Morbid - Episode 530: Preston Castle and the Murder of Anna Corbin

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

When it opened in 1894, the Preston School of Industry represented a change in how criminal offenders and wards of the state were treated in American society, shifting towards a more compassionate mission of reform over punishment. However, while the mission may have represented a more progressive approach to reforming young offenders, daily life for the young inmates was often as brutal as it would have been in an adult prison. Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Ax Podcast and 99 Cent Rental for Research!ReferencesCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 2022. Cemetery Tales Preston holds remains of 18. October 24. Accessed December 22, 2023. https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2022/10/24/tales-from-the-cemetery-preston-holds-remains-of-18/.Daily News. 1950. "Boys' school housekeeper murdered." Daily News, February 23: 1.D'Souza, Karen. 2015. "Castle of shivers." Oakland Tribune, September 13: 67.Grandbois, Ruth. 1950. "Housekeep at Preston School found murdered." Stockton Daily Evening Record, February 24: 1.—. 1950. "Slaying victim 'like mother' to youths." Stockton Daily Evening Record, February 24: 1.Long Beach Press-Telegram. 1950. "3 Ione School Inmates held after slaying ." Long Beach Press-Telegram, February 24: 1.Lowery, James F. 1950. "Stained clothes of Ione suspect get blood test." Sacramento Bee, February 25: 1.McClatchy Newspaper Service. 1950. "What kind of woman was slain Anna Corbin of Preston?" Sacramento Bee, February 27: 1.McClatchy Newspapers Service. 1950. "Witness bares motive behind Preston killing." McClatchy Newspapers Service, June 15: 1.—. 1950. "Inmate tells court he saw Preston killing." Sacramento Bee, March 10: 1.McClatchy Newspapes Service. 1950. "Employees are cleared in Preston killing." Sacramento Bee, February 28: 1.McManis, Sam. 2015. Discoveries: Ione’s Preston Castle opens up about its harsh, haunting past. June 28. Accessed December 21, 2023. https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/sam-mcmanis/article25499146.html.Sacramento Bee. 1950. "Chief Preston killing witness changes story." Sacramento Bee, April 6: 41.—. 1950. "Murder trial of Eugene Monroe is nearing close." Sacramento Bee, April 28: 1.—. 1950. "Preston suspect was grilled in 1947 LA murder." Sacramento Bee, March 6: 1.—. 1950. "Prosecutor plans parade of witnesses in Monroe trial." Sacramento Bee, April 26: 10.—. 1950. "Youth Authority decides to free Preston inmate." Sacramento Bee, October 20: 1.Sacramento Union. 1951. "Eugene Monroe, Preston parole, confesses sex-murder in Tulsa." Sacramento Union, July 28: 1.Sacremento Daily Record-Union. 1889. "The reform school." Sacremento Daily Record-Union, February 16: 8.San Francisco Examiner. 1894. "Preston School of Industry." San Francisco Examiner, August 6: 3.Valley News Service. 1950. "State planning to reopen case against Monroe." Sacramento Union, April 30: 1.Wilson, Stanley. 1950. "LA inmate is chief suspect in Ione killing." Sacramento Bee, March 1: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. Hey, Weirdo's I'm Ash and I'm Alina and this is Morbid. This is morbid. It feels like morbid in the morning, but it's kind of not at all. Yeah. I woke up late today. My accidente. This was the day that I was... The nightriser.

Yeah, this was the day that I was going to get up at 6.30 and really move my body out yoddy and prick my finger and figure out my egg reserve and all that jazz. And I didn't. Wow. I had so many, you had a lot of plans for this morning. No, I literally had so many plans for this morning. And I, my alarm went off and I said, oh, let me just lay here for like two minutes. And that's always the kiss of death. Three hours later.

Never say, I'll just lay here for a couple of minutes because you're not going to lay there for a couple of minutes. No. You not going to lay there for a couple of minutes. You're going to fall asleep. Yeah. And then you're alarm is shut off. Now I'm thinking about that phrase, I'll go and say, if I lay here. Oh, yeah. I just lay here.

Is that snow patrol? Yep. Yeah. It is. I was like, wait, that's not the phrase. Wrong. That's not the phrase. Similar vibes, though. Yes. Similar, like, sad boy that's not the phrase. Wrong. That's not the phrase. No, similar vibes though.

Yes, similar like sad boy vibes. Oh yeah, you know. Sad boy vibes. Sad boy vibes. That's what the phrase and opatural have. What's going on in your life? What's going on in my life? I don't know, you know, lots of stuff.

We have overalls on today. I have overalls on. They're cute. Thank you. You look like, I'm trying to like describe what your vibe is. Right now. I know, it's cute. They're cute. Thank you. You look like, I'm trying to describe what your vibe is right now. I know, it's cute. I like it. Thank you. You're welcome.

I'm making a scary face. I'm wearing a sweatshirt that you got me for Christmas. All my real housewives of Beverly Hills, Gurley's will understand. It says, namum. Namum. Namum. That's what it's like. Her sweatshirt actually like vocalizes that

when she comes in a room actually. My girly set and struck which by the way, have you watched any of the seasons with Sutton? Oh, I have, I saw a little bit of Sutton. Do you love Sutton? Like I do. Yeah, I think Sutton's funny. I love Sutton so much.

From what I've seen. Last night she was on a date on the show, my girly. And she realized that she revealed that she listens to True Crime. And I said, if Sutton's track doesn't listen to morbid, I'm gonna cry for eternity. I'm just gonna cry. You need to know. I'm gonna put on Snow Patrol.

I'm gonna put on the fray. And I'm gonna cry. And you're gonna lie here. Just lie here. And I'll forget the world. So now listeners, it is your duty to get Sutton's Structuralist into us. Or to see if she does.

Or to see if Sherry does, maybe she does. Maybe she does, who knows? I don't know. I don't know either. Who knows? I'd like to know. Because I... That'd be pretty funny.

I love Sutton. Niamum, jealous of what? Your ugly leather pants. The best. I haven't watched it in so long, This I know this I know this I know I got a that I know you know what I have been watching. I Followed the house of usher on Netflix. That's good Bitch I just saw episode two and if anybody has been watching this show

You know that I am an emotional turmoil now. That's a two-yard-y an emotional turmoil. Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this?

Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this?

Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? Should I watch this? floor and I was literally just saying holy shit over and over. It was one of the most horrifying things I've seen in a television show. It was pretty wild. Wow. Wild episodes. What is the premise of this show?

It's a loosely based on post story, the fall of the House of Usher. Right, right, right. I don't know if I ever read that. And it has other, it's like, it's got the mask of the red death and stuff which I love that story. And I think that's what episode two is loosely based on. And some of the characters have the same names like in mask of the red death, Prince Prospero. That episode two focuses on the child named Prospero,

who they call like Perry. And it's like the time period. It's like now, current, okay. But it's updated to that. Basically like when you start it, you find out like you're basically watching how certain people die. Oh fuck, in this family. And it started to post like that.

Which is not a spoiler, cause that's the story from Poe. Should've did it quite a long time ago. But it's very well done. I mean, it's Mike Flanagan. Oh, okay. I think Mike Flanagan kills it. Yeah.

He did like midnight mass and haunting of Hill House. I still have to watch that. Did you watch that? A lot of my manners, shit like that. I've only seen some of haunting of Hill House, but I loved it what I watched and I need to finish it. I heard it was like beautifully done. Midnight Mass is literally one of my favorite shows.

Drew and I are looking for a new show right now, but like, you know, when you don't know what you're in the mood for, but you also know, you don't know what you're in the mood for, but you know what you're in the mood not for. Yes, that's how we feel. Yeah. And like everything that I'm like, oh, we could try that. I'm like, he's not in the mood for.

And then he's like, oh, what about this? And I'm like, no. This is, I saw someone describe fall of the house of Usher as No, this is I saw someone describe fall of the house of usher as Ss a horror succession and it's Pretty accurate. I loved succession. It's pretty accurate. Oh, and sorry quickly while we're here for my real house web Scrillies again. Oh, what to circle them back. We got to because the You need to watch SLC. It's only four seasons right now. You could catch up so quickly. It's all on peak I'm talking to you directly. Oh me. up so quickly, it's all on Pika.

