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E157: The Mystery of Room 1046
5.2k Plays3 years ago
When an odd man with no luggage checked into the Hotel President on January 2nd, 1935, the hotel staff minded their own business. When the man, who was checked in as Roland T. Owen, acted strangely, the staff tried to keep their distance. But, when that man was found in his locked hotel room both beaten and stabbed and later died from his injuries, everyone who had seen the man would become embroiled in a mystery that still haunts us today.
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Transcript
Passion for Trip Planning
00:00:03
Speaker
There is something I love about planning a trip. Once I've decided I'm going somewhere, it is almost obsessive in the amount of time I spend picking out the best driving routes, the hotels, the food especially, and the activities. It becomes pretty much all my brain thinks about. I think I honestly get this from my dad. He has always loved to plan trips, especially the food portion.
00:00:27
Speaker
So when Anthony mentioned to me that he wanted to take an anniversary trip, I jumped at the chance to join him. Immediately I began looking into different destinations, different hotels and resorts we could stay at, and obviously comparing food options. There is something fun about staying in a hotel and being temporarily away from your everyday life and any problems you might have.
Introduction to Case of Room 1046
00:00:50
Speaker
But what happens when those problems follow you? When the gentleman at the center of today's case checks into his hotel, he's acting odd. But odd people come into the hotel all the time. In fact, this hotel is known for its odd characters. But when the gentleman's phone stays off the hook and he's found in the dark or talking to someone that no one else can see, did his demons follow him? This is the case of the mystery of room 1046.
Podcast Host Introductions and Engagement
00:01:50
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:01:59
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.
00:02:27
Speaker
So before we begin the episode this week, Allison and I wanted to let you guys know about some things to mark on your calendar, I guess I should say in regards to coughing cases. Yes. As you all know, this is the season for spending time with your family. So in an effort to spend more quality time with our families, which we sometimes sacrifice
00:02:53
Speaker
for producing the show. Maggie and I have decided that we will take off Thanksgiving week. So what that means for you guys is there won't be a new episode for you to listen to for the week of November 21st through the 25th.
00:03:09
Speaker
But that is okay because we have lots of new material posted on Patreon. If you haven't yet joined our Patreon, now is the time where for a limited time you can access full Patreon episodes as well as many episodes each month for only $5 a month. Because soon, beginning of the year, next year,
00:03:34
Speaker
that price will go up. So now is the time to join and stay at $5 a month. So to join now, go to www.patreon.com forward slash coffee and cases, all one word.
00:03:50
Speaker
So I really thought when you cleared your throat just then, I like almost how I did it. So we would know that there was an edit there. And then I was like, oh, no, she's doing that. I'm so good at that. But I was really clearing my throat.
The Mysterious Roland T. Owen
00:04:04
Speaker
Yeah, basically. On January 5th, 1935, when our story takes place, a man,
00:04:14
Speaker
Oh no! How are you already pausing? Because I don't know, I don't want to give too much away, but a man under the name of Roland T. Owen was admitted to a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri for being beaten and stabbed multiple times. Okay, so first you're just jumping right in. Yes, so we're kind of working a little bit backwards. Okay, beaten and stabbed, but you said
00:04:46
Speaker
going by the name of.
00:04:48
Speaker
So, okay. I'm there with you. All right. So, Roland would later die from these injuries in the hospital, but his death was preceded by a two-day stay in room 1046 at the President Hotel or Hotel President. Its name switched, the word switched at some point in its history. And what is now the city's power and light district.
00:05:16
Speaker
And I love old buildings. I'm obsessed with just history in general. So I had to look up the hotel and it's just as I thought it would be. The President Hotel, it was once Hotel President, was built in 1926 by the Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley, who operated like this big chain of hotels, like United Hotel Company, I think.
00:05:43
Speaker
And it was really beautiful on the outside had beautiful brickwork, and the hotel was built during this construction boom in the area and there was like Main Street theater was built Midland theater was built, and the Kansas City Power and Lot building was built so all of these good things are happening in this area.
00:06:04
Speaker
So just a little bit of background on the hotel. In 1926, it was actually, or no, I'm sorry, 1928, it was actually the headquarters for the 1928 Republican National Convention. So that was when we saw Herbert Hoover be nominated for president. So that's just a couple years after it was built.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, so I think that speaks a lot to the clientele in its early years. And probably how nice it was. Yeah, and it from the outside did like exactly how you think it would look. The hotel's drum room lounge attracted many entertainers from across the country like Frank Sinatra. Wow.
00:06:44
Speaker
So a bunch of really famous people. It did close temporarily in the 80s to undergo this huge renovation. It was like $45.5 million to restore parts to the hotel. And then it reopened again in 2005 as the Hilton President, Kansas City. And I'm pretty positive it's still a Hilton hotel.
00:07:08
Speaker
Um, in 1935, when this case takes place, the president hotel was still as pretty as it is today. And it was in the early afternoon of January 2nd, 1935, when a well-dressed man carrying no luggage walked into the hotel president and asked for a room on the inside. Who wants that? Very high floor. Okay. Both things that I wouldn't want. First of all, I want to view second of all, I'm not so keen.
00:07:39
Speaker
being higher up, unless I'm at the beach and then you get a better view of the water. But otherwise, the lower, the better in case there's a fire. Yeah. And I think I've told this story before, but I'm sort of done with interior rooms because I lived in one for a hot minute in college and I didn't have any reception. And that room I'm pretty sure was haunted, so it kind of sparked me a little bit. There you go. I'm over that.
00:08:06
Speaker
But when the man checked in, he told the receptionist that his name was Roland T Owens. And as he was filling out his like paperwork to check in, he identified on that paperwork that he was from Los Angeles. Noticeably, he had a very long scar on his cheek and appeared to be maybe at some point a professional fighter because he had cauliflower ear.
Odd Behavior and Interactions
00:08:29
Speaker
Oh, those gross me out a little bit. Mm hmm. I'm not gonna lie.
