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E195: Joseph Bowne Elwell
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Joseph Bowne Elwell was a wealthy man in New York in the 1920s, rubbing elbows with the elite. After his marriage ended (and potentially before), he was known around town as a lady’s man-- having been intimate with hundreds of women. He seemed to be living his best life, galavanting around town spending his money. He seemed to live a charmed life…until he was murdered in his own home.
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Transcript
Foundations of a Reader's Journey
00:00:00
Speaker
For those of us that love to read, we can all think of the book that got us addicted to reading. My love for reading was born at a young age, thanks in most part to my aunt and my mom. My aunt would give me a new book nearly every time she saw me.
00:00:14
Speaker
and my mom would read to me every single night as a child. I still remember the first chapter book we read together, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was in fourth grade when we first entered Narnia, and while some parts of the book scared me, I mean the White Witch was awfully mean and the sacrifice of Aslan was pretty graphic, I still remember begging my mom to read just one more page before turning off the light.
00:00:39
Speaker
I've always been a fan of fantasy books. I think that's because they take me into a world that I know isn't real. And my imagination is set free to create the images of a world beyond my own. But not every story is like that. And not every reader falls in love with books like I did. Sometimes it takes longer for one to find that love for reading. Maybe a bit of maturity is needed to fall in love with the words that are written across the page.
Teaching and Reigniting a Passion for Literature
00:01:02
Speaker
Sometimes it takes the right person introducing you to the right book. I think that's why I love teaching English so much.
00:01:08
Speaker
I love the moment when a reluctant reader would beg to read one more page before dismissal.
00:01:13
Speaker
or when I'd suggest a book on library day. And two days later, that student would be back with the finished book, and they had found that love for reading. I saw that love for reading reignited in several of my high school friends by my English teacher. Some of the stories we read in her class were imaginative, but most were so realistic that we often wondered if those sets of events might happen to us one day. I know as we read The Great Gatsby, my teacher watched a room full of students fall in love with reading again.
00:01:43
Speaker
And it's because while I was researching, I discovered that the man in today's case was the model for one of those characters in The Great Gatsby that we fell in love with that year in English class that I knew I needed to cover this
Introduction to 'Coffee and Cases' Podcast
00:01:55
Speaker
story. This is the story of Joseph Bowne, LL.
00:02:33
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Alison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:02:42
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families with each case. We encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, coffee and cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:03:10
Speaker
And Allison, I know you're going to be excited to hear the coverage of this case because I'm so excited.
Exploring 'The Great Gatsby' and Joseph Elwell
00:03:17
Speaker
You taught it and you love it. And didn't we talk about this on Patreon not long ago? Oh yeah. Well, we did. We've talked about books a lot on Patreon, but yes, I love the great Gatsby. Excellent book. This has kind of inspired me to reread it because I don't think I've read it like I mentioned before.
00:03:39
Speaker
either here or in Patreon that I've read it since college. So I kind of want to reread it now. Yeah, students always love it too. So I'm curious which character from The Great Gatsby this Joseph L. Well is the inspiration for? Oh, you'll know like as soon as I start talking about him. Okay.
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's not going to take a lot of guesswork. OK. And like as we walk through what happened to he was known as JB by most of his friends. I'm anxious to see what similarities we can pick up on between him and the character in the book. OK. So typically we begin each show by introducing the person at the center of the case. We talk about maybe their family's favorite memory of them or, you know,
00:04:27
Speaker
things that they did, but we are still going to do that, obviously. But I actually wanted to start by giving a brief synopsis of the Great Gatsby, since I know that we'll probably be talking about it a little bit. And since some of our listeners may not have read the book before, I kind of wanted to just go into briefly what the Great Gatsby is about. And you can help me fill in any blanks because
00:04:55
Speaker
You've probably read it more recently than I have. That sounds good. So The Great Gatsby is a classic novel that was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I would probably say one of his most popular works, wouldn't you? Yeah, I would agree. And it was first published in 1925. So we're set in the 1920s era, the Roaring Twenties, and it is very much the stereotypical of that time period. Yeah.
00:05:21
Speaker
And so the novel explores themes like wealth, social class, the American dream is a big theme that's throughout the novel. And the story itself is narrated by Nick Carraway. And he is a young man who moves to Long Island's North Shore and becomes drawn into the world of the wealthy and the elite.
00:05:41
Speaker
Because isn't he neighbors with Mr. Gatsby? Yeah, he's living in a house that is near J Gatsby. And he's kind of in the circle. They know the same people because he's a relative of one of the other characters. And J Gatsby is this
00:06:06
Speaker
kind of mysterious new money millionaire. He's not from old money, which is an issue that comes up in the book, but he's known for hosting extravagant parties. And Jay Gatsby is really deeply in love with Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchanan. And she lives across the Bay with her husband, Tom, and they are old money. Yes. Tom is old money and he is not a good guy. No.
