Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Grace Budd Pt. 1: The Disappearance

Episode Date: May 30, 2022

After the kidnapping of 10-year-old Grace Budd, authorities sifted through countless tips to locate the man who took her: Frank Howard. But after years of investigating, they realized that Frank Howar...d was actually Albert Fish. And time was running out to find him. This is a crossover episode with the hosts of Serial Killers, a Parcast show that delves into the lives and crimes of notorious murderers.  Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of violence, child murder, and cannibalism. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. The ride from the Bronx to Westchester, New York, didn't take long, but it was enough to make the passengers restless. Some practically leapt to their feet the second the train stopped. People bustled around the car, fiddling with their luggage, straightening their suits and donning their hats.
Starting point is 00:00:36 If any of them noticed 10-year-old Grace Bud at all, they likely just smiled at her. She looked radiant in her communion dress, the perfect attire for such a pleasant Sunday afternoon. A thin man who looked like her grandfather stepped off the train first. He beckoned to Grace, encouraging her to jump into his arms. Instead, she turned around and ran back to her seat. The thin man's face fell for a moment.
Starting point is 00:01:03 Then perked up again when Grace returned. She was carrying a package he'd forgotten. He grabbed the bundle, tucked it under his arm, and took Grace's hand. He led the little girl away from the station in short, soft strides. With each step, the knives inside the bundle led out a soft clink. Welcome to Solved Murder's True Crime Mysteries, a Spotify original from Parcast. I'm your host, Carter Roy. And I'm your host Wendy McKenzie.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Every Wednesday we step into the world of true crimes, most fascinating murder cases, and tell the tale of how real-life detectives close the case. This week, we're teaming up with Greg Polson and Vanessa Richardson from the Serial Killers Podcast. You can find all episodes of Solved Murders, Serial Killers, and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free exclusively on Spotify. Greg and Vanessa, thanks for being here. Absolutely. This is the first of two episodes on one of the most fascinating and gut-wrenching crimes of all time,
Starting point is 00:02:19 the 1928 murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd. Today, we'll cover the horrific crime and the outrage that gripped an entire city. The investigation dragged on for years as police hit roadblock after roadblock. Next time, we'll follow the authorities as they close in on one of the most depraved child murderers in history. In the end, the killer's twisted arrogance led to his... his own undoing. We have all that and more coming up. Stay with us.
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Starting point is 00:03:13 Only at Yamava Resort and Casino. celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Early in the morning on June 4th, 1928, Edward Budd burst through the doors of a New York police station. In between panicked breaths, the young man told the officers he was there to report his little sister, Grace, missing.
Starting point is 00:03:43 The 10-year-old had been kidnapped. Detectives followed Edward to his home, where they interviewed his parents, Albert and Delia. The two of them were just as upset as their son. They told the officers everything that led up to their daughter's disappearance. One week earlier, on May 28th, an old man named Frank Howard arrived at their farm unannounced. Officers listened carefully as Delia and Albert described him. He was a farmer, and he was likely somewhere in his 60s.
Starting point is 00:04:12 Then, to the point he looked slightly frail, his hair was entirely gray, including his prominent mustache. He wore a shabby suit, but spoke with the confidence of a worldly man who was used to to being in control. He had come to the buds to ask about their son, Edward. Freshly 18, the young man had placed a personal ad in a newspaper looking for work. Howard had told Edward that he owned a farm and needed some young men to help him keep it going. He even offered to hire one of Edward's friends to work on his farm too.
Starting point is 00:04:44 He then made a show of offering one of Edward's little sisters some coins for candy. The gesture made an impact on Albert Bud, especially. The family often had to scrape by, and they didn't get many visitors flashing money like that, but Cash didn't seem to be an issue for Howard. He came across as generous and wealthy, and at the time it didn't seem like he had any ulterior motives. He kept his first visit brief, and the Buds were instantly won over by his kindly appearance and gentle demeanor.