00:08:35
Speaker
Some witnesses claim that he was a young man around 20, while others believe that he may have been closer to 35, but no one knows his exact age because it wasn't reported upon check-in. But he somehow came from Los Angeles to New York. Or, sorry, Missouri. Right.
00:08:58
Speaker
We don't know that he's actually from LA. Oh, okay. That could just be part of his story. The sod, yeah.
00:09:08
Speaker
After Roland was successfully checked in, he was assigned to room 1046, and in an article on all things interesting, it stated, quote, though the man's behavior struck the president hotel staff as odd, they didn't think much of him. After all, the hotel often played host to out of towners and businessmen looking for some late night company. And the less the staff got involved, the better. Oh, I know what that means.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like there should have been air quotes around late night. Late night company. Yeah. Yeah. There's a little shady business going on. The Bellhop's name that took him to his room was Randolph Probst and he, you know, just like in the olden days, he escorted Roland to the elevator and then took him to the 10th floor and
00:09:54
Speaker
if he would have had bags. Taking them into his room. Right. But now that does seem weird because usually the bellhop is carrying the bags. So there's a purpose of taking you there in those little white gloves. And then they have their hand, you know, are standing there waiting for a tip. But I guess you would get no tip because you're not doing anything. Oh, he did unlock the door. Okay. Well, at least there's that.
00:10:19
Speaker
And I don't know if you have ever seen the Disney Channel movie. I don't think it's actually like Disney as in like Mickey Mouse. But remember when Disney had like that minute in the 90s where they made like life size with Tyra Banks? No. Oh my god. I listen.
00:10:45
Speaker
We were living in two different times, Maggie. I do not. I do not.
00:10:51
Speaker
Okay. Well, they had a movie called the tower of terror, which is based off the ride that's in Disney world. I have heard of the ride. I have not been on it. Oh, it made me cry. It's one of those that like you free fall when you get to the top and that movie came out in the nineties and it was one of my childhood favorites. And as I was researching this case, I can picture that's what I picture because the movie was set right around that time and like,
00:11:21
Speaker
this dude is a reporter and he works for something that's essentially like the inquirer and they have like bogus stories. And he goes to this hotel to dress his niece up like a ghost and say that this abandoned hotel is haunted, but then he figures out that it really is. And they like, people died in a elevator crash. And so he helps them like basically set their souls free kind of, it's really good.
00:11:49
Speaker
I highly recommend. The two make it to the 10th floor. So we're back on track now. Okay. And Roland is shown into his room, the bellhop and Roland make some small talk. As Roland told him that he had spent the previous night in another hotel that was nearby. Um, but he found that the $5 knotly rate was just way too high for him.
00:12:16
Speaker
Oh, to be back then. I'm $5.00. Yeah. Be too high. I mean, even now, that's like only $87.00. So we'll say $90.00. Yeah. A night for a hotel. That's cheap. And what kind of hotels he's staying in, because it sounds like this one he's moving into is awfully nice. So you would think it'd be more. Right. I didn't think to look up this other hotel that he was in, but he says it's too expensive. And so that's what brought him to the current hotel.
00:12:46
Speaker
I would almost to i've been on vacation and not liked my hotel that i'm staying in, but it's just too much work to switch. Oh yeah. So yeah, but I guess, if you have no luggage.
00:13:00
Speaker
then it's not really that hard. Yeah, it's not really anything. You just walked down the street. We went one year and they gave us a room with two full beds and Anthony and I cannot for extended periods of time. If it's like a weekend, we can do a full bed, but for seven nights, no, because he sleeps crazy and we had to switch rooms like two days into the trip because I was like, I'm going to end up
00:13:23
Speaker
choking you out. Yeah. We need bigger beds. And Roland got the exact room that he had requested. It was an interior room that overlooked the hotel's courtyard instead of the street that would have been his view for an exterior room. As the two of them talked, the bellhop watched as Roland took a hairbrush, a comb, and toothpaste
00:13:49
Speaker
from his coat pocket. I'm assuming there was also toothbrush in there. I would hope, unless he's using his finger, which if I forgot a toothbrush, yeah, then that's what you do. That's bizarre. Okay. Yeah. And that was the extent of his unpacking. He's like, I'm done. Well, I'm done.
00:14:06
Speaker
Yeah. And this was the first strange thing that people notice. And me as well, because when I go anywhere, first off, this isn't like his first night, right? And he's going to go out and buy clothes. He's already been staying at another hotel. Yeah. But when I pack to go anywhere, I'm over packing.
00:14:29
Speaker
Like just waking up my mom's house, I have like a carry-on size bag because I don't know, maybe I need to change outfits three times in one day. I'm gonna do something. Right, exactly. Or the weather might change because this is Kentucky. Right, exactly. So it strikes me as odd that he only had those few items, but you know, the hotel was used to seeing some strange people coming and going, so they probably just assumed
00:14:55
Speaker
This was another oddity. That just means he's been wearing the same underwear for three days. Yeah, I can't. The older I get, the more I've noticed I just have to be clean. I cannot go to bed without showering. Or if I step, I feel like my feet get dirty after a shower. If I forget to wear my slippers, I will rewash my feet before I get in my bed.
00:15:25
Speaker
I'm like, that's probably a little OCD, but it's okay. And obviously he can't be washing them in the tub in his room because they would need time to dry. Right. So he's just sitting in his own stank I guess. So after Roland puts those few items above the sink, both he and the bellhop leave the room. The bellboy returned to like locked it and he gave Roland the key. So
00:15:54
Speaker
You know, we put everything away and then we leave and he goes down to the lobby and walks out of the hotel. Right after checking in. Yes. Maybe he's going to buy clothes. Laundry mat. 24 hour laundromat.
