ROOM 1046: The Unsolved Murder That Still Haunts Kansas City – Unknown Killer, Unnamed Victim - Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Daryn Marler and this is Weird Darkness.
Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre,
unsolved and unexplained. Coming up. In this episode, Weirdo family

(00:32):
member Mona Thompson tells about the scary experience she had
in a house on a hill. If you're planning to
visit the beautiful Banfotelle in the Canadian Rockies, you might
discover that the rumor is true. It is very much haunted.
Does the ghost of a shoemaker continue to reside in

(00:54):
Winston Salem, North Carolina? But first, When Roland t Owen
signed in to rent a room at the Hotel President
in Kansas City on the afternoon of January second, nineteen
thirty five, it began a chain of strange and bizarre
events and behavior that baffle mystery and crime enthusiasts even today.

(01:18):
We begin with that story. Now, bult your doors, lock
your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me
into the Weird Darkness. In Kansas City, Missouri, on the

(01:54):
afternoon of January second, nineteen thirty five, a band walked
into the Hotel President and asked for a room several
floors up. He carried no luggage. He signed the register
as Rowland t Owen of Los Angeles and paid for
one day's stay. He was described as a tall, husky

(02:16):
young man with a cauliflower ear and a large scar
on the side of his head. He was given room
ten forty six. On the way to his room, Owen
told the bellboy, Randolph Propsed, that he had originally thought
to check in to the Mulebach Hotel, but was put
off by the high price of five dollars a night.

(02:38):
When they reached ten forty six, Owen took a comb,
brush and toothpaste out of his coat pocket and placed
them in the bathroom. Then the pair went back out
in the hall, where the bellboy locked the door. He
gave Owen the key, after which the new guest left
the hotel and the bellboy returned to his usual duties.

(02:59):
Later that day, a maid went to clean ten forty six.
Owen was inside the room. He allowed her in, telling
her to leave the door unlocked as he was shortly
expecting a friend. She noticed that the shades were tightly drawn,
with only one small lamp to provide illumination. She later
told police that Owen seemed nervous, even afraid. While she

(03:24):
cleaned up. Owen put on his coat and left, reminding
the maid not to lock the door. Around four pm,
the maid returned to ten forty six with fresh towels.
The door was still unlocked and the room still eerily dim.
Now Owen was lying on the bed fully dressed. She

(03:45):
saw a note on the desk that read, Dawn, I
will be back in fifteen minutes. Wait. The next we
know of Owen's movements came at about ten thirty the
next morning, when the maid came to clean his room.
He unlocked the door with a pass key, something she
could only do if the door had been locked from
the outside. When she entered, she was a bit unnerved

(04:08):
to see Owen sitting silently in a chair, staring into
the darkness. This awkward moment was broken by the ringing
of the phone. Owen answered it after listening for a moment.
He said, no, Dawn, I don't want to eat. I
am not hungry. I just had breakfast. Then he hung up.
For some reason. He began interrogating the maid about the

(04:31):
President Hotel and her duties there. He repeated his complaint
about the high rates at the meal book. The maid
finished tidying the room, took the used towels, and left,
no doubt happy to leave this strange guest. That afternoon,
she again went to ten forty six with clean towels.

(04:52):
Outside the door, she heard two men talking. She knocked
and explained why she was there, and unfamiliar her voice
responded gruffly that they didn't need any towels. The maid
shrugged to herself and left. Later that day, a gene Owen,
no relation to Roland, registered at the President and was

(05:14):
given room ten forty eight. She did not have a
peaceful night. She was continually bothered by the loud sounds
of several male and female voices arguing violently in the
adjoining room. Missus Owen later heard a scuffling and a
gasping sound, which at the time she assumed was snoring.

