00:00:00
organised crime terrorist threats child exploitation and human trafficking here in australia these crimes fall under the
00:00:09
jurisdiction of the australian federal police also known as the afp crime interrupted is a six episode
00:00:17
series that's narrated by me and features in-depth interviews with the officers who solved these crimes
00:00:24
we've been given exclusive access to their case vault so you can learn more about fighting crime in australia at a
00:00:31
national level stay tuned until the end of today's episode to hear the official trailer and
00:00:38
be sure to follow crime interrupted on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss an episode
00:00:46
when we have guests over we want them to feel at home article does too if it's from the joyful excitement of a
00:00:54
welcoming entryway to the comfort of a beautiful yet laid-back dining space article's newest collection will
00:01:01
encourage your guests to kick off their shoes and relax articles team of designers focuses on
00:01:07
beautifully crafted pieces quality material and a durable construction they take pride in every item they
00:01:15
design to ensure that they're giving you a piece that you'll treasure and proudly
00:01:19
display in your home for years to come article keeps their prices low meaning you'll save up to 30 percent over
00:01:28
traditional retail prices so hot on trend styles like mid-century scandinavian industrial and bohemian can
00:01:37
be affordable for everyone case file composer andrew ordered some rugs and throws from article to brighten
00:01:44
up his home he loved the quality of the materials and also their eye-catching scandi
00:01:50
design but the thing andrew loved most was the great customer care he will definitely be back to visit
00:01:58
article when he needs more home furnishings article is offering listeners of case
00:02:03
file 50 off your first purchase of one hundred dollars or more go to article.com
00:02:11
case file and the discount will automatically be applied at checkout that's article.com slash case file to
00:02:19
get fifty dollars off your first purchase of one hundred dollars or more [Music]
00:02:40
our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:02:44
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:02:50
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
00:03:03
the night of friday december 20 1968 two years after the murder of sherry joe bates
00:03:10
in benicia california it was between 9 30 and 10 o'clock when a small sports car slowly came to a stop
00:03:20
on a gravel turnout half a mile down the road from lake hermon behind the wheel was william crowe
00:03:29
the car belonged to his girlfriend who was riding beside him in the passenger seat
00:03:35
although the car was new it was having some troubles so william had taken it for a cruise to test out the engine
00:03:43
his route led him down lake herman road a five-mile stretch that curved through the countryside to the neighbouring city
00:03:50
of vallejo traffic along lake hermann road was sparse during the day and near non-existent at night
00:04:01
it was a lonely quiet road framed by fields trees and ranches that stretched over the rolling hills
00:04:10
with no street lights to illuminate the scenery the area had become a lover's lane of sorts
00:04:17
young couples seeking privacy would park their cars in the numerous turnouts that
00:04:21
lined the road william crowe pulled into one such turnout situated at the gated number 10
00:04:30
entrance to the benicia water pumping station he positioned the car so that its rear
00:04:36
faced at the gate and the headlights illuminated the road soon his attention was drawn to a
00:04:43
growing light a vehicle was traveling down lake herman road towards vallejo it rolled along in the pitch black
00:04:52
darkness until it reached the gate number 10 turnout williams headlights swept over the car
00:05:00
as it passed and he caught a quick glimpse of the driver he was male with short hair and glasses
00:05:09
the car itself was a light-colored four-door chevrolet impala a classic late 1950s model with a
00:05:16
hardtop and tail fin the chevy had barely cleared the turnout when it stopped abruptly in the middle
00:05:24
of the road its taillights lit up and it began reversing something about this sudden move made
00:05:33
william uneasy he immediately felt compelled to leave so he drove back onto lake hermann road
00:05:41
and headed in the opposite direction of the chevy towards benetia keeping an eye on the rear view mirror
00:05:50
william watched the chevy reverse into the turnout within seconds it turned around
00:05:57
rolled back onto lake hermann road and sped up until it was right behind william
00:06:04
the chevy's driver then started flashing his high beams william was tempted to pull over and
00:06:10
confront the driver but his terrified girlfriend convinced him not to instead he sped up to create some
00:06:18
distance between the two vehicles the other driver matched his speed and then some
00:06:26
william glanced back the chevy's right front fender was closing in on the sports car's rear
00:06:34
quarter panel irritation turned to dread as william shifted to a lower gear and slammed the
00:06:41
gas pedal to the floor up ahead was a fork in the road the chevy remained hot on william's tail
00:06:50
as he sped towards it waiting until the very last moment william gave the steering wheel a sharp
00:06:57
turn sending his car flying down the turn-off the chevy far too heavy to make such a
00:07:05
tight turn so quickly barreled onwards after traveling 200 yards william braked to a stop
00:07:16
he turned to look back towards the intersection and was shocked to see the chevy sitting idle in the middle of lake
00:07:23
hermann road burning with rage william yelled expletives and threats in the direction
00:07:30
of the other driver the chevy waded in the darkness its engine quietly rumbling in response
00:07:40
after a short wait the chevy finally began to move william watched nervously his foot
00:07:48
resting against the accelerator the chevy performed a u-turn and to william's surprise drove back towards
00:07:57
vallejo the chase was over the impulse to go after the chevy and face its driver was soon overwhelmed by
00:08:07
the instinct to do the exact opposite following his guard william drove home [Music]
00:08:39
[Music] a short while later a two-toned 1961 amc rambler station wagon pulled into the
00:08:51
gravel turnout at gate 10. seventeen-year-old david faraday had borrowed the car from his mother so he
00:08:59
could take sixteen-year-old betty lou jensen out for their first date the pair had recently met while serving
00:09:06
on a decorating committee for an upcoming music festival david was the quintessential
00:09:13
good-natured all-american youth who split his spare time between the eagle scouts and his high school wrestling
00:09:20
team betty lou a popular student at a neighbouring school was smitten by december 20 1968 betty lou had only
00:09:31
known david for one week but all signs pointed to him becoming her first boyfriend
00:09:38
at eight o'clock that night david arrived at the jensen house to formally meet betty lou's parents
00:09:45
after he'd made a good impression the teens left with david promising to have betty lou home by 11.
