Morbid - Episode 394: Fred & Dolly Oesterreich

Episode Date: November 21, 2022

Ash brings us the story of Dolly Oesterreich and the murder of her husband Fred. When Fred was murdered late one summer night in the couple's home the police wondered if this was a burglary gone wrong. But they would soon learn they had always been closer to catching the killer than they realized. This is a tale of scorned lovers, deception, and lies but ultimately justice prevails.Thank you to David White for research assistance.ReferencesAssociated Press. 1930. "Sanhuber's Latest Story Under Fire." Evening Star, June 26: C3.—. 1930. "Attic Woman's Trial Nears End." Los Aangeles Times, August 20.Berkeley Daily Gazette. 1930. "Must Face Trial Together." Berkeley Daily Gazette, April 30: 18.Boston Globe. 1930. "Brother of Victim Plans Will Contest." Boston Globe, April 13: A19.Daily Boston Globe. 1930. "Hopelessly Deadlocked Oesterreich Jury Reports." Daily Boston Globe, August 25: 12.—. 1930. "Widow of Victim Silent on Murder." Daily Boston Globe, April 11: 34.L.A. Public Library. 1930. Otto in court. Photograph and caption. Los Angeles, California, June.Lardinois, Anna. 2021. The Legend of Milwaukee’s Most Infamous Love Triangle. April 13. Accessed November 3, 2022. https://www.milwaukeemag.com/the-legend-of-milwaukees-most-infamous-love-triangle/.Los Angeles Times. 1922. "Police Question Harry Vose." Los Angeles Times, August 28: 15.—. 1922. "Trap Ser for Man's Killers." Los Angeles Times, August 25: 21.Milwaukee Sentinel. 1930. "Bare Oesterreich Fire Plot." Milwaukee Sentinel, April 11: 1.New York Times. 1961. "'Batman' Figure Dies." New York Times, April 15: 10.—. 1930. "Indicts Widow in Murder." New York Times, April 18: 7.Nugent, Addison. 2016. The Married Woman Who Kept Her Lover in the Attic. June 7. Accessed November 3, 2022. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-married-woman-who-kept-her-lover-in-the-attic.Oxnard Daily Courier. 1930. "Oxnard Daily Courier." Must Face Trials Together, April 30: 1.Rasmussen, Cecilia. 1995. "‘Bat Man’ Case: a Lurid Tale of Love and Death." Los Angeles Times, March 20.2017. A Crime to Remember. Directed by Lisa Robinson. Produced by Christopher Dillon.San Jose News. 1930. "Says Attorney Coached Him in Confession." San Jose News, June 24: 48.San Pedro News Pilot. 1930. "Attic Lover is Found Guilty." San Pedro News Pilot, July 2.The Daily Californian. 1923. "Trial Continued." The Daily Californian, October 24: 7.United Press. 1930. "Third Person May Face Death Trial." Berkeley Daily Gazette, April 18: 21.—. 1923. "To Attack Testimony." The Eveneing News, July 28: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to Immorbid Network Podcast. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about two judges who stood accused of making millions of dollars in a brazen scheme that shattered the lives of countless children. Listen to American scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, weirdo's. I'm a late-ah, I'm ash. And what was that weird-ah stance that you just did? This is Mormon. It's night time morbid.

It is. I was trying to hit record and then I did a woo and I came back. So that's what that was. I'm lollin'. But you know what? I hit record because we're here. Go off, sister. So I'm like weirdly like super congested right now.

Like it hit me all the way over here. And it's, you know, it's my story. So like I'm sorry that I'm so congestual, but I think you sound great. I hope so. I always think you sound great. You know what the annoying thing, the difference, but there's a difference between congested and like sexy, Lindsey low hands like soul tree congested. You just sound more nasally and slightly more annoying. And then like, like when you're throat hurts, you feel coffee and sexy and like you are operating like a sexy phone line.

A sexy phone line. Which honestly, I feel like that's kind of setting us up for the story. It doesn't involve a sexy phone line at all, but weirdly, I feel like it's on the vibes there. A sexy phone line vibe sort of. Okay, all right. All right, so let's just go right into this.

Let's like dive in. What time is it? We got a diatomy, but no. I was. So let's let's just go right into this. Let's like dive in what time is it we got I don't even know I was like who the fuck is that? I just got a Zola notification. Let me move my phone aside. Who the fuck is Zola? No, I was like because you were like who the fuck is that I was like Zola tech They're not even our advertiser, but they should be because they're a wedding planning website and I'm just kidding They are but like you should use them if you're planning your wedding. They're great. There you go. Right now my morbid hat is on not my bride hat. Ready? Boop. Our story begins on August 22nd, 1922. I'm weirdly in like a place

of old timey lately, but you and I are very different old timey gals. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But and sometimes there's just little bumps where you go through like, oh, man, an old-timey phase right now. Yeah, I'm in like a glitzy, glammy sort of old-timey phase, but like, there's also murder, which makes it terrible.

Which brings down the glitz and glam factor exponentially. Heavily, I would say. Exponentially, I liked it better. But anyway, so our story starts on that date, August 22, 1922, with Fred Ostarich and his wife, Walberga, A 1922, with Fred Ostarich and his wife, Walberga, A.K. Dolly Ostarich. Dolly's such a cute name.

Way better than Walberga. Yeah, that's hard to say. You know, I still like Walberga, but I like Dolly better. Yeah, this blows better. But the two of them look a little cute, married couple. They had just returned to their Los Angeles home after, you know, just going out to a little party

with a couple of their friends. They got home around 11 p.m. and as they settled in for the night, Dali took her jacket to their coat closet, which was on the second floor. And as she was hanging her coat, she was pushed into the closet from behind and heard the lock click. What? That's how I said our story begins, my friends. What the fuck? Shove into the closet. And then locked in. Locked in. I'm claustrophobic already.

And unfortunately, I don't even know how big this closet was, but it was like 1922 in California. Yeah. I don't think you're getting a lot of storage space. No, I don't think that was a big closet. No. So at first, all he's like, is this my husband Fred like pulling some kind of weird prank on me?

Like, what the fuck? And I'm sure she was already planning what she would say to him once he let her out of there because I know I would. But unfortunately, this was not a joke. As Ollie was locked inside the closet, she started to hear what sounded like two men struggling and then heard three consecutive gunshots followed by complete and utter silence. Oh, luckily the neighbors had heard the gunshots and they, the LAPD received a call from a concerned neighbor asking if they could

please go check on the house located at 858 North Andrews Boulevard. We're dolly in front lived. So the believer, the police, I got to go you know, it's late night. It is. And I'm like, just, and then congestion in tripping over words. Yeah, it's just really a vibe. Yeah, that's our, that's the show name. It's long, it's about full, but it's kind of good jingle. Eventually, we'll shorten it when it gets really popular. Yeah, just late night. Just there. You go, yeah, you

kind of leave the chest. You got to leave the chest. Fall in the police. So when the police arrived at home, at the home, it was still completely dark. All of the lights had been turned off. And they soon heard muffled screaming coming from the second floor, our girl, Dolly. So they raised up the stairs. They locate the closet where the screaming was coming from.

And outside the closet, there was like a little table right next to the door. And there was a key lying on top. So they're like, could this be the key? I wonder. It was a major key. So the officers used said key and out of the closet comes a very distraught dolly. She explains that everything to the investigators about being shoved in by somebody she thought was her husband, but now realized most likely was not. And the investigators had to break the news to her that yes, the loud bangs that she heard while she was locked inside the closet were gunshots. Once they had turned on the lights of the home, they had found her husband Fred lying dead in their living room. He had been shot three times twice in the chest and once in

the head. Oh jeez. Yeah, this was pretty brutal. Yeah. And the scene was a complete mess. There was furniture, tipped all over the place. Tons of the couple's belongings were scattered across the floor. And the investigators were like, OK, clearly this is some kind of home invasion. But maybe perhaps the intruder came to burglarize the house and was caught off guard when Dolly and Fred got back,

Panicked and ended up killing Fred. Or was the plan all along to catch the couple off guard and kill Fred intentionally? Because Dolly had been shoved in the closet like that. Yeah. So the police were going to have to investigate to find out and remember, we're dealing with the LAPD. So get ready for a wild ride.

