May 10, 2022 • 27 mins
As the political machine churned in the background, Detectives Vollten and Rodgers follow up on the information from DC Jail inmate Horace Davis and his claims about Walter Oliver's confession. Another name was dropped by Davis and Karen finds a treasure trove of information and a link that sets her wheels spinning toward a solution.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
There is some question about whether it was an inside job.
That will not be the construction. He absolutely became curious
at the mention of the Carborn murder. I would say
he's ruthless. It can become deadly given certain circumstances, only
for the grace of God to shore and is somehow
(00:25):
found out the Baltimore County Police. Welcome back to Shattered
Souls the Carborn Murders. I'm your host, Karen Smith. This
is episode eight. This podcast may contain graphic language and
is not suitable for children. Previously on the Carborn Murders,
(00:49):
the investigators were running themselves ragged, pursuing suspect after suspect,
only to release everyone without any follow up or explanation.
Lawrence Pettit, George Bruffy, Walter Oliver, Arthur Waugh, Luke Johnson,
Harry Simon, Tony the Stinger, Kugino, William Clark, Bill Cleary.
The list went on and on, and the Carbarn case
(01:12):
was getting ice cold. A year went by, Detective Theodore
Volton received a letter on his desk from Horace Davis,
an inmate of the d C Jail. Detective Volton and
Sergeant Leroy Rogers interviewed Horace Davis in January of nineteen
thirty six. Davis implicated his friend Walter Oliver after Oliver
(01:34):
confessed to being involved in the Carborn murders. Two years later,
in April of nineteen thirty eight, Horace Davis was taken
to the U. S District Attorney's office and he gave
a sworn aff a David regarding his claims. Davis's information
seemed to be accurate. After the detectives followed up on
his story about his involvement with Walter Oliver on an
(01:58):
unreported armed robbery back in nineteen thirty three, they found
the evidence to back it up. Horace Davis was telling
the truth. By the middle of nineteen thirty eight, it
seemed like the State of Maryland was building a case
against Walter Oliver and others, but nothing ever came of it,
and there's no explanation or why the charges were either
(02:19):
noel prost or perhaps just swept under the rug. Things
were percolating in the background as the detectives continued their
ground pounding and the political machine was working overtime. Right
after the Carborn murders, the Capital Transit Company offered a
fifteen hundred dollar reward for information that led to the
(02:41):
suspects that would equate to about thirty thousand dollars today,
And despite that cash reward, even in the desperate times
of the depression, nothing came of it. By nineteen thirty seven,
Transit Company President John Hannah wanted answers, and he had
to sit down with Montgomery Countiest Aid Attorney James Pew
(03:01):
to suggest a changing of the guard. Capital Transit President
John Hannah wanted new, more experienced district detectives assigned to
the case, and he was of the same mindset as
the majority of citizens that there didn't seem to be
a reason why these murders had not been solved after
two years. On February nine, n seven, John Hannah wrote
(03:25):
a letter directly to DC Superintendent of Police, Major Ernest Brown,
outlining his concerns and suggestions. Dear Major Brown. Mr James Pew,
State Attorney for Montgomery County, has just recently called to
see me in connection with the investigation of the murders
of James Mitchell and Emery Smith. He has advised me
(03:46):
that the investigation at this point is not such that
an immediate solution is evident, and there's been little activity
on the part of those detectives who are in the
beginning assigned to this case. In his opinion, if it's
possible for you to assign two of your detectives at
an early date in the future, that a solution is possible.
He also advises us that those suspected of participation in
(04:07):
the crime are all from the District of Columbia. We
don't feel that this request for further cooperation from the
Washington detectives is unreasonable. Very truly yours, John Hannah. The
following day, State Attorney James Pew also wrote to Major
Brown in support of John Hannah's suggestion for more experienced
DC detectives to take over the flailing case and finally
(04:30):
get some closure on behalf of the state of Maryland.
I make this formal request of you to make the
assignment of two trained detectives to complete the unfinished investigation
of the murders of James Mitchell and Emery Smith. I
have come to the conclusion that if you are able
to assign Lieutenant Floyd Truscott and Sergeant Earl Hartman, I
feel satisfied that a solution will be made. It is
(04:51):
not the purpose of this letter to cast reflection on
any detectives who have investigated this case up to the
present time. But the fact remains that it is unsolved. Well,
we have able detectives in Montgomery County, they don't have
the background or the contacts in the district that your
men have. Sincerely yours, James H. Pew. Both men lost
(05:12):
faith in the investigation. Two years passed and the leads
seemed in their minds to be running dry. The detectives
suggested by James Pew, Floyd Truscott and Earl Hartman, were
legendary on the d C Metro Police Department, and they'd
solve numerous high profile cases over the previous decade. State
Attorney James Pew thought that if Truscott and Hartmann couldn't
(05:35):
solve it, nobody could. Two days later, on February twelfth,
James Pew got his reply from Major Ernest Brown. It
was not what he expected. My dear mister Pew, I
am in receipt of your letter of the tenth instant
in which you request the assignment of two detectives to
complete the unfinished investigation which was previously discussed in reply
(06:00):
meant me to advise that I will take the matter
up with Commissioner Hazen as soon as possible, and if
he gives his approval, I will be more than pleased
to make this assignment. Sincerely, yours, Major Ernest Brown ask
permission from Commissioner Melvin Hazn. Why would the DC Superintendent
of Police need permission from a d C commissioner to
(06:22):
assign two of his own detectives to a case. Apparently
James Pew had that same question, because he wrote to
Capital Transit President John Hannah immediately. His letter read, in
part quote, you'll find enclosed a copy of a letter
that I received from Major Brown this morning. He advises
me that and James Pew put this part in quotation
(06:45):
marks he will take the matter up with Commissioner Hazen
and if he gives his approval, he'll be pleased to
make this assignment. James Pew finished his letter by asking
John Hannah to have a talk with Commissioner Hazen himself,
rather than rely on Major Brown to do it for him.