I'm talking to you directly. Oh, me, I'm with me. Yes, Elena. I'm not gonna talk to anybody that hasn't watched it. It's so good. And the finale last night, I texted Ronnie and Ben, or I think the finale was like two nights ago at this point. I texted Ronnie and Ben, I was like,

I'm losing my mind of watching what happens and they were losing their minds. They literally agreed and collectively all Housewives fans agree this is the best season finale in Housewives history. Damn. Fucking insane. Shit. Deed of Auntissa's involved.

Oh shit. Yeah, and somebody's about to get a seasoned assist for using their name and likeness. Oh no. In my opinion. It's my opinion. Wow. So yeah, Housewives,

follow the House of Usher, you know, married at first sight, we talked to a lot of us, we... It all sides on the spectrum. Truly. Succession. Yeah. I think I talked about salt burn last week. Yeah, you did. Oh, God.

So, have you watched that yet? I have not. I don't know if I will. Why? You haven't spoken super highly of it. No. That's... You're not wrong about that. You said it's incredibly long, and you were like, it, like, is,

you weren't even sure how to describe it. I was like, I don't know. Yeah, no, I'm still not sure how to describe it, and you won't be either, but watch it. I don't know. I would like you to. I'll give it a shot. It's low on my list, but I'll give it a shot. Isn't that nice of her to take my recommendation and say, hmm, fuck that.

Well, I can, you know what it is, John, and I have like the most limited amount of time at night. Yeah. To watch these things. So it's precious. So it's like, we're still not done with picky blinders and we started that shit like years ago. The thing about Salper and is I don't know if you can like, you can't go to bed after you watch Salper and... Yeah, and we can that shit like years ago. The thing about Sulper and is I don't know if you can, you can't go to bed after you watch Sulper. Yeah, and we can only watch it at night right before we go to bed. Yeah, that's the only thing. That's for sure.

And you don't want anybody walking into the living room while you're watching this. Yeah, see, that seems like a lot of trouble for something that I'm not super excited to watch in the first place. It's, you know, it's, I don't know what it is, but that's, I see, I'm like, I don't know. They said like the actors I watched an interview with them and they were like,

we wanted people to leave the theater and like drive home with whoever they came home and saw, or came to the theater and saw it with and like, not know what to say for like the entire drive home. And I was like, I felt that way for weeks. But like, I want to talk to somebody about it. But like, nobody I love has watched it yet, except for Drew. And we can't, we're just like, the upside. You just don't know how to even. Yeah, I need aid into watching. He said he was gonna text me when he did.

I'll eventually watch it for sure. Please, it's just a piece of commitment right now. Yeah, I was gonna pick it for screen, but I can't. I can't have like a on-mic discussion in detail about the movie. He's like so into notes. There are three scenes in particular that Hannah Burner described it perfectly on TikTok. She said, your face will just go like that. So go find that on TikTok. That's interesting. Yeah. I'm interested. So I guess we'll see. Mm-hmm. Because even day watch it, watch it. You're like everyone watch it. No, I'm serious.

It is. It's horrifying. It is. And we'll ruin your life. But go watch it. Yeah, I think, I think I'm going to say I think it might be good. I think it might be good. What a rousing endorsement of just so long. and it might be good That's the thing I watched in a week ago and I'm still Dice up how I feel about it. That's pretty good. That's the thing. There's that like and I don't I don't feel

Not I don't know I was gonna say I don't feel bad about it, but I'm like, do I feel? What I do. I feel. There are certain scenes that I do feel a little bad about. Anybody who has watched it, I hope you get exactly what I'm saying right now and I feel like you will. Oh yeah, but I'm sure, because I've seen people reacting like I don't know how to react. Yeah, but you need to,

we need to move on. Yeah, well, and we'll move on to something pretty horrifying. So today we're gonna talk about Preston Castle and the murder of Anna Corbin. Okay. So, this is, we're going to be talking about a boys reform school from like the 50s. Oh, yeah. Today. So, I think everybody knows where that rolls. That's dark-sotted.

Yeah, we're going to get into some specific parts of this school, but like, there's, I'm sure there's many more things. I'm sure. There's a on the grounds of prayer. And actually, I first heard Preston Castle even mentioned. It's in California. Oh, I didn't expect that. Yeah, on a girl's next level.

Oh. Because Bridget was talking about it because she's like a ghost hunter. Like, Bridget's always been into that shit and she's like, she goes to all kinds of places and she professionally goes to all that cool stuff. And she had mentioned Preston Castle and I was like, interesting. Oh shit.

And when I started looking into it, I was like, oh shit, like there's some shit here. Oh shit. So shout out to Bridget and that girls next level for even putting this into my orbit. Her and Holly are so cool. I love them both so much. Now, when it opened in 1894, yeah, it opened up long ago. Sorry.

The question, what was once called the Preston School of Industry represented a change in how criminal offenders and wards of the state were going to be treated in American society. They wanted to shift more towards like the compassionate mission of reform over punishment. That was the idea. But while the mission may have represented a more progressive approach to reforming young offenders, the daily life for the young, what were deemed inmates, was often as brutal as it would have been in an adult prison. Jesus.

So it didn't really like drive with the actual mission. And the school actually closed in 2011. 2011? Yeah. The fuck? It went on that long. And it's been, and it's been, it's stood as a historic landmark in cultural institution that is actually open to the public. But a lot of people believe that behind the facade of cultural significance and historic

importance, Preston's dark history has caused the building to definitely be haunted by the spirits of many boys, kids, in mates, whatever you deem them, who suffered and died at the school. And the spirit of murdered head housekeeper, Anna Corbin, whose killer was never punished and whose death remains unsolved, is seen a lot. Woo! Get closer to the best you. Audible lets you enjoy all your audio entertainment in one app. You'll always find the best of what you love or something new to discover. There are many wellness categories for you to choose titles on Audible, such as

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I'm currently listening to Brunei Brown's Atlas of the Heart. It's all about the human connection and what it means to be human, the whole experience that we have here on Earth during our time here, and it's a really great listen so far, and it's actually narrated by Brennan herself, so she's been my partner on my long drive lately. New members can try Audible free for 30 days, visit audible.com slash morbid, or text morbid to 500-500. That's audible.com slash morbid, or text morbid to 500-500 to try Audible free for 30 days, audible.com slash morbid. Being an actual royal is never about finding your happy ending, but the worst part is,

if they step out of line or fall in love with the wrong person, it changes the course of history. I'm Aresha Skidmore Williams, and I'm Brooke Sifrin. We've been telling the stories of the rich and famous on the hit Wondery Show even the rich, and talking about the latest celebrity news on Rich and Daily, we're going all over the world on our new show Even the Royals. We'll be diving headfirst into the lives of the world's kings, queens, and all the wannabes in their orbit throughout history.

Think succession meets the crown meets real life. We're going to pull back the gilded curtain and show how royal status might be bright and shiny, but it comes at the expense of, well, everything else. Like your freedom, your privacy, and sometimes even your head. Follow Even The Royals on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Even The Royals early and add free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Now, there's also a graveyard, like a cemetery on site where boys were buried when they died of illness or anything else. And there's like a lot of kids in there.

Oh, that's really sad. And it's like, it just makes you wonder because there was a lot of violence, there was a lot of horrible additions. Yeah, like how many deaths were marked as they were so sick. Yeah, it's like they got sick and it's like, did they? I'm sure many of them did, but now in the latter decades of the 19th century, progressive politicians and activists started advocating for dramatic changes to many social institutions in the United States.

Among these changes, we're going to be things related to welfare and treatment of children, specifically in places like the workforce and the penal system. This ultimately led to children being considered and treated as their own distinct social class, separate from adults and heavily protected, which is how it should be. But at the time, children were typically treated as though they were simply small adults. At least when it came to the economy and really a lot of other social institutions like reform schools and prisons, essentially. Jesus.