Oh man. They actually really don't fuck up at all, but it takes a long time. I've got that. Just say it. We'll get there. No way. It's a journey. Yeah.

So when Stolly Calm Down, she was able to explain that Fred was the owner and operator of a textile manufacturing company. He had two plants, one in Milwaukee and one where they lived in LA. He was extremely successful, and so in turn, they had a lot of money. And actually, they had had two attempted break-ins at their home within recent months, and Fred had told Dolly that he kind of thought

he was hearing strange noises when then the house at night, ooh, certain things seemed to be moving around or going completely missing, especially money and food. Huh, weird. And his cigars, he was like, my cigars keep going missing, especially money and food. Huh, weird. And his cigars. He was like, my cigars keep going missing. And I know I'm not smoking as many as that are going missing. And it's like, is somebody just breaking in and taking random things like a cigar and leaving?

Yeah. And they're coming back and stealing food. Like, what's happening? Like, what is going on? Yeah. Money. So weird. And like, they're just coming in the night. Yeah. And just going. I'm also like, you're not like tiptoe and downstairs with a baseball bat. Yeah. What's going on money. So weird. And like they're just coming in the night. Yeah, just going. I'm also like, you're not like tiptoe and downstairs with a baseball bat. Yeah, what's going on? I literally did that the other night. I love that. Yeah, you know, love that for you. So after getting the run down on who these people were and what they could have potentially gone through here, the officers started assessing the scene. Now Fred's pocket watch had been stolen off his body. And Dolly told them this was like a very specific, expensive pocket watch. It was an octagon in shape and it was lined with diamonds. Like entire outside was encrusted with diamonds.

Oh yeah, she. It was. She'd given it to him a few years ago as a gift and now it was gone. Yeah. But that seemed to be the only thing that was missing. This entire home, very specific, was a ravaged mess and nothing but that one pocket watch was missing. In fact, the pocket where Fred had been wearing his pocket watch

attached to like a little chain, actually had his wallet inside of it filled with cash. Huh. The same pocket where his pocket watch was flushed with cash. Flushed with cash. Flushed with cash. Yes, Mona Lisa, baby. Why would the burglar not also take advantage of the cash that was straight up at their fingertips?

Yeah, no, this is specific. It is. So the only thing investigators thought was that after the intruder killed Fred, they were trying to get out of there as fast as they could, took the first thing of value they saw and got the hell out once they got it. Okay. And I guess, you know, if that's lined with diamonds, you're paying an office pocket. It's right there.

You snag it, you run out. Yeah. But once they started talking to the neighbors, the plot only thickened because the neighbors said that they had seen what looked to be a man at the rear of the couple's home moving about in the shadows, but they said that the lights in the house went out about 20 minutes after they'd seen that man outside. So if the intruder truly had panicked, taken the nearest item of value and left, why would they go back to the house 20 minutes later simply to turn off the lights and also take nothing else with them? That didn't make any sense. Yeah. Hey there, fellow podcast listener. It's Elena and Ash. And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa. You know, when you would come home from high school, and it was only a few hours until that TV show,

everyone was watching was about to come on. Well, in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse.

Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store. Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action and romance. Episode by episode. Slazy. Follow the rewatcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da find out exactly why the killer didn't leave immediately after shooting Fred, it would just take close to 10 years to reach a conclusion here.

And when they would, the truth uncovered would be way fucking crazier than anyone ever expected. I'm just really glad we're gonna get an answer. We get an answer. I'm really glad. This is not unsolved and it's solved in the wildest way. This is a wild case. Oh, let's go. I'm sure a lot of people are starting to kind of like figure It's not unsolved and it's solved in the wildest way. Ooh. This is a wild case.

Oh, let's go. I'm sure a lot of people are starting to kind of like figure this one out because this is one of the first true crime cases I've actually ever heard of. Oh, really? And I know it's like covered frequently, but I kind of tried to like shift it off a little bit, you know. Ooh, why? I don't think I've, I think I know the names, but I don't know a lot about this.

Really? Yeah. Well, you lot about this. Really? Yeah. Well, you're about to. Look at that. But before we get there, let's learn a little bit more about Fred and Dolly, shall we? Let's do it. It's like a little icebreaker game with like fun facts about them. No, I'm just kidding.

I don't like icebreakers. I'll give it to you. Oh god, I hate icebreakers. Fucking icebreaker. No. Although I do have like good two truths and a lie, like locked in living in. Yeah.

I'm not going to tell them right now, but. Because you don't want to ruin it. No, but I have those. In case I ever meet any of you. But I have those. two truths in a lie, like locked in living. Yeah, I'm not going to tell them right now, but. Because you don't want to ruin it. No, but I have those. In case I ever meet any of you. But I have those. I do have those. Just be forewarned. But anyways, back to the key players here.

Let's go, Fred and Dolly. That's up. Exactly. So Dolly had been born in 1880 to German immigrant parents. It's unclear whether she was born in Germany or if she was born here shortly after her parents arrived. Okay. But when she was a teenager, she was grown in Germany or if she was born here shortly after her parents arrived. Okay. But when she was a teenager, she was grown up and will millwalky

and she got a job at Fred's plant. Ooh. I imagine that. Fred was also a German immigrant and he was also known to hire immigrants to work for him. So that's how they met. Well, you got a cute, a cute little meat cube. Cute German meat cube.

I'm German too. Me too. Hey. Hey. Look at that. So, Dolly was described by everybody, family, friends, co-workers as a comely woman, meaning she was like kind of a whole package. She was attractive, she was easy to get along with,

and she was kind of a peacemaker whenever there was any dispute going on at the plant. Like she always wanted to have people be in a good vibe. Get everybody back to business, get everybody back to feeling good. Yeah, just a chill, pretty lady. You need, you want us, everybody needs a chill, pretty lady. Hell yeah.

Who's just there to make the vibes right? I agree. We should all need that. We should look into that. Yeah, you know? Everybody should just have one in the office. Yeah, handy dandy, pretty chill lady. Yeah.

I love it. Yeah, so it didn't take long for Dolly to catch Fred's eye because she's a pretty chill lady. Who keeps the vibes right? Exactly. You're picking up on a funny day. So at the plant after Dolly and Fred started dating because they did start dating. Wink, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. She became the go between with Fred and anybody who's irritated with him. Because it sounds like Fred could be a little bit difficult from time to time.

A lot of times people would go to Dolly with their concerns and be like, hey, can you tell Fred that I was a little bit late today but I'm gonna stay late to make up for it. And she'd be like, sure, sure, sure, pretty chill lady with the good vibes at your shirt. That's me. So after dating for a few more years,

they actually got married. It's unclear what year exactly that was, but Dali was like in her early 20s. Okay. Now by that time, they actually had already had a son together named Raymond, but unfortunately his life would be cut short in the summer of 1910.

No. It's again unclear how old he exactly was and how he exactly died, but he died young and inevitably, inevitably, excuse me, create attention with Fred and Dolly's marriage. Oh, that's so sad that it's like, you know, it's going to go one way or the other. Yeah, it's either going to bring you closer or completely tear you apart. There's no middle ground there, I feel like.