00:06:36
Speaker
And he's a cheater. It's just such the whole thing. Have you seen Wolf of Wall Street? Cause the whole book kind of reminds me of that a little bit. Yeah. And as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Gatsby's lavish parties are a way for him to reconnect with Daisy because at one point they had met before he went to fight in World War II. But while he was gone, Daisy married Tom Buchanan mainly because
00:07:04
Speaker
she needed the financial stability. And so Gatsby enlist the help of Nick to orchestrate every union between him and Daisy and their love rekindles. And then Jay Gatsby becomes determined to win Daisy back from Tom. And so there's tension between Gatsby, Daisy and Tom and it escalates leading to some tragic consequences. Yes. And through the characters and their interactions, the novel examines like
00:07:35
Speaker
emptiness and this moral decay beneath a glittering facade of the wealthy class. Right. And this illusion of the American dream where the pursuit of wealth and success often leads to tragedy. So, you know, we have again, all of those themes of unobtainable desires, the corruption of wealth, the complexities of human relationships. So it is just
00:08:00
Speaker
Pretty good book that examines things like materialism, social stratification. It's a good one. So with that in mind, let's meet Joseph Elwell, who is at the center of today's case.
Joseph Elwell's Social and Personal Life
00:08:15
Speaker
According to cold cases, famous unsolved mysteries, crimes, and disappearances in America, before Joseph became the Joseph that we're going to talk about today, he was the son of Joseph E. Elwell. Let must be a family.
00:08:31
Speaker
He was once a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. And he actually, at one point, worked as an insurance agent as a teenager. Okay. So JB, as he was called, learned a new card game called Bridge. And his version of Bridge, we now call Bridge
00:08:56
Speaker
whisked or straight bridge to distinguish it from versions that came later. I didn't know there were different versions. I've heard of bridge. I've never played it. I've heard of bridge. Never played it. Did not know there were different versions of it though. I think I have family members that belong to like a bridge league, but I've never played it. There you go. And he apparently established this love for bridge when he was
00:09:22
Speaker
building a young men's club in his church and we're attending a young men's club at church and that card game was a popular activity. So he picked that up through this men's club.
00:09:36
Speaker
And his fascination with the card game took over his life, as you'll soon see. Like we talked about, I really have no clue what Bridge is. But for the wandering mind, I did Google Bridgewist or Straight Bridge as a popular card game that was at the height of its popularity in the 20th century.
00:09:57
Speaker
And it's derived from Wist, which is another game, but it has additional- It's also very British. Yeah. And players take turns as like a dummy and the Trump suit would be deliberately chosen in each dealer. Like you have the option to have that or not in each deal. It's like kind of, I don't know. It was weird. So if you know what it is and can explain it to us,
00:10:25
Speaker
Please let us know. Yeah, please do.
The Mystery of Joseph Elwell's Murder
00:10:28
Speaker
But JB married a woman named Helen Derby, who also played the game bridge. And she was actually very well socially connected. And this is kind of where we see his
00:10:44
Speaker
social game sort to flourish. Her cousin, Richard Derby, was the husband of Ethel Roosevelt. And when I was doing my research, I was like, Ethel Roosevelt. The research made it sound so important. So I do a little bit. And that's Teddy Roosevelt's daughter. So she has kind of a big deal.
00:11:05
Speaker
I think I'm going to guess that JB is like Gatsby himself. If he's interested in Helen Derby, who has established connections. Yeah. Shall we say? Yeah. And the similarities don't stop there between him and J Gatsby. He gained through his relationship with Helen and Ethel Roosevelt.
00:11:33
Speaker
other social connections. So his bridge partner was actually a Vanderbilt, Harold Vanderbilt. And according to bridge, let's talk about old money. And according to bridge bum, he actually developed a reputation in New York's money clubs as a consistent bridge winner. He actually went on to write books about
00:11:59
Speaker
the game of bridge. Oh, so he must have been good then if people are like, I'm going to buy this guy's book on bridge. And because he had such affluent connections, you know, the Roosevelt's and the Vanderbilt's, um, he had a lot of well paying students that he taught to play bridge. He was given some investment opportunities. He dabbled in stocks.
00:12:27
Speaker
He also was a pretty good gambler. And because of that, he became wealthy enough to ultimately own property in Palm Beach, Florida. He had 20 horses, five cars, and he bought. Okay, so I'm again getting the connection. So new money, he's getting it through means other than hard work.
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, right. And, you know, as you're talking about this, I'm just thinking about how funny it is and ironic, I guess, with cards or gambling that if you did something like.
00:13:05
Speaker
poker back then. Now you've got, you know, World Series of poker and, you know, it's everywhere. But back then, I bet poker was more of like the rascally rowdy crowd, but it's okay to play and gamble on bridge because that's more uppity. So, I mean, he's definitely been able to move his way up in the world than it sounds like.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, and he was really successful, you know, not only just at the bridge table, but just in several aspects of his life. So remember, he's married to Helen. But as his success at the bridge table soared, so did his success and other sensual aspects of his life, if you know what I mean? Oh, no. JB.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, he was definitely a ladies man. And his secretary would later say that he had sex with, quote, about 50 women, most of them married. But then I read in some of my research that one estimates of his conquests go as high as 1000 women. 1000? Yeah.
00:14:25
Speaker
He was a busy man. Oh, my. Now that is not like Jay Gatsby. That's more like Daisy's husband, Tom. Yeah, Tom. But, wow. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:40
Speaker
And this comes into play later, but I'm assuming he had maybe a few favorites and those companions had keys to his home. That is bold. That is bold. So not only is he having affairs and cheating on his wife, he's giving some of these women keys to his home that he shares with Helen.
