE v. LAMSON, 2.
Allene’s blood had been transferred: Supreme Court of the State of California, 131; “Experiment Summary,” dated June 20, 1933, in the “Lamson” folder found in carton 71, folder 31–41, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
half of her blood had drained from her body: Russell and Winters, The Case of David Lamson, 36.
“Ten minutes after the deputies arrived”: Lamson, We Who Are About to Die, ix.
“Sheriff William Emig expressed”: “Prominent Young Palo Alto Woman Is Found Dead in Bath Tub with Gaping Hole in Back of Her Head,” Santa Cruz News (CA), May 30, 1933.
kidnapped for ransom from the family’s mansion: “Lindbergh Kidnapping,” FBI.gov, https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/lindbergh-kidnapping.
“Mystery Man Adds New Theory Puzzle”: “Mystery Man Adds New Theory Puzzle,” Madera Daily Tribune (CA), June 1, 1933.
Lamson’s status in the jail: Ibid.
Photos of Allene and Bebe were taped to the walls: This and other details about his time in the San Jose jail are from Lamson, We Who Are About to Die, 10–11; physical descriptions of the jail originated from various photos of Lamson’s cell in different collections.
steadfastly believed in his innocence: “Steadfast and True,” Oakland Tribune, October 1, 1933.
“It never occurred to any of us that anything”: Lamson, We Who Are About to Die, ix.
a brunette was prone: This description of Heinrich’s photo shoot with Weber comes from his photos in the Lamson Murder Case Collection. The description of experiments is from “Experiment Summary,” dated June 20, 1933, in the “Lamson” folder found in carton 71, folder 31–41, in Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
“The door is liberally spattered below the glass”: Ibid.
introducing perhaps the first blood-pattern analysis: R. H. Walton, Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2014), 23.
“A precise little man”: “Lamson Aide Hits State; Pipe Clean,” Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), September 12, 1933.
erected the nation’s first private science laboratory in 1910: Houck, Professional Issues in Forensic Science, 3.
“Not Sherlock Holmes”: Eugene Block, The Wizard of Berkeley (New York: Coward-McCann, 1958), 28.
“I have discovered enough evidence to”: “Not Guilty to Be Plea by Lamson,” Santa Cruz News (CA), June 21, 1933.
“X marks the spot”: Nancy Barr Mavi
ty, “Two Criminologists Reveal Evidence that Convinced Them of Lamson Innocence,” Oakland Tribune, February 13, 1934.
CHAPTER 2
Albertine had been just twenty years old: This and other details about the Heinrich family background from http://dahlheimer-bebeau.com/Heinrich/RM-HeinrichKlemm/b98.htm#P121.
“We kids earned our pennies”: This and more personal details and other quotes from Block, The Wizard of Berkeley, 29–34.
penned a newspaper story: Letter from Kaiser to Jacqueline Noel, May 2, 1946, box 2, John Boynton Kaiser Papers, BANC MSS 75/48 c, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“No reason for the deed”: “Suicide at Glendale,” Tacoma Daily News, October 7, 1897; “With the Aid of a Rope,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 8, 1897.
“Among my earliest recollections”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, October 9, 1922, box 12, folder 27, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
He studied at night to become a pharmacist: “Memoranda of Experience,” carton 4, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
History of pharmacy: Joseph Fink, “Pharmacy: A Brief History of the Profession,” The Student Doctor Network, January 11, 2012.
“A drugstore is a veritable laboratory”: Block, The Wizard of Berkeley, 29–34.
“I had doctors’ prescriptions to decipher”: James Rorty, “Why the Criminal Can’t Help Leaving His Card,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 9, 1924.
“I was impressed with the difference”: Block, The Wizard of Berkeley, 32.
“It may seem delightful”: Letter from Heinrich to Marion, May 12, 1932, 89–44, box 23, file 179, Theodore Heinrich Collection.
Oscar and Marion were married: “College Romance Brings Wedding,” San Francisco Call, August 27, 1908.
Heinrich’s professional background: The American City, volume XX (New York: The Civic Press, January–June 1919); “There Is a Destiny,” Who’s Who in America, February 1926; various files contained in series 3, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
Background on August Vollmer: Frances Dinkelspiel, “Remembering August Vollmer, the Berkeley Police Chief Who Created Modern Policing,” Berkeleyside, January 27, 2010.
truth serum called scopolamine: “Getting Confessions by New Truth Serum,” Baltimore Sun, August 12, 1923.
Teaching experience in UC Berkeley: Document titled “Memoranda of Experience,” found in carton 3, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
“Your main job as a cop”: Jeremy Kuzmarov, “What August Vollmer, the Father of American Law Enforcement, Has to Teach Us,” HuffPost, October 4, 2016.
America’s first “cop college”: August Vollmer and Albert Schneider, “School for Police as Planned at Berkeley,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 7, no. 6 (1917): 877–98.
“The course extends over a period of three years”: Harold G. Schutt, “Advanced Police Methods in Berkeley,” National Municipal Review, volume XI (1922), 81.
“I’ll take you all from a thrill to a shudder”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, June 30, 1920, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“But a chessboard in police station”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, June 23, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“The investigation of crime is merely a special case”: Ibid.
Boulder, Colorado’s first city manager: “Boulder Appoints a City Manager,” Evening Star (Independence, KS), February 19, 1918.
Kaiser’s background: Donald G. Davis Jr. and John Mark Tucker, American Library History (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978), 280.