00:16:10
Speaker
In an article published to BuzzFeed, we learned that a short time afterward, Mary, who was one of the hotel maids, was returning to work from having the day off and she went into room 1046 or went up to room 1046 and she found that the door was locked from the inside, which surprised her because
00:16:29
Speaker
He had left and no one really noticed that he came back. I read that she was kind of surprised. One, because the previous night a woman had been staying in the room and was locked from the inside and Roland was there, but everybody thought the room was vacant at the time because he had left.
00:16:50
Speaker
So she apologizes, but he was very nice and just said, you know, just come on in. Um, and you can go ahead and just clean the room because you're already here. You don't want to feel like that'd be awkward. Yeah, that'd be really weird. I would just walk to the lobby or I know. Yeah, exactly. She hesitated at first. Um, she was a little bit kind of put off by that, but she did eventually come into the room.
00:17:16
Speaker
And when she was later interviewed, she told police that she noticed he had the shades drawn and only had one dim lamp on. And she said that was kind of weird. Yeah. She went on to say. Maybe he's a vampire, but then he went outside in the day. So nevermind. Or maybe he works nights or something and it's daytime and he's trying to get sleepy. Yeah.
00:17:39
Speaker
She actually entered the room several times that day and you know like bringing towels or whatever and each time the room was dark with the shades drawn and that one dim lamp on. She said quote he was either worried about something or afraid end quote.
00:17:54
Speaker
Hmm. So after she'd been cleaning in this first interaction for a few minutes, Roland put his overcoat on and brushed his hair and then left. But as he's leaving, he says, Hey, do you just mind to leave the room unlocked? Some friends are coming up in a few minutes and I want them to be able to come in if I'm not here. Like they know what room to come to. What? I know that's weird too. And I also think it's weird that she was like, Yeah, sure.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah. I'll leave your room open, but she does. A different time, I guess. Whatever gets the tip. Yeah. Four hours later, she did come back, Mary, to bring in fresh towels. So she found that the door was still unlocked from when she had cleaned the room earlier that afternoon. And upon entering, she found Roland laying fully clothed on top of his still made bed, and she thought he was asleep.
00:18:50
Speaker
He's seemingly asleep. And he had a note on the bedside table that said, quote, Dawn, I will
Scrutiny of Final Activities
00:18:58
Speaker
be back in 15 minutes late. End quote. Okay. First of all, who's Dawn? We still have no idea. The note. And is he faking being asleep? I'm super confused.
00:19:16
Speaker
But okay. So I'm wondering if, well, one, we don't know who Dawn is. And then two, I'm wondering if he wrote the note and maybe as he was leaving and she just didn't see it and he puts it, but he beats Dawn there and then falls asleep waiting for Dawn to show up. Oh, which would explain why he's fully clothed because he was just waiting on his friend. And the door is still unlocked. That's a legitimate theory.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah, the next day, though, more strange things happen in and around room 1046. So we're now January 3. But I will say that in one source I read, it said this was on January 4, but overwhelmingly majority said the third. So we're just going to stick with the third.
00:20:05
Speaker
So Mary comes back to clean the room around 10 30 in the morning, just like she did every day that she was working. And she noticed that the door this time had been locked from the outside. And she assumed that Roland had locked it as he was leaving the room. Okay, I have no idea. I did like a very brief Google search, but I found nothing I have no idea how you can tell if her door has been locked from the inside versus outside.
00:20:31
Speaker
I don't know unless there's a deadbolt on the inside and so then you would have to get somebody on the inside to open it. That's true. Or maybe if like hotels were a little bit different at that time. I don't know. That's a true. I hadn't thought about the deadbolt. I don't know. Or the little flap that goes across, you know, did they have them? I would guess so.
00:20:53
Speaker
Regardless, she knows that the door has been locked from the outside and I'm pretty sure she thought she was going to find an empty room when she opened the doors, but she actually found Roland sitting inside the room again with the lights off.
00:21:07
Speaker
Okay. At this point, I'd be like, can somebody else clean his room? I've had my turn. You've been like, sir, do you need help? Because this means that someone else locked the door with him sitting in the dark. So he gave the key to somebody else. Right. So somebody else has a key, which is creepy.
00:21:32
Speaker
While Mary was still in the room, Roland's hotel phone rang and he answered it. And in this conversation, he says, quote, No, Dawn, I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry. I just had breakfast. No, I'm not hungry. End quote. Well, at least Dawn is worried about his nutrition. There you go.
00:21:55
Speaker
According to medium.com, there was an article that was published on December 10th, 2020. That was called the mystery of room 1046. In this article, it says while he's still on the phone, Roland turns to Mary and
Discovery and Investigation
00:22:09
Speaker
starts having a conversation with her while he's still on the phone. And he's like, are you responsible for this entire floor? Is this hotel a residential one? Like asking her all these random questions have to do with anything.
00:22:23
Speaker
Yeah, I would be like blink twice if you need help. Yeah. Wow. But Mary says she answered his questions and listened as he complained about the astronomical rate at that previous hotel before finishing her job and then like quickly leaving. Running. Yeah. Running away. She would later tell police that she felt like the young man was afraid of someone. She just didn't know who.
00:22:51
Speaker
And that's why, like, the lights are dark. Yeah. The room is locked. But still, it doesn't make sense to be locked from the outside. Yeah, you're right. Unless Dawn is a friend and Dawn's logging him in there for his own protection. Yeah, maybe.
00:23:11
Speaker
But I don't know, but I do know that Mary comes back to the room around four to deliver fresh towels. So I guess it was, she cleans around 10 30, she brings in towels around four. And she said, when she got to the room, she heard two male voices inside the room. She knocks on the door. Is it Dawn? We don't know. Because when she knocks on the door, a rough voice that she didn't think was rolling said, who is it? And when she explained, you know, housekeeping, I have fresh towels,
00:23:41
Speaker
The man said, we don't need any. Well, Roland does. Cause he's wearing the same clothes. So we at least needs to take a bath. Right. And obviously they do need towels, but dirty ones when she called in the room at 10 30. Yeah. And if he's going to be staying in there, he needs some towels. Yeah.