00:15:06
Speaker
Well, I don't know if it was while he was still with Helen because they do separate in 1916. Cause she probably found out about all this stuff. Oh, I'm sure. So I don't know if it came after that or before that, but yeah, some people, some ladies had keys to his home and one of three entrance. Yeah. Into I'm assuming what was probably a mansion. Yeah.
00:15:32
Speaker
And one of his friends,
Challenges and Speculations in Elwell's Case
00:15:33
Speaker
L.H. Green said of his good friend, JB, quote, he was a man who exercised a remarkable influence over women. He was cold blooded to an extreme, which instead of repelling his friends with opposite sex, seemed to attract them all the more, end quote. Oh, so he's the hard to get guy who they want to talk to. And like I mentioned, um,
00:16:00
Speaker
JB's wife Helen in 1916 took their son Richard and filed for separation. And then by 1920, the two were negotiating divorce. So they're separated for a while before divorce. And it does sound like, you know, because of this new set, new found money, he does have kind of this faster lifestyle. It's not settled down with the family lifestyle. Yeah. It's not the picket, the white picket fence line. All that's for sure.
00:16:31
Speaker
Definitely not. So success was good. JB's life was good. And then one day it just wasn't. So we're going to go back to the night before JB was found dead. Okay. So he's, well, I mean, I guess it was going a little bit downhill with the divorce, but then he's still got all these women and now he is gone.
00:16:59
Speaker
Yeah. And I don't know. I mean, obviously I can't speak to their relationship, but how, uh, you know, upset he was that the marriage didn't work out. So I don't know if he really counted that as a blows. Yeah. But I bet he had a lot of enemies. That's going to be my guess.
00:17:17
Speaker
Well, we'll get there. Okay. So we're going to go back to that day. Okay. It was June 10th, 19 20. And it was a very hot day in Manhattan. I would not have survived because do they have air conditioner in 19 20? I don't think I don't think so. Well, because of the weather on this hot day, many of upper society were seeking forms of entertainment that would allow them to remain inside.
00:17:45
Speaker
And such was the goal of JB, maybe because of the weather or maybe because it was the place to be. JB had decided to spend the evening at the Ritz Carlton. Oh, fancy. I know. With his newest love, which was Viola Cross. So he's there with her and Viola's sister and brother-in-law also joined them there at the Ritz Carlton.
00:18:13
Speaker
super fancy time. And it was reported that the two of them drank pretty heavily before they left to go into the city to attend a show on the new Amsterdam's theaters rooftop. So there was apparently like a kind of outdoor show on 42nd Street, which I'm sure by the time they left, the sun had gone down and it had cooled off. Right. Plus if they were drinking
00:18:41
Speaker
Maybe they didn't mind it so much. Right. I just am not cut out for the heat. Just tell you. Yeah. So now we're in the early morning hours of June 11th, 1920, when JB finally leaves the new Amsterdam and goes back to his home at West 70th Street. And he gets there around 1.30 in the morning. So we're just early hours of the 11th. I wonder if that was fair. Oh, well, he was on.
00:19:10
Speaker
42nd Street, that's kind of a hike. If he's going to 70th. If these are city blocks. I'm sure he probably had like a chauffeur. Oh, probably. I don't think he like, you know, tricked that whole thing. Yeah, I was gonna say that's a
00:19:27
Speaker
That's a hike. He has some really good calf muscles. There we go. Phone calls made to the property suggest he arrived sometime around 2 30. So it still takes him a little while to get home. But we know that he made it there around that time because Viola had called and he had picked up like around that time at his home. Okay.
00:19:54
Speaker
And the phone calls did not stop there. Unlike, you know, you and I who would have been in bed hours before he even arrived home. Yes. Yes. JB was still making calls at 4.30 in the morning on June 11th.
00:20:10
Speaker
What kind of phone calls? Who is that? It was weird ones, right? Well, nobody answers. So he calls his stables in far Rockaway at four 30. And like I said, nobody picks up because yeah, they're asleep in the morning. Yeah.
00:20:28
Speaker
And knowing what we know that he does end up dead, there are many that wonder if maybe this call was one of urgency, especially because more phone calls were made even after that. Oh, so it's almost like he wants to talk to somebody, but that's weird. Yeah. If just anybody will do. Yeah. And that's what I was about to say. We never, I don't, we have, to my knowledge, never found out what he was needing or why he was making these calls.
00:20:57
Speaker
Maybe he was just still drunk and so... Yeah, maybe he's calling the stable to be like, get my pony out so I can come ride. He doesn't realize it's 4.30. Exactly. He did make another call to a number in Garden City, New Jersey, and that was his last telephone interaction. And I believe that one happened around six o'clock in the morning. Okay.
00:21:24
Speaker
At 6.30 on June 11th, everything seemed fine. And we know this because the milkman made his morning delivery around 6.30 to JB's house. I wish they would bring groceries. Yeah. Bring the groceries to my door. It's not enough that I can order them on my computer and then just pull in to pick them up. I want you to bring them to me. Do you know you can do that? Well, I don't know.