Now at the midpoint of the 19th century, the American prison system still operated on a pretty archaic European model of super harsh discipline, discipline, discipline, and corporal punishment. So it's just like intense. It's what you are thinking when you think of that kind of stuff. Inmates would be kept in solitary confinement for absurd lengths of time, like unnatural lengths of time. They were whipped. They were beaten for the slightest infraction,

and even sometimes not for an infraction, just for the hell of it. And they were treated with a lot of cruelty by guards. Now, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, few Americans really questioned the system, and it's effect as a whole on society at large, like, right. Is this going to be a problem when we're just beating the shit out of kids and like, and adults

for that matter, like just like putting them in a cage, beating the shit out of them and then later releasing them to the public, like is that probably does it feel like something in between that needs to happen? However, by the 19th century, significant population booms led to a big increase in the population in US prisons because more people, more crime, it just happens. And this created scenarios where there was a ton of overcrowding and that was leading to like a rampant spread of disease

and death among the prison populations and now they were being looked at more. Now among the factors that led to the overcrowding of US prisons was that the criminal justice system tended to treat all criminals the same, regardless of their age and the crime that they were being sentenced for. Which is wild. This meant that a person charged with vagrancy could be sent to the same prison as someone sentenced for murder. Or that in adolescent criminal sentence for a petty crime like theft would be in a prison alongside

hardened criminals serving life sentences for violent crimes, which is only going to lead to more violent crimes. Exactly. Now recognizing this for the objectively disastrous and ineffective system that it was. Progressive advocates started pressuring politicians to put some major reforms to the laws in place that would create just what they want. It was just like a more nuanced justice system like we can't just do a blanket coverage for everything. There needs to be a little nuance here. And they wanted to put an end to the deplorable environments in US prisons. Well, that's good. Now, all those was a complicated process that was going to unfold very slowly and is still unfolding today.

One of the ways prison reform was achieved was by separating criminal offenders, by age and gender. Now, until the end of the 19th century, adolescents weren't just sent to adult prisons. They were effectively treated as adults in every step of the legal system. So they were tried, sentenced, and punished as though they were adults, which could, on rare occasions,

result in the execution of a child. That's so fucked. Now, luckily, among the more significant achievements of the reform movement was the establishment of a juvenile justice system, or what was then referred to as a children's court, which is like such a sad children's court. Yeah, that's really sad. First established in Chicago in 1889, the children's court really embraced this progressive ideology that was heavily favoring reform and rehabilitation

over corporal punishment. And this was basically based on the belief that future criminality could be prevented by providing a rigidly structured environment where negative and harmful behaviors would be corrected. It was presented to the public as a more compassionate and productive alternative to prisons. These reformatories, or what we're called training schools at the time, became the standard the public as a more compassionate and productive alternative to prisons. These were formatories or what were called training schools at the time, became the standard punishment for those

under 18 years of age when they were convicted in sentence. Okay. Now, like their adult counterparts, reform schools placed a big emphasis on rehabilitation over punishment, and they just tried to correct behaviors and correct the underlying issues for things by providing or what they said they were providing was education, vocational training and taking the child out of an environment that seemed to be kind of nurturing this criminal behavior. Which from the outside looking in. So great.

So great. That's what we needed to do all along. Wow. Like this is going to turn out awesome. But while reform schools may have been born of a progressive ideology, those same ideals and perspectives were not always shared by the staff and administration in the reform school. Robloom. Because these people had to operate within the daily realities of

the justice, the juvenile justice system. But as a result of this, physical, sexual, psychological abuse, very common. Very common. Very common. And this is a reform school. These are children. Right. Under the age of 18.

And it's also like, how are you working at a reform school as a fucking criminal doing criminal behaviors? That goes with criminal behavior. That's the thing. And this this environment would frequently undermine any positive goals that were intended for the residents of these reform schools. And they would just further traumatize what at the time was an already vulnerable and marginalized population of kids. Yeah, which I can is only going to lead to more violent crime. Exactly.

And in these kind of schools, some of these kids that were going in here were just wards of the state. Yeah, they weren't even like, they didn't even do anything crime. They just didn't have anywhere else to go. So now they're being treated like they, which they shouldn't be treated that way anyways.

But it's like, now these kids didn't even do a crime. They didn't even, like do anything bad to get in here, you know? Like it's just like, now these kids didn't even do a crime. They didn't even, like, do anything bad to get in here, you know? Like, it's just like, what the hell? To become a ward of the state already, the horrors, you probably must have had to. That's where I'm at, you have endured. Yeah, exactly. And then you go into somewhere like this, and it's probably exactly what you experienced or 10 times worse. Oh, absolutely.

That's so sad. Now, in the winter of 1889, California State Senator Edward Preston introduced State Bill 402, which basically proposed the establishment of a juvenile reform school, and it was going to, they wanted to provide for the maintenance and management of that school. Now, initially, it was going to be housed on the property of Fulsome Prison, where juvenile offenders were already being housed, by the in full some prison. But an amendment was offered that proposed the school be located about 30 miles away in Lone, California. Better idea. They figured that to locate the school on the prison, quote,

would be attained upon those who went there. It's like, yeah, you're trying to move away from the prison life. You should probably move it off the prison. Yeah, maybe you don't set up camp right next to it. Just saying. Now, the prison school of industry was named for that senator. And it was intended to not only house criminal offenders under the age of 18, but like I said before, anyone who has deemed a ward of the state. And quote, boys whose daily life and home environment are leading towards a useless

and criminal career. Now, the school's general purpose was to, quote, make useful citizens of wayward boys by providing training and instruction, and it was going to prepare them to be productive members of society. This all sounds great. Oh, yeah, so flowery. And when the school was announced, the press was told that, quote, it is the aim not to have the reformation accomplished by punitive means, but by proving to the boys the value of good conduct and good reputation. That's one way to put it. So they're being like, no, no, no, we don't want to punish. We don't want to be crazy here. We just want to show them what life can be like and what you can get out of being good citizens.

And it's like, okay, that sounds great. Totally. can be like and what you can get out of being good citizens. And it's like, okay, that sounds great. But totally. Now construction of the school began in 1890. It was completed in 1894. And it was that year that the curriculum plan for operations was developed. And basically the school was gonna consist of three departments, academic, military,

and industrial. Each boy was gonna participate for four and a half hours per day before moving on to the work portion of their day. So four and a half hours of like school, like academics, and then moving on to the work portion. The work portion was basically agricultural work on the school's farm. OK.

The military portion of their education was going to involve instruction in quote, such branches of military training as are ordinarily used in government service, giving special emphasis to those parts which secure to the cadet and erect and soldierly bearing a neat appearance in respect for superiors. Okay. The problem with that is that these are children. Yeah. If it was just maybe a high school, I guess I could see that as almost like an ROTC kind of thing. Yeah. But like how old are the boys going?

Some of them were younger than seven. Like a seven-year-old in my opinion at the very least doesn't need to be involved in military training. No, I don't think that in my opinion, that doesn't make sense to me either. I think that could get abusive very quickly. Yeah, I was in it, of course. Of course it did. Yeah, the end result here is not great. Yeah. Now, also the industrial branch of the school focused

on vocational training and preparing students to enter the workforce. Which would be great. Which vocational schools, great. We have a vocational school. You can enter training into a field right off the bat. I think that's a great option for some kids. And it's like, so that sounds great, but again, this wasn't best laid plans.

You know, now, like we said, the work portion of the day happened on the schools, 300 acres of farmland. It's terrifying. The students helped to, quote, produce on the farm the larger part of fruit vegetables, hay, and grain, which was used at the school. So they farmed their own food, essentially. Which can be such a great learning experience. Such a great learning experience. And the farm served a dual purpose because it provided hands-on learning experience that

could be applied to the workforce later. And it also helped cut costs of operation by providing a low-cost solution for food and other overhead. So this was actually a larger plan that the school had to make the school kind of self-sustaining, which is also a great idea. I'm pretty ahead of its time. It included future plans for, quote, quote, clothing and shoes of the boys to be made at the institution.