00:09:56
the teens were cutting it close to curfew when they parked at the turnout at around 10 15
00:10:02
reclining in their seats betty lou rested her head on david's shoulder and looked out the windshield at the
00:10:09
darkened fields to the east she had never been on a date before but the fact they'd ended up on lake hermann
00:10:16
road meant that things were going well they had the turnout to themselves with only the occasional car passing by
00:10:26
and the teens soon lost track of time it was minutes after 11 pm when their solitude was disturbed by a bright light
00:10:37
it was emanating from a pencil-sized flashlight that was taped to the barrel of a handgun
00:10:45
a male's voice ordered betty lou and david to get out when the teenagers failed to follow his
00:10:53
order he started firing one bullet ricocheted off the roof above the rambler's back passenger door
00:11:02
another punctured the left rear wheel well the third pierced the right rear window
00:11:09
causing the glass to crack these were just warning shots now betty lou and david did as they were
00:11:17
told a frightened betty lou unlocked her door and stepped into the cold night david followed closely behind scrambling
00:11:29
over the bench seat from the driver's side he had barely lifted himself out when
00:11:35
the gun was pressed to his head and its trigger was pulled david tumbled from the car and fell on
00:11:43
his back by the rambler's rear wheel betty lou sprinted towards the road the shooter raised his weapon and fired
00:11:52
off six quick shots one bullet flew right by her the rest burrowed into the right side of
00:12:00
her back causing her to collapse onto her side a few strides shy of the road with both teams down
00:12:10
the attacker fled he didn't pass stella borges who was driving along lake herman road to pick
00:12:22
her son up from a movie theater in benetia it was approaching 11 15 pm when stella
00:12:29
reached the gravel turnout leading to the water pumping station as she navigated the turn her car's
00:12:37
headlights swept across the area illuminating a tan-colored station wagon it sat alone in the dark its passenger
00:12:46
side door wide open a young man was lying on the ground stella's stomach lurched
00:12:55
then she saw the body of a young woman sprawled closer to the road too frightened to pull over stella sped
00:13:04
onwards to benicia she turned down east second street and spotted a police cruiser in the distance
00:13:12
desperate to get the officer's attention stella frantically honked her horn and flashed her headlights
00:13:21
word of stella's discovery spread quickly with police and paramedics converging at the turnout
00:13:29
as they approached the body of betty lou jensen it became clear she was deceased
00:13:36
lying closer to the rambler was david faraday as officers moved in they noticed a
00:13:43
fleeting misty cloud escape david's lips he was still breathing he was rushed to hospital but died along
00:13:52
the way hours earlier david faraday had marched across the grounds of hogan high school
00:14:02
where betty lou was an honour roll student but david wasn't looking for betty lou
00:14:10
witnesses watched as the typically mild-mannered david confronted sixteen-year-old richard burton
00:14:18
the pair exchanged some heated words though they were discreet enough not to draw the attention of any nearby
00:14:25
teachers fearful that he'd soon be spotted and to get in trouble david left before the
00:14:31
altercation became physical word of this confrontation reached detectives investigating david's murder
00:14:41
they visited hogan high where they examined betty lou's locker in her binder for english class they
00:14:48
found a note she had written do you know a kid named richard burton it read i was going with him until two days
00:14:58
before the installation he still phones me and is threatening me to keep away from dave
00:15:06
he said that if he's ever close enough to dave he would punch him one in the teeth
00:15:12
i told him to leave me alone if he knows what's good for him police were familiar with richard burton
00:15:21
who was also known as ricky he was currently on probation for stealing an outsider with few friends ricky was
00:15:31
often seen walking the school halls with betty lou and was rumored to be pursuing
00:15:36
a relationship with her when betty lou started seeing david ricky was jealous he'd been harassing her ever since
00:15:47
sometimes calling her house every 15 minutes betty lou was convinced ricky was spying
00:15:55
on her and advised her sister and mother to keep the curtains closed at all times
00:16:02
on several occasions they'd found the side gate to their house mysteriously open
00:16:10
although they had no evidence to prove it the jensen family suspected ricky might have been prowling around
00:16:20
the evening before she was killed betty lou confided in her sister melody that she was afraid of ricky
00:16:27
he had threatened to tell betty lou's parents some of her secrets such as the fact that she was a smoker and had
00:16:35
started a relationship with david ricky had also threatened to beat david up using brass knuckles
00:16:44
melody advised betty lou to beat ricky to it and tell their parents about david herself
00:16:52
betty lou followed her sister's advice and introduced her parents to david before they left for their date
00:17:00
when questioned ricky said the last time he'd spoken to betty lou was around 4 30
00:17:06
p.m on thursday december 19. he hadn't been at school that day so he'd called her at home to see if there
00:17:15
was anything he'd missed he denied exchanging heated words with david on the day of the murders and
00:17:23
insisted he'd never made any threats to david's face ricky was surprised but not upset to
00:17:31
hear about the note betty lou had written about him ricky maintained he was home all night
00:17:39
when david and betty lou were attacked it was his sister's birthday and the family ate cake and watched a movie
00:17:47
together until 11 pm ricky said he went to bed at around 11 30 and learned of the shootings the
00:17:55
following day his parents confirmed his alibi they explained that ricky wasn't allowed
00:18:04
out after 9 00 pm and even if he was he didn't have access to a car his mother had a marone pontiac grand
00:18:14
prix but ricky wasn't permitted to drive it nor did he have access to a gun [Music]
00:18:22
detectives accepted ricky's alibi as iron clad but didn't cross him off the list completely
00:18:32
as the new year approached they explored a different theory the crime scene had yielded a few clues
00:18:40
the night of the murders was cold at just 22 degrees fahrenheit and the ground had frozen solid
00:18:48
this meant there were no traceable shoe or tyre prints at the turnout neither victim was robbed there was no
00:18:56
sign of sexual assault a struggle hadn't taken place it was all so needless detectives
00:19:05
thought they began to consider the possibility that the crime was carried out by a