00:21:48
Speaker
I know. I think Walmart will deliver groceries and Costco does. Fantastic. Good job. Walmart and Costco. So the milk man came by. Love that. And the only thing that he really noted that was strange is the vestibule doors. So kind of like the doors leading into the entryway, I guess, or where the main door would be.
00:22:15
Speaker
was open but he said that when he sat the milk down and kind of peeked inside that nothing seemed wrong. It just seemed like maybe the door had been left open. JB was later seen between 7 and 7 30 picking up his morning newspaper
00:22:35
Speaker
the male and the milk before heading back inside. So I'm assuming just, you know, popping his head out. So he was seen. Mm hmm. OK. Yep. And but that time that between seven and seven thirty would be the last time anyone would see him alive again. Somebody has to be in the house with him. Oh, yeah. Well, there are things that happen and you're like, how is this possible?
00:23:03
Speaker
because I'm assuming when he was seen, it was just long enough to like poke his head out, bend down and pick those and go back in. Like he wasn't standing on the front porch waving at people. And we'll talk about why here in a little bit. But yeah, there's some things that happened and you're like, well, that's not what the milkman said. And so it kind of makes you question.
00:23:26
Speaker
Around nine, Marie Larson, the housekeeper, unlocked the front door, ready to begin just her day of cleaning and breakfast duties. Unless the milkman, it's open. And let's say in a drunken stupor, JB didn't realize that he didn't close it. But when he comes to get the milk, he then closes and locks the door. And so when she gets there, it's locked.
00:23:55
Speaker
And that makes sense, but I hadn't even really put that together. I hadn't put two and two together. And she did recall later that the vestibule doors were closed when she got there. So maybe you're right. He just closed them when he went to pick up the mail. And according to the History Channel, she said nothing seemed to miss as she started her dusting and polishing. She said everything seemed to be fine.
00:24:18
Speaker
Well, and I feel like obviously had somebody, let's say entered the home when he's coming out to get the milk or whatever, then you would think there would be a sign of struggle or something. Yeah, picture knocked over or anything. Something wrong with the door. Yeah.
00:24:38
Speaker
As she made her way through the home, you know, everything was where it was supposed to be. That was until she came into the living room. When she walked into the living room, Allison, she noted that JB was sitting in a chair facing away from the entrance of the room. I don't know if that was particularly odd. Like I didn't read where she had said the chair had been moved or anything like that. But what was weird is when she calls out, you know, good morning.
00:25:06
Speaker
Mr. L.L. or whatever, he didn't say anything back. And she thought that was unusual because typically, you know, she spoke to him, he would talk back to her. And so she walks towards a chair to check to see if maybe he had just fallen asleep to see, you know, yeah, but she was, yeah, maybe he just has like, he drank too much and he's kind of hungover in the chair or something like that.
00:25:33
Speaker
but she was actually stunned by what she found.
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Speaker
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00:30:04
Speaker
you know, the sharp dress man. He's a player, a ladies man. So it looks suave. Yeah. I'm assuming from the description that she gave, that she was used to coming in to work and him being that suave man put together.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, but instead he is wearing his pajamas. He has the newspaper folded on his lap like he was reading it and then just kind of folded back the page, folded it down a little. He was not wearing his wig or his dentures. So he was both toothless and bald. This is a very different vision than what she is used to seeing, I am sure.
00:30:54
Speaker
And so I think she would be shocked even if he was just, you know, passed out in the chair to see him like that, let alone see him like that with that bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Oh, right. Oh my gosh. Even more bizarre than that, the toothless, hairless,
00:31:14
Speaker
JB. Sex tycoon. Yeah. Was the fact that he was, he had been shot, remember, by this 45. Right. He was still breathing. He was still alive. Shot in the forehead and he was still breathing? Yeah. So she immediately runs to try to get help and she is able to contact someone and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in just the faint hope that he might live. Wow.
00:31:44
Speaker
And you know, this guy that is such a strategist because Bridge, I think is really based on strategy and could not escape. This was one thing that he could not allude and he did end up dying a few hours later.
00:31:59
Speaker
He was not able to speak, so he died without being able to reveal his killer. Oh, man. I was hoping maybe he could write something or give some sort of indication, but I'm sure that the trauma was too much to his body. And I don't even know if he was awake or just kind of in a coma and breathing. Right.
00:32:23
Speaker
But as you can imagine, the death of a popular upper society bridge expert spread like wildfire and press flop to his house at 70th Street. And then his death was clearly and obviously the dominating
00:32:42
Speaker
topic of most New York newspapers for pretty much June and July. And his story even made national news in 1920. Well, I mean, like you've kind of shown us, he was this public figure, very much so, this tycoon.
00:33:00
Speaker
because of interest in his case and it going national now the New York Police Department did feel more pressured to get his case solved and so they're looking at all the evidence and they go to inspect this crime scene so if you guys are like me then you probably thought there would be signs of a struggle somewhere in the home especially if he was shot
00:33:29
Speaker
In the forehead, that means he saw. Coming saw his killer. Yeah. Yeah. But if you thought that, like I did, we thought wrong because there were no signs of struggle in the living room. It appeared that JB was literally had just like literally sat down to read the newspaper or to maybe sort his mail and maybe glanced up.