Starting point is 00:05:16 After he left, the family celebrated their good fortune. Delia and Albert had been pestering their son about getting a job, and they were proud he was finally turning up prospects. For his part, Edward thought his prayers had been answered. He wouldn't mind working for a nice man like that. The whole family eagerly awaited Howard's next visit on June 2nd. He claimed that was the day he would finalize the arrangements with Edward. He kept them in suspense until the late afternoon when he finally sent them a telegram. He claimed he couldn't make it that day after all, but apologize for the delay and promised to come by the next morning. The anticipation made his second visit even more exciting. This time, Howard came
Starting point is 00:06:02 bearing gifts, fresh cheese in a small enamel bucket and some strawberries. He said everything came straight from his farm. The gifts prompted the buds to invite Howard to stay for lunch. While he waited at the table, the old man asked about the telegram he'd wired. over the day before. Delia pointed out the scrap of paper. Howard picked the message up and pocketed it without explaining why. Then he changed the subject and made polite chit-chat while the family ate. Before he left, Howard met one of the bud's other children, 10-year-old Grace.
Starting point is 00:06:39 She was still wearing her Sunday best, a brilliant white communion dress. Howard was charmed by the little girl. He said his niece, who was about Grace's age, was having a birth to be a birthday. day that afternoon. He thought Grace would enjoy playing some games with children her own age. Delia paused at the idea of sending her daughter out with someone they barely knew, but Albert was open to it. After all, Howard had been so kind to them already, and more importantly, the old man was offering Edward a job he sorely needed. Albert didn't want to offend Howard by declining such a gracious invitation. Eventually, Delia relented.
Starting point is 00:07:20 The Lord gave them the address for the party, and Grace walked hand in hand with him out the front door. It was the last time the buds saw their little girl. Detectives mulled over the family's story. A couple of details stood out to them as suspicious. The detail about the telegram in particular gave the detectives pause. Though no one thought twice about it at the time, in retrospect, Howard's behavior was unusual. There didn't seem to be any reason for him to go out of his way to take back the telegram, unless he was trying to hide the paper trail.
Starting point is 00:07:58 The more the officers thought about it, the more sense the move made. Perhaps that was the reason Howard showed up unannounced in the first place. He didn't want the Bud family to have any record of their meetings. The idea festered in the pit of Delia's stomach. In the back of her mind, she and Albert had to have hoped the entire ordeal was all a simple misunderstanding. Frank Howard seemed like such a genuine man. Grace had sat on his lap while the old man beamed and patted her head. But when the authorities looked into Frank Howard a little more,
Starting point is 00:08:30 they found some gaping holes in his story. Most importantly, the address he gave Delia for his supposed party didn't exist. It seems the Bud family took everything Howard told them at face value, simply because he appeared to be a harmless old man. But the fake address and his odd behavior with the telegram revealed the truth. It looked like Howard had planned to kidnap their child all along. He'd concocted an elaborate fantasy to throw the Bud family off guard and slip past their better judgment. The concept unsettled the detectives.
Starting point is 00:09:06 As far as they knew, kidnappings usually came with a ransom note, especially when children were involved. Howard's actions just didn't make any sense. The Buds didn't have much money or any valuables they could use as ransom. ransom for their daughter. And if Howard wasn't after cash, what did he want? Police left the initial round of questioning perplexed. At first glance, they appeared to have a solid lead. Frank Howard, whoever he was, had almost certainly taken Grace. They got a good description of the suspect, along with a loose timeline of the events leading up to Grace's disappearance. There was just one problem. It was 1928.
