Episode 530: Preston Castle and the Murder of Anna Corbin

I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York. A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast. What's the answer, and what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

Hysterical, a new podcast from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Hey Weirdos, I'm Ash and I'm Alayna.

And this is morbid.

This is morbid, it feels like morbid in the morning, but it's like, kind of not at all. Yeah, I woke up late today by accident. this was the day that I was....

A late riser? Yeah, this was the day that I was going to get up at 630 and really move my body. Yaddy, yaddy and prick my finger and figure out my egg reserve. And all that jazz. And I didn't wow, I had so many....

You had a lot of plans for this morning? No, I literally had so many plans for this morning and I. My alarm went off and I said, Oh, let me just lay here for like two minutes. And that's always the kiss of death three hours later.

Never say I'll just lay here for a couple more minutes, cause you're not going to lay there for a couple more minutes. You're going to fall asleep, yeah, and then your alarm is shut off.

No, I'm thinking about that Fray song. It's like, If I lay here, oh yeah, if I just lay here, is that snow patrol?

Yep, yeah, it is. I was like, Wait, that's not the fray. wrong. I was like, Nah, that's not the fray.

Similar vibes, though? Yes, similar like sad boy vibes. Oh yeah, you know, sad boy vibes is what the Fray and snow patrol have. What's going on in your life?

What's going on in my life, I don't know. You know, lots of stuff you have overalls on today, I have overalls on.

They're cute. thank you. You look like I'm trying to like, describe what your vibe is right now. I don't know. It's cute, I like it.

Thank you, you're welcome. I'm making a scary face. I'm wearing a sweatshirt that Drew got me for Christmas. That all my real housewives of Beverly Hills girlies will understand. It says Name them, name them, name them.

That's what it says. Her sweatshirt, actually, like, vocalizes that when she comes in a room. Actually, my girly Sutton strack, which, by the way, have you watched any of the seasons with Sutton? Oh, I have, I saw a little bit of Sutton.

Do you love Sutton like I do? Yeah, I think Sutton's funny. I love Sutton so much. Last night, she was on a date on the show My Girly, and she revealed that she listens to True crime. And I said, If Sutton Strack doesn't listen to Morbid, I'm going to cry for eternity.

I'm just going to cry. You need to know. I'm going to put on snow patrol, I'm going to put on the fray, and I'm going to cry. And you're going to lie here.

Just lie here and I'll forget the world. So now, listeners, it is your duty to get Sutton Strack to listen to us, or to see if she does, or to see if she already does.

Maybe she does, maybe she does, who knows, I don't know, I don't know either.

Who knows, I'd like to know I would, that'd be pretty funny. I love Sutton.

Name them jealous of what your ugly leather pants the best? I haven't watched it in so long.

This, I know, this I know, this, I know Regatta, though, that I know.

You know what? I have been watching qua Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix, I think that's good bitch, I just saw episode two.

And if anybody has been watching this show, you know that I am in emotional turmoil now. Episode two You're already in emotional turmoil. Should I watch this? episode two will fuck you up.

I mean, the end of that episode, and for everybody who has watched it, you know, the end of that episode, really. My jaw was on the floor and I was literally just saying, Holy shit, over and over. It was one of the most horrifying things I've seen in a television show. It was pretty wild, wild episode.

What is the premise of this show? It's loosely based on Poe's story, The Fall of the House of Usher. Right, right, right, I don't know if I ever read that. And it has other. It's like, it's got Poe, like the Mask of the Red Death and stuff, which I love.

That story, and I think that's what episode two is loosely based on. Oh, okay, and some of the characters have the same names like in Mask of the Red Death, Okay?

Prince Prospero Okay, episode two focuses on the child named Prospero, who they call like Perry. What is like the time period it's like now?

Current, yeah, but it's updated to that basically. Like when you start it, you find out like you're basically watching how certain people die, oh, fuck.