And unfortunately, I'm saying unfortunately a lot. I mean, this is all very unfortunate. It is. I think I literally wrote that later. Fred started drinking more often and really just put everything he had left into work, like everything he had. He would spend extra hours at the factory and that left little time for Dolly. And while he was there, he was getting more and more grumpy

with his employees, which only led to Dolly having to put out more and more fires. And she was happy to do it, but she was also suffering. Yeah, of course. Not only had she lost the first child that she'd ever had, but she was also kind of losing her husband in a way. Yeah, she's going at it alone. Yeah, she's lonely, and she's completely desperate for any kind of companionship. And this led to a lot of affairs going down

while Fred was at work, and Dolly was left to her own devices. Oh, no. The LA time set of Dolly during this time, her eyes and her appetites would bring a long line of men into her life. Oh, no. And boy, were they correct?

Because the good thing was, even though the couple's marriage was suffering, the business was not. With Fred pouring himself into work, the company was actually thriving, and they were making more money than they ever had. Eight years after Reem and passed away in 1918, Fred was ready to open up the Los Angeles plant and wanted to move out there with Dolly. Because at that point, the LA plant didn't even exist yet. They were just living together in Milwaukee. Okay. So this was when they bought their silver lake neighborhood home and headed out west, which leads us

actually back to the investigation. In the summer of 1922, and the investigators working this case were completely baffled. They're sitting at the house, and they're like, what the fuck is going on here? So they were able to determine that Fred had been shot with a 25 caliber pistol, and they found a little bit the fuck is going on here? So they were able to determine that Fred had been shot with a 25 caliber pistol, and they found a little bit of evidence at the scene,

but not really that much. There was a bullet lodged in the ceiling above Fred's body. Four shell casings were around the body, and a set of unidentified fingerprints were found on the closet store knob. And because this was in 1922? The fingerprints weren't really that exciting yet. Not a lot to go off of here, but luck would soon change.

Just a few days after Fred was killed, actually an anonymous caller placed a call to Dolly and Fred's home. Dolly had a friend staying with her because she was obviously kind of shaken up and didn't really want to be alone in the house. Yeah. So her friend picked up and the caller asked if there was going to be any kind of reward

for information leading to the arrest of the slayers. That's what they said. Oh. Now, as soon as the friend asked who was calling, the person on the other other line slammed the phone down and ended the call promptly. Ooh. Creepy, right? Yeah.

So Detective Klein, who was leading the investigation of this case, strongly felt like whoever had placed that call had somehow been involved with Fred's murder. Yeah. But we never find out. Oh, come on. He instructed everyone who would pick up a phone call at the house to keep collars on the line

if they were asking about anything about the murder, and specifically if they were asking about rewards for information. And they hoped that the caller would try if they were asking about rewards for information. And they hoped that the caller would try the house again, but he wouldn't. But not to worry, they got another lead that same day. Okay, because that same day a separate team was at the station questioning Fred's former plant manager,

Harry Vos. He had been the plant manager in Milwaukee, but actually headed straight to LA once he heard about Fred's death. He told the investigators that he was there to help Dolly with Fred's affairs, like kind of sort everything out. But the investigators wanted to know more about his experience with Fred. Vos said that Fred had been a pretty difficult guy.

He said that he would lose his temper over very small mistakes that his employees made. He drank pretty frequently, pretty heavily. And because of his generally off-putting disposition, those actually couldn't think of that many people that even liked Fred. Oh no. Which is sad. It is sad, you know, like, and it's like he was going through it too. That's the thing.

He had lost a child. Yeah. That's going to change you in a core way. Fundamentally. That's the thing. Yeah. But he was going on and on about all the people who disliked Fred. Yeah, that's going to change you in a core way. Fundamentally. That's the thing. But he was going on and on about all the people who disliked Fred. And one such person that kind of caught, like the investigator's eyes, was Edward Flude.

He was a German immigrant and a previous convict that was hired by Fred to work in the Milwaukee plant shortly before the LA plant was opened. Now, Edward had actually lived with Fred and Dolly in Milwaukee for a while. But Fred had fired him for one reason or another. And after Edward was fired, he ended up going back to prison. And while he was incarcerated, he sent a ton of threatening letters to Dolly and Fred, saying that he would kill Australia if it took 100 years. Oh, yeah, I mean, that's pretty solid. Yeah, that's a good lead right there.

Now, he did end up getting out of prison before Fred was killed, and he was believed to have had it out west. Like after hearing that Fred had moved out west. Meaning he very well could have been trying to make his way to Fred to end his life. But unfortunately, the cops were never able to catch up with this man and spoil our alert.

He's not our murderer. Oh. Just a little red herring. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Cool. The mystery. Cool.

Hashtag mystery. Hashtag mysterious. So another unfortunate thing, and this is where I said, I feel like I've already used that word, like 900 times this episode, but it's fitting. It is. Everything is very unfortunate so far. It is. A series of unfortunate events with Lemony Snick.

Exactly. So the mystery caller, like I said, never called the house again. They never were able to find this man that threatened to kill Austerich if he, like, was dying for a hundred years. For a hundred years. So they don't really have a lot to go off of these investigators. So they're like, should we sit down with Dolly again? Ask her a couple questions. Let's go through the night.

Fred was killed again. That would be traumatizing for her. No. So they asked her about the lights that had been on in the house before she and Fred returned home. Were there any lights that were on? And she said they left a light burning in the upstairs bedroom and left one on the porch so that they would be able to see when they got back. And the one in the bedroom was on so that it looked like someone was home while they were gone. Because remember, they had had previous break-in attempts. Now other than adding that small detail, nothing else about Dolly's story changed. Now that same day, Dolly and some of her friends headed to the funeral home because they had to identify Fred's body. Now usually this would actually happen on the day that the person gave their testimony at an inquest into

somebody's death sash murder. Yeah. But Dolly's doctor had spoken directly to the police. And again, according to the LA Times, Dr. E.C. Wackler told them, quote, not to force Dolly to identify the body and testify before the coroner's jury on the same day. Like, he was like, she can't go through that. That's too much. So, they took her to do the, to identify the body, and she was able to identify it in a whisper saying,

that is my husband. And as soon as she finished speaking, she collapsed to the ground. Oh, it just makes you so sad. Oh, that breaks my heart. Now Fred's funeral was held August 28th, 1922, and he was later buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, but still, even when they buried him,

the police were not any closer to identifying the person who landed him there. They killed Fred. I'm gonna get it. I gotta know. So in the weeks and the weeks and the months that followed Fred's death, the investigators again were not any closer.

And by the winter of 1923, they were just straight up out of ideas. They're like, you know what? They're like, we're straight up set. We don't know. Who knows? They originally believed that Fred had been the victim of like a surprise burglar,

or even a pair of burglarers. Burglarers? The hamburger. It was hamburger. I can never say burger. That's it. It's hard. But they were like maybe it was a pair of them who panicked when the couple returned.

Like all the investigators are kind of trying to figure out this burglar theory. Yeah, they're throwing spaghetti against the wall, see them with sticks. Precisely, girlfriend. I know. But one of these investigators, the lead investigator, Detective Klein, not so convinced. He was like, there's too many strange details that just can't be explained away. That's true. If this truly was a robbery, why had they only taken the pocket watch and not the man's

wallet in which had flush with cash. Like why would they not take that? Weird. And why did they stick around for at least 20 minutes after Fred had been killed? Yeah. There is, this is definitely not just a burglary. No, it's not. I'll tell you that right now.

It's just not. I know it. They know it. That guy, you know, Keith Morrison in the corner, he knows it for sure. Hey, Keith. Keith absolutely knows it. Like the guy down the street right he knows it for sure. He keeps absolutely knows it. Like the guy down the street right now knows it. We all know it.

Everybody is knowing. Yeah, come on LAPD. Come on. Now Detective Klein, I gotta give him like a high five. Oh yeah, because he got the feeling that Dolly was hiding something. Hmm, sweet loving Dolly. Dolly, come on.