00:19:11
motive-less murderous maniac who didn't know david or betty lou ten 22-caliber long-rifle bullet casings
00:19:21
were found around the rambler stamped with the winchester superx brand logo the majority of the casings were
00:19:30
scattered on the ground by the passenger side indicating that after the killer shot david faraday he either ordered
00:19:37
betty lou to run or she did so instinctively while he fired at her as sheriff sergeant explained to the
00:19:47
press quote the killer needed no artificial lighting in shooting the girl since she was
00:19:54
running on a plateau and her body was silhouetted against the sky [Music] while the type of gun used in the
00:20:03
shooting was unknown microscopic analysis of the spent bullets determined they were likely fired from a handgun
00:20:11
possibly a jc higgins model 80 a high standard model 101 or some other semi-automatic pistol
00:20:20
locals were willing to cooperate with authorities surrendering their guns for testing
00:20:27
of those handed in all were ruled out as the murder weapon with little evidence to go on
00:20:36
investigators had to rely heavily on witness recollections this wasn't ideal given that human
00:20:44
memory is inconsistent and easily influenced but they didn't have much choice although no one had seen the shooting
00:20:53
several people had passed through the area enabling detectives to put together a relatively accurate timeline
00:21:01
it was through these witness statements that a crucial clue finally emerged before david and betty lou arrived at
00:21:14
the gate 10 turnout a suspicious vehicle was seen cruising up and down lake hermann road intermittently pulling in
00:21:22
and out of the turnout descriptions of its make model and colour varied as it had been too dark
00:21:30
for anyone to get a good look some thought it was white while others said cream blue or grey
00:21:38
the number of occupants seen inside varied but a late 50s chevrolet impala appeared
00:21:45
in three independent witness reports including that of william crowe who claimed it had chased him from the
00:21:53
turnout just over an hour before david and betty lou were killed had william and his girlfriend crossed
00:22:01
paths with the killer and managed to elude him forcing him to find a new target witness james owen was the only person
00:22:12
who drove by the turnout around the time of the shooting he was on his way to work the night
00:22:19
shift at his job in benicia when he passed the gate ten and saw the faraday family's rambler
00:22:26
he recalled it with accuracy another vehicle was parked alongside it closer to the gate
00:22:35
james didn't take much notice of this car only noting that it was mid-sized lacking in chrome finishes and was a
00:22:43
dark color this contrasted with other witness descriptions of the chevy impala james said he didn't see anyone in or
00:22:55
near either vehicle but described hearing a gunshot once he was a quarter mile down the road
00:23:04
while james owens statement seemed significant it wasn't particularly reliable whatever the case neither the owner of
00:23:14
the vehicle james allegedly witnessed nor that of the chevy impala came forward to police
00:23:21
[Music] sixteen miles north of vallejo in the city of napa eighteen-year-old linda
00:23:30
heard a knock at her front door her husband 20 year old larry was working the night shift at a nearby gas
00:23:39
station leaving linda home alone she peered outside and saw a man in his late 20s standing there
00:23:49
he was about five foot eleven with black hair and an acne scarred face linda recognized him right away
00:23:59
it was pete a former neighbor who had once lived in the same apartment complex as the couple
00:24:06
pete hadn't been inside for long when he abruptly asked linda what would you do if i raped you
00:24:16
linda was terrified she knew that pete carried a fishing knife in his pocket and also possessed a
00:24:23
rifle and a handgun without missing a beat linda replied that she would bang on the wall and her
00:24:30
neighbour would phone the police undeterred by this response pete asked linda if she was happy
00:24:39
she replied that she was happy people pissed me off pete complained he began telling linda how he'd been
00:24:50
arguing with his wife and how all the people in his new neighborhood were stabbing him in the back
00:24:57
he'd decided to go south to vallejo or maybe reading a city 190 miles north linda did her best to remain calm
00:25:11
when pete finally left 45 minutes later she could hear someone walking around outside but didn't look to see who it
00:25:19
was linda subsequently told larry about the distressing encounter he was shaken pete had visited him at work about 15
00:25:32
minutes before heading over to the couple's home as though checking to make sure linda would be alone
00:25:40
the couple reported the incident to police pete's mention of vallejo and the fact
00:25:47
he owned multiple firearms seemed suspicious in the wake of david faraday and betty lou jensen's murders exactly
00:25:55
one week earlier neither linda nor larry could recall pete's surname but they knew he drove a
00:26:02
blue 1952 chevrolet coop and also owned a cream and marone buick pete was just one of many suspicious
00:26:15
individuals to emerge in the faraday jensen murder investigation an unidentified prowler in a blue car
00:26:23
who roamed benicia at night was another and investigators also examined suspects
00:26:29
from other violent crimes yet as the wakes turned to months with no arrests it seemed increasingly
00:26:38
unlikely that the killer would be apprehended and the case slowly faded from public attention
00:26:46
after questioning more than 100 people and amassing a four inch thick case file police were at a loss
00:26:55
as were the victims families who collectively shook their heads during an interview with the sunday times herald
00:27:02
when asked if they had any idea who the killer was fearful the perpetrator might strike
00:27:10
again betty lou's father remarked i feel some nut is on the loose david's mother agreed adding
00:27:21
and he'll find it easier the next time [Music] case file will be back shortly thank you
00:27:36
for supporting us by listening to this episode sponsors you know what's not fun feeling locked
00:27:43
into a grueling exercise routine and a restrictive diet you know what is fun eating healthy doing exercise that you
00:27:52
enjoy living your life and reaching your weight loss goals at the same time it's what case file team member jess has
00:28:00
been doing for months now with the help of noom noom doesn't believe in restricting what
00:28:05
you can and can't eat noom gives you the knowledge and wisdom to make choices that fit in with your lifestyle and
00:28:12
achieve your goals ever since jess started with noom her life has changed for the better
00:28:19
it started with the jess wanting to lose weight that was her focus and only goal