00:24:00
Speaker
And during the night, a woman staying in room 1046 would later say that she heard loud voices, both male and female, cursing on the same floor. But I did read there was also a party happening in room 1055. And so they're like, could it have been that that she was hearing or were like voices of those people from the party outside in the hallway or something?
00:24:24
Speaker
Or was she hearing things from 1046? Yeah, so we don't really know where those voices came from. That same afternoon, the President Hotel got two more guests whose presence would contribute to this mystery of room 1046. The first was Jean Owen of No Relation to Roland. Okay.
00:24:45
Speaker
And she came to Kansas City to meet her boyfriend for the day and decided that rather than drive all the way back to her hometown on the outskirts of the city, she would just stay the night in a hotel. Smart. Yeah. And she checks into the room right beside.
00:25:00
Speaker
of Roland and she's the one who says, I was hearing like repeated commotion. I heard a lot of noise. It was largely men talking, women talking very loudly and cursing. She said, quote, when the noise continued, I was about to call the desk clerk, but decided not to end quote. And you never want to be those people. No, I know. But sometimes you have to be.
00:25:29
Speaker
Right, but then you don't want them to be like, yes, our guest in room 1048 called to complain about the noise, you know? Yeah, but then you also don't want the next morning in her case, like you wake up and you're like, you hear the man in room 1046 was stabbed to death. You're like, oh my God, maybe I should have called the front desk. Oh my, so that's the stabbing? Potentially. Oh my. The other hotel guest was
00:25:59
Speaker
not really a guest at all. The bellhop who had been on duty that night described her as a quote unquote commercial woman. I don't know what that means. Oh, selling her services. Okay, I got it. Okay. So on that evening, she came into the hotel searching for a man in 1026.
00:26:23
Speaker
However, to spot being a quote, very prompt customer, the woman couldn't seem to find the man she was looking for. After searching for well over an hour on multiple floors, she gave up and went home, but both of the women would say that they heard odd things coming from 1046. So this commercial woman and the girlfriend. Okay.
00:26:49
Speaker
On January 4th, 1935, around 7 a.m., so bright and early in the morning, the hotel phone operator, Della Ferguson, noticed that Roland's hotel room telephone had been off for quite a while, and she presumed it was off the hook. Oh, because it probably shows busy for like a long period of time. Right, and I'm sure she still was working a switchboard or whatever to transfer people.
00:27:17
Speaker
So the bellboy, Probst, who showed him to his room the first time, was sent to go and check on Roland and just let him know, hey dude, your phone is off the hook. So he goes to the 10th floor and he knocked on the door and he heard a very low voice saying, come in. Okay.
00:27:38
Speaker
Allison, this was strange because the do not disturb son was hanging on the door. And so he's like, let me just knock again, he knocks again. And the voice responded with, turn on the lights.
00:27:54
Speaker
But no one got up to let him in. He was obviously a little freaked out. And so through the door, he's just like, push your phone back on. And went downstairs. That's exactly what I would do. I'd be like, I just come to tell you about your phone. Have a great night. Wow.
00:28:14
Speaker
About an hour and a half later, the operator noticed that his phone was still off the hook. So this time she's like, you know what, props couldn't get it done. Harold, I'm gonna need you to go upstairs to 1046 until this fool to put his phone back on the hook. Right. Maybe Harold can get the job done.
00:28:37
Speaker
Right Harold had heard that the door was locked from the inside from the other bell voice so he took a key with him and when he arrived to the door it was still locked this time though he like knocks and then lets himself in the room and he only had the light from the hallway
00:28:55
Speaker
coming in to a dark room obviously. This time I don't think there was a lamp on and Harold could see a man presumably rolling just lying on the bed and it looked like the sheets were wet.
00:29:10
Speaker
And so he's like, you know what, this hotel has some weirdies that come in here. Roland's probably gotten drunk and like peed the bed or threw up on the bed or whatever. And so he walks over to the phone, puts it back onto the receiver and leaves and then locks the door behind him because he thinks Roland is just laying there sleeping off like a drunken stupor.
00:29:34
Speaker
Is the phone not right beside the bed? I'd be like averting my eyes. Like don't look, don't look, Allison. Don't look like a region, but the phone on and run. I don't, nothing ever came out and said that, but from the research, I would say it had to have been within arms reach of the bed. Yeah. Sometime again between 1030 and 1045, the phone in room 1046 is off the hook yet again.
00:30:04
Speaker
So obviously Roland took it off of the hook. Right. Unless there's someone like hiding in the bathroom. Oh my gosh, that's freaky. Okay. So this time Propes went to see if he could get Roland to fix the phone. So he knocks loudly several times. And when there was no answer, he used his key to enter room 1046. This time when the bellhop opened the door, he found a blood bath.
00:30:34
Speaker
Roland was naked on all fours, holding his head in his hands. So, Probst immediately turns on the lights and could tell that Roland was suffering from multiple stabbed wounds. Wow.
00:30:52
Speaker
The bedsheets and towels were stained with blood. The walls were splattered with blood. Props immediately ran from the room, found his manager, MS Weaver, and told him what he'd seen. He would later tell police that when he entered the room, Roland was quote,
00:31:09
Speaker
On his knees and elbows, holding his head in his hands, I noticed blood on his head. I then turned on the light. I looked around and saw blood on the walls, on the bed, and in the bathroom. This frightened me and I immediately left the room and went downstairs." End quote. Well, that's exactly what I would do. I would run. I would probably scream.
00:31:30
Speaker
And you would be forever traumatized. But like, this isn't, it's an hour and a half from when somebody was just in that room and saw him on the bed, unless the soiled sheets where the herald thought that he'd, you know, thrown up or peed himself was blood and then somehow Roland woke up and
00:31:55
Speaker
That's when he realizes he's been stabbed. But why is he naked and wear his clothes? Because he only has one set. We'll talk about that.