(05:35):
She debated calling the desk clerk, but unfortunately decided against it.
Charles Blocker, the graveyard shift elevator operator at the hotel,
also noticed unusual activity that night. There was what he
assumed was a particularly noisy party in room ten fifty
five some time after midnight, he took a woman to

(05:56):
the tenth floor. She was looking for room ten twenty five.
He had seen her around the president numerous times. She was,
as he put it discreetly, a woman who frequents the
hotel with different men in different rooms. A few minutes later,
he was signaled to return to the tenth floor. The

(06:17):
woman was concerned because the man who had arranged to
meet her there was nowhere to be found. Being unable
to help her, Blocker went back downstairs. About half an
hour later, the woman summoned him again to take her
down to the lobby. About an hour later, she returned
to the elevator with a man. Blocker took them to

(06:38):
the ninth floor. Around four am, the woman left the hotel,
followed about fifteen minutes later by the man. The couple
was never identified, and it's unknown what, if anything, they
had to do with Owen or the room ten forty six.
At about eleven pm that same night, a city worker

(06:59):
named Robert Lane was driving on a downtown street when
he saw a man running down the sidewalk. He was
puzzled to see that on this winter night, the stranger
was wearing only pants and an undershirt. The man waved
Lane down, thinking he was a taxi driver. When he
saw his mistake, he apologized and asked if Lane could
take him someplace where he could get a cab. Lane agreed, commenting,

(07:23):
you look as if you've been in it bad. The
man nodded and growled, I'll kill that expletive, discreetly deleted
in newspaper reports. Tomorrow, Lane noticed his passenger had a
wound on his arm. When they reached their destination, the
man thanked Lane, then exited the car and hailed a cab.

(07:45):
Lane drove off, having no idea that he had just
played a minor role in one of his city's weirdest
murder mysteries. Round seven am the next morning, the President's
telephone operator noticed that the phone in Room ten forty
six was off the hook. After three hours had passed
without anyone placing the phone in his cradle. She said,

(08:06):
Randolph probes to tell whoever was there to hang up.
The bellboy found the door locked with a don't disturb
sign out When he knocked. After a moment, he heard
a voice tell him to come in. When he tried
the door, he found it was still locked. He knocked again,
only to have the voice tell him to turn on
the lights. After a couple more minutes of fruitless knocking,

(08:30):
Propes finally yelled, put the phone back on the hook,
and left, shaking his head at what he assumed was
their crazy, drunken guest. An hour and a half later,
the operator saw the phone was still unhooked. She sent
another bellboy, Harold Pike, up to deal with the problem.
Pike found ten forty six still locked. He used a

(08:53):
pass key to open the door, showing that it had
again been locked from the outside. In the dim as,
he was able to make out that Owen was lying
on the bed naked. The telephone stand had been knocked down,
and the phone was on the ground. The bell boy
put the stand upright and replaced the phone like probest.
He assumed their guest was merely drunk. He left without

(09:17):
bothering to check Owen's condition more closely. Shortly before eleven am,
another telephone operator noticed that the phone in ten forty
six was again off the hook. Once again, Probst was
sent up to the room. He found the don't disturb
sign still on the door. After his knocks got no response,

(09:39):
he opened the door with his pass key and walked inside,
the bell boy found something far worse than mere intoxication. Owen,
still naked, was crouched on the floor, holding his bloody
head in his hands. When Probes turned on the light,
he saw more blood on the walls and in the bathroom.

(09:59):
The frightened be boy rushed out and told the assistant manager,
who summoned the police. The officers found that about six
or seven hours earlier, someone had done dreadful things to
Rowland Owen. He'd been tied up and repeatedly stabbed. His
skull was fractured from several savage blows. His neck was bruised,

(10:20):
suggesting he'd been strangled. Blood was everywhere. This small hotel
room had been turned into a torture chamber. When questioned
about what had happened, the semi conscious Owen only muttered,
I fell against the bathtub. A search of the room
found more strangeness. There was not a single stitch of

(10:41):
clothing anywhere in ten forty six. The room's standard soap, shampoo,
and towels were also gone. All they found was a
label from a necktie, an unsmoked cigarette, four bloody fingerprints
on a lampshade, and a hairpin. There was also no
sign of the cords which must have been used to

(11:02):
bind Owen, or the weapon that stabbed him. A hotel
employee reported that several hours before Owen was found, he
had seen a man and a woman leave the president hurriedly.
There was no doubt that, in the words of one
of the detectives, someone else is mixed up in this.
While Owen was being rushed to the hospital, he fell

(11:23):
into a coma. He died later that night. Meanwhile, investigators
were quickly realizing that this was no ordinary murder. Los
Angeles police found no record of any Rowland t Owen,
which led to the assumption that the victim had checked
in using a pseudonym. An anonymous woman phoned police the