Starting point is 00:09:50 Law enforcement didn't have a reliable way to track down Frank Howard. There were no criminal databases for them to search, and no way to analyze trace evidence or take DNA samples. When it came down to it, they would likely have to rely on eyewitnesses if they ever wanted a chance to catch Howard. So they took Edward back to the station and asked him to comb through a list of known criminals
Starting point is 00:10:12 matching Howard's description. Meanwhile, another detective went, to the DMV to see how many Frank Howard's were on file. Maybe he hoped he could find the address for Howard's farm in an afternoon, and it would be an open and shut case. But all their efforts led to dead ends. There wasn't anyone named Frank Howard who owned a farm in the area. Edward couldn't pick Howard out of any of the police lineups,
Starting point is 00:10:38 and the team of officers who combed the neighborhood came up empty-handed. The situation was getting worse by the second. When news of the case reached the press, a slew of tipsters contacted the police and muddied the waters with false leads. The only stories that actually had any bearing on the case were as disturbing as they were vague. Several local mothers told the authorities they'd seen an old man matching Howard's description stalking the streets for weeks. They claimed he spent his time watching, waiting, and generally loitering. he seemed especially interested in children and often spent a long while looking them up and down. Well, to the modern year, this sounds like the textbook behavior of a child predator.
Starting point is 00:11:27 Such a concept wasn't widely understood at the time. So the anecdotes only told detectives something they had already figured out. Frank Howard was a planner. He was a careful and deliberate liar. They couldn't take anything he said at face value. Thus, their best chance for a lead, eyewitness testimony, also became the biggest time-waster of the investigation. Within a week, two dozen officers were put on the case
Starting point is 00:11:52 to keep up with the endless stream of tips and accusations. Detectives followed every lead they could, but few were helpful. Aside from the mustache, which could have been shaven off, almost any old man could conceivably fit Frank Howard's description. The only physical evidence they were able to find was the missing telegram. After an exhaustive search, detectives located the specific office Howard used to send the message to the buds on June 2nd. That netted them a copy of the telegram handwritten in a neat cursive. It also meant they had another neighborhood to scour for clues.
Starting point is 00:12:32 Thankfully, the hours of footwork were finally turning up some results. Law enforcement learned that Howard had purchased the small bucket for his cheese from a local push cart near the telegram office. The seller didn't give them any new useful information, but the fine suggested that Howard was familiar with the area. And there was more. After examining the telegram, detectives ruled out the idea that Howard owned a farm. They already knew he was a liar. And judging by the clear and confident word choice in the telegram, they guessed he was more educated than the average farmer. That was about all they could determine from the message, though. Their leads were dwindling by the day. By now, it had been over a week since Grace disappeared, and there was still no ransom note.
Starting point is 00:13:20 An icy horror took hold of the Bud family. They worried that their little girl would never come home. She'd been taken by a phantom, a monster masquerading as a gentleman who disappeared as suddenly as he came. No matter what it took, someone had to find Frank Howard. Coming up, the case threatens to go cold. We all have grief and traumas in our life, but that doesn't mean they have to control us. Hi, I'm David Kessler, host of Healing with David Kessler. For most of us, our instinct is to hide our pain and never discuss it.
Starting point is 00:14:12 But as a grief and loss expert, I'm here to tell you, without a doubt that talking is healing. Anger, abuse, guilt, shame. They're all part of grief and trauma. Healing with David Kessler gets to the root of these issues, shares tips for persevering, and reveals that behind every dark emotion lies wisdom and hope. loss and trauma may seem overwhelming, but healing is possible.
Starting point is 00:14:52 And I'm here to help. Healing with David Kessler is a Spotify original from Parcast. Hear a new episode every Tuesday, free and only on Spotify. And now, back to our story. By mid-June, 1928, 10-year-old Grace Budd had been missing for almost two weeks. Her parents, Delian and Albert, were beginning to lose heart, and in
Starting point is 00:15:28 their darkest moments, perhaps their faith as well. Anyone in their position would have been devastated by the ordeal, but the buds also had to deal with the burden of their family tragedy becoming major news. It was hard enough to take the
Starting point is 00:15:44 outpouring of well-meaning support from strangers, but the family also became the target of some sick pranks. The buds received more than one letter purporting to be from their daughter's captor. Sometimes the fakes were obvious, but others seemed legit at first glance. Even when they clearly weren't authentic, it was agonizing for Delia and Albert to read the nasty notes, yet they couldn't ignore the letters altogether. They were still desperately waiting to hear from Frank Howard. The couple clung to the hope that,
Starting point is 00:16:14 against our odds, he was keeping grace alive and well. Law enforcement was in a similar boat, Based on the available clues, they assumed Frank Howard was some kind of professional kidnapper. They couldn't imagine any other reason that he would haunt the neighborhood for weeks before a finally snatching grace. And if that were true, it seemed logical that he would eventually try and extort the Bud family with the promise of Grace's safe return. So when the Buds received a letter signed by Frank Howard on June 14th, the authorities thought it was genuine. was puzzling, but it was clear and concise, just like Howard's telegram had been.
