Notorious Bakersfield

Send Robert a Text! Ralph Smith Jr was a prominent Bakersfield home builder, real estate developer, and broker. He built many of the homes in Bakersfield's now well-established neighborhoods. In 1966, he and his family were living at 275 Panorama Dr, a home Ralph built specifically for his family. It was at this home on September 8, 1966, where Ralph Smith, his wife Edna, and son William were...

Send Robert a Text! This past week, a parole board recommended parole for a convicted murderer. In 2001 Torie Lynn Knapp was brutally stabbed to death by her then 15-year-old son Parker Chamberlin. This was a gruesome murder that shocked everyone who knew both the victim and the killer. How could a teenager who appeared to have a close and loving relationship with his mother...kill her...and in su...

Send Robert a Text! The 1961 kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 6-year-old Rose Marie Riddle happened in Shafter, only 15 miles from Bakersfield. It was so horrific, news of the crime reverberated throughout the state of California like an earthquake. Families feared that if such an awful thing could happen in the small town of Shafter, it could happen in larger communities and cities too....

Send Robert a Text! During the summer of 1952, Bakersfield-actually, most of Kern County-experienced an earthquake, and a string of aftershocks that forever changed our city's landscape. Besides the tragic loss of lives, the earthquake altered downtown Bakersfield's architecture that took shape immediately following the quake.  I had some questions regarding the 1952 earthquake and turne...

Send Robert a Text! The Bakersfield Police Department was embroiled in a corruption scandal that rocked city hall. It was a grudge match between two of Bakersfield's most powerful government officials.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! Through the Summer of 1981, there was a serial rapist prowling the streets of Bakersfield. But you wouldn't have known about it unless you had a connection to law enforcement or a local news reporter. Or were one of his victims, or knew one of his victims. There were no newspaper headlines or nightly TV news stories warning the citizens of Bakersfield that there was a seri...

Send Robert a Text! The subject of this episode deals with the death of a law enforcement officer. Coincidentally, just last Sunday, July 25, 2021, the Kern County Sheriff Office and the entire community suffered a tremendous loss. Deputy Philip Campas tragically died in the line of duty in Wasco. I'm sensitive to the reality that many in our community are grieving Deputy Campas' death,...

Send Robert a Text! The circumstances surrounding Eddie Lee Peel's 1977 murder are not only sad but truely bizarre.  If this were a movie, nobody would believe it.  But, it happened. And it's true. Except for a few names that had to be changed.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! The neighborhood that runs along Palm Ave in Rosedale looks remarkably the same as it did in 1992.  Like then, this neighborhood doesn't seem to be the type of neighborhood where a triple murder could happen.  But it did. And it left Bakersfield reeling.  Kenneth and Cynthia Volpe, and Cynthia's mother Betty Reed were murdered by an evil man with a dark and deadly pas...

Send Robert a Text! On July 11, 1986, a mysterious United States military aircraft—an aircraft that the Air Force never before acknowledged existed—had crashed just outside Bakersfield. This accident threatened to expose one of the United States' most secret aircraft.  Killed in this accident was USAF Major Ross Mulhare.   Support the show

Send Robert a Text! In  March 1960, Bakersfield was the site of an awful railroad tragedy. A passenger train collided with a truck hauling highly flammable oil product. 14 people were killed and 64 more were injured.   While this train accident was an awful tragedy, what I discovered in my research, was Bakersfield's response to this crisis was nothing less than inspirational.  Support the sh...

Send Robert a Text! He had a BIG presence in Bakersfield. He had a big personality with an even bigger passion for food. He was a big name in the local restaurant business. Freddie Giovanetti's culinary career spanned over 30 years...From dishwasher to owning a chain of restaurants.  His story is a classic American dream story. A story of business success built by hard work. That success stor...

Send Robert a Text! Anna Bertram Duncan was the daughter of two Kern County pioneering families. Her father was Millard A. Duncan, owner of MA Duncan & Company, a mercantile business that was located at 18th & Eye Streets. Her mother, Emma Duncan, was the stepdaughter of Peter Wible, whose offspring went on to become some of Bakersfield's most prominent civic, farming and business lea...

Send Robert a Text! In 1926, Fairy Cornell and her daughter Fairy Gerace were murdered by Odd Cornell, Fairy Cornell's estranged husband.  It happened in a home that once stood on the north side of 24th Street, between Chester Ave. and Eye St. Most people living today have no idea about this tragedy that made headlines across the country. The Alliance Against Family Violence & Sexual Assa...