00:32:09
Speaker
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00:34:01
Speaker
Since Allison and I don't work together anymore, recording our podcast became harder until we found Zencaster. Zencaster is podcast recording the way it should be, web-based, and as easy as creating a link and clicking to join a recording session. If you've been listening to our show for any extended period of time, you know our love for Zencaster and their products.
00:34:22
Speaker
Now, with Zencaster Professional, there's even more to love. Zencaster records video up to 4K, post-production allows you to balance volumes and reduce background noise in one click, filler word removal takes out all the ums and ahs that happen in natural speech, and you can now also add your brand's watermark to your work.
00:34:44
Speaker
For the podcaster, the production of an episode is simple from start to finish. Recording local audio, inserting pre-recorded audio clips like intro music and ads, and even publishing the episode or setting it to post at a future date and time. It's even easy for guests who aren't tech savvy and you can add up to 11 separate participants.
00:35:06
Speaker
and use our code, coffeeandcases, all one word. You'll get 30% off your first three months of Zencaster Professional. We want you to have the same easy experience we do for all our podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story. Okay, so Allison, you had lots of questions. I did.
Police Investigation and Identity Reveal
00:35:30
Speaker
And we're going to get there. Sort of.
00:35:34
Speaker
Oh no. You're going to have to develop more along the way though. So shortly after the police arrived, along with Dr. Flanders, who began attempting to treat Roland, they noticed that he had been tied with a quarter on his neck and his wrist and his ankles. He had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and one stab wound punctured his lung.
00:35:58
Speaker
Maybe the stab to his lung happened first because I'm wondering how he wasn't screaming through all of this. Or I wonder if that was what the women had reported. The loud voices and stuff. Yeah. I guess there'd be a difference between like screaming and just loudly talking. Well at least he can write. So maybe he can write who did this to him.
00:36:23
Speaker
On the right side of his head, he'd been struck multiple times, leaving his skull fractured. There was also evidence of bruising around his neck, indicating that he had potentially been strangled. The detectives later described the injuries Roland had endured as torture. Amazingly, Roland was still alive, but barely conscious when the medical team arrived.
00:36:48
Speaker
Dr. Flanders asked Owen who had done this to him and he repeated nobody. So, Roland is just telling them nobody. When Flanders asked how the injuries had happened, Roland said he fell against the bathtub. Okay, well that doesn't explain the rope burn or the stab wounds. Before he could ask any more questions though, Roland did slip into a coma.
00:37:17
Speaker
The doctors also discovered that the wounds on Roland had been inflicted well before the bell hop's first trip to Roland's room. So when he shouts, hang up your phone through the door. Oh, no. So he'd been in there all day suffering? Yeah, and they say that the phone was off the hook because he was too weak but was trying to call for help multiple times. Oh, no. Yeah.
00:37:46
Speaker
but he hadn't been able to do much more than pick up the phone. Oh my gosh, can you imagine if this bellhop had turned the light on the first time and gone in? Yeah, and can you imagine the guilt he really had though? Oh, and I know you can't play that what if game. That's not healthy, but oh, I feel so bad for the suffering he had to have gone through. Yeah, me too, painful.
00:38:18
Speaker
So he is in a coma, but they rush him to the hospital. And in the meantime, the police start their investigation. And as you probably could have guessed, it is a weird one. Right. All we really know is there's a Dolan. Yeah. And someone may be named Roland. Right. Maybe. The room was virtually empty because if you remember, he packed nothing other than a comb, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and
00:38:46
Speaker
a hairbrush, so there's not a lot. Hotel items like soap, shampoo, and towels were all missing. Huh, so somebody took them. Yeah, despite the call like, hey, do you need more towels? And they were like, nope, we're good. There really weren't any in there. Roland was found naked, so naturally the police are like, all right, he has to have some clothes in here somewhere, but there were no clothes either. Okay. They're all gone.
00:39:16
Speaker
No coat, shirt, pants, socks, no shoes. Which is how you know that this is obviously not self-inflicted. Yeah, he did not fall in the bathroom. No. The only thing in the room of notability were two empty water glasses, an unlit cigarette, a hairpin, a safety pin, and a bottle of diluted sulfuric acid. Okay, that was odd and not something he pulled out of his pocket.
00:39:43
Speaker
Yeah he didn't pack that. Right. One of the empty water glasses laid in the sink had a broken piece of glass missing and the other had four fingerprints that the police were able to determine belong to a woman. I don't know how they determined that. That's kind of like with that Betty Gail Brown case where they were like some of the fingerprints were male and some were female. I don't know how they figured that out either.
00:40:10
Speaker
Somebody let us know. Yeah. But maybe it was, you know, a woman had stayed in there a few knots ago. So maybe she had moved that glass. That doesn't necessarily mean there was a woman in there when he died. Right. So I guess it could have been coincidence. But that also means that the hotel didn't wash the glass, which is kind of gross.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yeah, I never use those. Like you know how some people put like um in those buckets they'll fill them with ice without using the little baggies. Oh yeah without the liner. Because I read this article that this woman said like people throw up in those, people throw up in the bathroom in those. Then you're eating ice out of it. Crunch away. You're eating poop ice. Enjoy.
00:40:57
Speaker
So with no leads, the detectives began questioning the other guests and the staff that were to the hotel. They checked the registration at the front desk and saw that Roland T. Owen had put his hometown as Los Angeles. The detectives reached out to the Los Angeles police and they run a search and they're like, sorry, no one with the name Roland T. Owen exists. Oh.
00:41:23
Speaker
And so now detectives are like, is this guy really named Roland T. Owen? So either he's running from somebody or because he's potentially going to be a victim or he's like, the only other option I'm thinking is he's somehow like a fugitive of the law. And so he wouldn't want to go by his real name. It's a good point too.
