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We're going hitt by 29 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:00.439 eighteen plus terms and conditioned to placey y details. 30 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.159 You are now listening to True Murder, The most shocking 31 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.280 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 32 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:21.640 written about them. Gasey Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker VTK Every 33 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:25.359 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 34 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:29.640 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 35 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:33.480 host journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 36 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:46.359 Good Evening nickname the most Beautiful Woman in Alaska. Thirty 37 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:49.519 one year old Diane Wells was bruised and bloodied when 38 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.200 she screamed for help in the early hours of October seventeenth, 39 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:58.519 nineteen fifty three. Her husband, Cecil, a wealthy Fairbanks businessman, 40 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.359 had been shot dead, and she claimed there were the 41 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.879 victims of a brutal home invasion. Blonde, glamorous, and twenty 42 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.800 years younger than Cecil, police were immediately suspicious of Diane's account, 43 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:15.000 and the investigation soon turned toward her alleged lover, black 44 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.319 musician Johnny Warren, who had left town the night of 45 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.800 the murder. The scandal hit the pages of Newsweet Life, 46 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.400 Jet In the Pulp detective magazines, and nearly seventy years later, 47 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:32.319 journalist James T. Bartlett uncovers new evidence, including an unpublished memoir, 48 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:38.199 unseen photographs, and re examines the FBI files. He tracks 49 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:41.599 down and interviews the people close to Cecil, Diane Johnny, 50 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:47.400 and the mysterious third suspect, dance instructor William Columbany, to 51 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.159 reveal the stir of the most notorious and baffling murder 52 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.000 in the history of Fairbanks. The book that we're featuring 53 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.319 this evening is The Alaskan Blonde Sex Secrets and the 54 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:01.840 Hollywood Story that Shocked America, with my special guest, journalist 55 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:05.560 and author James T. Bartlett. Welcome to the program, and 56 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:08.120 thank you very much for this interview. James T. 57 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:10.280 Bartlett, Thank you, Dan, thanks for having me. 58 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.000 Thank you so much. What brought you to this story 59 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:18.280 and why you decided to become involved. 60 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:20.960 I'll give you the very short version. I work as 61 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.039 a journalist. I live here in Los Angeles, but obviously 62 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:27.159 I'm from England originally, and I had written a couple 63 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:32.159 of guides to Los Angeles that featured true crime in them. 64 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.039 They were sort of true crime guides to some famous 65 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.319 buildings and restaurants and hotels and so forth. And this 66 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.960 particular murder in Fairbanks was one of the crimes that 67 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.360 I found out about while I was researching this book. 68 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.400 It had a connection to the crime, and I wrote 69 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.360 wrote the entry for the book, and I never really 70 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.639 quite forgot about it, and I started to look into 71 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:57.280 the story because, as some of the readers might see 72 00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.439 if they read the book, you know the pictures of 73 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.560 Diane Well, she was so glamorous and it was such 74 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:07.360 a fifties film noir story that I just assumed, after 75 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:09.960 I'd read some of the newspaper reports, that there must 76 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.039 be a book, and I thought, I want to read 77 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.639 that book. I want to find out what happened. And 78 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.000 then I found out there was no book, and then 79 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.199 I found out there wasn't really anything other than the 80 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.639 newspaper coverage at the time. But the newspaper coverage at 81 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:25.399 the time was quite extensive all the way across America, 82 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.759 in other countries as well, in the UK, in Australia, 83 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:31.240 it got as far as that, and I realized that 84 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.759 it was quite a sensational story from what was then 85 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:37.959 a territory. Alaska was a territory then, it was not 86 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.160 part of the US, and people really didn't know a 87 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:44.720 lot about Alaska, myself included, and that just sent me 88 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.519 off down a rabbit hole to try and find out 89 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:51.480 what happened, not only with the murder, which was never solved, 90 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.759 but also what happened to the people, even specifically the 91 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.680 young son that Cecil and Diane Wells had. They had 92 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.759 a young son who was, of course, you know, an 93 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:05.000 orphan by the age of four, and I wanted to 94 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.720 find out what happened to him, just purely, I guess 95 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.959 out of curiosity, and because it was such a big story, 96 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:14.399 I assumed there would be something somewhere about it, even 97 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:17.680 though it was seventy years ago and there wasn't. And 98 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.600 then the first contacts I managed to make through Google 99 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.480 and through Facebook were with a couple of family members, 100 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:28.639 And what I found out very quickly was that nearly 101 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.279 all the family members