00:28:24
but with noom jess started to realize that there was more to it than that it became less about losing weight and more
00:28:32
about feeling great having energy and being happy she's lost kilos in the process but
00:28:39
that's just an added bonus sign up for your trial and get psychology-based support and motivation
00:28:46
to reach your goals at n o o m dot com slash case file that's n o o m dot com slash case file to sign up for
00:28:58
your trial this podcast is sponsored by better help online therapy we talk about better help a lot on this
00:29:08
show and this month we're discussing some of the stigmas around mental health for example we've been taught that
00:29:16
mental health shouldn't be part of normal life but just like we go to the gym and eat healthy foods to nourish our
00:29:23
bodies we should be focusing on our minds just as much as our listeners would know the case
00:29:29
file team have been using betterhelp for a while now it's the ease and availability of knowledgeable therapists
00:29:36
that is what makes betterhelp invaluable better help is customized online therapy
00:29:42
that offers video phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist so you don't have to see anyone on camera if
00:29:49
you don't want to it's much more affordable than in-person therapy and you can be matched with a
00:29:55
therapist in under 48 hours give it a try and to see why over 2 million people have used better help
00:30:03
online therapy this podcast is sponsored by better help and case file listeners get 10 off their
00:30:10
first month at betterhelp.com slash case file that's b e t t e r h e l p dot com slash case file
00:30:29
[Music] the night of friday july 4 1969 six months after the murders of david faraday and betty lou jensen
00:30:41
in vallejo california it was close to midnight and independence day celebrations were well
00:30:49
underway all across the san francisco bay area when a man drove away from the festivities and fireworks searching for
00:30:57
some place quiet he headed inland where suburbia soon gave way to the peaceful countryside
00:31:07
after passing lake hermann road and the sprawling grounds of the blue rock springs parker golf course he pulled his
00:31:15
car into an unsealed unlit parking area overshadowed by tree-covered hills the area was deserted with the exception
00:31:25
of one other car a brown two-door 1963 chevrolet corvair faced the parklands towards the southern
00:31:35
corner of the lot its engine and lights were off but its radio was playing loudly
00:31:44
two figures were inside they were a young couple 22 year old darlene farren and her passenger 19 year
00:31:53
old michael majo the pair had met at the restaurant where darlene worked as a waitress and became
00:32:01
close over the course of a few months darlene picked michael up that night and had taken him to blue rock springs park
00:32:10
because it was secluded she said there was something important she needed to tell him
00:32:19
before long their privacy was interrupted by the rumble of an engine and the sound of tyres crunching on
00:32:26
loose gravel another car rolled to a stop less than eight feet away from the corvair's left
00:32:33
side where darlene sat in the driver's seat the two cars were very similar in appearance right down to the california
00:32:42
license plates though the corvair's brown paint job was a slightly darker shade darlene and michael eyed the other car
00:32:54
behind the steering wheel was a lone male he switched off his vehicle's headlights
00:33:01
and sat silently in the dark michael often teased darlene about her wide circle of friends so he jokingly
00:33:10
asked if she knew the guy brushing him off darlene gave a vague reply oh never mind
00:33:21
the mysterious stranger didn't stay long within minutes his car rumbled to life and he drove away
00:33:30
five minutes later he was back this time he parked about 10 feet to the right of the corvair
00:33:40
the man stepped outside gripping the handle of a high-powered flashlight he walked up to the corvair's open front
00:33:48
passenger side window and aimed the flashlight directly into michael and darlene's eyes blinding them
00:33:57
michael assumed the man was a police officer wondering what they were up to and reached for his id
00:34:05
as he did so the man pulled out a pistol without saying a word he began firing into the corvair
00:34:15
michael was struck in the right arm another bullet penetrated his right cheek went through his tongue out the
00:34:23
left side of his neck and into darlene the passenger side door handle was broken preventing michael from escaping
00:34:32
the car he tried to scramble over into the back seat but was halted by agonizing pain as
00:34:39
the shooter casually unloaded his pistol at him then just as quickly as it started the
00:34:46
shooting spree was over darlene slumped against the steering wheel bleeding from her arm shoulder
00:34:54
chest and back michael had sustained similar wounds the shooter began walking back to his
00:35:03
car when he abruptly stopped turned around and marched back to the corvair unable to conceal his pain
00:35:13
michael majo had let out an anguished yell revealing that he was still alive looking inside to where his victims lay
00:35:22
bleeding the man shot each of them once more michael thrashed and was hid in the knee
00:35:30
darlene didn't react at all satisfied he'd finished what he started the shooter drove away from the scene
00:35:39
slowly so as not to draw any attention to his car it was just after midnight when three
00:35:49
teens arrived at blue rock springs park the trio had been driving around looking
00:35:55
for a friend their search led them to the parking lot adjacent to the golf course where they
00:36:02
noticed a single vehicle in the southern corner shrouded in darkness its radio was blaring but everything
00:36:10
else was eerily quiet the teens paused wondering if their friend was inside suddenly the car's headlights flicked on
00:36:21
and a man's voice cried out the teens flashed their vehicles high beams in response illuminating a brown
00:36:29
chevrolet corvair splattered with blood a young man tumbled out of the car and writhed on the ground
00:36:37
his black hair was a mess and his clothes were stained red he pleaded for the teens to get help
00:36:46
then he called out the name darlene a blonde woman sitting in the vehicle's driver's seat let out a pained moan in
00:36:55
reply the teens raised the alarm and police raced to the scene they found michael mojo sprawled
00:37:04
alongside the corvair still clinging to consciousness he winced in pain as he told the officers
00:37:11
he'd been shot darlene ferran was still sitting behind the steering wheel her head was tilted and pressed against
00:37:20
the driver's side window her pulse was weak and her breathing was shallow she tried to say something but was only
00:37:30
able to utter the words i or my before passing out half an hour later at 12 40 am the phone