(11:45):
knight of Owen's death, saying that she thought the dead
man lived in Clinton, Missouri. Owen's body was taken to
a funeral home, where it was publicly displayed in the
hope that someone could recognize him. Among the visitors was
Robert Lane, who identified him as the peculiar man he
had seen on the night of January third. Several bartenders

(12:06):
testified seeing a man matching Owen's description in the company
of two women. Police also discovered that the night before
Owen registered at the President Hotel, a man matching his
description had briefly stayed at the mule Bach, giving his
name as Eugene K. Scott of Los Angeles. Unsurprisingly, no

(12:27):
trace of anyone by that name could be found. Either Earlier,
Owen or Scott had stayed at yet another Kansas City hotel,
the Saint Regis, in the company of a man who
was never identified. They were having no more luck with
tracing the man named Don that Owen had talked to
during his stay at the President. Was he the man

(12:48):
who was there with the prostitute. Was he the strange
voice who had told the maid not to bother bringing
in fresh towels? Was Don? The man Owen had told
Lane he wanted to kill. Was down the man who
had been at the Saint Regis with him? All excellent
questions which were fated never to be answered. Nine days

(13:10):
after Owen died, a wrestling promoter named Tony Bernardi identified
the dead man as someone who had visited him several
weeks earlier to sign up for wrestling matches. Bernardi said
the man gave his name as Cecil Werner. While all
of this established that Roland Owen was a very peculiar man.

(13:31):
None of it was the slightest help in discovering his
real identity, let alone the name of his killer. The
woman's hairpin found in his room, plus the angry male
and female voices Gene Owen had heard, led to talk
that the murder stemmed from a love triangle, but that
theory remained mere speculation. Police were becoming resigned to writing

(13:54):
off his death as one of the unsolved mysteries, and
by the beginning of March, preparations were made to bury
the John Doe in an unmarked grave. However, before Owen
could be brought to the city's Potter's Field, the head
of the funeral home in charge of the body received
an anonymous phone call. The man asked that the burial

(14:14):
be delayed until money could be sent to cover the
costs of a decent internment. The caller claimed that Roland
T Owen was the dead man's real name, and that
Owen had been engaged to the caller's sister. The funeral
director said that the mysterious benefactor told him that Owen
just got into a jam. He added that the police

(14:36):
are on the wrong track. Shortly afterward, the cash arrived
via special delivery mail, again anonymously, and Owen was finally
buried in Memorial Park Cemetery. No one attended the funeral
other than a handful of detectives. More money was sent
with equal mysteriousness to a local florist to pay for

(14:59):
a bouquet of roads for the grave. It was accompanied
by a card to be placed with the flowers. It
read Love Forever, signed Louise. The Owen cas drifted into
obscurity until late nineteen thirty six, when a woman named
Eleanor Ogletree learned of an account of the murder given
in the magazine American Weekly. She thought the description given

(15:23):
of Owen matched that of her missing brother Artemis. The
Ogletrees had not seen him since he left his home
in Birmingham, Alabama, in April nineteen thirty four to go
out and see the country. The last his mother Ruby
had heard from him were three brief type written letters.
The first of these notes arrived in the spring of

(15:44):
nineteen thirty five, several months after Owen died. Missus Ogletree
later said she was suspicious of these letters from the start,
as hersan did not know how to type. The last
letter said he was sailing for Europe. Several months after
the last letter, she received a phone call from a
man calling himself Jordan. Jordan said that Artemis had saved

(16:08):
his life in Egypt and that her son had married
a wealthy Cairo woman. When Missus Ogletree was shown a
photo of Owen, she immediately recognized the dead man as
her missing son. He was only seventeen when he died.
The dead man had finally been identified. Justice for his

(16:28):
brutal death, however, remained hopelessly elusive. This is one of
those irritating unsolved murders that is nothing but a bunch
of questions left in a hopelessly tangled mess. Why was
Artemis Ogletree using multiple false names? What was he doing
in Kansas City? Who killed him? And why? Who was Louise?

