California Crime Stories CCS Media

Hey! It’s been a minute since you heard from us…but we’re back with an update minisode! Since we released our last episode in March, there have been several notable developments in cases that we've shared with you on the podcast.

Riverside PD is offering a $50,000 reward (valid until 1/31/22) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cheri Jo Bates’s killer. Contact the Riverside PD’s Homicide Cold Case Unit by email at cjb@riversideca.gov with any information.

Apply for the Cheri Jo Bates Memorial Endowed Scholarship: https://rcc.academicworks.com/opportunities/12756

Apply for or donate to the Kristin Smart Scholarship: https://www.kristinsmart.org 

Our recommendation for this episode: The Great British Baking Show! 

Sources: 
Charles V. Bagli, “Robert Durst Found Guilty of Murder After Decades of Suspicion.” NYT https://nyti.ms/30vDF6E Charles V. Bagli, “Robert Durst Sentenced to Life in Prison for Friend’s Murder.” NYT https://nyti.ms/3wOaUOv Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2020 edition). “Special Circumstances: Lying in Wait” https://bit.ly/3CldT27Brian Melley, “Robert Durst sentenced to life in best friend’s murder.” ABC News https://abcn.ws/30sGHZE Paul Vercammen, Stephanie Becker, and Cheri Mossburg, “Robert Durst was sentenced to life in prison today. Here’s what happened during his hearing.” CNN https://cnn.it/3ci9qCt Karen Matthews and Michael R. Sisak, “Robert Durst charged with 1982 murder of wife Kathie Durst.” AP https://bit.ly/3CjWMNW  Christine Hauser, “Kristin Smart Case: A Timeline of Searches and Arrests.” NYT https://nyti.ms/31VlpnC Ashton McIntyre, “Paul, Ruben Flores plead not guilty, trial set for April 25.” KSBY https://bit.ly/3qHt3fB KSBY Staff, “Human blood found in multiple soil samples taken from Flores home, forensic expert testifies.” KSBY https://bit.ly/2YQm3lb KSBY Staff, “Archaeologists testify anomaly found in soil at Flores home was consistent with burial site.” KSBY https://bit.ly/30u62SB Matt Fountain and Kaytlyn Leslie, “Kristin Smart case; Paul and Ruben Flores appear in SLO court.” SLO Tribune https://bit.ly/3Fn3sN4 City News Service, “Reward offered for conviction in decades-old Riverside homicide.” The Press-Enterprise https://bit.ly/3kGw24i Kevin Fagan, “Zodiac Killer case solved? Case Breakers group makes an ID, but police say it doesn’t hold up.” SF Chronicle https://bit.ly/3qKjXPk Dani Anguiano, “Case of the Zodiac Killer takes another twist - but police say it isn’t solved.” The Guardian https://bit.ly/3kAHLBt Meryl Kornfield, “the Zodiac Killer sent a cipher 51 years ago. A team of amateur code-breakers just cracked it.” The Washington Post  https://wapo.st/3GZKfSE The Case Breakers’ Zodiac press release https://bit.ly/3Fnj0Rk

On the night of June 11th, 1962, as guards stood watch and their fellow inmates slept, Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz prison, never to be seen again...

Our recommendations for this episode:
-British hip-hop artist Loyle Carner
-Sally's Baking Addiction's Irish soda bread recipe https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/grandmas-irish-soda-bread/