In this family, I mean, which is not a spoiler, because it's like, that's the story from Poe, who wrote it quite a long time ago, but it's very well done. I mean, it's Mike Flanagan. Oh, okay.

I think Mike Flanagan kills it. Yeah, he did. Like Midnight Mass and Haunting of Hill House, I still have to watch that. Did you watch that?

Law Manor and shit like that. I've only seen some of Haunting of Hill House, but I loved it. When I watched it and I need to finish it, I heard it was like, beautifully done. Midnight Mass is literally one of my favorite shows.

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

And I'm like, No, this is. I saw someone describe Fall of the House of Usher as horror succession, and it's pretty accurate. I loved Succession, It's pretty accurate.

Oh, and sorry, quickly, while we're here for my real housewives grillies again. Oh, we're circling back. We gotta, because the you need to watch SLC, it's only four seasons right now, you could catch up so quickly.

It's all on Peacock. I'm talking to you directly. Yes, Elena, I mean, I'm talking to anybody that hasn't watched it. It's so good.

And the finale? Last night, I texted Ronnie and Ben. or I think the finale was like, two nights ago. At this point, I texted Ronnie and Ben. I was like, I'm losing my mind, I've watched what crappens and they were losing their minds.

They literally agreed. And, like collectively, all Housewives fans agree, this is the best season finale in Housewives history. Damn fucking insane.

Shit, Dita von Teese is involved. Oh shit, yeah. And somebody's about to get a cease and desist for using their name and likeness.

Oh, no, in my opinion, it's my opinion. Wow, so yeah, housewives.

Shit fall of the House of Usher, you know, married at first sight we talked about last week hitting all sides on the spectrum.

Truly succession. Yeah, I think I talked about Saltburn last week. Yeah, you did.

Oh God, so have you watched that? Yet? I have not.

I don't know if I will. Why you haven't spoken super highly of it? No, that's that's, you're not wrong about that.

You said it's incredibly long and you were like, it, like, is, you weren't even sure how to describe it? I was like, I don't know. Yeah, no, I'm still not sure how to describe it.

And you won't be either, but watch it. I don't know I would like you to. I'll give it a shot, it's low on my list, but I'll give it a shot.

Isn't that nice of her to take my recommendation and say, fuck that well, you know what it is? John and I have, like, the most limited amount of time at night, yeah, to watch these things.

So it's precious. So it's like we're still not done with peaky blinders and we started that shit like years ago. The thing about Saltburn is, I don't know if you can, like, you can't go to bed after you watch Saltburn. Yeah, and we can only watch it at night, right before we go to bed.

Yeah, that's the only time we have, and you don't want anybody walking into the living room while you're watching this. Yeah, see, that seems like a lot of trouble for something that I'm not super excited to watch in the first place.

It's, you know, it's I don't know what it is, but that I'm like, I don't know. They said, like the actors, I watched an interview with them and they were like, we wanted people to leave the theater. And like, drive home with whoever they came home and saw, or came to the theater and saw it with. And like, not know what to say for, like, the entire drive home. And I was like, I felt that way for weeks.

But I want to talk to somebody about it, but, like, nobody I love has watched it yet, except for Drew. And we can't. We're just like, I'm sad, you just don't know how to even, yeah.

I need Aidan to watch it, he said. He was going to text me when he did. I'll eventually watch it, for sure, please. It's just a commitment right now.

Yeah, I was going to pick it for Scream, but I can't. I can't have, like, a on mic discussion in detail about that movie. You're like, so it's a no for me. There are three scenes in particular that Hannah Berner described it perfectly.

On TikTok, she said Your face will just go.

Like that, so go find that on TikTok, that's interesting. Yeah, I'm interested.

So I guess we'll see. Have you and Dave watched it, watch it, you're like, everyone, watch it.

No, I'm serious. It's horrifying and long and will ruin your life, but go watch it. Yeah, I think I think I'm going to say it, I think it might be good, I think it might be good.