(16:52):
Who was Jordan? Who sent the money to pay for
Ogletree's funeral? Who really wrote those letters to Ruby Ogletree?
What in God's name happened in room ten forty six.
It's almost certain we will never know. The investigation into

(17:12):
Ogletree's death was briefly reopened in nineteen thirty seven after
detectives noted similarities between his murder and the slaying of
a young man in New York, but this also went nowhere.
The case has remained in cold obscurity ever since, except
for one strange incident about ten years ago. This PostScript

(17:34):
to the story was related in twenty twelve by John Horner,
a librarian in the Kansas City Public Library who's done
extensive research into the Ogletree mystery. One day in two
thousand and three or two thousand and four, someone from
out of state phoned the library to ask about the case.
This caller, who did not give his or her name,

(17:56):
said that they'd recently gone through the belongings of someone
who had recently died. Among these belongings was a box
containing old newspaper clippings about the murder. This caller mentioned
that this box also contained something which had been mentioned
in the newspaper reports. Corners caller would not say what
this something was. It seems only fitting that a case

(18:20):
so mysterious throughout should have an equally baffling last act.
Coming up next on Weird Darkness, Weirdo Family member Mona

(18:41):
Thompson tells about the scary experience she had in a
house on a hill. But first, if you're planning a
visit to the beautiful BAMF Hotel in the Canadian Rockies,
you might discover that the rumor is true. It very
much is haunted. That story is up next. If you're

(19:27):
planning a visit to the astounding Canadian Rockies, see if
you can make your way to the town of Banff.
The village is nestled in a U shaped valley carved
by an ancient glacier and is surrounded by a magnificent
array of mountains. The town of Banff sits on the
edge of Banff National Park, Canadia's first national park, established

(19:49):
in eighteen eighty five and was developed after miners discovered
natural hot springs in the area. On the outskirts of
the diminutive metropolis is the Fairmont's Baff Springs Hotel. This
impressive inn, also dubbed the Castle of the Rockies, is
well known to Canadians as one of the most haunted
places in their country. The hotel is noted for several

(20:12):
different purported hauntings. First, a little about the hotel. It
was William Cornelius van Horn that turned the phrase since
we can't export the scenery we will have to import
the tourists. The hotel was the brainchild of Van Horn,
appointed General manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He wanted

(20:34):
folks to see the beautiful Canadian rockies while at the
same time profiting his railway and resort. The original Banff
Springs Hotel, constructed of wood, was designed by Bruce Price
and opened in eighteen eighty eight. The original facility burned
down in nineteen twenty six and was rebuilt in nineteen
twenty eight. The present buildings were constructed in an amalgam

(20:58):
of styles, but is considered to be the Canadian Chatauesque,
with elements of Scottish baronial architecture and the Arts and
crafts movement. Many Americans probably are more familiar with other
notable railway hotel. Hotel Frontenac in Quebec also built in
this distinctive Canadian architectural style. Chateauesque. Features on the building

(21:21):
include its steep pitched roofs, pointed dormers, and corner turrets.
The seven hundred sixty four room facility, sitting about forty
six hundred feet above sea level, is clad in Rundel
limestone and many renovations have been done to the buildings
over the years. Currently, the Fairmont Bend Springs Hotel is

(21:43):
owned and operated by Acre Hotels since twenty sixteen, as
one of a chain of luxury accommodations under the name
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts FH and R. FH and R
was formed in two thousand and one as a result
of a merger between Fairmont Hotels and Canadian Pacific Hotels.

(22:03):
In nineteen eighty eight, the hotel became a National Historic
Site of Canada and is now considered to be a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Such notables as Queen Elizabeth King,
George the sixth, Helen Keller, Marilyn Monroe, and others have
all stayed at this property. But enough of the boring

(22:24):
history for now. Let's get to the good stuff and
the reason why you listen to this podcast. There are
several recurring paranormal events generally associated with the Banff Hotel.
Our first tale deals with a so called secret room.
Upon constructing the pre fire building, a room inadvertently was

(22:45):
built without any windows or doors, and subsequently was sealed up.
No adverse events occurred in this space, but visitors report
hearing unexplained noises and paranormal activity in the immediate area.
When the original wood building burned down due to the fire,
this mysterious room was discovered. According to Haunted Places to

(23:08):
Go in twenty eighteen, there are no apparent reasons for
the inexplicable apparitions and activity. However, some research indicates that
this room, when rebuilt, has been combined with another to
create a large suite. Another recurring tale from the hotel
is that of Sam McCauley, the friendly obliging ghost. To

(23:32):
say Sam loved working at the hotel would be an understatement.
Retiring from his job on numerous occasions, he was always
drawn back to the role that he enjoyed so much.
At one point, the aging Sam informed his friends and
colleagues that when he died, he would return to haunt
the Banff Springs Hotel. It seems that Sam was true