So let me get this straight. The DC Superintendent of Police,
(07:07):
the man in charge of the entire district police force,
said that he needed permission from d C Commissioner Melvin
Hazen to reassign two of his own detectives to a
homicide case, the same case that three of his detectives
had already been working for two years. That makes absolutely
no sense. That would be like a police chief for
(07:28):
sheriff today asking the mayor or governor for permission to
assign their own personnel to a case. Yes, the murders
happened within the jurisdiction of Maryland, just a mile over
the d C line, but DC detectives Frank Brass, Richard McCarty,
and Robert Barrett had already done plenty of work on
it without any results. Why in the hell would Major
(07:51):
Ernest Brown need permission from anyone to assign to new detectives.
To be fair, I didn't know how the inner workings
of d C government functioned back in the nineteen thirties,
So to help answer that question, I did a little research.
Welcome to history class. If you need to use the
pencil sharpener, please do it quietly. That was just a
(08:15):
little tip of the hat to my fellow gen xers.
Back in the nineteen thirties, the district government set up
was arbitrary and erratic, a combination of federal oversight and
local hacks, all having some kind of influence when the
District of Columbia was a sort of enigma. Washington is
a federal district, therefore its citizens are not residents of
(08:40):
a state. DCS citizens had no right to vote in
presidential elections until the twenty third Amendment to the Constitution
passed in nineteen sixty one, when the people were finally
granted electors despite having paid taxes like everybody else. It
was a really shitty, says Stone, for a long time,
(09:01):
taxation without representation and sort of a mimic of the
quagmire of issues that led to the American Revolution. Washington,
d C is still battling for statehood today. Between eighteen
seventy eight and nineteen sixty seven, three district commissioners were
appointed directly by the President of the United States to
(09:22):
run the local government, but all legislation affecting the district
still had to be passed by Congress. The district commissioners
weren't like mayors or governors with a heavy political influence.
They didn't vote on legislation as did the Congress and Senate.
They were put in charge of specific areas of district
business to guide and direct projects and other governmental bodies.
(09:47):
They were very influential to local government and they were
put in charge of certain budgets and projects. Okay, formal
class dismissed. Here's the really important bit to keep in mind.
Between nineteen thirty three and nineteen forty one, the d
C commission President was Melvin Hazn. Each of the three
(10:10):
commissioners had a portfolio of duties on which they provided oversight.
The Metropolitan Police Department was directly within Melvin Hasn's chosen
portfolio of duties. Right, Hazen chose to work closely with
the d C Metro Police, So that begs the previous
(10:31):
question even further. Why would Police Superintendent Ernest Brown ask
for Melvin Hazen's permission before assigning his own men to
the Carborn case. After receiving State Attorney James Pew's request,
Major Ernest Brown wrote him back a few days later
and said that Commissioner Hazen had given his approval. But
(10:55):
the two detectives that James Pew requested, Floyd Truscott and
Earl Hart, they were on a very secret and very
important investigation and they wouldn't be available for several months
to work on the Carbarn case. Major Brown signed his
letter assuring you of my desire to cooperate fully in
all matters of mutual interest and with all good wishes.
(11:17):
I'm cordially yours, Ernest W. Brown. To me, that sounded
like a big up yours. Going back to where we
left off in the investigation, Detectives Volton and Rogers and
the others were still trying to make some headway where
they could with DC jail inmate Horace Davis and his information.
(11:39):
During Horace Davis's initial interview in January of ninety six,
he told Voulton and Rogers that Walter Oliver was good
friends with habitual felon named Robert Janny. Voulton and Rogers
followed up and they went to Baltimore to talk to
Jenny's wife, Lillian. Robert Janny broke Lillian's nose during a
(12:00):
domestic fight in October of nineteen thirty five, and he
was serving eight years in prison for committing an armed robbery.
Lillian said that Robert Janny had been employed as a
watchman at the Baltimore sales Brook Company but he never
worked on Sunday nights or Mondays during the day. James
Mitchell and Emery Smith were killed on a Monday morning.
(12:21):
When Lillian Janny was asked to recall any strange behavior
from Robert Jenny the year prior that stood out in
her mind, she told Volton and Rogers that one morning
in January of nineteen thirty five, around the time of
the Chevy Chase murders, Robert Janny came home with his
pants soaking wet up to the knees, acted really nervous
all day, and he jumped when a salesman knocked on
(12:44):
the door. Lillian identified a photograph from it array on
the coffee table as being William Franklin Clark, the man
who strolled into police headquarters on the day of the
murders to front Run Street talk about his possible involvement
and then inserted himself right in the middle of a
homicide investigation. Lillian said that Robert Janny met with Clark
(13:04):
and made casual introductions to her. She also identified James Weir,
the man who gave William Clark an alibi for the
night of the murders. Lillian continued and said that one
evening in May of nineteen thirty five, about five months
after my uncle's murder, Robert Janny was bragging to her
about some of his exploits, and he mentioned that he'd
(13:25):
been a state's witness for the Mary Baker murder case
and arrogantly told Lillian that the police would never solve it.