00:41:48
Speaker
But police never get to ask him any of those questions or what his real name is because he will go on to die in the hospital later that night slash the early morning of the next day. So now they're really having to figure out on their own who did this to him.
00:42:04
Speaker
Yeah. And just like in last week's case, Roland's story is followed closely by newspapers and actually went back and forth between calling him Roland and not because that's not really his name. Oh, right. But it has been up until this point. And it's the only name we have. Well, we figure out more. But right now, he's only Roland. So that's why I decided to use Roland. Yeah.
00:42:31
Speaker
So, his story is followed closely by newspapers. In media coverage, it was revealed that the police were not certain that Roland T. Owen was the name of the now deceased man. And so, actually, many residents began trying to identify him by sending pictures in of their own missing relatives or calling him with questions and asking, you know, what did he look like? Were there any distinguishing characteristics? Things like how old was he? Things like that.
00:42:58
Speaker
One man, Robert Lane, believed that he actually gave Roland, cause we still don't know his name, a ride to find a taxi on the night of January 3rd around 10 PM. He said that Roland flagged him down because Roland believed he was a taxi and the man stops and when Roland realizes he's not a taxi driver, he's like, oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to stop you. You know, go ahead and go about your business.
00:43:26
Speaker
lane toe police that when he stopped he noticed that Roland wasn't wearing a coat and remember it's January
00:43:38
Speaker
And so it is very cold in Missouri in January. And he also noticed he had a deep scratch and the article I read the articles I read this in all referred to it as a scratch and not like a cut or a cut. But he was he checked into the hotel with a coat. So obviously this is the beginning of his nakedness. Interesting. OK.
00:44:07
Speaker
Given those two circumstances though, it's cold and he doesn't have a coat and has this wound on his arm. He's like, you know what? Just go ahead and hop in and I'll drive you to a taxi and they can take you like wherever else you need to go. While driving Lane didn't think to ask his name or really any other information, but he did notice that Roland was bleeding from his arm and maybe some other injuries. Again, he didn't ask anything.
00:44:37
Speaker
And he did drop him off at another taxi and he said he never saw Roland again. So I'm sure he didn't ask anything because I don't think I would either. Like if I'm driving a random stranger, which I would, which I wouldn't, but if I did, and I looked over and they were bleeding from their arm and potentially another wound, I would just be like, keep your eyes straight ahead, Maggie. Watch for traffic. Don't even look over there.
00:45:06
Speaker
But this lead was dismissed. I don't. They dismissed it because hotel eyewitnesses said that Roland did not return to the hotel that night with any injuries like they saw him and he was fine. Dr. Flanders also placed injuries of Roland occurring around four or five a.m. based on the hardening of blood in his room. And so he came back at like
00:45:36
Speaker
1030 or 11. He should have been fine. But, you know, if it's in the arm, that I feel like could be easily concealed. It's not like he's walking around with a wound on his head. And if the blood had congealed, you know, and it's no longer, you know, oozing or whatever. Yeah.
00:45:59
Speaker
If you remember though, Roland supposedly stayed at another hotel, but not before his crazy adventure begins. Yeah, so maybe they start there.
00:46:09
Speaker
And police find that out because they talked to the bell boy because the bell boy knew that for the conversation with Roland. So they follow up on this lead and they go to the hotel. And when they asked the receptionist if a Roland T. Owen had checked into the hotel, they're like, nope, sure didn't. And he was even complaining about it to the maid. Yep. So there's nobody under that name. But police show them a photo of Roland and from the picture, the staff was able to determine that
00:46:37
Speaker
Roland had checked into the hotel on that said day, but he checked in under the name Eugene K. Scott. And so now they're like, okay, he really is not named Roland T. Owen. These are weird. Okay.
00:46:57
Speaker
Images of the dead man continue to be circulated nationwide in the hopes of identifying him. Finally, one of those pictures circulated to the right person. Oh, good. Yes. A friend of a lady named Ruby Ogletree in Birmingham, Alabama showed her an issue of the American Weekly. So this was a Sunday newspaper supplement published
00:47:21
Speaker
by the Hearst Corporation, and I had an article about the case in this newspaper. The unidentified man, thought the friend, looked a whole, whole lot like Ruby's son, Artemis. What a great name. I know, I love that name. So was her son missing?
00:47:44
Speaker
Okay, well, all of, so the friend and the mom are all under the impression that Artemis was traveling. In fact, Ruby had not seen him since he left to hitchhike to California in 1934. Oh, maybe that's why he said it was from Los Angeles. There's a California connection. But she said that he had been keeping up correspondence with her. Does she know a Dawn? No. Oh, nevermind.
00:48:14
Speaker
Ruby contacted the Kansas City Police Department and was able to provide enough information about this previous unnamed corpse, including a description of his scar that's on his head if you remember that. Oh yeah. She said that when he was a child, there was an accident with some hot grease that got spilled there. Oh gosh. So it scarred.
00:48:34
Speaker
She's able to identify all of that. And so now they're like, okay, so Roland T. Owen is actually Artemis. Right. And so they know who he is now. But now they're like, why is he changing his name everywhere he goes? Exactly. We have one answer, but that leads to so many more questions. You see, Allison, Ruby had received several letters supposedly from her son after he had been killed. Okay.
00:49:01
Speaker
The first came in early 1935 and was postmarked from Chicago. And this made her a little bit suspicious because it was typewritten. And as far as she knew, Artemis did not know how to use a typewriter. It was also like the envelope was written in a highly stylized script that would not have been consistent with his previous letters. Like it looked like he didn't write that. So this is how we know when our students are cheating too.
00:49:28
Speaker
exactly if they start sounding not like themselves you're like let me google this but of course you couldn't do that in the 30s but she would know yeah in may 1935 another letter supposedly from artemis said that he was going to europe it was followed by a special delivery letter saying that his ship was selling out that day both were sent from new york according to an article that i read in the new castle sun
00:49:58
Speaker
So did she normally send her son money or something? Or I'm wondering why somebody would keep up this ruse. Well, a lot of people think it was whoever was responsible for what happened to him. Just as like, like, the joke, I guess, maybe.