(23:53):
to his word, as he has been witnessed all over
the hotel, but particularly on the ninth floor. Sam died
in nineteen seventy six. Ever since, incidents involving mysterious phantom lights,
elevator doors opening and closing at random, and guests being
helped by an elderly Scottish bellman in an antiquated uniform

(24:15):
have been attributed to Sam's ghost. This good natured specter
is one of much more recent times. Many reported paranormal
activities usually have been associated with events, usually tragic from
the more distant past. The next legend is one of those.
This is a story of sadness taking place sometime during

(24:38):
the early nineteen thirties at a young couple's nuptial. The
tale is so iconic that Canada issued a postage stamp
as part of the Haunted Canada stamp series and a
collector coin in its remembrance. The story typically goes as follows.
A young bride was either ascending or descending a staircase

(24:59):
to meet her nep for their first dance as a couple.
In one version, the bride tripped on her train, sending
her tumbling down the staircase, breaking her neck. In another version,
the poor bride's dress catches fire from candles that are
lining the staircase, and she subsequently falls to her death
during the ensuing commotion. Over the years, various hotel patrons

(25:21):
and staff have reported seeing a phantasmal bride dancing alone
in the cascade ballroom, or ascending the marble staircase on
which the tragic event is rumored to have taken place.
Others have heard strange noises emanating from the bridal suite
when the room was not in use. Still, others have
felt the woman's presence in the bathroom at the top

(25:44):
of the stairs, where she is said to watch people.
Those who descend the stairs she died on can sometimes
feel a chill breeze, even when there is no draft.
In addition to this, she's been seen in other areas
of the hotel still wearing her beautiful white wedding dress
that she died in. No written records have been able

(26:05):
to document or confirm this supposed tragedy. The spirit of
the mother, and particularly that of a young girl her
spectral daughter, still seem to linger in the vicinity of
one of the inn's rooms. Guests who stayed in the
room after the subsequent investigation and clean up reported being
awoken in the night by violent shrieks, and chambermaids who

(26:29):
routinely cleaned the room would report finding bloody fingerprints on
the bathroom mirror that could not be washed off. In
response to the disturbing reports, hotel management sealed off the room.
Since the room has been sealed, an impression of a
small child sometimes appears on the wall where the door
should be. The image has been successfully photographed by some guests.

(26:52):
Some other alleged hotel specters include a ghostly bartender who
encourages ineviated patrons to go to bed, and a headless
man who, despite his obvious handicaps, somehow manages to play
the bagpipes. Paranormal events such as floating orbs, noises, and
ghostly images have been recorded by visitors, but I could

(27:14):
not find any evidence of paranormal researchers documenting and corroborating
these stories. Staff at the hotel routinely decline to discuss
the paranormal activities supposedly taking place at the resort. However,
more recently the hotel has embraced these occurrences and now
offer regular guided ghost tours, with a haunted Halloween ball

(27:37):
occurring every fall. In nineteen eighty six, I was visiting

(27:59):
my mother, my older sister, and my new stepfather in Cicero, Indiana.
It was in the country with nothing but cornfields for miles,
with one small town that contained a gas station. Dairy queen,
small grocery store, and video store. I lived in San Antonio,
Texas with my father, so this being out in the
country like this was new to me. This would be

(28:22):
the first and only time I visited at that home.
The home in Cicero was big and on a lot
of acres. There was a lot of room to roam.
We had horses and a man made pond. One morning,
I remember being in the kitchen and my sister and
I overheard my mother and stepfather talking about a house
on a hill that was haunted and bad things would

(28:44):
happen to anyone who went on the property. Apparently something
happened to someone in town that went there. They were
told never to go there, so it's not like they
weren't warned, my stepfather said, referring to whoever they were
talking about. It was maybe a week later and my
sister and I were driving into town to get something
from the store when my sister pulled onto that property

(29:06):
with the house. I told my sister that I didn't
think we should be there, and she said we had
nothing to worry about. It was just a house. It
was a two story brick home that had been neglected
for a very long time. There was not really a driveway,
just an open area at a park. We got out
of the car and went around the house. Nothing seemed