00:37:41
rang at the vallejo police department dispatcher nancy slova answered a man on the other line immediately
00:37:51
started talking i want to report a double murder he stated a matter of factly nancy assumed he was a local law
00:38:02
passerby who'd overheard the goings-on at blue rock springs park police were already on scene but she
00:38:10
continued the call as per protocol and asked the man for his name and location he cut her off speaking loudly over the
00:38:19
top of her in a flat unwavering manner as though he'd rehearsed what he was going to say
00:38:27
if you go to one mile east on columbus parkway to the public park you will find the kids in a brown car
00:38:35
they were shot with a nine millimeter luger the caller's tone shifted in a deeper more taunting voice he ended
00:38:45
the call with the word goodbye [Music] nancy tried to patch the call through to a desk officer but the man hung up
00:38:57
before she had the chance she hadn't detected anything distinctive about his voice and didn't have the
00:39:04
equipment to record the call but it was able to be traced three officers rushed to the corner of
00:39:13
tuolumne street and springs road in east vallejo their destination was a 10-minute drive
00:39:20
from the crime scene via columbus parkway positioned on the street corner was joe's union gas station
00:39:30
on the curb in front was a phone booth it was empty by the time police arrived over at blue rock springs park the
00:39:44
search for evidence was turning up dry only two partial fingerprints were lifted from the corvair's right side
00:39:52
door handle the opposite problem arose with the phone booth id had far too many fingerprints
00:40:00
making it impossible to isolate any as belonging to the anonymous caller who'd claimed responsibility for the shooting
00:40:09
at the time the call was placed the gas station was closed and no witnesses came
00:40:15
forward to say they'd seen anyone at the pay phone all police had to work with were seven
00:40:22
nine millimeter bullet casings found on the right side of darlene ferran's corvair
00:40:28
they were western brand and fit luger pistols the gun the caller identified as being
00:40:35
used in the shooting what prompted the attack remained a mystery darlene's handbag and michael's wallet
00:40:44
had not been taken there was no sign of sexual assault or a struggle why the person believed to be
00:40:53
responsible had phoned police in the aftermath of his crime was equally puzzling
00:40:59
it was clear from his manner of speaking that he wasn't apologetic upset or frightened
00:41:06
he hadn't tried to justify his crime or shift blame all he wanted was to let the police know
00:41:13
what was him but who was he within three hours of the shooting a man arrived at the vallejo police department
00:41:26
inquiring about darlene ferran he had heard she'd been hurt and sought further information
00:41:34
the man was darlene's husband dean he said he'd last seen darlene at 10 30 pm when she visited him at the
00:41:44
restaurant where he worked as a chef although darlene was alive when first responders arrived at blue rock springs
00:41:52
park she had died on route to the hospital when informed of his wife's outcome dean
00:42:00
farron crumpled to the floor sobbing he was aware of his wife's close friendship with michael majo but said he
00:42:09
didn't harbor any animosity towards the young man over it while romantic rotary jealousy
00:42:17
heartbreak or revenge all seemed like promising motives dean was at work when the shootings took place
00:42:26
darlene's first husband whom she divorced two years prior was also ruled out uncovering a suspect from the victim's
00:42:36
social circles proved difficult there was a general consensus among those who knew darlene and michael that
00:42:43
neither had any enemies nor were they in any trouble two days after the shooting
00:42:51
investigators visited the mojo family home and spoke with michael's loved ones but left without any breakthroughs
00:43:00
once they returned to the vallejo police station the phone rang on the other line was stephen majo
00:43:09
michael's twin brother although he hadn't been able to think of anything significant when he spoke to
00:43:16
detectives earlier a disturbing memory had since emerged from the back of his mind
00:43:23
it came with a name george waters months before she was killed darlene had told stephen about an incident with a
00:43:36
man named george waters stephen had initially dismissed darlene's story but since her murder it
00:43:44
had taken on a new significance darlene revealed that waters who was known to pester her at work had shown up
00:43:53
at her home and broken in once she was inside he threatened to rape her darlene told stephen that she managed to
00:44:02
talk waters out of hurting her 29 year old george waters didn't have a criminal record but he had a reputation
00:44:12
at the restaurant where darlene worked he often teased darlene whom he referred to as
00:44:20
dd darlene hated the nickname and often was riled up by george to the point of becoming angry
00:44:29
up until about a month and a half earlier george visited the eatery almost every
00:44:34
night after that the staff didn't see him anymore waters was taken in for questioning
00:44:44
where he admitted to teasing darlene but denied threatening or harming her in any
00:44:49
way he maintained that he last saw her about six weeks prior around the time others said he'd stopped
00:44:57
visiting the restaurant at the time waters observed that darlene was quieter than usual
00:45:05
but their interaction was otherwise unremarkable as for his whereabouts on the night of
00:45:13
july 4 waters said he went to a fireworks display with his wife they returned home at around 11pm and
00:45:22
stayed there for the remainder of the night waters denied having a gun or ever visiting blue rock springs park with
00:45:30
darlene he owned three cars none of which were deemed relevant to the case as the investigation progressed it
00:45:42
seemed less and less likely that darlene and michael knew their assailant turning their attention elsewhere
00:45:51
investigators noticed that a peculiar figure seemed to appear in multiple tip-offs from the public
00:45:59
he was described as a heavyset white man with curly hair who drove a brown car a man fitting this description allegedly
00:46:09
approached a couple in vallejo saying he'd been involved in the shooting of two people and needed a ride to cena
00:46:15
maria a similar man was named in an anonymous letter sent to the vallejo police department
00:46:23
with the letter's author claiming he owned a suspicious vehicle and was quote about 25
00:46:31
over 200 pounds brownish thinning hair sloppy fat and strange acting but the most compelling witness
00:46:42
statement regarding a curly-haired heavyset man came from michael majo although darlene farren had succumbed to
00:46:51