Starting point is 00:16:56 The writer implied that he'd abducted Grace out of the kindness of his heart. He said he wanted to raise her in a nicer home, even claiming that he'd given her a pet canary and a cat to play with. He closed the letter with a tease, promising to make contact again soon. He wanted to arrange some kind of visitation between Grace and her parents. It was hard to believe, but it was hard to believe, least it provided some sort of explanation for Howard's actions, and it loosely fit with the persona he'd presented to the Bud family, that of a wealthy man who liked children. Grace's parents chose to believe the letter. It was better to imagine their daughter was safe and surrounded by cute animals than the alternative. The family cautiously awaited the
Starting point is 00:17:43 promised follow-up letter for weeks afterward. Meanwhile, the NYPD continued their detective work. The same day the strange letter was delivered, a shop owner claimed he spotted Grace Budd, living on the streets of Brooklyn. The witness and his wife had spotted a young girl sleeping on a wooden board in their basement. She fled when the man tried to talk to her. The only thing he heard her say was, don't tell my brother. The revelation gave investigators whiplash. Now they had two vastly conflicting reports of Grace's whereabouts, received just hours apart.
Starting point is 00:18:21 It encapsulated just how bizarre this case was. Nothing made sense. After weeks of searching, they couldn't even nail down a solid motive for the abduction. And while detectives chased down lead after lead with nothing to show for it, public interest dwindled. It wasn't until the beginning of August that the next break came. That summer, a prison warden in Florida read about Grace's disappearance. The description of Frank Howard reminded him, of a con man who'd recently served time.
Starting point is 00:18:54 The former inmate who was released two years earlier was Albert Cortel. He was known for recruiting young girls to help him pull off his scams without arousing suspicion. The warden sent Cortel's mugshot to the New York Police Commissioner who included it in a photo lineup
Starting point is 00:19:10 to show to potential witnesses. William Vedder was one of the first who saw the picture of Cortel. Vedder worked at a child protection agency in Brooklyn. He told police that two months earlier, an old man had come by to ask about adopting a little girl from his organization. Something about the man was suspicious, though Vetter couldn't put his finger on what it was. After the stranger failed to show up to the next appointment, Vetter had forgotten him until he read an article about Grace Budd. Detectives handed Vetter a stack of photos and asked if any resembled the mysterious stranger.
Starting point is 00:19:48 Vetter looked through the lineup and pointed directly to the latest suspect in Grace Budd's abduction, Albert Corthell. Vetter's story had officially grabbed the police's attention. Finally, they had a solid suspect, one who definitely had a real name, a history, and a valuable mugshot. Investigators took the same photo to the Bud family to confirm their suspicions. Delia's eyes widened when she saw it. Albert Cortell had to be Frank Howard. she was positive. Her husband and son weren't so certain,
Starting point is 00:20:22 but they couldn't say for sure either way. So law enforcement took off running. They got an arrest warrant for Corthel the very same week. But actually, finding Cortel was easier said than done. He was an experienced con man and wasn't easy to track. Detectives in the Missing Persons Bureau pounded the pavement, looking for traces of Corthel all over the United States. It was a thankless and seemingly endless,
Starting point is 00:20:50 job. Weeks turned into months, then years. By 1930, almost two years after Grace's abduction, the Bureau was really grasping at straws. Detectives traveled all the way to New Hampshire after an unusual newspaper was mailed to the buds out of the blue. No luck. Then they pursued a small-time con artist in Florida because he went by the name Charles Howard, another dead end. In September 1930, they received a tip from a woman named Jesse Pope. She said that over two years earlier, the day Grace disappeared, her estranged husband Charles acted very suspicious. He showed up with a young girl Jesse didn't recognize
Starting point is 00:21:35 and asked her to care for the child. He claimed the girl was his friend's daughter, but Jesse didn't believe him for a minute. She told him she didn't want to get involved and sent him away with the child. Due to a series of personal issues, she said she didn't connect the incident to Grace, until a newspaper article reminded her of the case years later.