Just with the good vibes, making everybody happy. She was getting the vibes right, though. Yeah, I don't know. She might have been, but detects of climb, he had gut feelings and he trusted them. I'm worried. He just couldn't put his finger on what it could be that she was hiding.

Now, they actually even went as far when he started to feel this way, as examining the closet that Dolly had been locked in for a false door or any kind of removable panel to see if maybe she had locked herself in there, but would have a way to get out. But they couldn't. Okay. There was no trap door, no nothing.

That would have been insane. Can you imagine if they found a trap door? That'd be insane. I would take this story to a whole different level. But still Detective Klein was like, I don't know, I've got a gut feeling about this lady. She maybe maybe didn't have a trap door in the closet, but she's hiding something else. So it's going on. Now in the initial interview that he had conducted with her,

she told him that her and her husband Fred had never had a single fight between them. I mean, I don't think so. Yeah, neither did Detective Climbing. I don't think anyone can say that. So, especially now you guys. Immediately smelled bullshit. Yeah. They had been married over 20 years. Yeah.

And never got in one fight. Like, come on. Never, never, never, never, ridiculous. Like, I got annoyed at Drew today for how he parked in our driveway. Are you kidding? It's just the way that things go. So that spring, he went to interview the US characters friends

and neighbors and he was like, I'm gonna catch these people. Like the neighbors are gonna wanna talk. He's like, I wanna know if there was any trouble in what was claimed to be paradise. Ooh. They all said that Fred worked a lot. So it would have been near and possible for him to carry

out any kind of affair or have any secret like that. And they'd never seen Dolly with another man. Hmm, they hadn't even heard any yelling coming from the house other than the night that Fred was killed. Wow. Yeah. Okay. And the yelling that they did here was just Dolly yelling for help. Yeah.

So stumped, but still determined, Detective Klein just kept investigating. He's a real G. He didn't realize it, but somebody very close to Dolly would soon give him a clue that he was absolutely desperate for. So he's walking through the courthouse that same spring one day. And just by chance, so was Dolly's lawyer, Herman Shapiro. Herman! I love that like Shapiro is just a lawyer license. It is. You have to be a lawyer. You must be. You really have to. Now, the two men said hello briefly, but as he was walking by, Klein noticed something shiny and familiar looking. Get the fuck out.

Shapiro was holding an octagonal pocket lock lined with diamonds on the outside edges. Shut the fuck up. The same kind that was missing from Fred's body and the exact description that Dolly had given Detective Klein her very self. Someone's got to explain this to me. Nobody made two of those pocket watches. I'll tell you that. No, they didn't. So with that, Klein was like, hey, Shapiro, like, can you come over here and chat? Maybe we could go down to the station and Shapiro's like, let's fucking do it. Yeah. So he gets the. A pregnant pocket watch. Yeah. Like, have you seen this?

Yeah. He gets there and unleashes a bomb shell. Not only are he and Dolly lawyer and client. Oh, yeah. But they are lovers. They are lovers. The plot thickens. Oh, no.

She'd given him the pocket watch for his birthday, he said. And he just assumed that it was something she'd made for him and didn't realize that it once belonged to the dead husband of his client. Wow. So now with that knowledge, Klein wanted to talk to Dali again and asked her to come down to the station.

So when he asked her about the watch, she was like, all M G funny story detective Klein. I actually found the watch cleaning and I totally forgot to tell you. How silly am I? What? I just found it cleaning and I totally forgot to tell you. How silly am I? I just found it cleaning and I said, you know, I didn't want it to collect dust in a drawer somewhere And I didn't want to throw it away. So I was like, well, my lawyer's birthday is coming up. I'll give it to him We are fucking after all. Well, my lawyer's birthday is coming up. Like, whoa. Okay. I don't even know what to say about that.

Yeah. The fact that she thought that that was a viable excuse. Like she was like, oh, this looks crazy. I know. It looks so wild. But here's the reality of the situation. I just found it and didn't tell you. Yeah, I just found it.

The burglar was so nice. He stuffed it in between the couch cushions. And then I just didn't tell you and instead gave it to my lawyer. Yeah, I just didn't want to, you know, stir anything up. Yeah, who wants to do that? Yeah, she said, because the detective client was like,

why did you not tell us that you found this crucial piece of evidence that has been missing from your home for quite some time now? And she's like, add detail. She said, I didn't think it was that important. And I really didn't want to complicate things for everybody. So I just kept it to myself. Ma'am, this is not a Wendy.

Ma'am. So now Detective Klein was starting to paint himself a picture. With Fred out of the way, Dolly had inherited literally millions and millions of dollars and had complete freedom to do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted. Taylor's oldest time. Get rid of the husband, get the inheritance, live your best life. But since there was no way that she was the one who could have pulled the trigger, who was she working with? Exactly. Was it possible that her own lawyer helped her

get rid of her husband? Dun dun dun. The investigators on the case started digging into Shapiro, the lawyer, but they found out that he actually had not known Dolly before Fred was killed. Wow. So it was not Shapiro. Okay.

It could not have been him. Wow, so he knew. You're supposed to say, then who? Not Shapiro. What? No. Somehow they were able to learn of a man that Dolly had dated before she hooked up with her lawyer.

And like maybe was still seeing on the side. Eek, she's loving her best life out there. Yeah, apparently. This man was Roy Clum, and it turns out that Dolly was dating two men at the same time. I'm somehow not shocked by this. Nor am I. But when Roy found this out, he actually went down to the police station because he's a

a scorned lover. And he had some incriminating information about Dolly. And if she was gonna fuck him over, then he was gonna fuck her over. Oh no. He said that shortly after Fred was killed, Dolly had come to him and gave him, quote, the broken parts of a 25 caliber revolver, wrapped in a handkerchief and told him to throw it where no one could find it. End quote.

Wow. That's specific. That's damning. And did he question her? No. Who are these people? This happened so often that somebody's like, yeah, they just gave me this severed leg wrapped in newspaper and they said to just throw it down a well.

Yeah. But I had no idea that it was like someone's leg. Like, why would I know that? Like, why would I question that? And it's like, what are you doing? It's like, yeah, I did help these two guys like throw a package into the Hudson River. Yeah, I didn't know that it was human.

And then look inside. It has ever asked me to hide something for them or to destroy something for them. I can promise you that I don't think anyone will ever help ask me for help with that. And if somebody did, I'd be like, what did you do? Right. What did you do?

Like, what have you done here? And if you're not willing to tell me then you need to go ask someone else. You gotta, and honestly don't tell me. I don't want to know. Don't know, don't involve me in this. It's never, I'm always amazed that these people that are just like, yeah, so I just do.

Yeah, cool. You're amazed at this man's then because he wanted to make her happy. So he took the package to a tarp it in Hancock Park, and he just knew that that would be the last of it. Wow, but for chinately, it wasn't. Ha! Apparently, Clumb did not have a great arm,

and he had not tossed the package far enough. Fucking Clumb. Meaning, yeah, he's just a Clumb. Yeah, he's just a Clumb. Meaning that it actually landed right on the edge of the pit and the police literally just picked it up and took it into custody. That's amazing.

So now Dolly was brought to the station again. Wow. This time Detective Klein wanted to know why she'd given a 25 caliber gun to her boyfriend and asked him to get rid of it. Did it maybe have anything to do with the fact that that was the gun that her husband was murdered with? Just throwing it out there.

She explained that just like she had found the pocket watch while she was cleaning, she also just found this gun lying around the house and she said, how crazy would it look if I had a gun in my house while this investigation is going on? How interesting was it that it was the same kind of gun used to actually kill her husband?