who were involved that would be 102 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:35.360 Settle's family. He'd been married four times previously, he had 103 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:38.639 a number of children, and Diane, who had been married 104 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:43.000 previously before, she also had two children as well from 105 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.720 a previous marriage. And the Johnny Warren who you mentioned, 106 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.759 who was charged alongside Diane with the murder, he had 107 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.480 been married several times. I didn't know whether he had 108 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:56.360 any children and so forth, and I did speak to 109 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:59.000 some of them, and they all came back to me 110 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:01.800 and said, we really don't know what happened. It was 111 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:06.000 really sort of brushed under the carpet. We never really 112 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.759 found out what happened. Even amongst the families. Privately, they 113 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:12.240 really had no idea what had happened and felt that 114 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.360 it had been just forgotten as a story. But of 115 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:18.560 course it had had repercussions forever, because you know, the 116 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.399 children were now grown up adults with grandchildren of their own, 117 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.399 and they weren't able to tell their grandchildren much, you know, 118 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.560 about their parents or or their grandparents, because it just 119 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:31.600 wasn't simply talked about. 120 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:32.199 You know. 121 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.240 It was the nineteen fifties, and a lot of them 122 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.399 just said, well, I think you know that my grandmother 123 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:38.360 killed my grandfather. 124 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:38.839 You know. 125 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:40.519 That was that was the limit of what some of 126 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:43.199 them knew. And that just got me into the story 127 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.600 to try and find out, initially for myself out of curiosity, 128 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:49.240 but then more so for the family members as I 129 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.439 talked to more and more to get some sort of 130 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.680 idea of what might have happened and why. 131 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:57.240 Let's go back to what you did find about this 132 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.399 about this a list couple, as you refer to them, 133 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:05.360 Cecil and Diane Wells, And you talk about Cecil mooor Wells, 134 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:08.000 which was fifty years old at that time. Tell us 135 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:14.240 about his ex marriages and his children, and his mistakes 136 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.639 in real estate and other things. Tell us a little 137 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:20.240 bit about who Cecil Wells was. 138 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.920 Yeah, as he said, Wells. That was part of the 139 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.319 thing that interested me, because he was a very important 140 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.199 and influential person within the whole of Alaska, not just 141 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.680 within Fairbanks. He was what they would call a pioneer 142 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:38.240 in the early days of Alaska or territorial Alaska. He 143 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:41.199 had been married, he'd been married four times before he 144 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:45.279 met Diane, and Diane was very different to his previous 145 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:48.560 four wives. She was very much younger, twenty years younger. 146 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:52.319 She's very glamorous, and as pretty much everybody said to me, 147 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.480 she was very much the trophy wife. It seemed to 148 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.360 be very quick romance, a quick marriage. But he was 149 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.720 extremely influential with an Anchorage and then further into Fairbanks. 150 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:07.600 He had an enormous amount of contracts and associations with 151 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:11.639 some of the major motor manufacturers, so it was general 152 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:16.120 motors and Chevy. And this is not just cars, it 153 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.399 would also be industrial machines and tractors. So he was 154 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.040 a big player within that. He was also an investor, 155 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.240 very much so within Fairbanks, which at the time was 156 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:27.600 a small city. You know, it's a small city now, 157 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.240 it was very small then. So he was involved in 158 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.759 the very famous hot springs that they have in Fairbanks. 159 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:37.679 He'd also invested in some of the first developments in Hawaii, 160 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:42.720 an apartment building complex which still got built, still exists today. 161 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:45.679 He was an investor in that. He was a big flagwayver. Locally, 162 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.039 he was involved in the Chamber of Commerce. He flew 163 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:51.480 a lot across Alaska because Alaska was trying to become 164 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:54.639 a state, and that involved a lot of meetings over 165 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.519 many years, and so he was enormously important and influential. 166 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.679 So when he was shot in his bed in his house, 167 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.679 that was a big scandal. It was a big crime, 168 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.440 and there had been a couple of similar other crimes 169 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:12.960 in Fairbanks in recent months, and it looked like crime 170 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.200 was a real problem. Crime is always a problem anywhere 171 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.000 in most cities, as we know, but when you have 172 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.120 a territory that's trying to become a state. One of 173 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:23.799 the things that they look to is law and order 174 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:28.159 and crime. And if famous, wealthy businessmen are getting murdered 175 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:30.720 in their beds or getting murdered by robbers in their houses, 176 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:34.120 that doesn't look like that doesn't look particularly good. 177 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:35.240 And so he was. 178 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.840 His murder was a huge deal with in Alaska. I mean, 179 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.600 the day after his murder, Anchorage Airport was opening, which 180 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.679 is the biggest airport in Alaska, I think still, and 181 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.240 it wasn't the front page news. His murder was the 182 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.399 front page news in Anchorage. His murder was more important 183 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.559 than the international airport opening. 