Starting point is 00:21:54 She was adamant. Whether or not her husband had taken Grace Budd, she told detectives he was absolutely dangerous. On the strength of her passionate testimony, the authorities arrested Charles Pope the following day. Delia Bud took one look at him and swore up and down that Charles was the culprit behind her daughter's abduction. She was so desperate to find out what happened to Grace
Starting point is 00:22:18 that she was ready to believe nearly anyone was responsible. The positive momentum didn't last long, though. Charles didn't strike the police as a cold-blooded kidnapper. But then, nothing about the case had fit their expectations so far. Still, after the first round of questioning, detectives found themselves stuck once again. They weren't able to pick any holes in Charles' story. He insisted that his estranged wife was out to get him.
Starting point is 00:22:46 She called him dangerous, but he said she, only had him committed to a psychiatric institution so she could steal his inheritance. It sounded like the plot of a pulp novel, but Charles' sister backed him up at every turn. His side of the story shook the investigator's confidence. But by that point, they'd exhausted most of their other leads. They couldn't let Charles off the hook without looking into every possible connection. And when they found out he had some property on a farm in New York, alarm bells went off. Years earlier, police dismissed Frank Howard's story about owning a farm as pure fiction,
Starting point is 00:23:24 but now they weren't so sure. Maybe he actually did have some kind of connection to a farm after all. Law enforcement raided Charles' home and found some provocative photos of women and girls and letters hidden away in the garage. They also found a few strands of hair, a ribbon, some ammunition, and a pair of white stockings. At least one of the officers thought the hair looked like it belonged to a young girl. And Delia Budd said the stockings resembled the pair of Grace was wearing when she disappeared. Things snowballed from there.
Starting point is 00:24:00 A local repairman came forward to tell detectives that he'd stumbled on Charles digging under the floorboards one day. He claimed Charles got flustered when he spotted him snooping around his bedroom. Detectives thought they were finally going to get their man. Charles was set to go to trial in late December. If you could even call it a trial, the prosecution crumbled before it even got going. The first domino to fall was also their first witness, Delia Budd. She was no longer so sure that Charles Pope was Frank Howard. Charles's estranged wife, who initially accused him,
Starting point is 00:24:38 had spoken to Delia before she ever got a chance to see the photo lineup. She ranted to Delia about how evil and dangerous. her husband was and told Delia what Charles looked like. Delia was won over by her passion and the chance to finally get justice for her daughter. She positively identified Charles as Frank Howard, even though to her memory, the two didn't exactly look alike. When it came time for Charles' wife to take the stand, she didn't do much to win back her credibility.
Starting point is 00:25:08 She admitted she had tried to steal from Charles in the past. She'd even conspired to have him committed to an asylum. Still, she stuck to her story about seeing him with a strange young girl in 1928. But her testimony wasn't nearly enough. A not guilty verdict came in before the court was dismissed for the day. That left police in a painfully familiar position. Their final remaining suspect was conman Albert Cortell. Just a couple weeks before Charles saw his day in court,
Starting point is 00:25:41 he was finally captured trying to cash someone else's check. Of course, he swore he had nothing to do with Grace's kidnapping. Detectives looked into his alibi and found it was airtight. Try as they might, they simply couldn't tie him to Grace's kidnapping. No witnesses, not even Delia, were willing to identify him as Frank Howard anymore. There was no physical evidence linking him to the abduction either. Looking to avoid a repeat of Charles Pope's trial, authorities released him in February 1931. It's difficult to imagine what the buds were going through by that point.