Hold on a minute, the Mary Baker murder case. That
was one of the most heinous and still unsolved murder
cases in DC history, and Robert Janny said that he
was a witness for the state. I gave a few
(13:48):
details on the Mary Baker case back in episode four,
but I need to talk about it in more detail
because if Robert Janny had any involvement, that's really important
for this investigation. The Mary Baker murder investigation started on
the morning of Saturday, April twelfth, nineteen thirty when Arlington
County Deputy Sheriff Archie Richards found an abandoned car in
(14:11):
the middle of the road near Arlington National Cemetery. He
looked inside the car and saw a large blood stain
on the passenger seat. He recorded the license plate and
notified his superiors that he found what looked to be
a violent crime scene. That license plate came back to
Mary Baker. Mary Elizabeth Baker was born on May eighteen,
(14:33):
ninety eight in South Carolina, the daughter of an episcopal minister.
Mary was small framed, brunette, and attractive. Mary moved to Washington,
d C. With dreams of a government job, an ambition
she realized as a clerk at the U. S. Navy
Department in the brand new Bureau of Aeronautics. She continued
(14:54):
her strong religious upbringing by regularly attending services at the
Church of the epith Any in downtown d C. Mary
was single, and she had a few casual relationships with
married men. None of them seemed to be intimate, but
she had been seen going to lunches, bowling alleys, and
other recreational places with them during the daytime hours. She
(15:15):
recently moved out of d C to Lion Park, Virginia,
into a bungalow with two other women. Their house bordered
Arlington National Cemetery to the west, just over the Potomac
River from Washington. On April eleventh, nineteen thirty, which was
a Friday, Mary left her job at the Navy Department
at about four thirty and was last seen by a
(15:36):
friend at approximately five forty five after attending an afternoon
church service. Mary offered her friend a ride to her car,
but her friend declined and decided to walk. Mary continued
to walk the six blocks to her parking space by
the White House Ellipse on her own, ostensibly to meet
her roommate at a downtown department store by six o'clock.
(15:58):
Mary was known to be punctual and she always kept
her engagements, but she never showed up. Around noon on Saturday,
April twelve, a few hours after the discovery of her
abandoned and bloody vehicle, Mary Baker's body was discovered in
a muddy culvert off of Cemetery Road, about a mile
away from her car in Arlington National Cemetery. She had
(16:21):
been beaten so badly that it almost knocked out her teeth.
She was sexually assaulted, strangled, and shot three times with
a thirty two caliber gun. Her death certificate spelled out
her demise in brief, wretched terms, killed by pistol shots
in throat and back. Jesus she saw it coming. Her
(16:46):
new roommates were brought to the scene to identify her body,
and one of them collapsed on the dirt road at
the sight of her friend lying in the mud eight
ft below next to a galvanized runoff pipe discarded like
yesterday's garbage. The evening before, at around six o'clock, the
time she was scheduled to meet her friend at the
(17:07):
department store, three witnesses reported seeing a woman in a
violent argument inside of a car with a heavy set
man who was wearing a light gray slouch hat. One
of the witnesses memorized the license plate. It was Mary
Baker's car. All three witnesses immediately reported that fight to
the police, but the car was gone by the time
(17:28):
the police got to the scene. It wouldn't be discovered
until the following morning, with the remnants of Mary's horrific
struggle left on the passenger seat. During their initial investigation,
the detectives recovered a palm print from the driver's window
of Mary Baker's car, which was compared to every potential suspect.
There were a lot of twists and turns in this case,
(17:50):
which became known as the Mystery of one hundred one Clues.
A four part series was written for True Detective Mysteries magazine.
While the case was still ongoing and I ordered a copy.
The case was filled with false confessions, intrigue, lost and
found evidence, questionable associations, and subterfuge. Several of Mary's suitors
(18:14):
were arrested and their alibies were substantiated by their own wives.
Several other men were initially charged and then released when
the evidence didn't bear fruit against them. One man fabricated
a story out of whole cloth about his involvement just
to get the newspaper publicity. His miniature golf course was
a failure, and he figured that inserting himself into a
(18:37):
sensational case like this one would bring in revenue. There
was no shortage of suspects or complete nut jobs, but
like the Carborn case, no one was ever charged with
her murder, and unfortunately it remains unsolved. Where did Robert
Janney fit into this horrible crime? He wasn't justice dates witness,
(19:00):
as he boasted to his wife he was a suspect.
Jenny had been arrested on May tenth, about a month
after Mary Baker's murder, on the same street, corner by
the Ellipse where she had last been seen in the
fight with the heavy set man Robert. Jenny was arrested
for harassing a woman. He jumped on the running board
of her car before leaving back off and getting into
(19:23):
his own car and chasing her down. The woman stopped
and told a police officer, who commandeered a civilians vehicle
and continued the pursuit. After Jenny through the streets of
d C. They finally caught him at fourteenth in Pennsylvania Avenue.
Robert Jenny told the officers that he recognized the lady
as a former neighbor and he just wanted to talk
to her. All of this happened around the same time
(19:46):
that Robert Jenny had been nailed for trafficking heroin, so
he might have been blitzed out of his mind. The
police found a thirty two caliber semi automatic in his
room during a search subsequent to his arrest, and Jenny
told the investigators that he bought it from a man
several weeks before. Official records showed that the gun had
been transferred on March thirty one, about two weeks before
(20:07):
Mary Baker's murder. The listic tests of that gun were
completed on her case, which showed inconsistencies with the bullets
from her body. There's no information about whether or not
Jenny's gun was ever tested against the car Barn bullets,
since it was the same caliber and model, or if
it was ever released back to him from the evidence
locker once he got out of that particular stin in jail.
(20:29):
That was highly doubtful since he was a convicted felon.