184 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:57.879 Let's talk about October seventeenth, nineteen fifty three, because you've 185 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:02.519 talked about this murder. At seven point fifteen am, Diane 186 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.440 is banging on a neighbor's door, Alice or a hood. 187 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:08.039 What does she tell Alice and what is in the 188 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:11.039 What is the condition of Diane according to Alice. 189 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.600 She's yes, Diana is She's battered and bloody and brooched. 190 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.320 She's definitely been something's happened to her, for sure. She's hysterical. 191 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:20.919 She bangs on her neighbor's door, which is right opposite 192 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:23.440 just in a corridor that this isn't in a housing. 193 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.559 They lived in a building still there called the Northward Building. 194 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:30.799 It's an eight story skyscraper they called it then it 195 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.759 was it was was Anne still is one of the 196 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:36.679 tallest buildings in the Fairbanks. He banged on her door 197 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.879 and she says to the neighbor, call the police, says, 198 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.080 what's been hurt. The police arrived very quickly. The police 199 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.279 station isn't far like I said. It's a small city. 200 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.440 This is within downtown. And she says, she tells the 201 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.519 police that two men broke in late late at night, 202 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:54.039 in the early hours. She woke up, woke up in bed. 203 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.600 There were two men standing in the doorway. She tried 204 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:58.799 to get out. One of them grabbed her, bashed her 205 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.519 over the head. She unconscious. She heard some noises and 206 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.080 when she woke up, Cecil had been shot in the bed. 207 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.279 Money had been taken, jewelry had been taken. The house 208 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:12.080 was the apartments there were two apartments, actually joined apartments. 209 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:14.919 Was in a state and Cecil was dead. And that 210 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:16.120 was when she ran for help. 211 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.440 You talk about the evening before police asked her. This 212 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.720 dan Forth, and you can introduce this ev dan Forth 213 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:27.159 and the people that begin to speak to Diane, because 214 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.200 that's the first account that they have tell us about 215 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:33.399 what she said in terms of what happened in the 216 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.440 evening before and who they were with. 217 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.320 Yes, so they were obviously after the initial police officer arrived, 218 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.240 the chief of police, who was ev dan Forth Everett, 219 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:44.320 his name was. He was pretty new in the job. 220 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.559 He was of course, came round to the apartment and 221 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:50.519 was in charge of the investigation. So he's he's the 222 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.960 Fairmanks Police department. It gets, like many murder cases do, 223 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.279 it gets starts to involve a lot of agencies. And 224 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.559 he knew straight away that this was this was a 225 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.679 huge deal, you know Cecil, but everyone knew who he was. 226 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.440 This was going to be a big case. It's a 227 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.840 career case. And he talks to Diane and he talks 228 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:10.399 about what's happening, and she gave a statement. She spoke 229 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:12.399 to the newspapers, and it was reported several times that 230 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:15.639 the previous evening she and Cecil had been out to 231 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.360 see a movie. They'd gone out for drinks. Before they'd 232 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:19.960 gone out to see a movie, they'd had a late 233 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.799 dinner guest who was a friend of Cecil's, Herbert mansing. 234 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:24.480 His name was. 235 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:26.559 He'd have been a late dinner guest. He left at 236 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.120 about eleven o'clock. And then she said that Cecil had 237 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.279 gone to bed. She'd stayed up to read for a 238 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.639 bit and then had gone to bed herself. One of 239 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.919 the important things, without trying to get too much into 240 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.759 the details, but it was considered evidence, was that she 241 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:44.639 said during the night she felt ill, and she was sick. 242 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.320 She vomited. She vomited on either I guess in the 243 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.679 toilet on her pajamas anyway, or her night dress, and 244 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:54.080 took them off and changed into another into a set 245 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.240 of pajamas, into a set of Cecil's pajamas. She said 246 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.200 that happened during the night. And then there was the 247 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.440 home invasion, which was she said it was two men. 248 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.879 She couldn't tell anything about them. They were dressed in black, 249 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.519 they had black gloves on, masks on. She couldn't tell 250 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.480 anything about them at all. So when she was being 251 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:12.639 questioned the next day, she was told that Cecil was dead, 252 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.000 but she didn't believe it. She kept insisting that he'd 253 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.000 be taken to hospital, but the doctor came and immediately 254 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.519 declared him dead. Tried to treat her told her that 255 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.960 she needed to go to hospital. She went to hospital, 256 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.440 and again this is the hospital is very close by, 257 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:28.279 just across the river Gina. She was taken to hospital. 