“On page 363 of the LIBRARY JOURNAL is a list of ten tests”: Letter from Kaiser to Heinrich, April 22, 1931, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“Sometimes I enjoy your insistence in thinking”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, October 31, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
the Hindu Ghadar Conspiracy: Block, The Wizard of Berkeley, 49–52; Ramsland, “He Made Mute Evidence Speak.”
“I am enclosing a print showing the hairs”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, July 9, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“Whenever you are ready send”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, July 19, 1946, box 28, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“I now use three rooms”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, May 10, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“When I bought the car recently it”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, September 15, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“Bankers Trust Co has foreclosed mortgage”: Telegram from Kaiser to Heinrich, April 5, 1918, box 28, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“the foremost scientific investigator of crime in the United States”: Letter from August Vollmer to Alfred Adler, July 12, 1930, box 31, August Vollmer Papers, BANC MSS C-B 403, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
CHAPTER 3
Background on Colma and its streetcars: John Branch, “The Town of Colma, Where San Francisco’s Dead Live,” New York Times, February 5, 2016; John Metcalfe, “Remembering San Francisco’s Ornate ‘Funeral Streetcars,’” CityLab (RidgeField, NS), January 24, 2017; Terry Hamburg, “All Aboard! Getting to Cypress Lawn in Style Back in the Good Old Days,” Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation.
Background of Father Heslin: Jean Bartlett, “Modern-day Polygraph Dates Back to 1921 Murder in Pacifica,” Mercury News (San Jose, CA), March 12, 2013; Heslin’s physical description comes from archival photos.
just ten days: Norma Abrams, “Father Heslin’s Housekeeper Accounts for Priest’s Auto,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1921.
Summary of Heslin’s disappearance: People v. Hightower, Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, Division One, January 18, 1924, 65 Cal. App. 331 (Cal. Ct. App. 1924).
Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death: “Early Research and Treatment of Tuberculosis in the 19th Century,” Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/alav/tuberculosis.
the unemployment rate had more than doubled: This figure references a graph in David R. Weir, “A Century of U.S. Unemployment, 1890–1990: Revised Estimates and Evidence for Stabilization,” Research in Economic History 14 (1992): 301–46.
national crime rate had increased by almost 25 percent: Thornton, “Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure,” specifically the section “Prohibition was criminal.”
Crime in the 1920s: Encyclopedia Britannica, “Crime 1920–1940.”
Bureau of Prohibition “deputized” Ku Klux Klan members: Kat Eschner, “Why the Ku Klux Klan Flourished Under Prohibition,” Smithsonian Magazine, December 5, 2017.
arrests for drunken driving rose by 80 percent: Thornton, “Prohibition Was a Failure,” specifically the section “Prohibition was criminal.”
The Newton Boys: Patricia Holm, “Newton Boys,” Texas State Historical Association, June 15, 2010.
Description of kidnapping and ransom notes: John Bruce, “The Flapjack Murder,” in San Francisco Murders, ed. Allan R. Bosworth and Joseph Henry Jackson (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947), 213–18.
his eyes followed the curve of the letters: Photos of ransom notes and Heinrich’s analysis found in carton 70, folder 75–77, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
authorized an aerial search: “Airplane to Help Authorities in Efforts to Locate Father Heslin,” Santa Cruz Evening News (CA), August 4, 1921.
“Was Priest Kidnaped to Wed Pair?”: “Was Priest Kidnaped to Wed Pair?,” Oakland Tribune, August 4, 1921.
“I have nothing further to say”: Abrams, “Father Heslin’s Housekeeper Accounts for Priest’s Auto.”
History of handwriting analysis: Forensic Document Examination: A Brief History, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
forged will case in Montana: “Murray Will Is Forgery Is Opinion of Handwriting Experts of California,” Great Falls Tribune (MT
), June 22, 1921.
A 2009 landmark study by the National Academy of Sciences: Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2009), 184.
“Some cases of forgery are characterized”: Ibid., 166–67.
less reputable discipline: graphology: Russell W. Driver, M. Ronald Buckley, and Dwight D. Frink, “Should We Write Off Graphology?,” International Journal of Selection and Assessment 4, no. 2 (April 1996): 78–86.
“Notice how mine goes over the top”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, January 31, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
“The writer is demented”: “Experts Believe Writer of Ransom Letter Demented,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1921.
“I am expected to do all of the heavy work”: Letter from Heinrich to Kaiser, September 6, 1921, box 1, John Boynton Kaiser Papers.
But Oscar labeled the other expert: Various letters found in carton 70, folder 75–77, Edward Oscar Heinrich Papers.
attorneys representing the American government had arrested McGovern: United States v. Chauncey McGovern, G.R. No. 2731 (November 6, 1906).
“The writer of that letter is a baker”: Block, The Wizard of Berkeley, 81.
History of criminal profiling: Katherine Ramsland, “Criminal Profiling: How It All Began,” Psychology Today, March 23, 2014; “Offender Profiling,” World Heritage Encyclopedia, 2015.
“Fate has made me do this”: “$15,000 Ransom for Priest Is Asked in New Kidnap Note,” Santa Ana Register (CA), August 10, 1921.
“The handwriting shows the writer to be a jellyfish”: Bruce, “The Flapjack Murder,” 222.
the unfounded rumor of a third letter: “An Old-Time Scoop in San Francisco,” Editor & Publisher, September 10, 1921.
Hightower was the stranger’s name: Bruce, “The Flapjack Murder,” 222–24.
Description of the archbishop’s home: “1000 Fulton Street,” Dona Crowder, http://www.donacrowder.com/1000-Fulton-Street.
“I don’t know this man”: “An Old-Time Scoop in San Francisco.”