There's no further information on the disposition of that gun
in Robert Jenny's room. The investigators also found a pawn
ticket from New York City that was dated April eleven,
the day Mary Baker went missing, so apparently that was
Jenny's alibi. A comparison of the palm print on the
(20:50):
vehicle's window wasn't a match to Jenny either, but it
was later revealed that several people touched the car before
the palm print was recovered, so nobody knew if it
is even related to the crime or not. Going back
to April eleven, the day of Mary Baker's abduction and
subsequent murder, she was seen fighting with a man who
several witnesses described as heavy set. I found a photograph
(21:13):
of Robert Janny in a historical paper, and he doesn't
fit that description at all. Jenny was really thin and gaunt,
likely from years of drug abuse. He had an alibi
of being in New York via that pawn shop ticket
on April eleven, so the investigators only had the harassment
and reckless driving charges to hold him. While he was
in jail and still being questioned, Robert Jenny admitted to
(21:37):
being arrested for a violation of the Man Act in
nineteen eight. The Man Act makes transporting a woman or
child for the purposes of prostitution a crime, so I'll
just add that onto his long list of offenses. Jenny
was eventually exonerated, and there's no historical documentation available to
(21:57):
show exactly how he might have been a witness for
the state or why they may have had a need
for information he provided during the investigation. When he was
running his mouth to his wife Lillian, he said the
police would never solve it, so it made me wonder
exactly how much he actually knew about the Mary Baker murder.
There's no doubt in my mind that Robert Jenny was
(22:18):
a feckless turd who had served multiple sentences for everything
from drug trafficking to armed robbery to human trafficking. Detectives
Volton and Rogers were really keen on what Lillian Janny
had to provide, and during their talk in May of
nineteen thirty, she added a detail that was a slap
in the face. After his mention about the Mary Baker murder,
(22:42):
Robert Jenny also said something about Chevy Chase and said
that he, a woman, and three other men were mixed
up on a job and had to shoot their way out.
He got a hundred dollars out of it, just like
Horace Davis. The detectives seem Lee had another hearsay confession
about the car Barn murders to figure out Lillian Janny
(23:06):
had now become a very valuable asset to the detectives,
and they wanted to know more. They already found out
that Jenny's work schedule didn't include Sunday nights or Mondays
after they spoke with his manager at the Baltimore Salesbrook Company.
The time card in Jenny's own handwriting showed that he
didn't work on Sunday, January or on Monday, January twenty one,
(23:28):
the night of my uncle's murder. Lillian made connections between
Robert Jenny, William Clark, and Clark's friend James Weir. Clark's
name had been dropped as a potential suspect a number
of times by different people right after the murders, and
he inserted himself into the investigation. With Robert Janny now
in prison for armed robbery, Bolton and Rogers hatched a
(23:51):
plan to see what else they could find out. The
following Sunday, which was visitation day, Volton and Rogers had
Lillian Annie meet with them again and they all drove
to the Maryland State Penitentiary. They wanted Lilian to meet
with her husband and give him some bait to see
if he'd bite. Volton and Rogers gave Lilian a ruse
(24:13):
and asked her to have a chat with Robert Jenny.
She was to mention that two detectives had paid her
a visit the night before and asked her a bunch
of questions about Jenny being in Washington and something about
a job near the district. She was told to tell
Jenny that a man had been arrested. She couldn't remember
his name, but that he chirped like a canary. She
(24:34):
was also to tell him that they'd checked up on
his time card at work and found out that he
wasn't working On the night of the Carborn murders. Lillian
was asked to carefully remember any names that Robert Jenny mentioned.
While Lilian was in the visitation room, Volton and Rogers
went to the prison warden and told him that they
wanted copies of Annie letters coming into her out of
(24:55):
the jail from Janny. They went out to the car
to wait for Lillian. When she came back out, she
said she followed their instructions and told Jenny the story.
After she mentioned the job near Washington and that a
man had been arrested and snitched, the blood drained out
of Jenny's face and he turned sheet white. He said,
(25:17):
was it James Moody. He told Lillian not to worry
that the police wouldn't lock her up. Robert Jenny's reaction
told me everything I needed to know. Janny was definitely
one of my suspects. But there was no interrogation of
Janny in the file, no interview notes, nothing regarding a
(25:38):
meeting between the detectives and Jenny after this admission, But
Boulton and Rogers still followed up on the name James Moody.
They went back to the DC identification Bureau and did
a search for James Moody, extending it to James Mooney
just in case they misheard Lillian's pronunciation. There was nothing
to be found for either name. After their Sunday visit
(26:00):
with Lilian at the prison, the warden made good and
the detectives started to receive the jail letters to and
from Janny as requested. Jenny was writing to a lot
of people, including Lillian. On February seven, nineteen thirty six,
he wrote, Dear Lil, I will have some news for
you in a few days regarding matter you spoke to
(26:22):
me of. Don't worry. I'll do all I can. You
didn't tell me where to write. I waited. Should I
not hear from this, I'll know you didn't get it.
So we'll write to fifteen o one Tuesday, but won't
put address on it. Please write and send some stamps
right away. Don't worry. Everything will be okay for you,
even if it costs me as much as it did before.
(26:42):
As ever, Bob p s let me know where to
write important as I'm investigating that matter. Robert Jenny was
desperate to find out why detectives had paid his wife
a visit and it sounded like he was trying to
get information about it from inside the prison. The inmates
were only allowed to visits a month, every other Sunday,
(27:03):
and there were no phones back then, so letters were
their only means of communication with the outside world. Who
could Robert Jenny possibly be talking to inside the Maryland
State Penitentiary about investigators questioning a job near Washington? William
Franklin Clark, Yeah, he was in the same prison at
(27:26):
the same time. Hey, old pal, what are you in
for that story? It's a whopper. If you have information
about the Carborne murder case, go to the Shattered Souls
Facebook page and leave me a message. Opening music by
Sam Johnson at Sam Johnson Live dot com. Shattered Souls
(27:49):
as produced by Karen Smith and Angel Hart Productions.