00:33:56
Speaker
and was shot point blank in the forehead without blinking an eye. Wow. Now I guess that could happen, right? Because I guess he could have the newspaper open. They're kind of big. So
00:34:08
Speaker
It blocks your view and maybe he hears a noise and he folds the newspaper down and boom, there the person is. Or if it's just completely unexpected, like the person standing in front of him as someone who he would never have thought would harm him. And then all of a sudden before you can even register that they have a gun, they've already pulled the trigger. But blood spatter analysis,
00:34:38
Speaker
suggested that the shot that killed him came from someone who was almost eye level with him. So they're either shooting from their hip because remember he's in the chair or they crouched down and were eye level with him when they shot him because the trajectory didn't appear to be someone firing down at a seated victim, but rather at eye level.
00:35:07
Speaker
That seems so much more creepy to me that they would squat down potentially. I don't see a lot of people shooting from the hip because I don't think you'd be very accurate. Yeah, I don't think you'd be very accurate that way. That's even more disturbing to think that they crouched down so they could look him in the eye while they did it. It's a little more sinister to me, a little more evil. Definitely is.
00:35:34
Speaker
You know, and if you're like me, then you may be thinking, okay, well maybe this was suicide and nobody was there at all. Could be. But again, we would be wrong in that thinking because... Well, if the maid didn't find a gun, then that can't be it. Well, they did not find the .45. Okay. They also found
00:36:01
Speaker
a single bullet placed on the table in front of JB with like the empty cartridge or whatever located on the floor. So the bullet did go through and they pick it up and they put it on the table. Oh. Yeah. Well. And like you said, there is no gun present. So. I wish they had bigger prints back then.
00:36:29
Speaker
Well, I read that they did dust for fingerprints. I don't know. Obviously it's probably not as accurate as it is today. And they probably couldn't get it off of the bullet where the person picked it up. Right. And we'll talk about what they find when they do that dusting. But along with the bullet, investigators also found a letter from JB Stable that was on the ground and covered in blood. I don't think the letter really had anything, you know,
00:36:57
Speaker
amazing in it because I didn't read anywhere where the contents were really discussed. And I think if it was like, you know, you owe us a hundred thousand dollars. Right. They would talk about that as a motive for something. Yeah. But there's no gun. So we have the bullet, but no gun. Right. And we have a smoked cigar nearby. And thanks to the maid, we know that the cigar came from JB's personal collection.
00:37:24
Speaker
we have a second smoked cigar near the mantle piece. And so police were theorizing that perhaps JB and his killer had smoked a cigarette together before he was killed, which goes to what you said. Maybe it was somebody that he was really familiar with and just didn't see it coming until it was too late. Maybe though, I mean, maybe somebody was admiring
00:37:52
Speaker
Did JB, so he has obviously a cigar collection. Did he have a gun collection? Could this have been an accident? Like somebody's admiring a gun and they're kind of sling it, like twisting it around on their finger and they grab it and it goes off? Well, I know he had like a lot of art in his house and things like that. So he probably did. And you know, that's a pretty good theory because then if they are crouched down kind of
00:38:20
Speaker
eye level, maybe they were both looking at it together and it was an accident. My dad always says that the most deaths happen with what someone thinks is an unloaded gun. Right. And so maybe they were just both drunk and being silly and he was like I could shoot you in the forehead and then like he thinks it's empty but it's really not.
00:38:43
Speaker
Yeah. So they, you know, they have all this evidence, the poll, or not evidence, but this, the thing to think about at the, yeah, details.
00:38:52
Speaker
another detail that they kind of were hung up on is the vestibule doors because if you remember the milkman said they were open when he dropped the milk off at 7 30 the maid arrives and they're closed so they did inspect the doors but they had no evidence of tampering nobody picked a lock or anything like that all the windows were shut tight and they actually had you know iron bars over them
00:39:16
Speaker
No other odd reports other than the milkman saying the doors were open came in. No one reported seeing anybody come into the house or out of the house that morning. So maybe you're right. Maybe they were in there already. They didn't need to force their way in. Right. I mean, it could have been, gosh, maybe one of the phone calls that he made
00:39:44
Speaker
I'm sure we probably know where all of those went, but I mean, anybody could have shown up and, you know, even if it's just a socialite who knows where JB lives and they see his door open and they've been out drinking too. And, you know, he's always up for a good time. So they just decided to crash at his place. I mean, who knows? They could have even came home with him.
00:40:05
Speaker
Right. The Sacramento Union reported, quote, on the table at a side were several letters, one of which from a racing associate had been removed from the envelope. The letters have been delivered by the postman at 735. There is no weapon, no footprint, no evidence of a struggle, no possible clue except a large caliber shell, such as is ejected from an automatic pistol of the army type.
00:40:28
Speaker
and the stuff of a cigarette different from those Elwell habitually smoked. But then in other sources it said that it was the same one. Which may be the one he smoked was was from his collection and maybe the other one was one that the maid wasn't used to seeing. Definitely could be. You know and like you mentioned this case probably could have been different or
00:40:52
Speaker
would have been different, I think, if it would have happened today versus in 1920. Right. Because if there is a cigar there that isn't his, that would have DNA on it. Exactly. They did dust for fingerprints because, you know, in my mind, I'm like, Oh, this killer had to touch that casing to put that on the table.