She's like, wow, do you think it could be the murder weapon? Well, I just wanted to get rid of it just in case it was the same kind of gun used to actually kill her husband. She's like, wow, do you think it could be the murder weapon? Well, I just wanted to get rid of it just in case it was. Wow. Like, at bad memories. This is, oh, this is incredible that she's playing. The fact that she's done it coming up with a different story for this one, she's like same thing. She's just cleaning and cleaning.

She's like, I've been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. And I just, whoop, keep uncovering things. Oh, God, yeah. Just uncovered like, King Tut's tomb. It was so wild. It was very casual though. I didn't tell anyone though. I didn't think it was important.

Yeah, it's okay. Ever, guys. Yeah. So now that he had found two critical pieces of evidence that connected back to Dolly, Klein felt very confident that she was somehow involved in this murder. And on July 12th, 1923, Dolly was officially arrested.

Yeah. I feel good about that. So do I. So the news hit the papers the next day. And now that people in town were reading about the case and knew that Dolly was behind bars, they kind of seemed ready to let their guard down and go to the police with new information. Wow, that's shocking and new. No one ever does that. It's so wild. Tale as New as ever, beating the beast. Yes. Three mix. So one of Dolly's neighbors said that shortly after Fred was murdered, she had gone to him and asked him

to get rid of a gun for her. Apparently she had multiple. Wow. This, yeah, is ridiculous. And this neighbor said that she, nope. Yes, this neighbor said she feared that she was going to be suspected of the murder since she had another gun in her possession

and he was just trying to be neighborly and help her out. So he buried the gun in his yard for her. Okay. They were like, can you show us? And he was like, yeah, it's over there. I like a lot of my neighbors. I'm not very, I don't even know my neighbors, but neighbors, if you're listening.

I don't, come knock on my door if you need to bury a gun. Don't knock on my door. I'm not going to be doing that for you. I'm not really for you. I'm not bearing evidence for you. I'm not going to prison for you. No, definitely not doing. Love you so much.

We'll go to your barbecue, but I'm not bearing guns for you. Nor. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. Nor clear. for you. Nor. Nor, Claire. Or me as neighborly as I can up until that point. Like is that even neighborlier? Is that just like felonely? That's felonely. Yes.

So what that is, like don't become a felon for your neighbor. I didn't agree to that. Like I don't know if that's a felony, but when I entered the neighborhood, I did not agree to that. No, no, no, that was not in the homeowner's association. Document that I read.

So. But this man started reading, or this woman, I'm not quite sure who, but it started reading more headlines. I was like, you know, I'm not feeling so good about this decision. Yeah. And anymore. The gun buried in the backyard feels like it's pretty, it's not damning. Yeah.

That was kind of like the end of that though. Like, it didn't really go much further than that. This is so weird. It's so weird. It's so weird. It's so weird. It doesn't feel real. But it very much is. It's very much is.

Dali was being held on $50,000 bail, and she had a trial set for December. And when it began, the only one really there to testify against her was clumb. Other than that, there was literally no evidence. I can clumb. So the charges were dropped and she was free to go. Stop. She's free to go. Stop.

This is free to go, but the story doesn't end there. This woman found the pocket watch. Did the best part about this is that this is not just, oh, it was a pocket watch. Even if it was inscribed, it's like, it's octagonal. It's like an octagonal diamond-plied, yeah. Pocket watch, like the most goddy outrageous pocket watch. Boosh, pocket watch, you can ever imagine.

There's only one on planet earth. And she's like, whoa, I know. How cool is this? So weird, I just, I just found it. And then the gun, oh my God, thank you for bringing that up. I found that too. Yes. And then I just gave several guns to everyone

within an arms length of me. And they all buried them accordingly. Like what, and they're like, you can go, ma'am. Also, like what does it say about her that these people were like, yeah, it's fine. Oh, it's like impressive as fuck. I just want to know like what vibes, well, she was always the one to make sure

the vibes were immaculate. So I feel like she's got her own set of vibes that she knows how to, yeah, she knows how to use them. Vibes and morals that she adheres to. Oh yeah, so in set. She was able to move on with her life and she was also able to get the millions of dollars that Fred had left her.

Wow. So she used the money to buy another home in LA and seemed ready to put everything behind her. But Detective Klein was still lurking and he was still sure that she was somehow involved, but was starting to worry that he was never gonna be able to prove this. Oh man.

So seven years went by. Seven years she got to just hang. Yeah, she just hung out. She got to like hang out with Shapiro. Oh, Fred. But in 1930, things between Dolly and her old lawyer lover, Hermann Shapiro, had ended. And they had not ended amicably. So Hermann was ready to go to the police with you

guessed it, more information about Dolly and her weird suspect behavior. Oh, Herm, so I love Herm. So he said this, and just like, I don't even know what to tell you to do right now, but just like prepare yourself in whichever way you see fit. Because this is wildwilds.com. Oh no. So wild, wild west out here.

.org. .org. Thank you. So he said while he was still her attorney, he was visiting her in jail one day. And obviously they were still lovers too. So she made an odd request. She asked him to go to the grocery store and deliver a bag of groceries to her home. And Herman was like, for old time's sake, like, you just, you want the host to have groceries? Like, are you forgetting that you don't have a husband anymore?

And no, you're incarcerated. You're literally sitting in prison in front of me. You are currently incarcerated, ma'am. Do you want Honey Chris for Galah? I'm so confused. I guess I'll just go with this. I feel like all of those groceries might be bad by the time you get out of here. I don't know.

I just like expiration date. But she's like, oh my gosh, silly me. I didn't tell you who they were for. I didn't tell you who these groceries were. No. And she explained that her vagabond half brother was living with her and she was worried about him starving if nobody brought any food to the house

because he didn't have any money to buy food for himself. Oh. So her man was like, oh, that's terrible and sad. Like of course I'll take care of that. Why haven't I met your brother yet? I'm so excited. We'll love us. Let's go.

So she was like, okay, just like slow down her man, okay?. Why haven't I met your brother yet? I'm so excited. We love us. Let's go. So she was like, okay, just like slow down her, okay? Like, I haven't given you the list yet. And I also have it in like serious instructions for you. Very specific. So she's like, here's the list. And then she says, you're going to bring these groceries to the second floor right in front of the attic door.

Once the groceries are there, please scratch on the door three times and then immediately leave. Get the fuck out of there. My brother just not like company. And he was like, lady, you're cooked. Is your brother a cat? He's got like what? And you don't scratch for your cats to tell them their foods right?

He's like, what? Bye. Like what the fuck? Like what? Not not just like, like, like not knock on the door? What? Like discernment of acrylics is gonna work. I hope he doesn't bite his nails. I wanna think it's a splinter.

I know, what do you do here? I don't know. I'm on the spot. Now I really wanna leave those very specific instructions for my next door doucher. Yes. Yeah, I just might be on the lookout. That's me on the lookout door d'Acher.

Scratch three times. Oh, man. So herber, that's not even his name. This man, Herman, thank you. Just Herman, thank you. Just Herman, thank you. You're a thing. That's me, Herman.

I also like the vibes to be immaculate, so I'll scratch that door for you. I love that hurt. It's just like, okay, no. He really loved her. He did. So he set up to the grocery store to grab up some foods. And then he headed to Dolly's for this very strange delivery service. But instead of leaving, like Dolly had told him to after he.

Yeah, I wouldn't leave either. Like, what is coming to the store? Yeah, he was like, I'd like to meet this Vagabond brother the Vagabond brother of yours. So he waits and sure enough, a man opens the attic door, a small man wearing glasses. To Shapiro, he seemed to be around 30 years old and it was clear that he was startled

to see a man standing before him. But after a couple of seconds, he outstretched his hand and he said, hi, I'm Otto Senhuber. Hey Otto, yep, Shapiro was like, you don't sound like your dolly's brother. No, he was like, oh, your dolly's brother. Like great to meet you.