What a rousing endorsement of a film, it's so long and it might be good.

That's the thing I watched it a week ago and I'm still dissecting how I feel about it. That's pretty good, that's the thing, there's that.

Like, and I don't, I don't feel, No, I don't know. I was going to say, I don't feel bad about it, but I'm like, do I? You? Kind of do. I feel there are certain scenes that I do feel a little bad about?

Anybody who has watched it? I hope you get exactly what I'm saying right now, and I feel like you will. I'm sure, because I've seen people reacting like, I don't know how to react, so yeah.

But you need to, we need to move on. Yeah, well, and you know what, we'll move on to something pretty horrifying. So today we're going to talk about Preston Castle and the murder of Anna Corbin.

Okay, so this is we're going to be talking about a boys reform school from like, the fifties. Oh yeah, today. So I think everybody knows where that rolls.

That's dark sided. Yeah, we're going to get into some specific parts of this school. But like, there's, I'm sure, there's many more things. I'm sure there's a on the grounds of. And actually, I first heard Preston Castle even mentioned it's in California. Oh, I didn't expect that.

Yeah, on Girls Next Level podcast, Bridget was talking about it. Because she's like a ghost hunter, like Bridget's always been into that shit. And she's like, she goes to all kinds of places and she professionally ghost hunts all that cool stuff. And she had mentioned Preston Castle, and I was like, Interesting, oh shit.

And when I started looking into it, I was like, Oh shit, like, there's some shit here, oh shit. So shout out to Bridget and girls next level for even putting this into my orbit. Her and Holly are so cool.

I love them both so much now. When it opened in 1894, yeah, it opened up long ago, sorry.

What was once called the Preston School of Industry represented a change in how criminal offenders and wards of the state were gonna be treated. In American society, they wanted to shift more towards, like, the compassionate mission of reform over punishment, that was the idea. But while the mission may have represented a more progressive approach to reforming young offenders, the daily life for the young. What were deemed inmates was often as brutal as it would have been in an adult prison. So it didn't really like jive with the actual mission.

And the school actually closed in 2011.

2011 Yeah, the fuck, it went on that long.

And it's been. It stood as a historic landmark and cultural institution that is actually open to the public. But a lot of people believe that behind the facade of cultural significance and historic importance. Preston's dark history has caused the building to definitely be haunted by the spirits of many boys, kids, inmates, whatever you deem them, who suffered and died at the school. And the spirit of murdered head housekeeper Anna Corbin, whose killer was never punished and whose death remains unsolved, is seen a lot.

I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. I was like, at my locker and she came up to me and she was like, stuttering, super bad. I'm like, stop around, She's like, I can't.

A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast, like doubling and tripling. And it's all these girls with a diagnosis the state tried to keep. Everybody thought I was holding something back.

Well, you were holding something back intentionally. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, no, it's hysteria, it's all in your head, it's not physical.

Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating. Is this the largest mass hysteria since the Witches of Salem, or is it something else entirely? Something's wrong here, something's not right.

Leroy was the new dateline, and everyone was trying to solve the murder. A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. Hysterical Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus.

Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught. I'm Sachi Cole and I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the host of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time. The impact on victims and what's left once the facade falls away? We've covered stories like a Shark tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment but soon faced mounting bills. An active lawsuit filed by Larry King. And no real product to push.

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Now there's also a graveyard, like a cemetery on site, where boys were buried when they died. Of like, illness or anything else. And there's like a lot of kids in there. Oh, that's really sad, and it's like, it just makes you wonder. Because there was a lot of violence, there was a lot of horrible conditions.

How many deaths were marked? As they were so sick? Yeah, it's like they got sick, and it's like, Did they? I'm sure many of them did. But now, in the latter decades of the 19th century, progressive politicians and activists started advocating for dramatic changes to many social institutions in the United States. Among these changes were going to be things related to welfare and treatment of children, specifically in places like the workforce and the penal system.