(29:28):
scary or weird, just to run down house with a
few broken windows. I remember thinking, if someone fixed this
house up, it'd be really nice. I walked behind the
house and there really wasn't a backyard, but rather a
steep drop off that led into a wood area. I
looked further out, and that's when I saw a man

(29:50):
with dark hair just standing there looking at us. The
man was wearing what looked like a fluorescent vest like
you see road workers where I really didn't think anything
about it. Being from Texas, it was not uncommon to
see hunters wear the same type of gear so that
they're not shot by other hunters. I know it sounds crazy,

(30:10):
but it happens. The man turned around and went back
into the wooded area. By this time, my sister and
I had seen everything we wanted to see and left.
That night, everything was normal until we went to bed.
My sister and I each had our own rooms located
on the second floor. Both of our bedroom windows were

(30:32):
off the front of the home, which faced west. We
slept with our windows open because the house wasn't air conditioned.
It was around two a m. And my sister comes
into my room visibly shaking. She woke me up and said,
come here, look at this. From the hallway. If you
were facing both our bedrooms, if you leaned to the left,
you could see into my sister's room with the window

(30:53):
being right in front. If you leaned right, you could
see into my room with my window right in front.
When I looked into my sister's room, her curtains were
going crazy, like a windstorm was outside. But when you
looked into my room, the curtains laid flat, no movement
at all. My sister proceeds to tell me when she
woke up, there was a Native American Indian man at

(31:15):
the foot of her bed. He didn't do anything, He
just stared at me, she said. After she had said,
the curtains immediately went flat, no wind. My sister and
I were so scared. She slept in my bed that night.
To this day, we still talk about that weird incident
and still don't have any clue what or why that happened.

(31:39):
But in the back of my mind, I know it
had something to do with us going to that house
on the hill coming up next. Does the ghost of
a shoemaker continue to reside in Winston's North Carolina. I'll

(32:02):
relate the rumors to you. When weird darkness returns. Smells

(32:27):
of burning hardwood fill the streets at Old Salem and
Winston Salem as three shy but bold pheasants wiggle haltingly
across the road down from the Single Brother's house one
July Friday morning, completely unaware. Humans think there is a
ghost living in a cellar there. Jennifer bean Bauer, Associate

(32:47):
curator of photographic Collections at Old Salem, is quite familiar
with this specter. The little red Man ghost story is
very popular, and we now actually have a ghost tour
in October in which visitors can tour the Single Brother's house,
the place of the accident, and sightings at night. It's
really a lot of fun, she said, to make a

(33:08):
long story short. When the Single Brother's house cellar was
being excavated, the top part of the ground caved in
on several of the workers. One man was completely covered
by the dirt and later died. His name was Andreas Kremser.
He was described as being a short, little man and
legend has it that he was wearing a red jacket
at the time of his death. That's not the end

(33:30):
of the story, though. Shortly after his death, ghostly happenings
began to occur in the single brother's house, and sightings
of a little red man moving along the hallway were reported.
Near Old Salem downtown, Yellowing newspapers are stacked as researchers
scour the North Carolina Room at the Winston Salem Forsyth

(33:51):
County Library. Reva Jones smiles behind the desk. It's very quiet.
She was a tour guide at Old Salem of Winston Salem,
the past president of the Forsyth County Genealogical Society, formed
in nineteen eighty two. She is adept at sharing the
history of the area and enjoys doing so. I had

(34:12):
to oversee everything that was going on in the society
Before you become president. You have to be president elect
and you get up all the programs for a whole year.
For every year as the president, you kind of oversee
everything that's going on. From nineteen eighty one to nineteen
eighty nine, she was a tour guide at Old Salem.

(34:33):
When I'd have a tour with the school children. They
would ask me about the little Red Man in the
single brother's house. I would ask them if they believed
in ghosts, and if they said yes, I would say, yes,
that story's true. If they said no, then I said no,
it's not true. You have to believe in ghosts. Do

(34:53):
you believe in ghosts? Have you ever thought you'd noticed
something in the middle of the night that looked out
of the ordinary. Maybe there was a silhouette at your
window and the darkness outside your room on a dark
and stormy night. Some people don't mind walking in a
graveyard at midnight or thereafter. Some people are superstitious. If