258 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:31.840 A friend of hers walked over the bridge to meet 259 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.960 her at the hospital and they basically took her statement 260 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:36.879 at once. She had recovered in the hospital, and she 261 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.240 said pretty much what I've said before. But there were 262 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:43.720 certain things about the crime scene that we would certainly 263 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.120 now think would possibly didn't add up so much. Like 264 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:50.840 Cecil's wallet was outside on the street, which might make 265 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.039 sense if you know it had been stolen, but it 266 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.799 was empty, It was right out on the street. There 267 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:59.039 was like a sleeping cap you know that people used 268 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:02.759 to wear. His a was there was outside, and it 269 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.720 just seemed to be a little less than convincing from 270 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.919 the beginning, mainly because, as I point out in the book, 271 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:11.240 you know that they were on the eighth floor of 272 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:16.039 the northward building, and usually burglars don't go to the 273 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.600 top floor of a building to randomly try and get 274 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.200 into an apartment building. They're going to stay, usually on 275 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.120 the ground floor, so that they can get away quickly. 276 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:27.960 For example, the police extensively questioned the neighbors, all the 277 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:29.600 people on that floor, some of the people on the 278 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:34.279 floor underneath, and as witness statements and winness gathering often 279 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.840 does revealed some other things about the Wells settlment, Diane Wells, 280 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.039 and about their life together, and what the neighbors had 281 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.360 seen and heard, both on the night of the murder 282 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:49.559 and also at other times, and that seemed to indicate 283 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.960 that perhaps Cecil and Diane had had a bit of 284 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.159 a rocky marriage, perhaps that there had been reports and 285 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:00.279 the neighbors told stories of rows, possibly more than rows happening, 286 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:04.759 a lot of screaming, that their son, whose name was Mark, crying, 287 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.200 they'd heard the soun crying a lot, and it just 288 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:12.080 seemed to be that possibly Danforth and the other investigating officers. 289 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:16.120 There was also a US Marshal Frank Worth, who became 290 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:17.639 quite important for the story. 291 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:18.000 Later. 292 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.600 They searched for the weapon, they couldn't find it, although 293 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:24.039 they found other guns in the apartment. You know, this 294 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:27.240 was Alaska. It's very very common even now for people 295 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.679 to have guns. That's not unusual, but they didn't require 296 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:32.559 licensing or registering at the time. But they found a 297 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.120 couple of guns in the apartment but not the gun 298 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:38.639 that had fired the bullet that killed Cecil. When they 299 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:41.399 took the body away, they were, you know, in Cecil 300 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:43.440 in his head. It was a shot straight straight to 301 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.039 the side of the head from relatively close range. And 302 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.039 they found another bullet later, which was a little problematic 303 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.320 for the investigation because it was found, you know, in 304 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.960 the bed, and you know, they should have found that initially, 305 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.440 but they never managed to find and they tried. The 306 00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:01.360 actual case or the case file, the FBI file that 307 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:05.960 I got ran up until nineteen sixty, late nineteen sixty, 308 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:09.480 which is six seven years after the murder, and they 309 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:12.879 tried several times. They sent several guns that they found 310 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:15.120 in Fairbanks. There was one that they found in the 311 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.799 basement of the club. There was one of two that 312 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.919 I don't know where they came from, but they were tested. 313 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.080 There was another one that they found at length from 314 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.279 somebody who they said had sold and bought a weapon, 315 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.960 and it was possible that Johnny Warren, the black musician 316 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:33.440 who was allegedly Diane Wells's lover, he may have owned 317 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.039 that gun. At the time they tested all these guns, 318 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:39.399 all the guns came back as not being the one 319 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:42.440 that matched the weapon, and they had enough evidence from 320 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:46.200 the casings to be able to match the gun to 321 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.240 the bullet, but they never found the gun. 322 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.559 You talk about this investigation by dan Forth, and he 323 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.279 right off the hop does not believe Diyan's account whatsoever. 