This ultimately led to children being considered and treated as their own distinct social class, separate from adults and heavily protected. Which is how it should be. But at the time, children were typically treated as though they were simply small adults. At least when it came to the economy, and really a lot of other social institutions, like reform schools and prisons. Essentially, now, at the midpoint of the 19th century, the American prison system still operated on a pretty archaic European model of super harsh discipline and corporal punishment. So it's just like, intense, it's what you are thinking when you think of that kind of stuff.

Inmates would be kept in solitary confinement for absurd lengths of time, unnatural lengths of time. They were whipped, they were beaten for the slightest infraction, and even sometimes not for an infraction. Just for the hell of it. And they were treated with a lot of cruelty by guards.

Now, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, few Americans really questioned the system and its effect as a whole on society at large. Is this going to be a problem? When we're just beating the shit out of kids and like, and adults for that matter? Like, just like putting them in a cage, beating the shit out of them and then later releasing them to the public. Like, is that? Probably does it feel like something in between?

That needs to happen. However, by the 19th century, significant population booms led to a big increase in the population in U.S. prisons, because more people, more crime, it just happens. And this created scenarios where there was a ton of overcrowding and that was leading to, like, a rampant spread of disease and death among the prison populations. And now they were being looked at more now. Among the factors that led to the overcrowding of U.S. prisons was that. The criminal justice system tended to treat all criminals the same, regardless of their age and the crime that they were being sentenced for.

Which is wild. This meant that a person charged with vagrancy could be sent to the same prison as someone sentenced for murder. Or that an adolescent criminal sentenced for a petty crime like theft would be in a prison alongside hardened criminals serving life sentences for violent crimes, which is only going to lead to more violent crimes. Now, recognizing this for the objectively disastrous and ineffective system that it was. Progressive advocates started pressuring politicians to put some major reforms to the laws in place that would create just what they wanted. And that was just like a more nuanced justice system, like, we can't just do a blanket coverage for everything.

There needs to be a little nuance here, and they wanted to put an end to the deplorable environments in U.S. prisons. Well, that's good now, although this was a complicated process that was gonna unfold very slowly and is still unfolding today. One of the ways prison reform was achieved was by separating criminal offenders by age and gender. Now, until the end of the 19th century, adolescents weren't just sent to adult prisons.

They were effectively treated as adults in every step of the legal system, so they were tried, sentenced and punished as though they were adults. Which could, on rare occasions, result in the execution of a child. That's so fucked now. Luckily, among the more significant achievements of the reform movement was the establishment of a juvenile justice system. Or what was then referred to as a children's court, which is like, such a sad a children's court. Yeah, that's really sad.

First established in Chicago in 1889, the Children's Court really embraced this progressive ideology that was heavily favoring reform and rehabilitation over corporal punishment. And this was basically based on the belief that future criminality could be prevented by providing a rigidly structured environment where negative and harmful behaviors would be corrected. It was presented to the public as a more compassionate and productive alternative to prisons. These reformatories, or what were called training schools at the time, became the standard punishment for those under 18 years of age when they were convicted and sentenced. Now, like their adult counterparts, reform schools placed a big emphasis on rehabilitation over punishment.

And they just tried to correct behaviors and correct the underlying issues for things by providing. Or what they said they were providing was education, vocational training, and taking the child out of an environment. That seemed to be kind of nurturing this criminal behavior, which, from the outside looking in, sounds great, great, that's what we needed to do all along. Like, this is gonna turn out awesome. But while reform schools may have been born of a progressive ideology, those same ideals and perspectives were not always shared by the staff and administration in the reform schools.

Because these people had to operate within the daily realities of the justice, the juvenile justice system. But as a result of this, physical, sexual, psychological abuse, very common, very common. And this is a reform school, these are children under the age of 18, and it's also like, how are you working at a reform school as a fucking criminal, doing criminal behaviors?