There is some question about whether it was an inside job.
That will not be the construction. He absolutely became curious
at the mention of the Carborn murder. I would say
he's ruthless. It can become deadly given certain circumstances, only
for the grace of God to shore and is somehow
(00:25):
found out the Baltimore County Police. Welcome back to Shattered
Souls the Carborn Murders. I'm your host, Karen Smith. This
is episode eight. This podcast may contain graphic language and
is not suitable for children. Previously on the Carborn Murders,
(00:49):
the investigators were running themselves ragged, pursuing suspect after suspect,
only to release everyone without any follow up or explanation.
Lawrence Pettit, George Bruffy, Walter Oliver, Arthur Waugh, Luke Johnson,
Harry Simon, Tony the Stinger, Kugino, William Clark, Bill Cleary.
The list went on and on, and the Carbarn case
(01:12):
was getting ice cold. A year went by, Detective Theodore
Volton received a letter on his desk from Horace Davis,
an inmate of the d C Jail. Detective Volton and
Sergeant Leroy Rogers interviewed Horace Davis in January of nineteen
thirty six. Davis implicated his friend Walter Oliver after Oliver
(01:34):
confessed to being involved in the Carborn murders. Two years later,
in April of nineteen thirty eight, Horace Davis was taken
to the U. S District Attorney's office and he gave
a sworn aff a David regarding his claims. Davis's information
seemed to be accurate. After the detectives followed up on
his story about his involvement with Walter Oliver on an
(01:58):
unreported armed robbery back in nineteen thirty three, they found
the evidence to back it up. Horace Davis was telling
the truth. By the middle of nineteen thirty eight, it
seemed like the State of Maryland was building a case
against Walter Oliver and others, but nothing ever came of it,
and there's no explanation or why the charges were either
(02:19):
noel prost or perhaps just swept under the rug. Things
were percolating in the background as the detectives continued their
ground pounding and the political machine was working overtime. Right
after the Carborn murders, the Capital Transit Company offered a
fifteen hundred dollar reward for information that led to the
(02:41):
suspects that would equate to about thirty thousand dollars today,
And despite that cash reward, even in the desperate times
of the depression, nothing came of it. By nineteen thirty seven,
Transit Company President John Hannah wanted answers, and he had
to sit down with Montgomery Countiest Aid Attorney James Pew
(03:01):
to suggest a changing of the guard. Capital Transit President
John Hannah wanted new, more experienced district detectives assigned to
the case, and he was of the same mindset as
the majority of citizens that there didn't seem to be
a reason why these murders had not been solved after
two years. On February nine, n seven, John Hannah wrote
(03:25):
a letter directly to DC Superintendent of Police, Major Ernest Brown,
outlining his concerns and suggestions. Dear Major Brown. Mr James Pew,
State Attorney for Montgomery County, has just recently called to
see me in connection with the investigation of the murders
of James Mitchell and Emery Smith. He has advised me
(03:46):
that the investigation at this point is not such that
an immediate solution is evident, and there's been little activity
on the part of those detectives who are in the
beginning assigned to this case. In his opinion, if it's
possible for you to assign two of your detectives at
an early date in the future, that a solution is possible.
He also advises us that those suspected of participation in
(04:07):
the crime are all from the District of Columbia. We
don't feel that this request for further cooperation from the
Washington detectives is unreasonable. Very truly yours, John Hannah. The
following day, State Attorney James Pew also wrote to Major
Brown in support of John Hannah's suggestion for more experienced
DC detectives to take over the flailing case and finally
(04:30):
get some closure on behalf of the state of Maryland.
I make this formal request of you to make the
assignment of two trained detectives to complete the unfinished investigation
of the murders of James Mitchell and Emery Smith. I
have come to the conclusion that if you are able
to assign Lieutenant Floyd Truscott and Sergeant Earl Hartman, I
feel satisfied that a solution will be made. It is
(04:51):
not the purpose of this letter to cast reflection on
any detectives who have investigated this case up to the
present time. But the fact remains that it is unsolved. Well,
we have able detectives in Montgomery County, they don't have
the background or the contacts in the district that your
men have. Sincerely yours, James H. Pew. Both men lost
(05:12):
faith in the investigation. Two years passed and the leads
seemed in their minds to be running dry. The detectives
suggested by James Pew, Floyd Truscott and Earl Hartman, were
legendary on the d C Metro Police Department, and they'd
solve numerous high profile cases over the previous decade. State
Attorney James Pew thought that if Truscott and Hartmann couldn't
(05:35):
solve it, nobody could. Two days later, on February twelfth,
James Pew got his reply from Major Ernest Brown. It
was not what he expected. My dear mister Pew, I
am in receipt of your letter of the tenth instant
in which you request the assignment of two detectives to
complete the unfinished investigation which was previously discussed in reply
(06:00):
meant me to advise that I will take the matter
up with Commissioner Hazen as soon as possible, and if
he gives his approval, I will be more than pleased
to make this assignment. Sincerely, yours, Major Ernest Brown ask
permission from Commissioner Melvin Hazn. Why would the DC Superintendent
of Police need permission from a d C commissioner to
(06:22):
assign two of his own detectives to a case. Apparently
James Pew had that same question, because he wrote to
Capital Transit President John Hannah immediately. His letter read, in
part quote, you'll find enclosed a copy of a letter
that I received from Major Brown this morning. He advises
me that and James Pew put this part in quotation
(06:45):
marks he will take the matter up with Commissioner Hazen
and if he gives his approval, he'll be pleased to
make this assignment. James Pew finished his letter by asking
John Hannah to have a talk with Commissioner Hazen himself,
rather than rely on Major Brown to do it for him.