Wow. And for eventual, they were going to add like printing, carpentry, plumbing, blacksmithing. And that's the thing, if you are teaching these kids all these different trades, and they get to choose and really find their passion, and really work at something and see that they can be good at something and see the success that comes out of that and the feeling of pride and all that.

And finding a passion. That's the idea, it's like them learning to be proud of themselves and see that they can do be good at something that's not stealing and not hurting someone and not doing something, you know, vandalizing, not things that are gonna get them in trouble. It's like you can be good at this. Yeah.

Now after meeting with the approval of the state and the prison board that was going to be responsible for the oversight of the school, the Preston School of Industry opened in June 1894 and they transferred seven young men from the state prison at San Quentin to the new reform school. There were kids in San Quentin. That's the most fucked up thing. All of them went to the age of 18 and were serving sentences ranging from two to 10 years for robbery, burglary, and grand larceny. But several of them had prior arrests or were known to have engaged in violent acts, including

murder. Oh. Before long, the school was populated with boys as young as seven and as old as 17. So seven year olds are in there with 17 year olds who may have committed murder. Yeah. And like I said, somewhat just unfortunate words of the state. Right, right. It's so sad.

But to the outside world, the Preston School of Industry was a prime example of progressive policies and reform at work. Like this look great. Once wayward boys taken off the streets out of adult jails and given three meals a day in a solid education in a well-regulated

environment. What more could you want? What could go wrong? School had a farm where they were learning industrial and agricultural schools, like looking at this from the outside, you're like, oh my god, there's a farm. The intense corn farm is too big. Too big, one might say. As soon as I heard 300 acres, I was like, no, no.

That's a lot of fuck shit I could go on. Well, they also had tennis courts, a rose garden, in quote, a 7,000 book library with a veranda overlooking the town. Wow. The building itself was a 46,000 square foot monument of Romanesque revival architecture that it had 77 rooms, 43 fireplaces.

It was super ornate, like, ornate fixtures outside inside, 257 windows that were all looking all out on, like, the Northern California landscape. It seems like the perfect place to actually do some good shit. It does. What a waste. Sounds like it. And as far as most were concerned, if these boys had to be confined for something that they had done, were better to serve your time than pressed in school, especially when the alternative was San Quentin or Fulsome Prison. Little different. Now inside the walls though, life at the school was not easy and it was frequently dangerous. Boys entering the school for the first time were stripped of their clothes and they had their hair shaved from their heads and bodies to get rid of any lights.

That alone is so traumatizing. And then they were dunked in a bath of caustic chemicals to rid any other bugs or parasites that they could potentially bring in with them. And for many of the boys that were entering Preston, head and body lights were regular occurrence, as were open sores and cuts, which would have made the delousing process excruciating. Yeah. Once they were inside, they were expected to follow the rules exactly

as they were given to them. And those who didn't, and even some who did, because who the fuck cares, were subject to whippings, beatings, or sometimes worse. Now, some of the horrors experienced by residents at the school were inflicted by the hands of guards and administrators that absolutely happened a lot. I'm sure. Others were simply a product of the era. Unfortunately, for example,

residents that needed medical care or surgery in the first two decades of operation at the school were operated on or treated on the floor. What? In the middle of the place. What? Because they just didn't have the professional facilities. So they made this beautiful school and never put in a medical facility, or they didn't begin the first two decades. And it's like you can't just bust them

to a nearby medical facility. No, you're just operating on them in the middle of everything. Right out in the open. Do you know how fucking clean an operating room is? Yeah, I'm like you're ensuring that you give them a chemical bath when they come in and then just like bloodborne pathogens everywhere. Yeah, you're just like what the fuck? My god. Now things only worsened with the onset of the A-A-1918 flu epidemic. Oh shit.

During which nearly half of the staff and one third of the boys got the illness. Wow. And those who managed to avoid it somehow or the need for surgery in the half of the staff and one third of the boys got the illness. Wow. And those who managed to avoid it somehow or the need for surgery in the middle of the fucking floor ended up being affected by any other illness, like tuberculosis at the time. A lot of them were suffering with drug addiction and the effects of alcohol withdrawal. And they were just suffering with not a lot of medical help.

Oh, God. Now within the first four years of operation, the school reported four deaths, one a year, one from spinal meningitis, one from pneumonia and septicemia, and two from quote, exploded appendix. Whoa, which I was like, damn. That's insane.

And I'm also like, so they were in pain and leading up to that appendix out. And they couldn't get it out because they didn't have leading up to that appendix out and they couldn't get it out because they didn't have that so an exploded appendix. And they just don't have that sense. And they just don't have that sense. And they exploded appendix, but I know people who have and I can't fathom. And obviously it kills you if you don't get it in time.

Right. Now while most residents were resigned to serving their time with as little conflict as possible, they just wanted to get out of there. Others were less inclined to do that. Escape attempts were common. And while most ended with the escapee being caught, either still on the grounds or just like immediately outside of them, a few had more unfortunate endings. In January, 1913, for example, 15-year-old John Miller was shot and killed.

15. Oh my God. During an escape attempt, he was escaping and he ended up striking a guard in the shoulder with a pickaxe. Well, it fuck. Like damn. And Miller had made a previous escape attempt from another institution before arriving at Preston six months earlier and was generally considered to be by the administration,

they considered him disruptive and disrespectful. So to them, it was like, yeah. It's like I wonder what the escape attempt really was about, yeah, probably escaping the horrors that were in that world. Torture. He is one of those 18 boys that I mentioned buried in the cemetery at Preston. Really?

And a lot of them died of illness or disease quote unquote that allegedly but he is one of them and he was killed. Now though they were overwhelmingly the targets of abuse the residents of Preston weren't the only ones who experienced violent assaults at the school guards were often subject to physical and verbal assaults at the school, and at least three staff members were murdered between the schools opening in 1894 and the closure of the main building in 1960. Wow. Because although it closed in 2011 for good, the main building was closed in 1960, so it didn't function like it did for that long. Okay. All three of these murders of staff are a tragedy in the school's already dark history,

of course, but only one of them garnered any public attention, really. Wow. And there was a lot of controversy involved in this one. And this is really the murder that contributed to Preston's really notorious reputation now. And that is the murder of Anna Corbin. I was wondering. Now, on the afternoon of February 23rd, 1950, a little before 2 p.m., 17-year-old Robert Hall was sent to get the head of housekeeping Anna Corbin from her office. So he reached her office and saw that the room was empty. And when he looked around, he noticed a pool of blood that was collecting in front of the padlocked door of the utility closet. So he was worried, obviously, that she was hurt

or what the hell was happening in the closet. And so, he was student to stumble across that scene. Are you going to get accused of whatever just happened? Exactly. But he kicked down the door. Wow. Because he said he was worried she was inside in hurt. And he wanted to get to her. So, but he kicked down the door. Wow. Because he said he was worried she was inside in hurt. Oh.

And he wanted to get to her. And unfortunately, he discovered 52-year-old Anna Corbin. Her face was severely beaten. And she had a rope tied tightly around her neck. Jesus. And there was a rug just casually draped over her, quote, blood spattered body. My God. Now, according to the initial press reports, quote, she had been beaten in the face and head so badly

that it couldn't be determined whether she was bludgeoned or stabbed. What the fuck? Now, little about Anna, Anna was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1898, and she spent her early life in the Midwest, where she was raised by her aunt and uncle who adopted her. In 1918, when she was only 20 years old, she ended up marrying Robert Corbin.

And the following year, the couple welcomed their first child, Harold, and began making their way west. They settled in Colorado for a little time where they had a second child, Avis. And then they eventually settled in Lone, California, where Anna took the job as head housekeeper at the Preston School of Industry, and Robert took a job as a group supervisor at the Preston School of Industry. Okay.