And Otto was like, brother, I am her lover. Oh, and her was like, no, no, no, no, sir. I was like, no, I am. No, me. So you might think this is where Shapiro loses his shit, but remember, this man is a lawyer. So now he's got questions to ask. Oh, good for him.

So Otto explains that he hasn't spoken to anybody in a very long time, but he seemed very eager to tell Shapiro all about his sex life with Dolly. Oh, and told him about his backstory too. He said, I grew up in Milwaukee, and I actually worked for Fred. You know, do you know Fred? Oh, yeah, I do.

My job was actually to prepare sewing machines, and he had been working for Fred since he was 15 years old, he said. He knew Dolly from working at the plant and one day when he was 17 years old, 17 was Fred told him that Dolly's sewing machine was a need of assistance and asked that he head over to the home to check it out for her. 17 year old Dolly.

Are you fucking getting me? So 17 year old Dolly, 17 just heads out there to repair a sewing machine, but Dolly's got other things in mind. What the fuck? And she opens up the door to this boy wearing nothing but stockings and a silky robe. Dolly, discuss what the fuck? And that day marked the start of a year's long affair.

Jesus. Auto said that the two of them had been having relations eight to 10 times a day, almost every single day since then. To which I say bullshit. I was just gonna say, that's a lie. That is a lie. I don't even have things to say. That is a lie, that is incorrect, that is not factual, that is a lie. That is a lie. I don't even have things to say. That is a lie that is incorrect, that is not factual,

that is a lie. That is unreal. That is unreal. That is so lie, auto. You lie, like a rug. You lie. You lie. You lie like a rug that I would put on top of the auto man.

Oh, there you go. I wouldn't put a rug on it though. But when things really first started, they would meet up at hotels auto explained, do the deed and then head their separate ways. Oh my God, he was a child. What the fuck? He was groomed.

But eventually, Dolly started inviting auto over when Fred was at work for the day. She would tell the neighbors that auto was her half brother so that they wouldn't assume anything was up. Ew. But after a while, I get for real. But after a while of just bringing him into the home out in the open, Dolly was worried that people didn't believe Otto was her brother,

and worse, she thought Fred was catching on. But she was smart, and she was a woman who got her own way, so she came up with a plan. She convinced Otto to leave his job at the factory and move into her and Fred's attic. So that was when Fred was gone for the day, they could go on doing the nasty and the neighbors would never catch on and neither would Fred. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what? Move into my attic so that we can continue to fuk and not raise suspicion. Move into the attic of my house. That I live in there with my husband.

What? What? Okay, I was just making sure that I heard that right. And Otto said, I agreed without even batting an island. Yeah, of course he did. Because sad Otto was an orphan, so he didn't have much family. And he was willing to do pretty much anything

to make her happy. Oh, she prayed on him. Yeah, I think there was like a weird edipiss thing going on here. Clearly, Dolly was a straight up predator, and she used it to her advantage. And this is like so sad and strange, and just like fucked up. But the LA Times reported that auto-loved Dolly

as a boy loves his mother. Oh. So he was willing to do pretty much anything to make her happy and continue this affair with her. This is fucked up what she did. Yeah, that's what she really said. Like this is a 17 year old, it's not okay. A child.

He'd signed up for a lot. Yeah. Unknowingly, I think. He was completely confined to the attic and was that dolly's back in call for relations or anything she wanted because when they weren't doing an accident, he would sit up there and read detective novels and eventually actually started writing his own novels up there. She had a sex slave in the attic.

Oh, it literally gets to that point when he's referred to as a sex slave. Like what the fuck? After Fred and Dolly would go to bed, he would sometimes go to the kitchen and grab a snack or one of Fred's fancy cigars. Oh! So that's where the food and the cigars are going and one can assume the money.

Wow. That was missing. Wow. So Fred was correct when he mentioned to Dolly that random things and food were going missing and he certainly was hearing things in the night. He told Dolly that he saw strange shadows passing outside their bedroom door,

but Dolly would convince him that his mind was playing tricks on him because he'd had too much to drink. Oh, damn. And she knows that kid is just bopping around their house that night. Just be Bob a lupa baby. Wow. The affair carried on for five years,

literally right over Fred's head. Oh my God. Literally went over his head. literally right over Fred's head. Oh my God. Like literally went over his head. Literally right in his own house. Yeah, like fuck a whole bunch of that. Like just divorce your husband. That's the thing. And you know back then, like,

it's the twine, I keep forgetting, like it's the 20s, yeah. So she couldn't have, but still. But like, don't move your lover into your attic. This is wild. And you're keeping of childs can find into your attic. That's the other thing. This is not a grown man who agreed to,

yeah, this isn't like a three year old man. Like, which would still be outrageous. But it's like, this is a literal child. Yeah, technically if like the 30 year old was into it, it's not illegal. Right now, this is very illegal. What you're doing, man, you are, you kidnapped someone.

So many liars. So many li listeners. Yeah. Wild. But Fred would leave for work in the morning and Otto would come down and do everything Dolly claimed to be doing as far as cleaning and taking care of the house. She literally had a sex slave.

Wow. And when Fred was on his way home, Otto would go back up into the addicts and sometimes when she could, Dolly would sneak food and books up to him if she had the chance. I'm speechless. Now remember, this was all happening when the couple lived in Milwaukee. So this was like at the very beginning of the story.

Oh my God. The LA plant even opened up. No, it didn't even tell. I'm like, I thought this was like right. Wow. No, this is in Milwaukee. Wow. So when Fred decided to, and remember, they're having this conversation

in front of the LA attic. Yeah, yeah. So like, what the fuck? So when Fred decided to expand the business and move out to California with Dolly, she was very insistent that they buy a house that had an attic. And you might say,

strange request. And actually at the time, it was pretty rare to find a house in L.A. with an attic. A lot of them didn't have addicts, but Fred agreed. It was like, that's a weird request, but sure. And he found a house with an attic. I guess I, he wasn't one to ask a lot of questions. Apparently not. So they found their house. And before they moved in, Dolly sent auto out to California with the address and instructed him to set himself up in the attic before the movers arrived and he was able to. He was able to. Now clearly this sounds absolutely insane to

us. Why would this man just give up his life to live in someone's attic? But here are a few things to remember. One, he's literally an orphan. He has no family whatsoever. None. Two, he had quit his job at Fred's plant when Dolly urged him to so there was no job leaving him tethered to Milwaukee and Mixed that with no family. Number three, the affair started when he was underage and his frontal lobe was still developing. Therefore he wasn't going to making decisions yet. We're talking about somebody who was literally groomed here and four for, he had been living in Dolly and Friends Attic for five years at this point. Five years. I'm sure the idea of even making the trip to California,

like out in the big, great world, was fucking terrifying. Seriously. But he knew at the end of it, he'd end up in an attic. He would get another attic and find again. Yeah, it probably really was that like, it's feeling like people come out of like prison. Yes.

And they like sleep in a bathroom because like the space is just too much for them. Right. I feel like that's probably similar. I mean, I think so. Five years in an attic. Five fucking years. Just in the attic.

Just in the attic before anybody could catch onto him. So we can remember, we're sitting in front of this now attic, telling Shapiro this, and he tells Shapiro all about his journey here, and then the conversation steered over two Fred's murder. Auto knew all about the murder and he told Shapiro that Dolly was right about the previous break-it attempts. Those were actually real. Oh! And for that reason, one day when Dolly was out and Fred was at work, auto left two to get a gun so that he could protect them if need be. He said that he felt a great sense of responsibility to protect the house and Dolly and Fred.

Wow. Okay. Probably more Dolly, but you have to wait. Yeah, I would say so. So the night of Fred's murder, auto was reading in the attic and he heard Fred and Dolly come home. And according to him, he had heard the two of them arguing very loudly with each other when they got home. And Dolly had previously alluded to Fred being abusive toward her.