Sources:
-“Alcatraz at a Glance.” https://bit.ly/30Q1z9D
-“Alcatraz escape: Fugitive John Anglin’s name on letter to police.” https://bbc.in/3eNro27
-Alcatraz Escape Files. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, 2014.
-FBI file: https://bit.ly/2OEGsof
-FBI summary: https://bit.ly/2Q7JTnL
-BOP, “Alcatraz.”https://bit.ly/3tsOsHC
-“Investigator Says 1962 Alcatraz Escapees Likely Survived.” https://cbsloc.al/3eL34hu
-“Dutch scientists show: the 1962 Alcatraz Escape was possible.” https://bit.ly/2NpQMzZ
-“Alcatraz 1962 escapees had small chance of success.” https://bbc.in/3cDulzQ
-“Alcatraz escapees’ family convinced brothers alive.” https://bit.ly/3ln6ecw
-“50 years later, Alcatraz escapees’ tale still captivates." https://lat.ms/3vxfJKY
-Rothco & IdenTV, “The Long Shot.” https://bit.ly/3llx2tT
-“Legendary 1962 Alcatraz escapees shown in Brazil 13 years later in newly-discovered photo.” https://bit.ly/2P1sH2U
-“Letter Allegedly Written by Alcatraz Island Escapees Surfaces.” https://cbsloc.al/3eMGCEE
-“Alcatraz Military Timeline.” https://bit.ly/3lnIx3I
-“The Army and American Indian Prisoners.” https://bit.ly/3cFr5E3
-“Baseball on the Rock.” https://bit.ly/30R0UVu
-“The Post on Alcatraces." https://bit.ly/3qVz6JY
-“U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz.” https://bit.ly/3rU7Gpr
-“US Penitentiary Alcatraz: Seven Prisons.” https://bit.ly/3eO8IQa
-“The Upper Prison." https://bit.ly/3rWsah1
-“The Lower Prison Complex.” https://bit.ly/3vAoEvh
-“The Political Prison.” https://bit.ly/3qTKPZJ
-“The Guardhouse Prison.” https://bit.ly/3eNyXWU
-“The New Prison.” https://bit.ly/3eUIH1g
-“Robert Simmons.” https://bit.ly/3cE4Pun
-“We Hold the Rock.” https://bit.ly/3rUKjf7
-“For Desperate or Irredeemable Types: United States Federal Penitentiary Alcatraz." https://bit.ly/3bSUFqs
-“Schemes and Dreams.” https://bit.ly/38QCRdw
-“The Occupation of Alcatraz," Parts 1 & 2. Stuff You Missed in History Class. https://apple.co/3cNXjwV
-Hypothermia estimates: https://bit.ly/3vA3s8r
-Swimming a mile estimates:  https://bit.ly/30Po1Qe

On the morning of October 29, 1963, Judy Williamson left her home in Albany to walk to the bus stop where she would catch a bus to the UC Berkeley campus. Judy never made it to the bus stop, and she would never again be seen alive. Three years later, Judy Williamson’s remains would be found in a wooded canyon, around 100 miles from her home. Judy’s killer might never have been found if it weren’t for Erhard Seminars Training, or EST, a self-help course popularized in the 1970s. 
Our recommendations for this episode:
-author Lucia Berlin https://luciaberlin.com
-the podcast "Doing Justice" https://apple.co/3qFMbbc

Sources:
-AP, “Egenberger Friend Says He Was ‘Filled With Need To Kill.’” https://bit.ly/3aZkuU2
-AP, “Egenberger Indicted in Girl’s Murder.” https://bit.ly/2Z5AVIW
-AP, “Egenberger Trial Begins.” https://bit.ly/3jF7SFA
-Hubert J. Bernard, “She Just Vanished On the Way to Class.” https://bit.ly/3755CT3
-Mark Brewer, “We’re Gonna Tear You Down and Put You Back Together.” https://bit.ly/2MX3JB0
-Bob Calhoun, “Yesterday’s Crimes: The EST Confession.” https://bit.ly/3d44P8B
-Matthew Green, “How One Law Helped Pack California’s Prisons.” https://bit.ly/3qoJ9rP
-Peter Haldeman, “the Return of Werner Erhard, Father of Self-Help.” https://nyti.ms/2OyyuwJ
-Elinor Hayes, “Garage Blood Link to Judy?” https://bit.ly/2OyBgSF
-Eric Jaffe, “A Look at Four Psychology Fads." https://lat.ms/2Zc0o3z
-Ryan King, “Policies: How Policy Decisions Keep People In Prison.” https://urbn.is/3bfKECm
-Robert Kroll, “Egenberger Ruled Guilty.” https://bit.ly/3ab2arS
-Lynn Ludlow, “Her Slaying Hypnotized Bay Area.” https://bit.ly/2Z7jjMG
-Don Martinez,” Former Mayor’s Son Booked in Girl’s Death.” https://bit.ly/3qcrNy4
-Don Martinez, “Judy Killer’s Own Story.” https://bit.ly/3jFd2Bz
-Laura McClure, “The Landmark Forum: 42 Hours, $500, 65 Breakdowns." https://bit.ly/2MY43PV
-Lynn Neary, “Victim of Brock Turner Sexual Assault, Chanel Miller, Reveals Her Identity.” https://n.pr/2NebfXX
-Carol Pogash, “A Good Son, He Told His Mother First.” https://bit.ly/3qcrNy4
-Ron Reeves, “BC Skeleton Identified As That of Missing Coed.” https://bit.ly/3peABlV
-Peggy Rudnicki, “Coed Murder Suspect Would Plead Innocent.” https://bit.ly/373Rr0k
-“Surrender in a 1963 Coast Killing Came After a Year of Planning.” https://nyti.ms/2Ok3PTt
-Wallace Turner, “Murder Confession Presents an Enigma.” https://nyti.ms/3abYLco
-Wallace Turner, “Technician Charged in Coast Slaying 14 Years Ago.” https://nyti.ms/3pdOkJN
-UPI, “Leads Diminishing in Search for Coed.” https://bit.ly/2LJlZgH
-UPI, “New Evidence in Coed Case.” https://bit.ly/3a9MKnR
-UPI, “News in Brief.” https://bit.ly/3jL48Cr
-UPI, “Pool of Blood Spurs Missing Coed Search.” https://bit.ly/2NkNfSU
-1960 census data for Albany https://bit.ly/3aa