So Anna settled into life in California super easily because she was a cool lady. She joined the local women's club. She participated in her Methodist church choir. She was active in several others, local civic and social groups, she was like that kind of, that kind of gals. Just doing it all. Everybody liked her. She was very well liked at Preston. She was known as quote, a strict disciplinarian, but not harsh or cruel. Okay. So she liked, she liked the rules, but she was not harsh and she was not cruel. She wasn't beaten these days. No. And people liked her. And I think that tells people respected her

because she wasn't harsh and cruel, but she was strict. They respected that she wanted things to be the way they were, but she wasn't going to hurt you. Right. And although this attitude, she was very well liked, but like obviously some of the troublemakers, she was not popular among them because they didn't want to listen to anything. But in it honestly, it had earned her

some verbal and written threats from students over the years because they just didn't want to listen. But again, this was just because they didn't want to listen to her not because she was cruel in any way. Right. But mostly those were only a handful. Most of these boys looked to her for support and they respected her for the

meticulous and thorough performance of a very frequently overlooked job as well, because remember, she's head of housekeeping. She keeps that place clean. Right. Which back then, Jesus, she's happy to clean up after fucking surgeries on the floor. She's contending with a lot. And people respected her for it, because they were like, you do your damn job. And again, for boys to look to her for support, like that tells you something. She was very motherly. I was just gonna say it sounds like

she was almost like a mother figure. And to even give you more of Anna, she had even taken courses in psychology and sociology, just to gain a better understanding of the boys at the school and the circumstances that had led them to be there. And that shows you her dedication to them. Went out of their way, and that's somebody who's not in there going, I'm just gonna collect my paycheck,

fuck these kids, see you later. She's there because she's like, yeah, this is a job, but I give a shit about these kids, and I would like to see them leave and be better members of society, and I'd like to be a mother figure for them and have them come to me because I have now gained a better understanding

of why they are the way they are. Exactly. That's like Anna's cool. Like that's really cool for her. She respected what they were supposed to be doing there. She did not need to do that and the fact that she did is so bad us. And school, and actually the school's superintendant,

Robert Chandler, told reporters, quote, she was like a mother to the boys. Oh. I love a good parasocial relationship with a celebrity who will probably never know my name. I mean, honestly, who knows? Don't count yourself out. But my favorite part about these fudes is how they're ignited by the tiniest things.

Jada, I love you. J-I-J2 can't wait to see it. I accidentally laminated my brows too much. It starts small and then it gets so big. We honest, Naomi, I'm fearful of you to this day. I don't know her! We all just have to admit, we're addicted. Everybody has opinions. Everyone picks eyes.

Leave Britney Spears alone right now! From Wondery, I'm Sydney Battle. And I'm Matt Bellasai. And this is this and tell. Where we unpack why we get so invested in these feuds and whether or not our attention only makes the whole thing worse. Follow Disantel wherever you get your podcasts. Listeners, we have a new show that we think you're gonna freaking love. From Lundry and hosted by Laura Beale, the critically acclaimed doctor death

is back with a new season. Doctor death, bad magic. A story of miraculous curers, magic, and murder. When a charismatic hot shot doctor announced revolutionary treatments for cancer and HIV, it seemed like the world had been given a miracle cure. Medical experts rushed to praise Dr. Serhaut Gumbruku, a genius who is the co-founder of a cutting-edge biotech

company. But when a team of private researchers dive in a Serhot's background, they begin to suspect the brilliant doctor is hiding a shocking secret. And when a man is found dead in the snow with his wrist shackled and bullet casing spreading the snowbank, Serhot would no longer be known for world-changing treatments. He'd be known as a fraud and a key suspect and a grisly murder. Follow Dr. Death Bad Magic on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Dr. Death Bad Magic early and add free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Anna's murder came as a shock to the staff and many of the residents at Preston, obviously. According to the coroner, JJ Dinarie, the cause of death was most likely blunt force trauma

to the skull, although he couldn't be certain. When asked about the rope that was tied tightly around her neck, he told reporters, I doubt if strangulation was the cause of death. I'm inclined to believe death was due to blows on the head. It appears Miss Corbin was knocked to the floor and the injuries to her head indicate she could have been hit by a club or her head banged against the floor.

Oh God. There was no evidence of sexual assault and the office hadn't been disturbed at all. Indicating that robbery was definitely not the motive. It was Anna. To kill her. To investigators, the murder was, I guess, what they deemed it as like,

kind of ordinary for this time period, and I guess this environment. Right. Meaning there wasn't anything that stood out to them as like a signature kind of thing. Okay. Besides the rope. Yeah.

But they also didn't think that made it any easier to solve. It was like, this is kind of like like somebody who is unfortunately beaten to death. Uh-huh. In a job where like, you know, there's a lot of people around her that are criminals. Grimiters. So this makes it harder for us to solve. And there's really nothing that's like standing out as like, oh, I bet it's this kid because of this thing. It could be anybody.

Now at the time, there were 657 boys being housed at the school. Wow. Most of them have committed criminal offenses, obviously, and as far as authorities were concerned, any of them could have been the killer. Now, based on the state of the room, detectives theorized Anna had been attacked and then, quote, dragged through the supply room and into the adjoining store room, because there was blood spatter and significant blood trails leading from one room to the next. Like, odd.

However, an initial search of the scene didn't turn up a murder weapon. There were no bloody clothes, and in the absence of any obvious clues to point out who could have done this, investigators began the very long and tedious process of interviewing all 657 residents. Holy shit. And scrutinizing their clothes, their hands, their fingernails for any blood or trace evidence. This particular murder really shook everyone up. And according to a group of Anna's closest friends,

during a recent outing with them, she had told them about a disturbing incident with one of the boys that seemed a little significant in the wake of her death. According to Anna, she had been working alone in the administration building with a boy assigned as her helper. And that boy turned her and said, are you afraid to be with me alone in here? And when she said, no, I'm not, the boy proceeded to tell her how easy it would be for him to kill her and even described how he would do it.

I'd be like, so we're going to go ahead and move on to the next area. Now, according to Anna's friends, they said it bore a remarkable similarity to the way she had been killed and disposed in the closet. Oh. Investigators located this boy who had supposedly made this threat, but at the time of the murder, he was actually in solitary confinement because he had tried to escape a week earlier. Okay.

So he was like, I was in this room. Terrifying that two people within that school had very similar ideas. Had he just, yeah, just thoughts of that. Now, according to those who knew her, Anna Corbin had no enemies, and she had not been involved with any men since her husband had died three years earlier.

So she hadn't gone on dates, she wasn't dating anyone. Grieving. Superintendant Chandler told reporters, it is inconceivable to even think one of the boys here could possibly have disliked her as much as to commit this crime. So even they're like, this doesn't make any sense. Right. Like she did nothing. Yet Chandler nonetheless acknowledged that the killer was almost certainly one of the

students and even suspected that two students was almost certainly one of the students and even suspected that two students might have been responsible for the murder. Oh. Investigators shared Chandler's belief that the killer was definitely a student. And after clearing the staff and teachers, they narrowed their focus.

Basically, I think they were narrowing it down to a much smaller group of boys at this point. It was basically boys that would have had access to the administration building on that particular morning. I mean, that seems like a good lead to follow. Exactly. Now, authorities investigated Anna's murder while news of the death had reached the wider public.

And quickly became a political talking point for those who opposed the more progressive policies of both the school in the California juvenile justice system. Basically, people who don't want criminals to be treated as anything less than animals and especially kids. Like, why not? Treat them like animals too.

Yeah, totally. In a press conference held just days after the murder, Amador County Supervisor Harold Coburn told reporters he would quote, press a demand for a grand jury investigation in the case. And as far as he was concerned, and his death was as much the results of the lax policies of the California Youth Authority as it was the individual who actually did it.

Doesn't sound like the policies were about locks. I didn't, it didn't sound like it to me, but they were projecting that idea out. That's the thing. To politicize it. At the time, a lot of Anna's family members shared that sentiment. Which you can understand. Absolutely. No other politicians, however, were strongly disagreeing.