So Otto thought that she was in trouble and ran down the stairs with his gun. And he said, once he reached the living room, he saw Dolly lying on the floor and Fred was over her, standing over her. Fred looked over, saw Dolly and in the commotion probably assumed that he was some kind of burglar, or was completely confused about why his employee from like 10 years ago was sitting in front of him. It all right. So he lunched at him. And the two started wrestling over the gun, which is when it shot, fired when shot into the ceiling. Remember that bullet lodged in the ceiling in the four casing, but he'd only been shot in times. That seemed to catch

Fred off guard, and that's when Otto was able to get the gun and shoot Fred three times once in the head twice in the chest. Wow. Fred was most likely dead before he even hit the floor. Damn. So Otto kept talking to Shapiro, which thinking about it now is truly something because he has no idea that he's telling all of this to a straight up fucking lawyer. Yeah, like what? No idea. So he tells Shapiro that it was his idea to stage the scene. So he locked Dolly in the closet and left the key to the closet on the table in plain sight

so that she would be released easily. Tuk Fred's watch started destroying the place then returned to the attic while the police searched the house. He was in the attic while the LAPD was searching the fucking home. Why did they not search the attic? I do not know, but I'm gonna go with because LAPD. Yeah, that's their big fuck up here it is. But so Dolly started screaming once she knew auto was safely tucked away and the rest you already know. Wow.

But something that you might be questioning now, if Dolly had bought this new house after she inherited her millions and was pretty much free to do as she pleased, then why was Otto still living in the attic? Why didn't he just come down and live in the house? Oh yeah. Well, I guess he just wasn't used to it.

He would later tell a jury that after almost 10 years of this arrangement, he and Dolly had the kind of relationship that was based on dominance, yep, and submission, and that he was essentially her sex slave. He said it himself. Oh, okay. Wow. Okay. He would do whatever she wanted him to, and she was free to have romances with whoever she wanted to. Wow

Quite the arrangement. So Shapiro was overwhelmed to say the least. Otto literally told this man that he had been in the attic the entire time that he had known Dolly and been in a relationship with her and During some of this time Shapiro was also in a relationship with this woman and had relations with her while this man was living in the attic. Oh my God. And Otto was like, yeah, I was like sitting in the attic every time that happened,

but like, don't worry, there was good insulation. I didn't hear much. Are you kidding me? I am not kidding. He literally said that. There's good insulation. There's good insulation. Oh wow.

Now, I can only blame this next event on pure shock and maybe just like Shapiro feeling really bad for this guy, which in a weird, I do too, you know? Yeah. Like this is a fun stuff that no one can. This is a broken man, but yeah, he's a broken, broken man. Exactly. But he's a murderer.

He's a murderer now. He was also groomed by this woman. There's like many layers to this. It's, it's a murderer. He's a murderer now. But he was also groomed by this woman. There's like many layers to this. It's, it's a law. It's all sad. So Shapiro told Auto you got to get the hell out of here and helped him pack his bags and make his way to mother fucking Canada. No.

He said, fuck that. I'm in Canada. Fuck that. I'm in Canada. Shout out to Lins. Shout out to Lins. None of you will understand what we're saying. But Auto was on his way to Canada. Wow. I'm in Canada. Shout out to Lynn. Shout out to Lynn. None of you will understand what we're saying. But Otto was on his way to Canada. Wow, don't do that. Yeah, that's not good.

Dude needs help. So every last piece of evidence against Oli came from her messy ass relationships. Yeah. Roy Clum went to the police about the gun. Shapiro had been seen wearing Fred's pocket watch and now now was sitting here, creating everything I just went through that auto had told him to the police. And the ironic thing here is that the police presumably never would have found out this information, if it hadn't been for Dolly herself shitting where she ate. That's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is.

The fact that she had to send him to that house. Exactly, and the fact that she hired a lawyer for this very reason. Yeah. Because she needed one on deck, in case she ever got in trouble for setting up the murder of her husband. Wow.

And then she led this man right to her murderous side piece. Wow. What are you doing, ma'am? So luckily, the detectives were able to find Otto in Canada. He had married a woman and was going by the name Walter Klein. But he was promptly brought back to LA for questioning and then to stand trial for the murder of Fred Osterich. Yeah, you're not going to get away. No. You're not going to do that Otto. No.

So during his questioning, he actually repeated everything that he had told Shapiro. The shooting in his eyes with self-defense Not only was he in fear of Dolly's life, but also his own he said and Dolly was arrested soon after and once the newspapers grabbed hold of this story You can imagine how wild shit went the media. This is like fuck up, but this is what happens Calling auto all kinds of nicknames, the attic lover, batboy, and the Batman of Los Angeles. Oh, come on. So mean. It's also like not creative. But Dolly wasn't really concerned with any of it. As far as she was concerned, she hadn't pulled

the trigger, and therefore she could never be convicted of murder. Un-true. But it wasn't so simple. Dolly was not going to be living the rest of her life as comfortably as she had envisioned, maybe not because Fred siblings, John William and his sister PC teats. I love the PC teats. Would be contesting his will. Hell yeah, they were John said that he himself had discovered a final will that awarded $50,000 each to all of the siblings.

$50,000 that was supposed to go to Harry Voss, you remember him, the plant manager. Another 50,000 should go to the Christian Science Church and Mrs. Margie Tex of Chilton, oh my God. Literally Chilton. I'm just kidding. Young Roy Gilmore. Look at that. She was also awarded some money.

She was an old family friend and Dolly's mother and her were to get $30,000 each. Oh. It's a lot of money. And things then got even more complicated. While they were preparing to go to trial, investigators were tipped off that auto was responsible for attempting to burn down the Milwaukee

plant. Oh. Yes. William Greenwald, the deputy's state fire marshal in Wisconsin, said that his office received a tip from an anonymous source that an employee of the plant had been offered $1,000 to set it on fire. Damn. Could that have been auto?

Brbived by a woman named Dolly? Perhaps. We'll never know, because there was not enough evidence to support this claim of Arsene, so it kind of just went away. We know. But it was worth mentioning. We know. And it's a good example of all the interest in Dolly and Auto's case and how it was bringing

tons and tons of different accusations up. So all of that kind of just went away. Oh, okay. Nothing ever happened with him. They could never determine if it was really auto that was gonna start that fire. And luckily the fire didn't burn the plant down. And then the siblings, they were never able to prove

that that will was valid. But it did kind of like hold things up for a little bit. Yeah, but still. So auto was indicted for the murder of Fred Osterich on April 11th, 1930. And in a statement to the press, the DA said that Dolly was remaining silent, but maybe she shouldn't because they hinted

that there might be more than one indictment if she kept quiet. Because remember, she hasn't been re-rested yet. Now, just a few days later, he makes good on this promise, his little hint there, and Dolly was also indicted. It had been close to eight years since Fred was killed. Eight years. So before the trial,

the papers continued their wild reports, and even the attorneys involved fed into their nonsense. Auto's attorney indicated that he was gonna plead guilty by reason of insanity, which was a huge thing back then, cause nobody ever did that, and it never really worked. Yeah.

And that he might reveal shocking details about a third person who had been involved in the murder. The DA's office released their own statement about this third party, saying that they were also aware there may have been a third killer, but that they weren't ready to reveal what information they did or did not have. Stop, I gotta know.

Now as the trial moved forward, the theory that a third person was involved just kind of went away damn There's a lot of things that just float off into the Just literally nobody is just they're just like well we got to get them for this paper paper by yeah So dolly and auto were originally going to be tried together for friends murder Their lawyers had hoped that they would be tried separately though So auto's lawyer petition the court to allow for separate trials

But superior court judge Walton Woods refused the request. He said they're being tried together. Walton is not going to stand for that shit. Walton Woods would never, never. No. So Dolly's lawyer, though, appealed to that refusal and won. So what? They were ultimately tried separately.