her injuries on route to the hospital michael miraculously survived following life-saving surgery
00:47:00
detectives visited his bedside as he recovered in hospital and were able to obtain a first-hand account of the
00:47:07
shooting michael described the shooter as a heavyset man with light curly hair aged
00:47:14
in his twenties an evening in february or march 1969 three to four months before darlene
00:47:27
ferran was murdered karen stood at the window her attention drawn to the street beyond
00:47:36
a lone male figure was sitting outside in a stationary white american sedan karen couldn't see much only managing to
00:47:46
catch a quick glimpse of the man whenever he lit a cigarette or switched on the vehicle's dome light
00:47:53
karen was a babysitter and that night she was at the home of darlene ferran to look after her daughter
00:48:02
darlene and her husband dean were both out and karen had no idea who the stranger loitering outside their home
00:48:10
was he remained seated in the white car for about two hours by the time dean faron arrived home at
00:48:20
around midnight the car was gone when karen returned to babysit again the following night the presence of the
00:48:29
strange car lingered in her mind she told darlene about it while she applied her makeup in the bathroom
00:48:38
a look of fear flashed across darlene's face she said i guess he's checking up on me
00:48:47
i heard that he was back from out of state he doesn't want anyone to know what i
00:48:52
saw him do i saw him murder someone darlene had mentioned the man's name but by the time investigators spoke to karen
00:49:05
in relation to darlene's murder her memory had faded she believed that the name was something
00:49:12
short maybe three or four letters long darlene had also said that the man sometimes checked up on her at work
00:49:23
in the hopes of jogging karen's memory investigators arranged for her to see a hypnotist
00:49:31
while karen was still unable to remember the man's name she recalled more of his
00:49:36
physical features he was white middle-aged with a heavyset build and a round face framed by dark
00:49:44
brown curly hair the heavyset suspect had re-emerged but his identity remained a secret
00:49:57
now it seemed darlene had known her killer and her chilling remark i saw him murder someone became a mystery in and
00:50:05
of itself just whose murder darlene was referring to was unknown but speculation ran rife
00:50:15
three miles down the road from the blue rock springs parking lot where darlene was murdered was lake hermann road
00:50:23
from there it was a four-minute drive to the turnout of the gated number 10 entrance to the benicia water pumping
00:50:30
station where david faraday and betty lou jensen were gunned down six months earlier
00:50:38
when vallejo police dispatcher nancy slovak received the call from an anonymous male taking responsibility for
00:50:46
the blue rock springs shooting he had made a chilling remark before hanging up after providing key information about
00:50:55
his attack against darlene and michael he added i also killed those kids last year
00:51:05
the similarities between the faraday jensen and the farron majo shootings were obvious to investigators the moment
00:51:12
they arrived at the blue rock springs park a young couple a remote location with a
00:51:19
water-based name a handgun lack of emotive or suspects the randomness of the attack
00:51:30
while the caller could have been lying investigators were open to the possibility that the same offender had
00:51:36
gunned down all four victims in the aftermath of the blue rock springs park shooting an anonymous
00:51:44
letter was sent to the case detectives it cast suspicion on the occupant of a house near lake hermann
00:51:53
right near where david and betty lou were killed according to the nameless source a 22
00:52:01
year old man named charles lived there and he was quote off balanced by things that he has done
00:52:08
in the past and are very capable of committing the murders in that area and at blue rock
00:52:17
lead detective on the faron major case sergeant john lynch arrived at the north shore of lake hermann on the lookout for
00:52:25
the suspect's house interestingly charles had a criminal history detective lynch had already tried
00:52:34
calling the phone number police had on file for him but the line was disconnected
00:52:40
so the detective decided to seek charles out in person his house shouldn't have been hard to
00:52:48
find given it had a unique characteristic it was pink eventually lynch spotted the pink
00:52:58
property it looked as though it belonged to a caretaker and stood alone with no other
00:53:04
houses nearby for several hundred yards lynch approached the building only to discover it was padlocked shard
00:53:15
lynch peered inside the house was clearly vacant as detectives for both murder investigations sifted through an array
00:53:27
of suspects known to the victims it was never far from their mind that the person they were looking for was not a
00:53:34
jilted classmate or crash he was a serial killer on thursday july 31 1969 almost one month after the blue rock
00:53:48
springs park shooting a strange envelope arrived at the editorial department of the san
00:53:54
francisco chronicle newspaper it was postmarked from the san francisco area and featured no address
00:54:03
just the name of the newspaper followed by the message please rush to editor case file will be back shortly thank you
00:54:24
for supporting us by listening to this episode sponsors love is in the air and while romance is
00:54:32
great it's important to give your brain some love too even in the shortest month you deserve
00:54:38
the maximum amount of me time will case file team member jess get a valentine's day card from her husband
00:54:45
probably not will she be too busy playing best fiends to notice most likely yes best fiends is a mobile puzzle game that
00:54:55
anyone can download and play whether you have a few minutes or a few hours best fiends is the perfect game to
00:55:03
help you unwind the game features tons of cute characters that help you solve thousands
00:55:09
of fun puzzles it's currently the valentine's dance challenge with lots of cool in-game
00:55:15
rewards and prizes on offer download best fiends and give the next challenge a go
00:55:22
new characters and challenges are added all the time with thousands of levels to
00:55:26
keep you busy jess is currently on level 335 and is working towards getting the poet
00:55:34
gordon fiend ready to give your brain some tlc download best fiends free today on the
00:55:41
app store or google play that's friends without vr best fiends it's true old habits die hard
00:55:53
so if you're looking to kick off the new year with new healthy eating habits you
00:55:58
can get a quick start with sunbasket meals sunbasket delivers the joy of eating with bold flavors organic produce
00:56:07
and sustainable seafood and meats their award-winning chefs are constantly innovating with new recipes and global