Amador County District Attorney, Guard Chism, told reporters, it will not at this time aid in any way in the investigation to think that way. Okay. Now, most county supervisors and others in positions of political power sided with the district attorney, basically saying that as an active participant in the investigation, he knew best. Yeah. But still, Anna's family and those critical, critical of the school itself continued building

a campaign to hold the school and what they believed to be its failed approach to justice responsible. Because I get it. Like that's tough. Yeah, it's like, because if you look at, you can see both sides here. And I understand why her family wanted to hold that school responsible. I probably would have done the exact same thing. That's my exact thought.

So it's like I get it. But then you see the other side of it. Where it's like, yeah. So it makes sense. Right. And as nephew Herbert Morris said in a statement to the press, I do not harbor any animosity nor am I out to gain revenue for the brutal murder. But the situation of laxity and the operation of the reformatory has existed a long time. And maybe this will wake up officials.

Expenses of the school to the state have doubled in the last few years, while conditions have become increasingly worse. And that's a problem. And I think that's what they're more concerned about. Kind of going with is like, this isn't the progressive school you were talking about before, where everybody's being treated like a human,

and stuff like, you guys are preaching this whole thing, but the conditions there are deplorable. Right. You're whipping these kids, beating these kids, treating them like animals, but then touting this progressive approach to reform. And it's like, you gotta get your shit together. Right.

Is it one or is it the other? Yeah, you're making animals in there. What do you expect animals to do is basically what they're saying. Like, you gotta fix this. Yeah. Which I agree. I agree. Now, while their grief and frustration over Anna's death was obviously very genuine, it's worth noting that the anti-pressed and political rhetoric coming from certain politicians, not Anna's family, and, you know, certain segments of the public, were typically framed in ideological terms, ideological terms and seemed more often focused on how

criminals should be treated. Yeah. Instead of focusing on the specific investigation into Anna's stuff. Right. They were using it. Like the family was trying to say, we need to look into this, my family members' death in what the school has to do to make sure this doesn't happen again. And politicians were using it as their own little platform

to as a whole talk about criminal reform. Like a bird's eye view of it all. And get their agenda across. Now, whatever rhetorical battle was happening on the outside really had little effect on the investigators. They were like, we still have a murder to solve. Yeah, that's kind of our primary focus here. Good luck with your campaign.

Yeah, like by. But they narrowed the pool of suspects from 600 to 20. Wow. And intensive interviews were done. Polygraph tests were administered and they weren't really getting any closer to the truth. Guardschism told reporters in a press conference we haven't got a thing to hang our hats on.

Oh, no. The district attorney added that the evidence collected from the scene, which included seven bloody fingerprints, had proven to be of little use to getting a suspect. Oh, that's a bummer. Among the 20 boys considered to be suspects, was one who admitted to the crime, but later denied that and were kicked today. And another whose polygraph results showed deception regarding his whereabouts during the murder,

but school administrators were quick to add that they didn't think either boy was actually the killer. Yeah. They just didn't have anything with it. And the polygraph, like we know, is tough. Hot dog. So the break in the case came about a week later. Okay. When doing a room by room search, investigators discovered a bloody Preston uniform hidden in the bedroom of 19 year old Eugene Monroe.

He was a student who was among those regularly assigned to work with Anne. Anne, excuse me. Monroe had been sent to the school about six months earlier after a conviction for burglary in Los Angeles. And in addition to the bloody uniform, he took a polygraph and it showed repeated attempts at deception. So like when paired along with it,

it makes sure your eyebrow go up. That's a thing. Also, during further interviews, several of the other boys at Preston admitted to investigators that they had known of Monroe's involvement in the murder, but been afraid to come forward. Okay, so we're heating up in the investigation here. So it turned out this was not the first time you Dean had been a suspect in a murder case. Oh, okay, we're really ramping this up. Three years earlier in 1947, Monroe was the prime suspect in the murder of 17-year-old Vesta Bell, Vesta Bell's sapenter, who was an honor student and resident of the housing project where Monroe also lived. Like Anna Corbin, Sapenter was brutally beaten about the head and face, and had a rope tightly wrapped around her neck, using the same square knot as the rope found around Anna's neck.

So that's an ammo right there. She was found by her 14-year-old brother, Carlyle, who was coming home from the playground. Oh my God. She was found partially nude in her own bedroom, and they think she was attacked while she was just hanging up like shades on her window. She's this crazy. Yeah.

Monroe had delivered furniture to the residents on the day of the murder. And according to Vesta's younger brother, youngest brother, Carlisle, Eugene had returned to the apartment later that afternoon, but the boy didn't know why. Right. In the case of Vesta's murder, the Sheriff's Department wasn't able to corroborate the brother's story or find sufficient evidence to connect Monroe definitively to the crime. But Lieutenant R. R. Copage told reporters he always believed Monroe was guilty of the murder and felt the investigators were right on the right track with the Corbin case. He said, he was like, you better keep following that lead. And he was actually quoted as saying

about the Vesta murder. He said, I am certain this boy did the job, but we were just never able to prove it. He was the only one in the house at the time and had ample time to commit the act. Well, I wonder whether we're never able to prove it. I think they just couldn't get physical evidence, which that's so tough, especially if I just had

the 14 year old saying that he saw him. Right. And the other witnesses, the murder year old saying that he saw him. Right. And the other witnesses, the murder victims, just the fact that nobody was there. Yeah. Now Eugene Monroe was arrested on March 1st, 1950, though he vehemently denied any involvement in Anna Corbans murder. Two days later, district attorney guard Chisholm filed former, formal murder charges against him.

And he was transferred from Preston to the county jail to wait a poll preliminary, like hard, falling all over my words. Judged terms. Hearing the following week. Now on March 10th, 1950, Eugene Monroe appeared before Justice of the Peach. Ella, Peach. That's cute. I am the Justice of the Peach.

The Justice of the Peach. I want to be a Justice of the Peach. How cute would that be? It's like, I love peaches. So I'll be the Justice of this here. The justice of the peach. I want to be a justice of the peach. How cute would that be? It's like, I love peaches. So I'll be the justice of the peach. Yeah, peaches are so cute. They are, and they smell good.

And then you kind of be a justice of the booty at the same time. Very good. It's a nice little dumb dip in. Yeah. But unfortunately, he did not appear before a justice of the peach. It was a piece. It appeared before a justice of the piece. LP Gebhard. This was a piece appeared before justice of the peace LP Gebhard.

This was for his preliminary hearing. Among those who testified before the court was 17-year-old Preston student Jack Mercer, who testified that not only had Monroe told him two days before the killing that he intended intended to attack Anna, but also that he witnessed the murder. Mercer said on the stand, quote, Mrs. Corbin started to reach for the telephone, but he knocked her back into a chair. Mercer claimed he wanted to help Anna, but he was scared and instead did nothing. When Monroe's attorney, Nathaniel Coley, asked why the boy didn't report the crime to the police, Mercer claimed Monroe had told him, quote, if you tell anyone, you will wish you were dead. Oh, fuck.

And in the environment he was in, that was a- Nitches get stitches. And I can understand why this child was terrified. You see this man do this, like obviously, you wish this kid would have said something. And as an adult, I'm like, say something kid. But I don't know what that environment. It was like, very different.

That kid was trying to save his own skin. He was terrified of what would happen. And again, he's not an adult with like, rational thinking skills. Exactly. And who know? It sounds like it was really bad in there. So it's like, he was living in a state of fear constantly.