00:41:15
Speaker
But when they did dust fingerprints, the only ones that they really found were prints belonging to the housemaid and to JB. So prints that you would know would be in the house. But then that makes people wonder, was the killer very detailed and wiped everything down? Or was Marie maybe involved in the death of her boss? That's what I was kind of thinking. And that's a theory that we'll talk about.
00:41:44
Speaker
According to front page detective, JB's personal possessions remained untouched and he had a lot of valuables in the house. Cash, jewelry, he had paintings, like collections of paintings, all of that was still there. So while robbery was an early theory, we know that's not the motive because nothing was taken. Now we shouldn't be surprised to hear
00:42:15
Speaker
that he had a lot of women's underwear in a drawer at his house. But knowing what we know about him, I think that's the character. So he's sleeping with women and then keeping their underwear? Yeah, almost kind of like that front page detective article said that they were almost like trophies from his sexual conquests. This could have been the work of a scorned woman.
00:42:44
Speaker
that's a theory as well because he also he had that the undies in a drawer then he also had a list of women that he had slept with and he categorized them by name number and personal note he's like a player player
00:43:03
Speaker
What kind of personal notes, like whether they were good in bed or? That's what I would think are maybe appearances. So it could be, but if they found it, I was going to say it could be one of these women who you said earlier, a lot of them were married. Maybe they were worried that their secret would get out or a husband who's thinking, oh, he slept with my wife. But then you'd think that they would have taken the book.
00:43:33
Speaker
Unless they maybe didn't know that the book existed. Oh, could be. That could be true. And, you know, he did give some women keys to his house. That's true. Could be normal. But maybe they let the door open. That's true. And then we wouldn't have forced entry because they had a key. Yep. Oh, but he slipped with up to a thousand women. That's a lot of people. Yeah.
00:43:57
Speaker
Yeah. And they did work their way through the list of names, but I read in all police had over a thousand suspects and I believe it was just women in that book. But yeah, they had a lot of people that they were suspecting. Wow. And that brings us to theories. Okay.
00:44:19
Speaker
So keep in mind, people listening, sleuth hounds, that these theories are speculative. They have not been definitively proven as are most of the theories that we discuss each week. Some are ones that I have thought up on my own. So take them with a grain of salt as we begin discussing these. So one could have been a robbery gone wrong. And as I talked about, this was one of the earlier theories was that JB was killed during a robbery attempt.
00:44:48
Speaker
You know, people knew he was a very wealthy man. They knew he kept large sums of money at his house. This theory suggests that a burglar might have broken into his home to steal money or valuables and that he was killed in the process. There are a couple things that I have issue with in this theory. One is nothing was taken from the home. So maybe they killed him and got scared and left. Maybe we can say that.
00:45:18
Speaker
But another problem I have with this one is there was no forced entry. So that means if he let them in, if they were, if they weren't already in the house when he got home or if they didn't come into the house with him, that means he had to let them into his home.
00:45:38
Speaker
And my problem with this is that not only was JB a sex icon, he was also a fashion icon. So there would be no way in my mind that he would answer the door.
00:45:54
Speaker
toothless and wigless. No, he would not. Unless it was, you know, like if you came over to my house and I didn't have makeup on, then that would be different. Right. But I think even if someone had rang the doorbell and it is whatever time in the morning, he is at least going to throw on his wig and put in his teeth before he goes to let that person in. Agreed.
00:46:19
Speaker
And I just, and that didn't happen. So any theory that we're going to talk about that it's potentially somebody he did not know, I'm going to automatically say no to. I understand why you say that. Yeah. And I would agree. So robbery going wrong isn't over me. Yeah, me too. Another theory that people talk about is that maybe it was a professional rivalry or a gambling debt.
00:46:46
Speaker
He was a very well-known bridge player. Remember he writes books on it, so maybe one of the best of his time. This theory proposes that his murder could have been related to this bridge rivalry. So maybe over a reputation, maybe he beat somebody that was considered unbeatable or something like that. Didn't know the world of bridge was that dangerous.
00:47:13
Speaker
Well, that's what I was going to say. Like, I didn't know that bridge could get that intense that seemed a little bit extreme to me. Yeah. But I mean, I guess if that's your life, you know, you're a professional poker player, you're a professional bridge player, then you probably would take things like that pretty seriously. Maybe he stole secrets and strategies off of somebody and published it as his own.
00:47:37
Speaker
Oh. And they were like, no, no, you're not taking my credit. Yeah.
00:47:44
Speaker
And he was known to gamble and some have speculated that maybe he had debts he couldn't pay. But if we're going with this financial issue or even maybe the reputation issue, I just, I just don't see it. One, the financial thing, if he had trouble paying his debts, then why didn't he like sell his yacht or some of his paintings that were in his house? Or why didn't they steal it to recoup some of their money?
00:48:12
Speaker
Yeah, because if he owed debt, they probably could have got whatever he owed them from things inside his home. Right. I don't know. Yeah, that one's out for me too. Another one that is probably also going to be out for you because it is for me as well is that maybe he died at the hands of the mafia or organized crime.