(35:15):
you're frightened by unexplained events, then maybe you should cease
listening from this point because some of what follows has
never been reported until this thorough investigation. It's a fascinating story,
and it's one we like to tell because the story
of something that did happen there that they could see
the little Red Man after he had passed away. There

(35:37):
they could see the little Red Man. If you've read
the story, it says that they thought they saw a
little red man down there. That's the reason that man's
ghost who got killed down there. Does she believe in ghosts?
Yes and no, she said, yes and no. Stories like
this can be positive for tourism, she admitted. I think

(35:59):
it does. When they come to Old Salem, if they've
heard it before, they want to hear about it, she said,
admitting that the history of Old Salem is interesting. It's
very very interesting. You can never learn everything from Old Salem.
George Washington visited Old Salem. Ghosts of Old Salem and
Other Tales, compiled by Richard W. Starbuck, is a good reference.

(36:22):
The Moravian Archives of Winston Salem, North Carolina and the
Forsyth County Library is also a good start. An archive
produced by Adelaide L. Fries, who spent forty years as
an archivist at the Moravian Church and chief historian. Everywhere
one goes you hear a story about Cremser. One Davidson

(36:42):
County man said he was playing Cremser for a Halloween
event in the cellar at Old Salem, donning a red hat,
and between tours he was alone and heard the tapping.
In Ghosts of Old Salem and Other Tales, the Richard
Starbuck from the Moravian Archives at the Forsyth County Library.
It's reported that in the advent season, a candle tea

(37:04):
is held annually in the house, and some folks have
been scared because of unexplained noises. Crumser was buried in
God's Acre at Old Salem. He was born March seventh,
seventeen fifty three, in Nottenhood in Pennsylvania. Brought up in
the home until age three. He lived in Bethlehem and
to Nazareth. In October seventeen sixty six, he moved to

(37:28):
North Carolina, where he was a shoemaker in Bethebara. You'll
learn this and much more in the mass very interesting
papers Records of the Moravians in North Carolina compiled and
edited by Adelaide L. Fries, chief historian an archivist for
forty years for the Moravian Church of America South Province.

(37:48):
There's Volume five seventeen eighty four to seventeen ninety two,
which is interesting part of the records of the North
Carolina Historical Commission. Starbuck was her assistant archivist and assistant.
The record books by Fry are under lock and key
for fear of theft, and they cannot leave the North
Carolina Room one footnote read the tragic death of Andreas

(38:11):
Kremser gave rise to the tradition of the little red
Man of the brother's house, though in fact it offers
no foundation for a ghost story. In February sixth, seventeen
seventy two, he moved to Salem, just before going to
the excavation. March twenty fifth, seventeen eighty six, he went
to the festal services of his choir and congregation, and

(38:34):
he was quiet all day. The next day was the
day of the excavation. About half past eleven, he was
warned by a brother who saw him kneeling while working.
According to the history books, according to Fry's account, March
twenty fifth, during the night, the single brethren had an
unusual and sorrowful experience. Some days ago they began digging

(38:55):
the cellar for the addition to their house, and several
brethren were working there in the evening without charge, and
they were doing it this evening after service. The brethren
were using a method which expedited the digging and which
had worked well so far. That is, they had undermined
a part of the bank and then break it off
from above the ridges. Several brethren had noticed that on

(39:16):
the side where they were working now the soil was
sandy and loose, and they doubted the advisability of using
the above mentioned method, indeed warned earnestly against it. Few
of the brethren who were working there could see the danger,
but most of them took every care, especially when the
warning was repeated. When a rather long section had been undermined,

(39:37):
the brother who had been stationed above on guard noticed
that it was breaking of its own weight and quickly
gave the alarm. This was around midnight. Kremser was a
small man and he was wearing a red cap when
the bank caved in on him and most of the
brethren below were able to avoid the falling earth. To
their horror, however, they saw that two brethren had been covered,

(39:59):
Andreas krem completely and Joseph Dixon to his armpits. All
the brethren hurried to the scene, including those who had
already gone to bed, and in a few minutes they
had dug out both of the brethren. Brother Dixon had
not been injured, and after being bled, he recovered entirely.
In a few hours, Kremser had been buried alive. He

(40:20):
allegedly spoke, complaining of pain. His left leg was broken.
According to the records, Doctor Lewis was there and opened
a vein in his arm, but a little blood flowed,
and there were soon signs of his approaching departure. There
were many tears. Brother Kremser, however, of whose recovery there
was hope, at first, became weaker and weaker. At about

