Notorious Bakersfield

Send Robert a Text!  Other than Col. Thomas Baker, who Bakersfield was named after, George and Julius Chester, who Chester Ave is named after, and Country music stars Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, I can't think of another name more closely associated with Bakersfield than the Beale family name. I interviewed William Cooke, the author of the recently released book Truxtun and Marie Beale for h...

Send Robert a Text! In 1984, fast-moving fire in a hardware store in Pasadena killed four people. In January of 1987, a string of fires broke out in several different retail stores in the California Central Valley...two in Bakersfield, two stores in Tulare, and two more in Fresno. Thankfully, unlike the Pasadena fire, the destruction from these fires in the Central Valley was limited to property d...

Send Robert a Text! There's no denying that It's unusual for a newspaper to give a prison inmate a platform to share commentary and opinions. But that's what The Bakersfield Californian did in the early 1970s. Management at the Californian was so impressed with Gene Herrington, an inmate at the Tehachapi Correctional Institution, that they regularly featured his writings in their ne...

Send Robert a Text!  In 1972 a seven-year-old boy named Steven Stayner was abducted while he walked home from school in Merced, CA. His case drug on and went unsolved for so long, most people gave up any hope that Steven would ever be found alive. In 1980 Steven Stayner was found...alive. For over seven years-from age seven to the fourteen-the boy had been held captive by a child predator named Ke...

Send Robert a Text! During Christmas 1984 through to the New Year, the faithful and curious alike flocked to an East Bakersfield home to view what some claimed to be that of an apparition of the Virgin Mary. This is the story about The Virgin Mary In Bakersfield. If you'd like to support the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you can buy me a coffee. Visit here to make a donation: https://www.buy...

Send Robert a Text! In 1989, Kenneth Obney and a companion were ambushed by an assailant wearing a Santa costume in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Bakersfield.   If you'd like to support the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you can buy me a coffee. Visit here to make a donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Notorious  Visit the Notorious Bakersfield store to purchase a tshirt:...

Send Robert a Text! In the previous episode of the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you learned about Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena's crimes, his rise in the ranks of the Mexican Mafia, and his assassination. For this episode, you'll learn about the 1975 double murder of two Bakersfield brothers that was in retaliation for Cheyenne's death. If you'd like to support the Notorio...

Send Robert a Text!  Edward James Olmos starred in and directed the 1992 movie American Me. The opening title card of the film says it was “inspired by a true story.” The lead character played by Olmos is named Montoya Santana. Everything written about this character claims it is based on the real-life Mexican Mafia boss Rudolpho Cadena. What many people don't know about Rudolpho Cadena, is t...

Send Robert a Text!  For 76 years, the last Thursday of November was the official Thanksgiving holiday...until 1939...when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed the Thursday before the last Thursday of November would be the official Thanksgiving holiday. This is the story of Franksgiving-where I look back to examine why the day was changed and to see if Bakersfield, in 1939, observed the...

Send Robert a Text! In 1971,  9-year-old Eddie Owen watched from his bedroom window as his father Everett got in his pickup truck. As soon as Everett turned the key in the ignition, the bomb detonated. Over 50 years later and this case remains unsolved.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! In episode 22, Notorious Bakersfield brought you the story of a 5-year-old girl who was abandoned  on the side of a freeway south Bakersfield in 1969. Her name was Jody. For this episode, for the first time in 52 years, Jody recalls that harrowing experience, the events that led up to it, and her life since.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! In October 1969, a little girl named Jody was abandoned on the freeway south of Bakersfield.  Officials didn't have a lot to go to positively identify her. When her story ran in newspapers and broadcast on local TV news programs across the country, this mystery girl captured the hearts of the nation.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! For this episode of the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, I'm going to take a look back at how the people of Bakersfield responded to the 1938 radio adaptation of "War of the Worlds". This is considered one of the biggest Halloween pranks ever played on a mass of people. But was it really? Did that many people really fall for this prank? In addition to that, I'...

Send Robert a Text! Just before dawn on March 9, 1972, Daniel Fusselman, a 49-year-old unemployed bartender sat in his car, outside his estranged wife Priscilla's house in Park Stockdale. She was working the graveyard shift at a downtown Bakersfield coffee shop. He wanted to witness firsthand his wife's reaction to what he'd done inside the home. They were going through a divorce an...

Send Robert a Text! Whenever a violent crime occurs at a well-known institution in a community, the community takes notice-people pay attention. And that's certainly what happened when 24-year-old Bakersfield College student Frances Lorine Brown was viciously attacked and killed on the Bakersfield College campus in 1977. Support the show

Send Robert a Text! Wiley Dorris was one of the most respected criminal defense attorneys in Bakersfield. If you found yourself on the wrong side of the law, Wiley was the guy you wanted in your corner. But overshadowing his courtroom triumphs, was his wife's political activism and electoral comeback victories. Grace Dorris was one of the first women in the United States to be elected to publ...

Send Robert a Text! The 1990 abduction and murder of 4-year-old Jessica Martinez remains one of Bakersfield's most notorious mysteries.  If you have any information regarding Jessica Martinez's murder, please call the Bakersfield Police Department at 661-327-7111. Secret Witness Tip Line at 661-322-4040. Support the show

Send Robert a Text! William Compton, a 76-year-old cancer patient, was murdered in his home in 1993. The first Bakersfield Police detectives to investigate the murder tentatively and wrongly determined the elderly man committed suicide. Despite this error,  and thanks to the victim, Christopher Lightsey emerged as a suspect.  Support the show

Send Robert a Text! 28-year-old Matthew Dale Odom was assaulted and stabbed in his front yard in the early morning hours of September 15, 2014. The father of four later died at the hospital from his injuries. The seven-year anniversary of this crime is this week. Typically I cover older cases. But since this murder remains unsolved and relatively recent, I decided to cover this crime with the hope...

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...