324 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.840 So tell us how it is that they find out 325 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.759 or hear about this Johnny Warren, And tell us a 326 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.799 little bit more about Johnny Warren, and he's a musician, 327 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.200 But tell us a little bit more about how what 328 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:13.359 this relationship is supposed to entail and where they get 329 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:14.359 this information from. 330 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:18.160 Yes, Johnny Warren was born in Mississippi. He was the 331 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.240 same agors down a little bit older, and he was 332 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:23.400 a musician, a local musician, a really good musician. He 333 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.839 was a career musician and gigge musician who tended to 334 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.119 gig right up and down the west coast of the States, 335 00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:32.480 traveling a lot as a musician. But he spent a 336 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.720 lot of time in Fairbanks and Alaska generally as a 337 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:39.359 musician because like a lot of towns in Alaska at 338 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.039 the time, especially there was a lot of money flying around, 339 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:44.799 especially in Fairbanks. You know, there was a very large 340 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:47.960 military population, a lot of contractors, a lot of miners 341 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.839 as well as there's still gold and mineral mining going 342 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:53.720 on and various other heavy industries. So there were a 343 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:57.680 lot of men in Fairbanks, a lot. Heavily outnumbered the 344 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.759 female population, and that meant lots of bar and lots 345 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:04.799 of drinking, and lots of entertainment, and usually at that time, 346 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.559 and entertainment meant there was a live band, and so 347 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:09.839 Johnny Warren was one of these musicians. He got a 348 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:11.839 lot of work, He played a lot of instruments, even 349 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.759 sang as well. But Dan Forth, it was actually Dan Force, 350 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.640 didn't get the call. It was actually Frank Worth, who 351 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.519 was a US marshal. He got a call a tip 352 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.200 off and I found out later during my research who 353 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:26.680 was from. But he got an anonymous tip off, or 354 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:28.759 at least the tip off wasn't mentioned as to who 355 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.599 it was, saying that the police needed to look into 356 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:36.680 Dan Wells and maybe her connection to Johnny Warren. And 357 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.200 then it emerged that Johnny had certainly been seen the 358 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.640 night of the murder, you know, as a lot of 359 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.960 other people had been, but he'd actually left town the 360 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:47.720 night of the murder, and that was something that seemed 361 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.519 to as I'm sure it would to anyone, certainly to 362 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.200 Chief of Police Dan Forth, that seemed suspicious, and they 363 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:57.880 put out a well, not an arrest on the wire, 364 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.640 but be on the lookout for him and his car 365 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:03.119 because he had left Fairbanks that night and he was 366 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.480 driving all the way down to Oakland in California, which 367 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.119 is is a very long way. And I know we 368 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:10.880 might think, well, why didn't he take the train, or 369 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:13.519 you know, why didn't he fly? This is the nineteen fifties. 370 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.759 Yet none of that was was an option. I mean, 371 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:19.680 driving even wasn't the best option, but mainly the way 372 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.279 to get around the Alaska and a lot of the 373 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.440 cases now is still to fly. So he drove down 374 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.400 and they were looking for him straight away, but by 375 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:29.359 the time that had gone out, he was already into 376 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.119 Canada in a way, so that looked somewhat suspicious, But 377 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.079 they had no proof that they had a relationship of 378 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.359 any kind. And that was the interesting thing specifically, or 379 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.640 at least almost the most scandalous thing, was that the 380 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:48.240 suggestion that you know, she was a married white woman 381 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.599 married to a very influential white businessman, would be having 382 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.079 an affair with a black man who was also married. 383 00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:59.480 That was almost more of a scandal than the actual murder, 384 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.119 and that was what the police especially were very keen 385 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.559 to try and prove, to prove a connection between the 386 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.119 two of them, and as indeed they did, or at 387 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:13.039 lest they certainly felt they had enough, because just a 388 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.720 couple of weeks after the murder, Diane and Johnny were 389 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:21.920 both indicted for the murder of Cecil Wells, which sounds logical, 390 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:26.160 but of course, as Diane's lawyer pointed out immediately, how 391 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.640 can two people be indicted for one you know, for 392 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:32.200 a gunshot. You know, they both didn't have their fingers 393 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.880 on the trigger. It was, but they were both indicted together, 394 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.920 and as the story progressed, and as there then the 395 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:43.440 arrest warrants went out. Johnny was actually he went voluntarily 396 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:46.359 to the police in Oakland, where he was at his 397 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.480 sister's house. It was an innocent trip. He'd actually gone 398 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:52.559 with several other people. It was just coincidental, and he 399 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.039 spoke to the police at length and very much clearly 400 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.839 confirmed that he and Diane Wells were in a relationship, 401 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.359