Starting point is 00:26:20 For so long they'd held unto hope for Grace's safe return, or at least for some semblance of justice. Now, after more than two years of fruitless searching, prospects look bleaker than ever. The media tension died down, any remaining leads dried up, another year slipped by. Then another, then another. The investigation wasn't making much progress,
Starting point is 00:26:46 but it wasn't exactly at a standstill either. In all that time, the police had never stopped searching. Detective William King at the Missing Persons Bureau made sure of that. King was originally put on the case soon after Grace went missing. Over time, it became his personal crusade. The injustice of that little girl being snatched away, gnawed at him. Through thick and thin, he kept the case alive, even after Corthel was released. No matter how many years passed, he pursued each new hunch as if it were the first break in the case.
Starting point is 00:27:22 And eventually, he found what he was looking for. Coming up, Frank Howard returns. And now, back to our story. The six-year anniversary of Grace Bud's disappearance was June 3rd, 1934. It was always a heartbreaking time of year for the Bud family. In the past, they had gotten... letters from people all over the country, sending their sympathy and encouragement, along with their crackpot theories regarding Grace's whereabouts.
Starting point is 00:28:01 But they hadn't received any messages like those for a long time. So Delia Budd was surprised when a few days after the anniversary she got a letter from someone she didn't know. Enclosed was a photograph, cut from a recent edition of the Daily Mirror. The U.S. Navy had docked in New York as part of a press tour, and the picture featured some smiling sailors posing with a couple of girls. Whoever sent the letter to the buds had drawn an arrow to one of them and written, This is the girl, Grace Bud.
Starting point is 00:28:33 Delia took a closer look. By that time, Grace would have been 16. It was impossible to say for sure from a grainy newspaper photo, but Delia had to admit that the young lady in the photograph did look like her daughter, at least a little. Delia and her husband, Albert, took the clipping to the police. Law enforcement agreed to look into the matter. It wasn't much, but it was something.
Starting point is 00:29:01 The media was more enthusiastic. In no time, the papers ran with the new development, happy to dredge the old case back into the public consciousness. But those same outlets quickly had to change their tune. In a matter of days, law enforcement tracked down the girl in the photo. She was just a regular teenager. Grace Budd was still missing. This latest round of press attention was short-lived,
Starting point is 00:29:27 but it did succeed in reminding the average New Yorker of the unsolved tragedy, and at least one of the articles mentioned the Bud's latest home address. Because of that, the family received another strange letter on November 12, 1934. It was addressed to Delia. She passed it to her son Edward to read for her. She waited as he looked over the message. No words ever came. Edward's eyes widened as he reached the bottom of the paper.
Starting point is 00:29:59 He looked sick, scared, and confused all at the same time. All of a sudden, he rushed out the door, taking the letter with him. He brought it directly to Detective William King. Even the grizzled veteran investigator was shocked at what it contained. The author claimed to be Frank Howard, and the message seemed designed to torture Delia Bud specifically. It started with a rambling and barbaric anecdote. The writer described how a friend of his
Starting point is 00:30:27 has supposedly encountered a community of cannibals in Hong Kong decades earlier. He claimed that the story inspired him to taste human flesh for himself. It only got worse from there. The writer recounted the tale of his first meeting with Grace Budd in detail, seemingly to convince the family that he was the real kidnapper. her and not a prankster. Then he wrote about what happened to Grace after the two of them left the buds home.
Starting point is 00:30:54 According to the letter, Howard took the little girl to an abandoned house, a train ride away from the city. He left her outside while he undressed and unwrapped the bundle he'd brought along. Inside was a hacksaw, a butcher's knife, and a meat cleaver. Then he hid in the closet and waited.