00:50:17
Speaker
But it didn't stop there. In August of that year, so August of 1935, Ruby received a telephone call from Memphis, Tennessee. And this man called up and said, Hey, I just had to talk to you and let you know Artemis saved my life. Yes, he saved my life in a fight.
00:50:40
Speaker
And Artemis himself could not call you because he's now living in Cairo. So we're now in Egypt where he's married to a really wealthy woman. He's really well off. He's super happy, but he's, you know, unable to write you because he had actually lost his thumb on his dominant hand in the fight in which he saved my life. Oh my gosh. This is so bizarre. Yeah.
00:51:10
Speaker
Yeah. Like you came up with such a detailed lie to say he saved your life. He lost his thumb. And that's why he can't contact you. This is weird. Okay. Yeah.
00:51:26
Speaker
Ruby talked with a man for about half an hour according to an article called phone calls add to mystery of youth killed last January. She recalled that he spoke wildly and irrationally but seemed to have firsthand knowledge of Artemis. She gave the police the name of the man
00:51:46
Speaker
used to identify himself, but this name has never been made public. So I don't know if he gave his actual name or what. Right, or if they determined it was also false. Right. If Artemis had at some point before his death gone to Egypt or anywhere else overseas, he hadn't been so under his own name, which honestly, are we surprised? Not shocking. Yeah.
Theories and Speculations
00:52:14
Speaker
because no like steamship company at the time had any record that he traveled with them using his given name. And the US Embassy in Cairo was unable to find any evidence that he had ever lived there.
00:52:31
Speaker
Through the police's conversation with Ruby, they were able to figure out that Artemis had stayed at a third hotel while in Kansas City, the St. Regis. There he'd shared a room with another man. Whether or not this man was Don could not be established. I'm going to say that it was.
00:52:47
Speaker
I am too. An article published in the New Yorker called the Homicide Squad in Action said in 1937, the New York City police arrested a man named Joseph Martin on murder charges after he killed a man he shared a room with and put the body in his trunk to be shipped to Memphis or in a trunk to be shipped to Memphis. Among the several aliases, he was found to have used Donald Kelso. Dawn.
00:53:17
Speaker
Yes, that's the connection that they made. But according to the story in the New Yorker, the Kansas City Police Department had matched samples of his handwriting to that in the letters written to Ruby to see, you know, could that be the same person? But they I guess they weren't able to determine any of that because no charges were ever filed against this man in regards to Artemis's case. I wonder if
00:53:45
Speaker
Artemis had somehow known about the other death. And maybe that's why Dawn killed him was to keep him quiet. And maybe he thought he could handle it. But then when he starts like getting depressed and, you know, not bathing and not eating and staying in dark rooms and all that stuff, I don't know. That's a thought.
00:54:16
Speaker
It kind of makes sense though. Yeah. But let me hear the other theories. So the case stays open for a while. Obviously police reviewed it every few years until the 1950s. And then they just determined that it's a cold case. So there are a couple theories. Obviously theory one would be like that anonymous caller slash letter writer. Right.
00:54:44
Speaker
And according to factology, it says, quote, one such story claims anonymous caller who sent the money for Artemis. Oh, I left that part out. There was, I meant to go back and add that. So now it's a little tidbit. When they did his funeral, so when he was buried, a random person made the donation to cover his funeral cost. So maybe the letters were sent out of guilt.
00:55:12
Speaker
Yeah. And so maybe there's in this theory, they're saying, could that anonymous caller and this funeral fender kind of be the same person? This has led to a popular theory that Artemis was engaged to be married and cheated on his wife because a lot of people say the donation came from a woman.
00:55:36
Speaker
And then the fiance's brother finds out that Artemis has cheated and kills Artemis.
00:55:48
Speaker
The supposed statements made by the anonymous caller were first published in a magazine and papers after his death sensationalizing the story, possibly jumping off the actual fact of like saying there were mailed flowers and a letter from this person called Louise. Um, Louise, but the caller never made any of those statements. So how much of it was kind of like in speculation and rumor.
00:56:17
Speaker
So we know that the caller said, you know, he saved my life and he's living in Cairo, but the caller never said anything. Yeah. But never said anything, you know, that he dated my sister. Right. Right. Or there were all these letters from this woman. I'm going to scratch this theory. So theory two is Dawn and maybe some friends of Dawn.
00:56:44
Speaker
So in this theory, we're gonna assume that Dawn beat Artemis to death in room 1046 and he either acted alone or acted with friends. And we have a lot to back that up. Probably have this commercial woman who was this 135 pound, five and a half foot tall woman that hears all this ruckus when she's looking for the man in 1026.
00:57:14
Speaker
And she says that there potentially could have been multiple people in Artemis's room. And this theory isn't completely out there. If you recall earlier when I mentioned the theory that there could have been multiple people in the room, even a woman in the room. So could she have been in there at some point and even seen Dawn?
00:57:42
Speaker
and touch the glass. So does she know more than what she's actually saying? And then there's the lady in room 1048 that heard the loud voices, both man and woman. Oh, right. So then if they were both in there, yeah.
00:57:56
Speaker
Could it have been the commercial woman? I'm wondering, was Dawn even staying in room two in 1026? And she's searching for him and she actually finds him in 1046. And that's why she comes in, you know? Right. I don't know. I feel like I'm kind of stretching on that one. But it wouldn't be unreasonable to suspect that the commercial woman and the man that
00:58:18
Speaker
in that room could have been responsible for the death of Artemis or even just the man in the room. Because I mean, you would think if somebody's coming in the room and they're walking out with clothing and
00:58:39
Speaker
you know, like all of his stuff from his room and all that stuff that somebody would have noticed unless there were multiple people and they were like, okay, I'll sneak out the jacket. You sneak out the pants. You know, it wouldn't look odd though if you're leaving a hotel with a bag of clothes or if you brought a suitcase in right and then left with it. Mm hmm.