00:48:33
Speaker
I just haven't really seen a connection to Demafia in the story that you've told yet. The only thing I can maybe think about is, you know, he wasn't that really high social circle. And maybe that kind of drew attention from crime bosses, but why? I don't know. And if
00:48:54
Speaker
Like, and what, what did they have to gain? Like they didn't get any thing from killing him other than killing him. So what would have been the purpose? Right. Plus I just haven't seen the connection. Yeah. And that's kind of how I feel about the next theory too, is just a random act of violence. There are some that think this was just a random targeted thing. Like they picked somebody from random, but again, I go back to how did they get into the house? He was not going to let somebody in.
00:49:25
Speaker
And like, what is the motive here? Like, why target this particular man who other than sleeping with so many women probably didn't have that many enemies? Yeah, well, and you know, I'm thinking, like you said, if it's random, he's definitely not gonna let somebody in in his current state that he's found in. But also you would think, I would anyway, that if it's random, if they're committing the violence,
00:49:53
Speaker
You would think most people don't have his wealth. So you would think that they would have taken something. Yeah. Like I'm not like if I'm going to kill somebody, even if it's random and I'm just there to kill them, but then I look around, they have $10,000 sitting there. Yeah. I'm gonna grab something. Yeah. Cause what's robbery after you've already committed a worst crime. So I don't buy that one either. I think like what you said earlier,
00:50:22
Speaker
is probably most possible. And that's the final, I guess, theory slash theories that we're going to talk about as was one of the women in his life connected to his death. Or the spouse of a woman in his life. Yes. And front page detective made some interesting points regarding those
00:50:44
Speaker
theories or possibilities. Apparently after separating from his wife in 1916, he began pushing for divorce in 1920 because presumably he was wanting to settle down with Viola. So on May 27th, Helen, the almost ex-wife, received a letter from her husband requesting that they finally dissolve their marriage, like we're getting divorced.
00:51:14
Speaker
And she had agreed to that after receiving the letter. She just was wanting to delay the divorce until her lease ran out in October. I don't know really why he was paying for her house. He was paying the lease. But she wanted to stay there until the lease ran out. Maybe just to give her time to find somewhere else to go. Oh, maybe.
00:51:36
Speaker
I read that he was also paying her around what would be $2,500 a month in today's money just for different expenses that she may have. But she was not pleased with that amount of money. Well, I'm sure he had a lot more than that.
00:51:53
Speaker
Oh, I'm sure. Plus she has a kid, but she had said to her friends that she just didn't know what to do without having servants around the house. That that $2,500 wasn't enough to pay for her to have servants and she just didn't know what to do. She's used to a different lifestyle.
00:52:12
Speaker
Yes, yeah. So clearly she has a motive, right? Because she wants this money and they have a son together. So if JB were to die, then her son would appear to be a family fortune. And he wouldn't be remarried to somebody and then change his will. Right. So could Helen have been so desperate for the money that maybe she would kill JB or hire somebody to kill him?
00:52:41
Speaker
He would have been comfortable enough with her, I think, to be in the house without all of his fine attire on. Yeah, because he doesn't need to impress her anymore. Exactly. But she claimed that she hadn't seen her husband since their initial separation in like 1916, and the police quickly removed her from the suspect list. No, so they just believed her just because she claimed it happened. And move on.
00:53:07
Speaker
And as I mentioned earlier, the parent plan was for JB to marry Viola. So you mentioned could like an ex-husband or a current husband have killed JB out of jealousy. Right. And that's the idea here. So Viola's husband, Victor Von Schlegel. I don't know where that name is from, but. Sounds like Germanic. German.
00:53:36
Speaker
Maybe. Um, but anyways, he is the ex-husband of Viola and his new fiance. So he's got a boo thing, but they were at the same show as JB and Viola on the night that JB died. So he's seeing flaunted in front of him, his ex with her new man. Yeah. And I think
00:54:04
Speaker
people, that's just so, I don't even know the word, I guess like a double standard, because it's fine for him to have a new fiance. But people wonder if seeing her with JB kind of- Put him over the edge. Flip a switch for him. Yeah. But then front page detective says, this was a pretty popular spot for people in their social circle. So it shouldn't really automatically raise suspicion.
00:54:30
Speaker
And people in that social circle probably ran into each other quite often because there were probably a select number of places they would go. Yeah. And that article said, quote, While no trouble was noted at the Ritz Carlton, witnesses describe some altercation at the New Amsterdam theater. It seems that this disturbance was a subject of Viola Cross's call at two thirty, although she dismissed it as travolatry.
00:54:58
Speaker
discounting the allegations of an argument, L.L. was said to have been in high spirits." So there was some type of altercation that took place. Or words exchanged, I guess we should say. So that leads us to the housekeeper, Marie Larson. And despite being ruled out as a suspect in the killing, there are some that think that she could have been involved in covering it up.
00:55:32
Speaker
See, I was thinking maybe she did it herself. Like maybe he had made. That's what I thought. Inappropriate moves or whatever, because she could have moved things and wiped away fingerprints because you talked about that earlier. So now you're saying OK for her fingerprints to be in the house. Exactly. Yeah, nobody's going to doubt that. But now you're saying maybe maybe she did all of that, but maybe she did it for somebody else. Yeah, because.