So let me get this straight. The DC Superintendent of Police,
(07:07):
the man in charge of the entire district police force,
said that he needed permission from d C Commissioner Melvin
Hazen to reassign two of his own detectives to a
homicide case, the same case that three of his detectives
had already been working for two years. That makes absolutely
no sense. That would be like a police chief for
(07:28):
sheriff today asking the mayor or governor for permission to
assign their own personnel to a case. Yes, the murders
happened within the jurisdiction of Maryland, just a mile over
the d C line, but DC detectives Frank Brass, Richard McCarty,
and Robert Barrett had already done plenty of work on
it without any results. Why in the hell would Major
(07:51):
Ernest Brown need permission from anyone to assign to new detectives.
To be fair, I didn't know how the inner workings
of d C government functioned back in the nineteen thirties,
So to help answer that question, I did a little research.
Welcome to history class. If you need to use the
pencil sharpener, please do it quietly. That was just a
(08:15):
little tip of the hat to my fellow gen xers.
Back in the nineteen thirties, the district government set up
was arbitrary and erratic, a combination of federal oversight and
local hacks, all having some kind of influence when the
District of Columbia was a sort of enigma. Washington is
a federal district, therefore its citizens are not residents of
(08:40):
a state. DCS citizens had no right to vote in
presidential elections until the twenty third Amendment to the Constitution
passed in nineteen sixty one, when the people were finally
granted electors despite having paid taxes like everybody else. It
was a really shitty, says Stone, for a long time,
(09:01):
taxation without representation and sort of a mimic of the
quagmire of issues that led to the American Revolution. Washington,
d C is still battling for statehood today. Between eighteen
seventy eight and nineteen sixty seven, three district commissioners were
appointed directly by the President of the United States to
(09:22):
run the local government, but all legislation affecting the district
still had to be passed by Congress. The district commissioners
weren't like mayors or governors with a heavy political influence.
They didn't vote on legislation as did the Congress and Senate.
They were put in charge of specific areas of district
business to guide and direct projects and other governmental bodies.
(09:47):
They were very influential to local government and they were
put in charge of certain budgets and projects. Okay, formal
class dismissed. Here's the really important bit to keep in mind.
Between nineteen thirty three and nineteen forty one, the d
C commission President was Melvin Hazn. Each of the three
(10:10):
commissioners had a portfolio of duties on which they provided oversight.
The Metropolitan Police Department was directly within Melvin Hasn's chosen
portfolio of duties. Right, Hazen chose to work closely with
the d C Metro Police, So that begs the previous
(10:31):
question even further. Why would Police Superintendent Ernest Brown ask
for Melvin Hazen's permission before assigning his own men to
the Carborn case. After receiving State Attorney James Pew's request,
Major Ernest Brown wrote him back a few days later
and said that Commissioner Hazen had given his approval. But
(10:55):
the two detectives that James Pew requested, Floyd Truscott and
Earl Hart, they were on a very secret and very
important investigation and they wouldn't be available for several months
to work on the Carbarn case. Major Brown signed his
letter assuring you of my desire to cooperate fully in
all matters of mutual interest and with all good wishes.
(11:17):
I'm cordially yours, Ernest W. Brown. To me, that sounded
like a big up yours. Going back to where we
left off in the investigation, Detectives Volton and Rogers and
the others were still trying to make some headway where
they could with DC jail inmate Horace Davis and his information.
(11:39):
During Horace Davis's initial interview in January of ninety six,
he told Voulton and Rogers that Walter Oliver was good
friends with habitual felon named Robert Janny. Voulton and Rogers
followed up and they went to Baltimore to talk to
Jenny's wife, Lillian. Robert Janny broke Lillian's nose during a
(12:00):
domestic fight in October of nineteen thirty five, and he
was serving eight years in prison for committing an armed robbery.
Lillian said that Robert Janny had been employed as a
watchman at the Baltimore sales Brook Company but he never
worked on Sunday nights or Mondays during the day. James
Mitchell and Emery Smith were killed on a Monday morning.
(12:21):
When Lillian Janny was asked to recall any strange behavior
from Robert Jenny the year prior that stood out in
her mind, she told Volton and Rogers that one morning
in January of nineteen thirty five, around the time of
the Chevy Chase murders, Robert Janny came home with his
pants soaking wet up to the knees, acted really nervous
all day, and he jumped when a salesman knocked on
(12:44):
the door. Lillian identified a photograph from it array on
the coffee table as being William Franklin Clark, the man
who strolled into police headquarters on the day of the
murders to front Run Street talk about his possible involvement
and then inserted himself right in the middle of a
homicide investigation. Lillian said that Robert Janny met with Clark
(13:04):
and made casual introductions to her. She also identified James Weir,
the man who gave William Clark an alibi for the
night of the murders. Lillian continued and said that one
evening in May of nineteen thirty five, about five months
after my uncle's murder, Robert Janny was bragging to her
about some of his exploits, and he mentioned that he'd
(13:25):
been a state's witness for the Mary Baker murder case
and arrogantly told Lillian that the police would never solve it.
Hold on a minute, the Mary Baker murder case. That
was one of the most heinous and still unsolved murder
cases in DC history, and Robert Janny said that he
was a witness for the state. I gave a few
(13:48):
details on the Mary Baker case back in episode four,
but I need to talk about it in more detail
because if Robert Janny had any involvement, that's really important
for this investigation. The Mary Baker murder investigation started on
the morning of Saturday, April twelfth, nineteen thirty when Arlington
County Deputy Sheriff Archie Richards found an abandoned car in
(14:11):
the middle of the road near Arlington National Cemetery. He
looked inside the car and saw a large blood stain
on the passenger seat. He recorded the license plate and
notified his superiors that he found what looked to be
a violent crime scene. That license plate came back to
Mary Baker. Mary Elizabeth Baker was born on May eighteen,
(14:33):
ninety eight in South Carolina, the daughter of an episcopal minister.