Yeah. Otto would be tried first, and Dolly would be tried as soon as his trial was over, which they hoped would be by the end of June or early July. So auto's trial started at the beginning of June, and the original plan was to go with the same story that he told Shapiro and then the cops who arrested him. But as the trial started, his attorneys kind of came up with a new strategy. He told the court that he had only told that story because Dali's original attorney, Herm Herm Shapiro, Herm, convinced him that it would help her during her trial.

What? He said that this is quotes. The confession I made before the grand jury was the story that I had been coached on for years. I told it because, for years, it had been been drummed into me that this was the only way to save Mrs. Osterich if I was arrested was to tell the story. What? He said that entire story was actually made up completely by Shapiro and that the real story was that Otto had been so scared by the gunshot that he spent the night huddled in the attic

and hiding in fear. He had not killed. What? He said, nope. So now we've told three separate stories. Yeah. One where auto was the hero who saves Dolly. Yeah.

One where he's the hero and saves Dolly, but there's also a random third person involved. And finally, this last one where he's actually not involved at all. And he's just crying upstairs. Yes. Yeah. But his defense team harped on a really good point that auto was a young man when Dolly had started a quote unquote relationship with him. He was only 17 years old, a child in the awesome.

When she grew up to him, exactly. They really made her and she really made herself the femme fatale of this story, which really wasn't that hard to do because she pretty much is. It was. Now, they also, of course, pointed out the fact that she had multiple partners. She had been with Otto, Herman Shapiro,

and Roy Clum all at the same time. And they started referring to the latter man as Daldi's basement lover. Oh, so she's got an attic and a basement lover. Yes, there was no proof to substantiate that, but it was a fun thing for them to say. I was gonna say, did they, did anything come to, for that to come up with a little bit of a lot?

I don't know what I was trying to say there. It's like, I was trying to say, did anything happen for that to come about for them to call him a basement lover? Oh, I think just the fact that she had an attic lover. Yeah, so you got to have a basement. Yeah, I'm like, you know, like a porch lover and a swimming pool lover.

Yeah. Just all areas of your house love room lover. Mudroom lover and a swimming pool lover. Yeah. Just all areas of your house lover. Love room lover. Mudroom lover. Like that. A pantry lover. Ooh. Yeah.

I'm a pantry lover. I love a pantry. I really just got to say I love a good pantry. I do. So in the end, the DA was able to show that auto wasn't the scared young boy tethered to the attic that he claimed to be. He could come and go as he pleased. In fact, he and Dolly actually had a joint bank account

together at one point. What? Yes. And at the end of the day, the DA said he was a willing participant and a man's murder. Damn. So on the first day of July 1930, both sides rested their cases, and the jury was sent out to deliberate.

When they came back, they read their verdict allowed to the room. Otto Sandhuber was guilty of manslaughter. Oh, yeah. They had considered first-degree murder, but none of the jurors felt that he was guilty of that per se. They all felt like bad for him. And yeah, it's like one of those weird way,

he was groomed. He was. But he also needs to face consequences because he murdered him in his life. Yeah. Unfortunately, when sentencing came the next day and the judge ordered, Otto had to spend zero days in prison.

He was free to go. What? Because the statute of limitations on manslaughter had to run out. But the fuck up. Yup. Are you kidding me? Nope.

The fact that we have the statute of limitations on manslaughter, like the fact that that even existed, what the fuck. Wow. Yeah. So he was free to go. Wow. And he just like dipped. Yeah, it's by.

Like Scott free. Wow. Scott free because I'm sure he went through a lot in the. And he just like dipped. Yeah, it's by like Scott free. Wow. Scott free because I'm sure he went through a lot in the open. He carried by and the water. Yes, yes, that's still. Now, Dolly's child was pretty similar to Autos. The DA argued that the murder was so planned out because Dolly would inherit millions of dollars that she and Otto could spend together or she could just get rid of him and spend it herself. And they also used her sex life to paint a picture of her depravity. He also theorized that Dolly had shot Fred herself, whipping out a secret pistol

that she had in a hidden compartment of the home. None existed. I mean, that's a no for me, but also she had a handful of guns that she was just handing out like Halloween candy. So I would have been shocked. Oh, ass man in the end. I would have been shocked if she had a hidden compartment

with a little begun. I think he was kind of playing to the fact that the jury might not have been shocked if she had not. Yeah, exactly. But Dolly was able to hire a very notorious defense lawyer, Jerry Geesler, Geysler, my bad. She had wrapped Arl Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, and even our girl Marilyn.

Wow. Marilyn Monroe. So safe to say he was pretty fucking good. And on the stand, Dali sobbed and said that she and Otto had never conspired to murder her husband Fred, and that Otto had taken it upon himself to murder the man as he was just walking down the stairs one day. Oh yeah.

And she had nothing to do with it. No, of course. So the stairs one day. Oh yeah. And she had nothing to do with it. No, of course. So the jury took two days to deliberate. And on August 24th, they told the judge that they were, quote unquote, hopelessly deadlocked. Really? Yes. So they were sent back to their hotel

for the evening and asked to reconvene the next morning. The next morning, they still couldn't decide whether she was guilty or not. I didn't see that coming. So this was declared a mis-trial. And Dolly was held in her cell while the DA's office decided whether it would be worth it to retry the case.

So later that fall, it was decided that it was not worth the time or the money of going through another trial, especially if she was just gonna be found guilty of manslaughter and free to go because of the statute of limitations. Yes. So Dolly was released from of the statute of limitations. Yes. So Dolly was released from custody in December of 1930 and she was able to live out the rest of her life in Los Angeles with a new man, Ray Burt Headdrick.

She also got to keep her inheritance from Fred. Stop. She and Ray married after years of being together, but she died two weeks after they got married. April 14th, 1961, she was 80 years old. Holy, she got married at 80 years old, and then she died two weeks later. And then dip two weeks later. Which makes me wonder, like, did she know that she was dying

and wanted to leave the money to Ray, and wanted to him to be her husband, you know? Wow. But it also reminds me of the case that I just covered Margaret Bairg. She also had this whirlwind of a life and murdered a man. Yeah. And died at 80 years old.

Wow. Weird, right? Yeah. Now auto presumably went back to Canada with his wife who stuck by his side throughout his arrest and the trial. Guys. But he died in 1948. So he ended up dying before Dali. Oh, wow. with his wife who stuck by his side throughout his arrest and the trial. But he died in 1948, so he ended up dying before Dali. Oh, wow.

Yeah, early. Sad. Damn. And that is the case of Dali and Fred and Otto. That is a story. That is a story of the man's and the attic. I think we should name a story. This episode, the man's and the addict. The man's and the addict.

Perhaps. Yeah. That is, it's sad. Really sad. It's sad in like, so many levels. So many different levels of sad. So many people got hurt by her. Oh yeah.

Absolutely. That like the amount of outreach she had for fucking up people's lives is like pretty, pretty crazy. It's a good cautionary tale though, like don't piss people off and treat them badly because it's always gonna come back and bite you in the ass. Yeah, like don't be shitty to people.

No. Well, it's not gonna end up well for you. No, like don't fuck with people. Don't fuck with people. Just don't. Stop being a dick, please. I like how you under that very, very, very politely.

Yeah, please. And I'd like to ask you to please keep listening, and we hope you keep it. Wee! But never as weird as Dolly us, tarotch because what the mother fucking fuck do not keep people in your attic unless they sign up for it? And are of legal age.

Keep Christmas decorations in your attic, they sign up for it. And are of legal age. Yeah, keep Christmas decorations in your attic. Not anything else. Yeah, keep your second wardrobe in your attic. There you go. I got you. That's just my winter clothes. Bye. 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. Forth survey at Wondery.com slash survey.