00:56:14
tastes to keep it interesting each week plus they've got healthy snacks or grab-and-go breakfast items for busy
00:56:22
mornings whether you eat vegetarian paleo gluten-free or low-carb high-protein sunbasket has something to check every
00:56:32
box with recipes such as pan seared salmon tikka masala over rainbow quinoa or honey balsamic glazed chicken with warm
00:56:41
cabbage apple salad you can put dinner on autopilot with easy to prep meal kits meals that are sure to impress on a date
00:56:50
night or win over the picky eaters in your family set up weekly delivery and skip a week
00:56:56
when you need to it's simple and easy and you will love it right now sunbasket is offering ninety
00:57:03
dollars off and a free gift when you order go to sunbasket.com slash case file and enter promo code
00:57:12
case file at checkout that's sunbasket.com case file and enter promo code case file
00:57:21
thank you for listening to this episode's ads by supporting our sponsors you support case file to continue to
00:57:28
deliver quality content [Music] a curious editor glanced at the envelope before opening it
00:57:44
inside was a double-sided handwritten letter riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
00:57:52
it read dear editor this is the murderer of the two teenagers last christmas at lake hermann
00:58:00
and the girl on the 4th of july near the golf course in vallejo to prove i killed them i shall state
00:58:08
some facts which only i and the police know at christmas one brand name of ammo super x
00:58:18
two ten shots were fired three the boy was on his back with his feet to the car four
00:58:28
the girl was on her right side feet to the west fourth of july 1. girl was wearing patterned slacks
00:58:40
2. the boy was also shot in the knee 3. brand name of ammo was western here is part of a cipher
00:58:53
the other two parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the vallejo times and san francisco examiner
00:59:01
i want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper in this cipher is my identity
00:59:10
if you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of friday 1st of august 69 i will go on a kill rampage friday night
00:59:20
i will cruise around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to
00:59:26
kill again until i end up with a dozen people over the weekend beneath this final line was a hand-drawn
00:59:35
illustration of a cross-hair circle similar to a gun sight it appeared the author was taking credit
00:59:43
for the december 1968 murders of david faraday and betty lou jensen as well as the more recent attack against michael
00:59:51
majo and darlene farron the cipher he referred to was drawn on a smaller sheet of paper
01:00:01
it displayed a series of 136 characters organized into 8 neat rows and 17 columns
01:00:10
they ranged from letters of the alphabet to less familiar symbols and shapes such
01:00:15
as mathematical signs naval figures and the same crosshair that the author had used to sign off his ladder
01:00:26
across town and in nearby vallejo near identical notes arrived at the editorial departments of the san francisco
01:00:34
examiner and the vallejo times herald they also contained additional portions of the cryptogram
01:00:43
with all three combined the cipher featured a total of 408 characters which led to it being dubbed the 408
01:00:54
police examined each letter for latent fingerprints and sent copies of the cipher to the us navy radio station
01:01:01
cryptographic unit all they could deduce was that the rider may have been involved with the navy and
01:01:09
was possibly formally trained in encryption editors at all three newspapers debated
01:01:17
whether or not to print the cipher as instructed some felt the public had a right to know
01:01:23
that a murderer was threatening to go on a killing spree however they were reluctant to succumb
01:01:30
to a criminal's demands or cause unnecessary public distress as the city's headlines were already
01:01:37
dominated by other violent crimes and the turbulent vietnam war on the other hand the cipher had a
01:01:47
greater chance of being solved if more people could examine it the editors finally decided to publish
01:01:55
the cryptogram but refused to meet the author's demands regarding the deadline or front page spot
01:02:04
the san francisco examiner also ran an article pointing out that investigators couldn't be certain of the author's
01:02:11
guilt until he disclosed more details about the crimes on august 4 a three-page letter arrived
01:02:22
at the san francisco examiner it began in answer to you're asking for more details about the good times i've had in
01:02:32
vallejo i shall be very happy to supply even more material by the way are the police having a good
01:02:40
time with the code if not tell them to cheer up when they do crack it they will have me
01:02:51
as the newspaper requested the author gave more details about the crimes including some that hadn't been released
01:02:59
to the public he pointed out things that detectives were wrong about like their assertion to the press that
01:03:07
he would have been able to see betty lou jensen's silhouette as she ran across the turnout
01:03:14
[ __ ] he wrote that area is surrounded by high hills and trees he corrected them by explaining that
01:03:23
he'd actually attached a small flashlight to his gun in order to see his targets better in the dark
01:03:30
he also took responsibility for the disturbing phone call that dispatcher nancy slova received at the vallejo
01:03:37
police department which he described as having some fun with the vallejo cops the letter concluded
01:03:47
[Music] i was not happy to see that i did not get front page coverage followed by the same hand-drawn
01:03:55
crosshair symbol featured on the previous letter the san francisco examiner published an
01:04:03
article about the latest letter and included a lengthy excerpt due to the author's self-introduction
01:04:10
the police media and public finally had a name for the perpetrator from this point on
01:04:19
he was known as the zodiac killer many people seemed to fit the zodiac characterization in some capacity
01:04:32
a troubled young man named david was reported after his former foster mother realised he'd been in vallejo for his
01:04:39
brother's funeral at the time of david faraday and betty lou jensen's murders while there he'd been gifted a firearm
01:04:48
that had belonged to his brother a 22-caliber rifle most notably of all when david was upset
01:04:57
he would soothe himself by creating cryptograms some of these were passed along to
01:05:03
detectives for examination but they deemed david an unlikely suspect a wife reported her ex-husband as he was
01:05:14
known to sign his letters with a crosshair-like symbol another suspect came to light after a
01:05:21
couple received a letter from a distant relative claiming he was a killer for the mafia and needed help
01:05:29