On the morning of Halloween, 1966, a groundskeeper at Riverside City College discovered the body of a young woman, sprawled face-down on a gravel drive-way between two campus buildings. The victim was Cheri Jo Bates, an 18-year-old freshman who had spent the previous evening studying at the campus library. Her killer had stabbed her several times in the back and chest; slit her throat; and disappeared into the night. The search for Cheri Jo Bates’s killer stalled until 1970, when her murder was linked to a series of killings committed in the San Francisco Bay Area by a man who proclaimed himself “the Zodiac.” For more than 50 years, the elusive Zodiac has been pursued by state and federal law enforcement agencies, journalists, and even amateur sleuths. He has been the subject of best-selling books and Hollywood films. Yet, the Zodiac has never been apprehended, and the murders he took credit for remain unsolved. The Zodiac has never been definitively linked to Cheri Jo Bates’s murder, but to this day, many remain convinced that she was the Zodiac’s first victim. Others believe that Cheri Jo’s killer was someone she knew. His identity remains unknown, and Cheri Jo Bates’s murder remains unsolved. 
The investigation into the murder of Cheri Jo Bates remains active. If you have any information that could aid investigators in their search for Cheri Jo’s killer, please contact the Riverside Police Department.
RPD (Non-Emergency): 951-354-2007 
RPD (General Information): 951-826-5700
Anonymous We Tip Hotline: 800-472-7766
Send us an email at feedback@ccspod.com! And follow us on Twitter, @theccspod!

Our recommendations for this episode:
-the book Booze and Vinyl  https://amzn.to/2Nh2uNl
-The Twitter account @ratemyskyperoom 
Sources:
-AP, “Coed Slain on California Campus.” Salt Lake Tribune, 1 November 1966. https://bit.ly/3sdQLOh
-AP, “Is Riverside Killing Connected to Zodiac?” Santa Cruz Sentinel, 17 November 1970. https://bit.ly/3qEJuqn
-Chuck Buck, “High-School Filmmaking with a Mystery Ending.” RACmonitor, 7 May 2020. https://bit.ly/3uiwb13
-Robert Graysmith, Zodiac. Berkley, 1986.
-Suzanne Hurt, “After 50 years, Zodiac hunters, police still seeking Cheri Jo Bates’ killer.” Press Enterprise, 6 November  2016. https://bit.ly/3sdjEtP
-Henry Mendoza, “Zodiac Linked to Woman’s Murder.” San Bernardino Sun, 17 March 1971. https://bit.ly/3pAaR3D
-Valerie Osier, “Coed’s 1966 slaying still a mystery.” Press Enterprise, 30 November 2013. https://bit.ly/3pEmpmg
-UPI, “Riverside Police Continue Investigation.” Redlands Daily Facts, 2 November 1966. https://bit.ly/37v06t2
-A little history of the town of Riverside https://bit.ly/3bp1H4S 
-“Coed Stabbed to Death on Riverside College Campus.” Los Angeles Times, 1 November 1966. https://bit.ly/3qEwzVv
- “Findings Point to White Male as Coed Slayer.” San Bernardino Sun, 9 November 1966. https://bit.ly/3kfOwr2
-Photos of the typed “Confession” letter from 1966, the handwritten notes from 1967, and other official documents and photos related to the case https://bit.ly/3budsal
-“Riverside Coed Slain on Campus.” San Bernardino County Sun, 1 November 1966. https://bit.ly/3k6xbkd 
-The Cheri Jo Bates Memorial Endowed Scholarship at RCC https://bit.ly/2Zy4ao7 
-The newspaper write-up about Ross Sullivan and Chuck Buck’s student film https://bit.ly/37yfxk2 
-History Channel series from 2017, “The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer.” Available on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3uiHkyU 
-Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks, “Monster: The Zodiac Killer.” https://bit.ly/3aBIptF 

On June 16, 1959, the world awoke to the news that Superman had died. The actor George Reeves, best known for playing the Man of Steel on television in the 1950s, had died early that morning in his Beverly Hills home. Reeves had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head in his upstairs bedroom, while his fiancée and three friends sat downstairs. After a week-long investigation, the police closed the case and ruled Reeves’s death a suicide. Despite being the face of Superman, Reeves had never found the success he sought in Hollywood as a serious film actor, and may have been depressed at the time of his death. But certain strange details of the crime scene and a lack of forensic evidence have kept Reeves’s loved ones and fans wondering for decades. Could Superman have been murdered? 
Send us an email at feedback@ccspod.com! And follow us on Twitter, @theccspod!