(40:44):
two o'clock in the morning he passed away very quietly,
having received the blessing of the congregation and of his choir,
given with deep emotion, and yet in faith A thousand
thanks were given to our dear Lord for the escape
of so many brethren, for who the danger was almost
as great. Sunday, March twenty six, the litany the homecoming

(41:07):
of Brother Andreas Kremser was mentioned in the usual manner.
March twenty seventh, at one o'clock there was the funeral
of our beloved brother Andreas Kremser. Brother Kohler pointed out
that our Savior allows nothing to happen to his children
except what is best for them and what will promote
the object of our faith, that is the salvation of

(41:28):
our souls. This must be our point of view in
our faith, because in our ignorance of his wise designs,
we do not understand something unusual and affecting the fate.
And unusual departure of our brother Kremser makes us very sad,
but without doubt it was best for him, for his
heart was so that he was ready to enter into
eternal salvation. The index of the books note other facts

(41:52):
about his life. Kremser's bills were paid and the remainder
was to be sent to his mother in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
He swept the most important chimneys, the record showed, because
one family had the measles. On one March fourth, he
left the shoe shop and worked in the single brother's kitchen.
One page noted November sixteen, to bring the chimney sweeping

(42:14):
into better order, brother Kremser shall be told to divide
the list sweeping part each month, and sweeping certain chimneys
every month. One brother said that Kremser had not been
able to climb his chimney, however, that other larger men
had been able to do so. Kremser reportedly said that
the chimneys ought to be made larger. Once Kremser took

(42:35):
a stack of diaries and letters of May, June, and
July to Bethabara, and they were entrusted to a man
returning to Pennsylvania. The records showed although Kremser's spirit had
passed on from this world, his antics had stayed behind. Afterward,
an unusual sound was heard at night, like a tap
tap tapping of a shoemaker's hammer, and they would say,

(42:58):
there's Kremser. People would hear light steps in the hallway.
According to the history books, sometimes people would catch a
glimpse of a little fellow in a red cap going
past a door. Little Betsy went sometimes to visit her
aging grandmother in this building when times brought change and
females to the building. The girl had just learned to

(43:19):
talk since a serious illness had left her death. She
knew nothing of ghosts. One day she came to her
grandmother with excitement, Betsy saw a little man out there,
according to the records, adding the man beckoned her with
his finger as a child signals another to play. Years
passed and a substantial citizen was shown the cellar, and

(43:40):
the little red man appeared as they tried to catch
him with no success. While the phantom grinned at them
from the doorway. The citizen was not addicted to alcohol,
the documents added. Finally, a visiting minister held an exorcism
with the command little Red Man go to rest, and
he has not been seen since there are no such

(44:01):
things as ghosts. There are no such thing as ghosts.
Fear of death and the unknown strikes fear into mortal beings.
So therefore we are frightened of the unexplained. But why
do skeletons and tombstones give us the creeps? The prayer
said at Crimson's funeral, enlightens us to our mortal journey's end. Remember,

(44:26):
there are no such things as ghosts. Thanks for listening.
If you like the podcast, please tell someone about it.
Recommend Weird Darkness to your friends, family, and co workers

(44:48):
who love the paranormal, horror stories or true crime like
you do. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to
be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find source
links or links to the authors in the show notes.
Room eight seven three at the Banff Hotel was written
by Joseph D. Kubal for spook Things Online. The House

(45:09):
on the Hill was written by Weirdo Family member Mona Thompson.
The Horror in Room ten forty six is by Undine
for a Strange Company, and the Little Red Man of
Old Salem is by Tim Bullard for the Camel City Dispatch.
We're darkness theme by Alibi Music, and now that we're

(45:29):
coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a
little light Jonah two, verse two. In my distress, I
called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep
in the realm of the dead, I called for help,
and you listened to my cry. And a final thought,
the truly rich are those who enjoy what they have

(45:53):
a Yiddish proverb. I'm Darren Marler. Thanks for joining me
in the weird darkness.

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ROOM 1046: The Unsolved Murder That Still Haunts Kansas City – Unknown Killer, Unnamed Victim

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}ROOM 1046: The Unsolved Murder That Still Haunts Kansas City – Unknown Killer, Unnamed Victim