Starting point is 00:31:14 As soon as Grace came inside, he leapt out and murdered her. He used the blades to dismember her body. Then he cooked the pieces. He claimed it took nine days to eat it all. Detective King was just as disturbed by the letter as everyone else. But as always, his mind was on the case first and foremost. The specifics in the letter all matched with the events leading up to Grace's disappearance.
Starting point is 00:31:42 But on the other hand, there had been so much ink spilled about the crime that it was hard to tell. It was possible the author was a fake who'd cribbed the details from the many articles and interviews published about Grace over the years. King had to be sure. When he finished reading, he brought out the old copy of the telegram Frank Howard sent to the buds. It was practically the only hard evidence they had. King's heart lurched in his chest. The handwriting looked identical. For the first time in years, the authorities had a solid lead. King wasted no time working out his next move. He scrutinized the letter from every angle.
Starting point is 00:32:22 There were so many variables. The paper didn't seem all that remarkable. He couldn't glean much more from the handwriting either, and while the content was disturbing, it didn't hold any clues about where the killer was now. Then King got to the envelope. On the back there was a partially scratched out address along with a small hexagonal insignia.
Starting point is 00:32:46 Inside the logo, the letters NYP-C-B-A, or stamped. King traced the address and matched the insignia to the New York Private Chauphers Benevolent Association. He spoke with a man in charge there and got a hold of the organization's personnel files. He spent hours pouring over the documents, looking for anyone named Frank Howard, or any employee whose handwriting matched the telegram
Starting point is 00:33:13 and letter. He never found a good fit, but after six years on the case, he wasn't going to stop there. King returned to the NYPCBA and briefed the entire office on the situation. Anyone with a connection to the letter or knowledge about the envelope needed to tell the police. While the rest of the shaken employees shuffled back to their desks, one stayed behind to talk to King privately. He confessed that he recently taken some company envelopes back to a boarding house he used to stay in. Since then, moved to a new address and left the envelopes behind. King rushed to the boarding house and questioned the woman who ran it. When he described Frank Howard, a spark of recognition flickered across her face. She told him an elderly tenant who sounded an awful lot like Frank Howard had just moved out.
Starting point is 00:34:03 She showed King her log book and he eagerly flipped through the pages. There, in black and white, was a signature in the same handwriting as the gruesome confession letter. His real name was Albert H. Fish. Thanks again for tuning in to solve murders, and thanks to Vanessa Richardson and Greg Polson from Serial Killers for joining us. We'll be back Thursday with Part 2 of Grace Budd's story. We'll follow the police as they track down Grace's killer and stumble on something far darker than they expected.
Starting point is 00:34:48 or more information on the case. Amongst the many sources we used, we found deranged, the shocking, true story of America's most fiendish killer by Harold Schechter, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Solved Murders, serial killers,
Starting point is 00:35:04 and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. If we live till next time. Solved Murder's True Crime Mysteries is a Spotify original, from Parcast. It is executive produced by Max Cutler. Sound design by Michael Langsner with production assistants by Ron Shapiro,
Starting point is 00:35:26 Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, Travis Clark, and Freddie Beckley. This episode of Solve Murders was written by Terrell Wells, with writing assistance by Karas Allen and Giles Hofseth, fact-checking by Anya Barely, and research by Mickey Taylor and Chelsea Wood. Solve Murder stars Wendy McKenzie and Carter Roy, with special guest appearances in this episode, from Vanessa Richardson and Greg Paulson. Hi, I'm David Kessler, host of Healing with David Kessler.
Starting point is 00:36:02 As an expert on grief and loss, I know that healing doesn't mean forgetting or getting over the trauma. It means that the trauma no longer controls you. Join me each week for insights on how to find peace and learn how it's possible to persevere through anything. Healing with David Kessler is a Spotify original from Parcast. Listen every Tuesday, free and only on Spotify.

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