Our recommendations for this episode:
-The cookbook The Defined Dish https://bit.ly/2ZyMJDZ
-The podcast Your Own Backyard https://apple.co/3pL8qLK 
Sources:
-AP, “Superman’s Death Probed.” Times Daily, June 22 1959. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19590622&id=MRUsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uMgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=892,6038396&hl=en -E.J. Fleming, The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine. McFarland & Company, 2005.
-Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, Hollywood Kryptonite: the Bulldog, the Lady, and the Death of Superman. St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
-John Patterson, “Who Killed Superman?” The Guardian, November 17 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/18/features.weekend1   
-Kristopher Tapley, “The (Tinsel) Town That Ate Superman.” The New York Times, August 20 2006. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/movies/20tapl.html?pagewanted=print 
-UPI, “Friends, Businessmen Baffled Over Suicide.” Madera Tribune, June 18 1959. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19590618.2.88&srpos=3&e=------195-en--20--1--txt-txIN-George+Reeves-------1
-“From the Archives: George Reeves, Superman of TV, Kills Himself in His Home.” Los Angeles Times, June 17 1959. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-george-reeves-19590617-20160615-snap-story.html?_ga=2.178248229.1236962187.1609458293-175684537.1606196362
-“Who killed Superman? An enduring Hollywood mystery.” Independent, March 20 2016. https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/who-killed-superman-an-enduring-hollywood-mystery-34550120.html
-Biography of George Reeves https://www.biography.com/actor/george-reeves
-History of the Pasadena Community Playhouse https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/about/
-George Reeves’s filmography on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001660/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 

On Christmas Eve of 2000, Los Angeles police were called to the home of journalist and author Susan Berman. Susan’s neighbors had become worried when they noticed that her back door was open, and that her dogs were running loose in their Benedict Canyon neighborhood. Inside the home, police found the body of 55-year-old Berman, who had been killed by a single bullet wound to the back of the head. Police initially suspected that Susan Berman, the daughter of Las Vegas mob boss Davie Berman, had been the victim of a hit. But the case went cold, and it wasn’t until fifteen years later that police arrested and charged the first suspect in her murder: Susan’s long-time friend, Robert Durst. More than 20 years after her murder, Susan Berman and her loved ones may finally have justice. 
Send us an email at feedback@ccspod.com! And follow us on Twitter, @theccspod!

Our recommendations for this episode:
-the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil https://bit.ly/3shXneD
-the book Say Nothing https://amzn.to/2Zxky8m 
Sources:
-Kary Antholis, Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst. Crime Story Media.
-Charles Bagli, “Mobster’s Daughter, Writer, Murder Victim: Woman at Center of Durst Trial.” New York Times, December 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/26/nyregion/robert-durst-susan-berman.html
-Susan Berman, Easy Street: The True Story of a Mob Family. Dial Press, 1981.
-Lisa DePaolo, “Who Killed the Gangster’s Daughter?” New York Magazine, 2001. https://www.vulture.com/2015/02/susan-berman-the-jinx.html
-Cheryll Glotfelty, “Susan Berman: Writer of Las Vegas and Murdered Mob Princess.” Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Winter 2006.  http://epubs.nsla.nv.gov/statepubs/epubs/210777-2006-4Winter.pdf
-HBO, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. 2015.
-Cathy Scott, “Cold Case: Friends and family have a strong sense of who killed Susan Berman. So why do the authorities seem so lost?”Las Vegas City Life, 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20040927202211/http://lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2004/02/25/cover_story/cover.txt
-Cathy Scott, Murder of a Mafia Daughter: The Life and Tragic Death of Susan Berman. Barricade Books, 2002.
-Richard Winton, “Robert Durst arrives in L.A. to face murder trial; first court appearance is Monday.” LA Times, November 2015. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-murder-trial-20161104-story.html
-Ned Zeman, “The Fugitive Heir.” Vanity Fair, March 2015. https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/03/robert-durst-murders-wife-susie-berman
-This American Life episode #76, “Mob,” Act 2: “Gangster’s Daughter.” September 1997. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/76/mob/act-two-0
-March 2015 search warrant for Robert Durst’s Houston home. Available via LA Times: https://documents.latimes.com/search-warrant-robert-dursts-houston-home/
-Forbes estimate of the Durst family’s net worth  https://www.forbes.com/profile/durst/?sh=6155068e3773