Mary was small framed, brunette, and attractive. Mary moved to Washington,
d C. With dreams of a government job, an ambition
she realized as a clerk at the U. S. Navy
Department in the brand new Bureau of Aeronautics. She continued
(14:54):
her strong religious upbringing by regularly attending services at the
Church of the epith Any in downtown d C. Mary
was single, and she had a few casual relationships with
married men. None of them seemed to be intimate, but
she had been seen going to lunches, bowling alleys, and
other recreational places with them during the daytime hours. She
(15:15):
recently moved out of d C to Lion Park, Virginia,
into a bungalow with two other women. Their house bordered
Arlington National Cemetery to the west, just over the Potomac
River from Washington. On April eleventh, nineteen thirty, which was
a Friday, Mary left her job at the Navy Department
at about four thirty and was last seen by a
(15:36):
friend at approximately five forty five after attending an afternoon
church service. Mary offered her friend a ride to her car,
but her friend declined and decided to walk. Mary continued
to walk the six blocks to her parking space by
the White House Ellipse on her own, ostensibly to meet
her roommate at a downtown department store by six o'clock.
(15:58):
Mary was known to be punctual and she always kept
her engagements, but she never showed up. Around noon on Saturday,
April twelve, a few hours after the discovery of her
abandoned and bloody vehicle, Mary Baker's body was discovered in
a muddy culvert off of Cemetery Road, about a mile
away from her car in Arlington National Cemetery. She had
(16:21):
been beaten so badly that it almost knocked out her teeth.
She was sexually assaulted, strangled, and shot three times with
a thirty two caliber gun. Her death certificate spelled out
her demise in brief, wretched terms, killed by pistol shots
in throat and back. Jesus she saw it coming. Her
(16:46):
new roommates were brought to the scene to identify her body,
and one of them collapsed on the dirt road at
the sight of her friend lying in the mud eight
ft below next to a galvanized runoff pipe discarded like
yesterday's garbage. The evening before, at around six o'clock, the
time she was scheduled to meet her friend at the
(17:07):
department store, three witnesses reported seeing a woman in a
violent argument inside of a car with a heavy set
man who was wearing a light gray slouch hat. One
of the witnesses memorized the license plate. It was Mary
Baker's car. All three witnesses immediately reported that fight to
the police, but the car was gone by the time
(17:28):
the police got to the scene. It wouldn't be discovered
until the following morning, with the remnants of Mary's horrific
struggle left on the passenger seat. During their initial investigation,
the detectives recovered a palm print from the driver's window
of Mary Baker's car, which was compared to every potential suspect.
There were a lot of twists and turns in this case,
(17:50):
which became known as the Mystery of one hundred one Clues.
A four part series was written for True Detective Mysteries magazine.
While the case was still ongoing and I ordered a copy.
The case was filled with false confessions, intrigue, lost and
found evidence, questionable associations, and subterfuge. Several of Mary's suitors
(18:14):
were arrested and their alibies were substantiated by their own wives.
Several other men were initially charged and then released when
the evidence didn't bear fruit against them. One man fabricated
a story out of whole cloth about his involvement just
to get the newspaper publicity. His miniature golf course was
a failure, and he figured that inserting himself into a
(18:37):
sensational case like this one would bring in revenue. There
was no shortage of suspects or complete nut jobs, but
like the Carborn case, no one was ever charged with
her murder, and unfortunately it remains unsolved. Where did Robert
Janney fit into this horrible crime? He wasn't justice dates witness,
(19:00):
as he boasted to his wife he was a suspect.
Jenny had been arrested on May tenth, about a month
after Mary Baker's murder, on the same street, corner by
the Ellipse where she had last been seen in the
fight with the heavy set man Robert. Jenny was arrested
for harassing a woman. He jumped on the running board
of her car before leaving back off and getting into
(19:23):
his own car and chasing her down. The woman stopped
and told a police officer, who commandeered a civilians vehicle
and continued the pursuit. After Jenny through the streets of
d C. They finally caught him at fourteenth in Pennsylvania Avenue.
Robert Jenny told the officers that he recognized the lady
as a former neighbor and he just wanted to talk
to her. All of this happened around the same time
(19:46):
that Robert Jenny had been nailed for trafficking heroin, so
he might have been blitzed out of his mind. The
police found a thirty two caliber semi automatic in his
room during a search subsequent to his arrest, and Jenny
told the investigators that he bought it from a man
several weeks before. Official records showed that the gun had
been transferred on March thirty one, about two weeks before
(20:07):
Mary Baker's murder. The listic tests of that gun were
completed on her case, which showed inconsistencies with the bullets
from her body. There's no information about whether or not
Jenny's gun was ever tested against the car Barn bullets,
since it was the same caliber and model, or if
it was ever released back to him from the evidence
locker once he got out of that particular stin in jail.
(20:29):
That was highly doubtful since he was a convicted felon.