00:59:06
Speaker
And they would, they had the key because he was locked in the room. Yeah. And then theory three kind of plays in with theory one, um, could it have been revenge? So, and an article I read on Buzzfeed, it said that those sensationalized articles suggested that Artemis was killed because he was unfaithful to his fiance. But again,
00:59:36
Speaker
This was based off rumor. I think they did. I'm trying to remember in my research. I think they did like try to figure out who funded the funeral, but they never figured out for sure.
01:00:00
Speaker
They spoke with the person, and the person gave them specific instructions, like, I want him buried in Memorial Park Cemetery. He doesn't need to be in a poor person's grave. He'll be near my sister. He'll be near something along those lines. I'll send the funds to cover the funeral expenses. So again, I don't know how much of that conversation actually happened or how much of it was sensationalized by the newspapers.
01:00:30
Speaker
But that's the three theories. So the revenge theory, which I don't really buy, the anonymous caller, which I think could be linked into theory too, as well as Dawn, the anonymous caller. And then did Dawn have help from this commercial woman, which I don't think he did. I just think she happened to be there, you know.
01:00:50
Speaker
I guess I'm torn on that part. Do I think that there is a dawn? Yes, I do. Do I think because that's an alias of that guy who was known to have killed somebody else he shared a room with, that is a high likelihood that that's the same person. And I'm going to go back to this, maybe Roland knew about that other murder. And, you know, now he's
01:01:15
Speaker
collateral damage of that previous one. You know, if Don's afraid that he's going to go to police or whatever, and maybe this other woman is involved. I mean, who best to get you to break a law than somebody who's already breaking the law? I do think your theory about the collateral damage makes a lot of sense.
Listener Engagement and Social Media
01:01:46
Speaker
I wonder if we will ever get to the bottom of the mystery of room 1046. I think as time continues to pass, our chances grow slimmer and slimmer. The hotel is still open and booking rooms. I personally would never be brave enough to stay in a room where something so horrific happened. But would you, Sleuthhounds?
01:02:06
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.
01:02:35
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week. We have
01:03:00
Speaker
such a fun podcast to recommend to you this week, especially if you find yourself enthralled in the dark crimes of your typical true crime podcast, but you love the genre so much that you're afraid to stray to a different genre of podcasts. Thanks to our friend and all around great guy, Leroy, and his podcast,
01:03:25
Speaker
Excuse me, that's illegal. Where he delves into some hilarious true crime tales. Check him out and if you love the show like we do and I know that you will, make sure you leave him a five-star review with a comment letting him know that Maggie and Allison sent you and if you're curious about the show, here's a little bit about the show from Leroy himself.
01:03:50
Speaker
Oh, hey there. You like true crime stories, right? Yeah, yeah, I know. Who doesn't? But I gotta admit, after a while all those stories of murder and heartache, well, they tend to go straight to my hips. So that's why I, Leroy Luna, have created a podcast called Excuse Me, that's illegal. Where we'll take a hardcore look at some softcore crimes.
01:04:11
Speaker
no TED talks on Bundy here. The letters BTK won't be coming from these lips. Unless he had a brother that used to steal library books. I suppose I'd be willing to go balls deep into that one if that were the case. Anyways, you'll hear stories such as the Mad Pooper, a female jogger who wreaked havoc in a Colorado Springs neighborhood, using one family's front yard as her own personal dumping grounds. If this kind of content sounds like it's up your alley,
01:04:37
Speaker
Excuse me, that's illegal. It's available right now on all your favorite podcatchers. So come join me. I'll be right here waiting for you.
01:04:49
Speaker
It's love notes for Maggie and Alison and that's so hard to sing because I have these in bizeline and they made me have a lisp, but it's fine. We want to send some love out this week to Amanda, to Teachers Talk Crime podcast, to Matt and to Jackie for reaching out to us via email or social media or for recommending the podcast on Facebook and Instagram.
01:05:17
Speaker
We would love to get more people obviously to join the CNC fam and hear about these cases because that's our ultimate goal. So make sure if you are recommending the pod that you tag us on Instagram or you use the at symbol before typing coffee and cases on Facebook so we can see your recommendation and make sure that we send you a love note in a future episode.
01:05:44
Speaker
We also have had two new written reviews on Apple Podcasts and you know that we love those. Yes. Only the nice ones though. Only the nice ones. Yes. Nice ones only. One was entitled Love It and It's So Cute. It said quote, Maggie used to be my teacher and I just love, love, love her podcast. That's so sweet. I love that.
01:06:10
Speaker
And I'm sure you were one of those babies I loved, loved, loved teaching too. Yes. And another review came in from Jay Scott and it said, quote, just found this podcast and love it. Keep it up, ladies. End quote. Thank you so much for that, Jay Scott. We love that you all appreciate what we do and that you love it as much as we do. And one other love note goes out to Anastasia.
01:06:38
Speaker
who wrote us on social to say, quote, I thoroughly enjoy your podcast. Thank you for keeping it classy. Not having foul language and using inappropriate comments, sadly present in many other TC podcasts. Keep up the good work, ladies, end quote. Thank you, Anastasia.
01:06:58
Speaker
Remember that we will not be posting an episode next week because we will be taking off for Thanksgiving to spend time with their families So if you miss us as badly as we're gonna miss you You still have time to join Patreon and it is definitely something to be thankful for that You can do that for only five dollars a month and still have access to so much fun content and it grows each month and
01:07:24
Speaker
and you will help support us in producing the show because it is a lot and we appreciate all the support that we do get from you guys. Yes, we do. So just head on over to patreon.com forward slash coffee and cases all one word. And with that all of our love is going out to each and every one of you until two weeks from now. Sloot hounds.