You're gonna, you're thinking that's gonna happen to me if I say it. And I'm in trouble now. Right, you know, at least he Eventually came through now in his closing statement Coley asked that the charges against his client be dropped claiming that the evidence in hearsay testimony Were insufficient to hold Monroe He said quote in the haste to get a conviction. We should not rush this man to trial

Justice of the peace Gerhard Gennhardhard overruled the motion and Monroe was bound for trial in the Superior Court. Good. His trial was set to begin April 24th, but just weeks before the start date, Jack Mercer threw a little curveball because he recanted his entire statement about what he'd heard and seen. Fuck. Did someone get to him? Yeah, me think. Yeah. In a statement provided to the press by his, by Monroe's lawyer, Nathaniel Cole, Mercer wrote, quote, the testimony I gave in court was not true. Monroe never told me that he was going to kill Mrs. Corbin,

and I never saw him hit her. That sounds like somebody. It sounds like he had some friends that were working in the background for him. According to Cole, Mercer only told investigators he'd seen Monroe kill Anna because they promised to release him from Preston if he did. But he decided to tell the truth once he realized they weren't going to live up to that. And also, quote, to clear his conscience before an expected visit from his mother. I don't know about any of this.

Now, arguing that Mercer's testimony at the preliminary hearing that had been the only real evidence that District Attorney had against Monroe, Coli announced his intention to move that the charges against his client be dropped. Oh shit. Despite Mercer recanting a statement, District Attorney Chism was undeterred. Of course, like now we're going forward. And Chism told the press, it is all right for Coli to make these statements. He represents the defendant.

I'm convinced Monroe is guilty, and even without Mercer's statement, we would have a case. I'm also convinced Mercer will tell the same story at the trial that he told at the preliminary hearing. Huh. So he's saying, that's really cute that you have a statement from him.

When he sits on the stand, I think he'll tell the same story that he told. And that's interesting that he told. And that's interesting that he was pretty sound at least very confident in that statement. And in his opening statement at the trial, Tism laid out the case for the jury in detailed terms. Eugene Monroe was the only one who had been alone with Anna that morning, and he was the only one who had the opportunity to commit that murder.

Also, when they searched when Rose Room investigators found the Preston uniform covered in blood that was a match for Ianna's blood type. Okay. And they had a statement from another boy that Eugene had tried to get him to burn that uniform. The fuck? Finally, there was Mercer's statement that he'd seen Monroe kill Ianna just days after the young man had told him that he intended to do so. Among the witnesses called by the prosecution were a number of Preston staff and residents, including a bunch of boys who'd seen Monroe go to Anna's office that morning. And when they saw him later that day, he, quote, appeared to be worried about something. A girl.

The most important witness, though, was Jack Mercer. What did he do? Who did, indeed, testify that he had seen Eugene Monroe kill Anna Corbin. Which makes you wonder, did he get offered some kind of protection for, you know, staying true to his original statement? And it's like he's on the stand. He's got to tell the truth. That's sworn testimony. Oh my god. Isn't this while? And his mom had visited him. So I wonder if he was able to talk to her and she was like, you have to tell the truth. She was like, you got to sit up there and tell the truth.

Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.

Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Now, Nathaniel Cole's defense strategy was pretty simple.

The police arrested the wrong person. Okay. In his testimony Eugene described his movements that day on the day of the murder, claiming he'd seen Anna twice that morning but was never alone with her. Testifying for the defense, state criminologist David Byrd told the jury that they had interviewed at least 20 boys who they believed could have been capable of the crime. And when they examined the clothes of those boys, quote, there was more blood on some of

those garments than on the garments of Monroe. Do you have them? Yeah, I'm like, can you prove that? Did the blood match the same blood type of the victim? As for the blood on Monroe's clothes, Coli and Monroe said that he had cut his hand that morning, either in the shoe shop or the slaughterhouse, but neither the instructor in the shoe shop or in the slaughterhouse recalled him cutting his hand ever.

They were like, you don't recall which it was, and if it was that bad to have that much blood on your uniform, I think they would have called that color. I think they would have called that color. You're using two different things, and both of those things. Like, did you cut it with a saw or did you cut it with this? And you cut it that intensely, you don't remember where? That there's blood all over your uniform. Right.

And the instructors are like, no, that didn't happen. And also, are you the same blood type as she is? Exactly. I'm interested to hear. Now, after a brief deliberation, the jury reported to the judge that they were unable to reach a verdict and were hopelessly deadlocked. I can understand why it would be tough to reach a verdict in this case to a degree because this is a child.

Yeah, and I'm sure that was weighing back on them. And when you find out more about Eugene, you're gonna go absolutely, he got away with this. He's right, but in that moment, not knowing what we know now and what you will know soon. Oh gosh. Like I can understand that. But sitting on that jury, I don't,

I think they got a good amount of evidence, but, you know, I could see why there would still be a doubt, especially when there was 20 other boys. Yeah. Well, in eight, jury jurors were in favor of a conviction and four were in favor of an acquittal. And after the jury confirmed, quote, they would come up with the same vote

if they voted for years. Yeah, it's true. Judge Ralph McGee declared a mist. And after the jury confirmed quote, they would come up with the same vote if they voted for years. Yeah, he judge Ralph McGee declared a mistrial and excuse the jury. What are you about to tell me now? Guardshizm said, that's fine. We're going to retry him. Like, he's like, fuck that. I love how determined this man is. Like, let's go. Eugene Monroe's second trial began in Amador County on June 11th, 1950, same judge, same prosecutor, same defense. Different jury. Different jury. Among the hurdles with the previous case was the lack of motive for anist murder.

That was the problem that they were really facing in that one. And the jury was like, I don't know what the motive is. What was the motive with the unsolved murder of the girl that he may have been connected to? But that's the thing. It's like, if you don't have a motive, and it's a literary, that will really count a lot more. It's like, if you have a motive

and the rest is shaky, you can kinda talk up the motive or no motive and some shaky evidence is like, oh, I feel good about that. So the second time around, Chism was determined to get a motive in hope of securing this conviction. In his testimony at the second trial, Jack Mercer, our guy Jack over there, definitely got pretty much the same claim to Monroe had quote, beat and grotted Anna to death in her office because she had caught Monroe and himself in what he referred to as a degenerate act.

Oh no. Although this information had been known to the prosecution and the defense in the first trial, the jury never learned of the motive because Mercer was told by Judge McGee that quote, he need not answer anything humiliating or degrading, which, and then you wonder if that's why he recanted his original

statement because he knew it was going to get further. This time though, Jack was willing to give a detailed chronological account of the events leading up to the murder. And this is like upsetting because it's just like it's sad and it's literally like this is what life was like. Oh, God. But he's kids. OK.

Now, according to Mercer, the day before the murder, he was propositioned for sex by Monroe. And Jack declined. But Eugene responded, all right, I'll make it rough on you. Oh. Indicating that if he wasn't willingly going to, he would retaliate with violence. Right.

Jack was scared. And he didn't want any trouble. So he said he finally agreed and the two engaged in that in the empty Sunday school room. But this was also like not consensual for Jack. No, obviously. He was agreeing out of fear because he just didn't want any trouble. So he was raped. That's not consensual exactly. So Eugene raped him. And that's where they were discovered by Anna, according to Jack. Now shocked, Anna left the room and made her way down the hall

to get a male staff member. But she was pursued by Monroe, who reached her just as she got to her office door and, quote, according to Jack, quote, he had her several times on the face and head. And he told the jury jury then Eugene tied a rope around her neck and dragged her into the closet, which is when Mercer fled in fear, in fear. Oh, God. Now, Chism was certain that once they learned of the motive for the murder, the jury would have

no trouble finding Monroe guilty. But after days of deliberation, the jury informed Judge McGee, they were deadlocked. This time, 11 in favor of conviction and one hold out. You, what a, who is that hold out? Who is that hold out? And again, a mistrial was declared undeterred though. Chism tried Eugene Monroe for a third time. This motherfucker. Now unfortunately, but then the facts of the case became a little muddled. Mercer's testimony was getting more intense and confused.

The jury in the third trial was also unable to arrive at a unanimous decision. In October 1950, a third mistrial was declared. And is he going to go for a fourth? He said he figured a fourth was just gonna have the same outcome. So Chisholm declined to pursue it any further. The day after the third mistrial was declared, the day after the third mistrial was declared,

the California Youth Authority announced they would parole Eugene Monroe. I'm sorry, what? Within 60 days. How do you think that's gonna end? He was just on trial for murder. What the fuck? And he was a main suspect in a murder before he even got here.