the letter was sent for handwriting analysis with fingerprints lifted and compared to the partial prints on file
01:05:37
he was ruled out of the investigation many suspects were interviewed simply because those who reported them thought
01:05:46
they had acted strangely and or they owned a gun while each person varied in intrigue the
01:05:54
actual killer alluded investigators 41 year old donald harden was a history and economics teacher from the
01:06:06
californian city of salinas in his spare time he liked to create amateur cryptograms
01:06:15
he and his wife betty had seen the zodiac killers 408 cipher published in the newspapers and decided to try to
01:06:23
solve it their first move was to figure out which symbol might represent the letter e the
01:06:30
most commonly used letter in the english language however the killer had apparently
01:06:37
anticipated this approach and deliberately used 12 different symbols to signify e to thwart would be code
01:06:45
breakers donald and betty considered the matter for a while then tried a different tack
01:06:53
they figured the author had likely used the word kill more than once so they began looking for four letter patterns
01:07:01
that would fit with this for 20 hours they painstakingly chipped away at the code
01:07:09
finally they cracked it the decoded message read i like killing people because it is so
01:07:19
much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most
01:07:26
dangerous animal of all to kill something gives me the most thrilling experience
01:07:33
it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it is that when i die i
01:07:40
will be reborn in paradise and all the people i have killed will become my slaves
01:07:47
i will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife
01:07:56
[Music] following this was a garbled string of 18 letters that couldn't be deciphered
01:08:03
using the code donald suspected that a separate method would be needed to unravel this final
01:08:10
sentence and that it might hold the key to the zodiac's identity he sent the decoded message to the san
01:08:19
francisco chronicle along with several sheets of paper that he'd scribbled his work notes on
01:08:26
the newspaper's editors received the documents on august 8 and immediately notified vallejo detective sergeant john
01:08:34
lynch detective lynch raced up to san francisco to collect the letter and worksheets
01:08:42
as he cast his eyes over the decoded message he was hit by a wave of disappointment
01:08:48
he'd hoped it would contain specific information about the killer's identity the message was also sent to the
01:08:57
president of the american cryptogram association who agreed with donald's translation
01:09:04
to him it was clear that the person who had created the cipher was extremely adept
01:09:10
at designing codes the biggest clue in the message was the killer's description of humans as the
01:09:18
most dangerous animal of all this was likely a reference to a short story titled the most dangerous game
01:09:27
in which a character kills people for sport after growing bored with hunting animals
01:09:35
the decoded cipher was published and people soon started coming forward claiming they could help decipher the
01:09:42
gobbled text at the end one thought it might read robert emmett the hippie another believed it could be a coded
01:09:52
phone number one tipster informed the police that the killer's reference to accumulating
01:09:58
slaves for the afterlife was a spiritual concept found in parts of the philippines and that the zodiac may have
01:10:06
a connection to the area all of these theories were investigated but nothing came of them
01:10:15
detectives were no closer to identifying a suspect and fears grew that the zodiac
01:10:21
could soon strike again [Music] almost three months later rookie officer david slate was manning the telephone
01:10:33
switchboard of the napa police department when a call came through at 7 40 pm a male voice was on the other
01:10:42
line in a calm tone he stated i want to report a murder no a double murder they are two miles north of park
01:10:55
headquarters they were in a white volkswagen carmen gear [Music] officer slate thought the caller sounded
01:11:05
young as though he was in his early twenties trying to coax out more information the
01:11:12
officer asked the man where he was in a quiet barely audible voice the caller simply replied
01:11:23
i'm the one who did it [Music] to be continued next week [Music] the australian federal police is
01:11:51
australia's national policing agency their work includes counter-terrorism serious organized crime cyber crime
01:12:00
fraud child exploitation and human trafficking within human trafficking it's a tight rope to walk between
01:12:08
prosecuting someone for a human trafficking offence and looking after the victim her nose was bleeding
01:12:13
profusely they couldn't call ambulance or police because they knew what's going to happen the money that she had made
01:12:20
during that week was 82 and a half thousand dollars and that was her worst week in 10 years the case file team has
01:12:26
been given exclusive access to the afp case vault to bring you stories of some of their most challenging operations
01:12:35
narrated by me you'll hear in-depth interviews with afp federal agents and learn how they investigated and
01:12:42
interrupted the most serious of crimes her level of criminality and just the level of smartness that people didn't
01:12:50
actually attribute to her what our job is in cyber crime is to make it we do know about it gain an
01:12:57
insight into how the afp disrupted a major human trafficking syndicate and arrested a sex offender who targeted
01:13:05
children online by the number of victims that he targeted it wasn't just one child or two children it was hundreds of
01:13:11
children the threat was always there always present like a dark cloud hanging over their heads he kind of mocks one of
01:13:18
the boys where he says you think i'll be caught from investigating counter-terrorism and disrupting major
01:13:25
drug importation chains to international kidnappings we take an inside look at some of the
01:13:32
biggest investigations and learn how the afp stayed a step ahead i was led into the house and i was met
01:13:41
with another two guys one with a handmade pistol another one with a machete this sounds as though he's
01:13:47
really in trouble he doesn't stand himself if you give the money they could kill you or if you don't give them money
01:13:53
they can still kill you when you're talking about a 21 year old offender who still lives at home it's a fair shock to
01:14:00
your dad when the police aren't only knocking at your door they're breaking it down
01:14:05
crime interrupted is the latest release from case file presents the first episode is out now with the
01:14:13
new episodes dropping weekly listen for free wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to hit the follow
01:14:20
button so you don't miss an episode you