There's no further information on the disposition of that gun
in Robert Jenny's room. The investigators also found a pawn
ticket from New York City that was dated April eleven,
the day Mary Baker went missing, so apparently that was
Jenny's alibi. A comparison of the palm print on the
(20:50):
vehicle's window wasn't a match to Jenny either, but it
was later revealed that several people touched the car before
the palm print was recovered, so nobody knew if it
is even related to the crime or not. Going back
to April eleven, the day of Mary Baker's abduction and
subsequent murder, she was seen fighting with a man who
several witnesses described as heavy set. I found a photograph
(21:13):
of Robert Janny in a historical paper, and he doesn't
fit that description at all. Jenny was really thin and gaunt,
likely from years of drug abuse. He had an alibi
of being in New York via that pawn shop ticket
on April eleven, so the investigators only had the harassment
and reckless driving charges to hold him. While he was
in jail and still being questioned, Robert Jenny admitted to
(21:37):
being arrested for a violation of the Man Act in
nineteen eight. The Man Act makes transporting a woman or
child for the purposes of prostitution a crime, so I'll
just add that onto his long list of offenses. Jenny
was eventually exonerated, and there's no historical documentation available to
(21:57):
show exactly how he might have been a witness for
the state or why they may have had a need
for information he provided during the investigation. When he was
running his mouth to his wife Lillian, he said the
police would never solve it, so it made me wonder
exactly how much he actually knew about the Mary Baker murder.
There's no doubt in my mind that Robert Jenny was
(22:18):
a feckless turd who had served multiple sentences for everything
from drug trafficking to armed robbery to human trafficking. Detectives
Volton and Rogers were really keen on what Lillian Janny
had to provide, and during their talk in May of
nineteen thirty, she added a detail that was a slap
in the face. After his mention about the Mary Baker murder,
(22:42):
Robert Jenny also said something about Chevy Chase and said
that he, a woman, and three other men were mixed
up on a job and had to shoot their way out.
He got a hundred dollars out of it, just like
Horace Davis. The detectives seem Lee had another hearsay confession
about the car Barn murders to figure out Lillian Janny
(23:06):
had now become a very valuable asset to the detectives,
and they wanted to know more. They already found out
that Jenny's work schedule didn't include Sunday nights or Mondays
after they spoke with his manager at the Baltimore Salesbrook Company.
The time card in Jenny's own handwriting showed that he
didn't work on Sunday, January or on Monday, January twenty one,
(23:28):
the night of my uncle's murder. Lillian made connections between
Robert Jenny, William Clark, and Clark's friend James Weir. Clark's
name had been dropped as a potential suspect a number
of times by different people right after the murders, and
he inserted himself into the investigation. With Robert Janny now
in prison for armed robbery, Bolton and Rogers hatched a
(23:51):
plan to see what else they could find out. The
following Sunday, which was visitation day, Volton and Rogers had
Lillian Annie meet with them again and they all drove
to the Maryland State Penitentiary. They wanted Lilian to meet
with her husband and give him some bait to see
if he'd bite. Volton and Rogers gave Lilian a ruse
(24:13):
and asked her to have a chat with Robert Jenny.
She was to mention that two detectives had paid her
a visit the night before and asked her a bunch
of questions about Jenny being in Washington and something about
a job near the district. She was told to tell
Jenny that a man had been arrested. She couldn't remember
his name, but that he chirped like a canary. She
(24:34):
was also to tell him that they'd checked up on
his time card at work and found out that he
wasn't working On the night of the Carborn murders. Lillian
was asked to carefully remember any names that Robert Jenny mentioned.
While Lilian was in the visitation room, Volton and Rogers
went to the prison warden and told him that they
wanted copies of Annie letters coming into her out of
(24:55):
the jail from Janny. They went out to the car
to wait for Lillian. When she came back out, she
said she followed their instructions and told Jenny the story.
After she mentioned the job near Washington and that a
man had been arrested and snitched, the blood drained out
of Jenny's face and he turned sheet white. He said,
(25:17):
was it James Moody. He told Lillian not to worry
that the police wouldn't lock her up. Robert Jenny's reaction
told me everything I needed to know. Janny was definitely
one of my suspects. But there was no interrogation of
Janny in the file, no interview notes, nothing regarding a
(25:38):
meeting between the detectives and Jenny after this admission, But
Boulton and Rogers still followed up on the name James Moody.
They went back to the DC identification Bureau and did
a search for James Moody, extending it to James Mooney
just in case they misheard Lillian's pronunciation. There was nothing
to be found for either name. After their Sunday visit
(26:00):
with Lilian at the prison, the warden made good and
the detectives started to receive the jail letters to and
from Janny as requested. Jenny was writing to a lot
of people, including Lillian. On February seven, nineteen thirty six,
he wrote, Dear Lil, I will have some news for
you in a few days regarding matter you spoke to
(26:22):
me of. Don't worry. I'll do all I can. You
didn't tell me where to write. I waited. Should I
not hear from this, I'll know you didn't get it.
So we'll write to fifteen o one Tuesday, but won't
put address on it. Please write and send some stamps
right away. Don't worry. Everything will be okay for you,
even if it costs me as much as it did before.
(26:42):
As ever, Bob p s let me know where to
write important as I'm investigating that matter. Robert Jenny was
desperate to find out why detectives had paid his wife
a visit and it sounded like he was trying to
get information about it from inside the prison. The inmates
were only allowed to visits a month, every other Sunday,
(27:03):
and there were no phones back then, so letters were
their only means of communication with the outside world. Who
could Robert Jenny possibly be talking to inside the Maryland
State Penitentiary about investigators questioning a job near Washington? William
Franklin Clark, Yeah, he was in the same prison at
(27:26):
the same time. Hey, old pal, what are you in
for that story? It's a whopper. If you have information
about the Carborne murder case, go to the Shattered Souls
Facebook page and leave me a message. Opening music by
Sam Johnson at Sam Johnson Live dot com. Shattered Souls
(27:49):
as produced by Karen Smith and Angel Hart Productions.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!