00:56:03
Speaker
there was evidence that she covered up for Viola to help protect. So I don't know necessarily if she covered up for Viola in regards that Viola committed the murder or just to help protect Viola's reputation. Because while the doctors were treating
00:56:23
Speaker
JB in the living room she was actually hiding like a robe a boudoir cap and slippers that Viola had left so that they wouldn't be found and this is per that front page article and then yeah why would she do that unless she did feel like you like you said she needed to protect her or something
00:56:46
Speaker
But why though? And then that same article reported that Maria called Viola to let her know that the items had been hidden and that JB had been shot. But she, like I said, was never looked into as a suspect. But again, just why hide the items? And is she just making the call to Viola in front of law enforcement so it looks like Viola didn't know?
00:57:16
Speaker
Or is she calling her in the other room and like whispering it, which makes it look even more fishy? Right. So could Viola have had something maybe to do with the death? But again, my question here is why? She would have had no claim to the money. She had nothing to gain. Right. So why? It would make sense if they were married. Yeah, this happened. But they're not married yet. And he wouldn't have been sad if
00:57:42
Speaker
She left I mean he has a thousand other women literally he could call so like right one is not gonna make a difference. Yeah
00:57:50
Speaker
Like I did mention, police did look into that long list of women that JB had relationships with, but nothing came from those efforts either. Investigators couldn't find any evidence that he owed significant amounts of money to anyone. There were no leads in his sex life that they could follow up on. So we're just left wondering who killed him. What do you think, Allison? So part of me has the natural inclination to say that it was one of the women.
00:58:20
Speaker
But the logical part of my brain says that because they were saying he was either shot from the hip or somebody crouching down, I maybe in the heat of passion, somebody would do that. But I feel like there would have been more than one shot. And so that almost makes me feel like somebody was looking at a gun or they were looking at a gun together.
00:58:45
Speaker
their horse playing around or they're doing something because he was clearly drunk the night before and is probably still partially drunk or hungover the next morning, that they were playing around with it and that it accidentally fired and killed him and that they left in a rush.
00:59:07
Speaker
the bullet on the table. I don't know if maybe the maid did that part. That does seem odd that you would pause to do that. But everything else makes me think maybe, maybe an accident. As we conclude our journey through the case of Joseph Elwell's murder, the fog of time still shrouds the truth behind this chilling mystery.
00:59:30
Speaker
Delving into the depths of the earliest 20th century intrigue, our investigation has unearthed a web of theories as intricate as the mind of the man himself. Was JP's end a tragic outcome of love, driven by passions and jealousy that festered behind closed doors? Or did a ruthless criminal element, be it mafia or desperate gamblers,
00:59:50
Speaker
C and JB a vulnerable target, a pawn in their sinister games. As we navigated the labyrinth corridors of the bridge world, we encountered whispers of professional rivalries where the quest for supremacy led to dark consequences. Yet could it be that JB's life was extinguished for reasons far more arbitrary, a random act of violence that forever altered the trajectory of history,
01:00:12
Speaker
These theories, like shadowy phantoms, remain forever elusive, flickering at the edges of our understanding. The saga of Joseph Elwell, a man of charm and mystery, echoes across the decades, inviting us to peer into the abyss where truth and speculation intertwine. As time marches on,
01:00:29
Speaker
One can only hope that new revelations, forgotten documents, or fresh perspectives might finally unravel the threads of this cold case. Until then, the legacy of Joseph Elwell lives on as a testament to the chilling enigma of an unsolved murder, a riddle that defies the passage of time and continues to captivate the curious minds drawn into its haunting embrace.
01:00:50
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:01:20
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.
01:01:48
Speaker
And Allison, we got a new five star review this week. Yes, I was super excited. It is short, but it was very short. Wonderful. It was wonderful. And it is by Zizer Zizer, and they wrote, quote, not know it alls, reading a script in quote, period, succinct. Yeah, period emphatic.
01:02:13
Speaker
I know. And thank you, scissors-azzer, because we do acknowledge with every case that we cover that there's a lot of information that still needs to come to light that we don't know. So we definitely are know-it-alls. But we definitely also care, obviously, to get all the details that we can because we know it means a lot to family. So thank you for that short but nice review.
01:02:38
Speaker
Yes. Also, because we can, let's celebrate again, the fact that coffee and cases is for the second year in a row, a finalist for the podcast awards, best female host of podcasts. Cause that is a huge accomplishment. Definitely is. And we want to thank you guys again for those that voted for us in the first round. And we pray that if you were selected,
01:03:02
Speaker
You love us enough to vote for us in the second round also. My fingers are crossed. Make sure that you check your email if you voted in the first round, including your spam folder, because it may have gone there to see if you received an email from podcast awards for being chosen to take part in the final round of voting. And if so, we would appreciate so much your vote again. And maybe we can bring home the win this year because I believe that we can.
01:03:33
Speaker
I do too, especially if it means our listeners supporting us like they always do, because I feel like we have such a backbone of supporters that listen to the show. And with that, all of our love is going out to each and every one of you. Until next week, Sleuth Hounds.
01:03:55
Speaker
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Speaker
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