What compelled you to parole him in both of those women were murdered in the exact same fashion with the same knot and the same garauded. I think it was like a square, not a rape rope. in the exact same fashion, with the same knot and the same garauded. I think it was like a square knot. A square knot, right? A square knot, right? Okay. Yeah. A square knot, you're correct.

And why do you think they, do you think they parole tips so that he didn't cause any more trouble at the press in school so that they didn't get any more bad press? Any statement to press? Director of California Youth Authority, Carl Holton, said before the murder

charge was placed on Monroe, he had an excellent record at Preston. And definitely, he would have been paroled at this time if the charge had not been placed. But it was. And that's a big fucking charge. So he was free from prison, and he left the state in 1950 for Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the following year he was arrested and convicted for the rape and murder of 22-year-old pregnant woman Dorothy Waldrop. Oh my God.

Dorothy was a former dance teacher in the wife of Robert Waldrop, a taxi driver, like Vesta and Anna Corbin. Waldrop was found with a garauded hemp rope knotted around her neck. She had been literally taken out of her home and killed and disposed on a hill near her apartment. Her husband had come home from work at like 1 a.m.

and found her missing in the door open. And now a book, Stories of the Forgotten by Jamie Rubio tells an even more in-depth story of all of Eugene's life, and deeds. It's a very interesting read. That person also has a blog entitled Dreaming Casually Poetry, where they talk a lot about this. And they talk to some of the family members, and it's very interesting. I'm shocked right now. But when asked by the press for a comment, Monroe said, it just seems like I am always in trouble,

even though I never did it. Oh, yeah. Seems like you always are around people. Three of the murdered are ingrotted with rope. That's a thing. Like, three women were murdered in almost the exact same way. And you just happened to be a suspect in all of those murders.

I'm sorry. Where they're smoke and then they're smoke and then they're smoke. There's a blazing fucking fire. 100% killed all these women. And was he convicted for this murder? No. No despite, no he was, but oh God. Despite what he told the press, when investigators found Monroe's fingerprints in Waldrop's apartment,

he confessed to the murder. Were they ever able to go back then and get the fingerprints? There were seven of them. I don't think they were able to. Are you fucking kidding me? I know. That would have been crazy. That would have been like the smoking gun.

Exactly. He actually confessed to the murder of Dorothy Waldrop and was sentenced to life in prison by a Tulsa jury. But then never confessed to the other two murders. He was paroled in August 1981. For why? Yeah. He murdered a pret... He raped, excuse me, and kidnapped, raped, and murdered a pregnant woman. And he was paroled. How? This man who literally was paroled the first time at 19,

like a 19-year-old, par Perolds after being heavily suspected of a murder twice, two different murders. And immediately upon exiting murders, a pregnant woman in the same fashion and you think it's smart to parole him? Like this motherfucker very well-beh, it was, it could have been a serial killer. Yeah.

Obviously we can't say for sure because he wasn't convicted, but sounds to me like he was a serial killer. And so he was convicted of Dorothy's murder, but let out of jail, because why the fuck not? He murdered a pregnant woman after kidnapping out of her home, but like, yeah, let's just let him back out. And you don't know what terms he was paroled on? No. He was paroled in August 1981

and lived for a time in Tulsa, which is where he killed Dorothy. But before returning to Los Angeles, and he died there on October 3rd, 2007. 2007, holy shit. Holy shit. Never being convicted of either Vesta or Anna's deaths. And both of those cases are unsolved.

Technically. Quote unquote. Yeah. You have to wonder, like they should go back and look at that time period that he was out of prison as well and see. Because he, he's a serial killer. These are strangers, Tim.

Vesta and Dorothy, Dorothy, complete stranger to him. What the fuck? Like, and he just walked into these houses. Like Vesta, supposedly he was delivering furniture or something like that, but still completely stranger. But that one came back later, like afterwards. Dorothy, complete stranger. He just walked into her house and kidnapped her. And he took the blind, like, he took the pull cords from one of her blind, like, Venetian

blinds and used that to garalt her as well. I would be so interested to hear in the time after he got paroled in the time of his death if there was any more. Yeah. To me, I'm like, he killed again. That's how I don't know. Isn't that wild?

The fact that he was paroled twice. And the fact that that school, the California youth authority was like, I was gonna tell you that. He was gonna tell you what the problem is. Like he was fine. He was good until he was good at telling that. He was good at telling that. He was good at telling that. He was good at telling that. He was good until he was right after he

knew his own house. He was good until he was right after he knew his own house. He was good until he was right after he knew his own house. He was good until he was right after he knew his own house. He was good until he was right after he knew his own house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house.

He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house.

He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was good until he was right after he knew his house. He was closed in the spring of 1960, 10 years later. And the residents relocated to other facilities on the grounds, and the school itself was shut down for good, completely in June 2011. Between 1960 and the closing ceremony in 2011, a lot of the main building fell into disrepair and became popular with vandals and looters. But the building itself gave the protection of the national historic register, in recent years because of its architectural significance, because remember it's a beautiful building, so it can't be demolished.

Since 1997, the main campus has been leased by the Preston Castle Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve the buildings and promote the history and the heritage of the site. The groups spent a latter half of the 90s and early 2000s renovating the interior in order to make the building safe. For the last decade or so, they have tried to raise funds by, among other things, opening the campus to the public for ghost tours. Now the organization regularly welcomes tour groups and even allows groups to pay an additional fee in order to spend a night in the supposedly haunted castle. Guests routinely report seeing orbs, spirits, like full body apparitions wandering the halls,

a lot of like disembodied voices and things caught. And many have claimed to see who they believe to be in a Corbin herself. Wow. Now, the Preston Foundation board members, Carl Nobelock, was initially skeptical. He told reporters, if there are any ghosts here, they've never talked to me. And that changed one evening.

Oh, sure. And a friend were exploring the castle on their own. And that changed one evening. We're all in a friend. We're exploring the castle on their own. And both men said they clearly heard a disembodied voice call Carl by name. I love that they were like, hey, skeptic. Yeah, they were just like, hey, oh, and Carl was like, all right, damn. So he came back and was like, I stand corrected. Now ghost tour guide Donnie Page was similarly skeptical at first. They said until an incident happened to him in 2010, involving a strong gust of wind and an eerie feeling that scared him off for six weeks before he would even return. Wow.

Now while the ghost tours in overnight stays, they're like supposed to all be in good fun, going with the more lighthearted stories from the past and using historic reenactors, you know, things to scare people like it's supposed to be this lighthearted thing. Yeah. Torguides do tell and share the tragic history of the school and its residents. According to the Sacramento Bee, Donnie Page quote, delights in telling about the crude conditions early on in the infirmary and the cruelty and violence many of the boys experienced at the hands of the guards. They said contrary to what they said at the time, this is what

Donnie told the sacrament to be. He said contrary to what they said at the time, the boys were beaten, severely punished, and whipped and thrown into solitary confinement. So he said, like, they were projecting this whole image of progressive reform. Wasn't that just as bad. Despite the playful tone and the theatricality of the events held at Preston Castle, by telling and retelling the stories that are Preston's history, the foundation manages to provide a small consolation to those who like Anna Corbin, died or suffered within its walls because they keep their memories alive in the present,

which is at least a positive for that. Sure. So that is the story of the Preston School of Industry in the murder of Anna Corbin, Dorothy Waldrop, and Vesta Sapenter. That was a whirlwind, and somebody truly needs to look into the time period that that motherfucker was out of jail. I wanna look into it, let's go.

Please do, because I am not convinced that he just was like, let me just smell it. It's so scary. Yeah, those are violent, dude. Yeah. And there's no way those aren't connected. No way. Like, sorry, no.

Damn. Wow. Pretty horrifying. Thank you for listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But that's where you go to a boy school because that's scary. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I hate it all. Yeah, her four schools are fucked. Scary. That's how your kids are. No, just love them.

Just love them. Just love them. They'll be okay in the fun. Thank you. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.