Criminal behavior, that's the thing. And this environment would frequently undermine any positive goals that were intended for the residents of these reform schools. And they would just further traumatize what at the time was an already vulnerable and marginalized population of kids. Yeah, which again, is only going to lead to more violent crime, exactly. And in these kinds of schools, some of these kids that were going in here were just wards of the state.

Yeah, which means you didn't even do anything wrong. They just didn't have anywhere else to go. So now they're being treated like they, which they shouldn't be treated that way anyways. But it's like, now these kids didn't even do a crime.

They didn't even like, do anything bad to get in here, you know, like, it's just like, what the hell to become a ward of the state? Already, the horrors you probably must have had to, the trauma you have endured. Yeah, exactly, and then you go into somewhere like this and it's probably exactly what you experienced, or 10 times worse.

Oh, absolutely, it's so sad now. In the winter of 1889, California State Senator Edward Preston introduced State Bill 402, which basically proposed the establishment of a juvenile reform school. And it was gonna. They wanted to provide for the maintenance and management of that school now. Initially, it was going to be housed on the property of Folsom Prison, where juvenile offenders were already being housed by the way in Folsom Prison.

But an amendment was offered that proposed the school be located about 30 miles away in Lone, California. Better idea. They figured that to locate the school on the prison quote would be a taint upon those who went there. You would think it's like, Yeah, you're trying to move away from the prison life.

You should probably move it off the prison grounds. Yeah, maybe don't set up camp right next to it, just saying now. The Preston School of Industry was named for that senator. And it was intended to not only house criminal offenders under the age of 18. But, like I said before, anyone who is deemed a ward of the state.

And quote boys whose daily life and home environment are leading towards a useless and criminal career. Now. The school's general purpose was to quote make useful citizens of wayward boys by providing training and instruction. And it was gonna prepare them to be productive members of society. This all sounds great. Oh yeah, so flowery.

And when the school was announced, the press was told that quote. It is the aim not to have the reformation accomplished by punitive means, but by proving to the boys the value of good conduct and good reputation. And that's one way to put it. So they're being like, No, no, no, we don't wanna punish, we don't wanna be crazy here.

We just wanna show them what life can be like and what you can get out of being good citizens. And it's like, Okay, that sounds great, but now? Construction of the school began in 1890 and was completed in 1894. And it was that year that the curriculum plan for operations was developed. And basically, the school was gonna consist of three departments academic, military and industrial.

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

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

Yeah, but like, how old are the boys going through? Some of them were as young as seven, like a seven-year-old. In my opinion, at the very least, doesn't need to be involved in military training. No, I don't.

In my opinion, that doesn't make sense to me either. I think that could get abusive very quickly. Absolutely, and it did, of course it did.

Yeah, the end result here is not great. Yeah, now. Also, the industrial branch of the school focused on vocational training and preparing students to enter the workforce, which would have been great.

Which vocational schools? Great? Yeah, we love a vocational school. You can enter training into a field right off the bat, I think that's a great option for some kids.

And it's like, So, that sounds great. But again, this wasn't best laid plans. Yup, now, like we said, the work portion of the day happened on the school's 300 acres of farmland. That's terrifying. The students helped to quote produce on the farm, the larger part of fruit, vegetables, hay and grain, which was used at the school.

So they farmed their own food, essentially, which can be such a great learning experience. It was a great learning experience. And the farm served a dual purpose because it provided hands-on learning experience that could be applied to the workforce later. And it also helped cut costs of operation by providing a low cost solution for food and other overhead.

So this was actually a larger plan that the school had to make, the school kind of self-sustaining. Okay, which is also a great idea and pretty ahead of its time. It included future plans for quote, clothing and shoes of the boys to be made at the institution.

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

It's like them learning to be proud of themselves and see that they can do. Be good at something that's not stealing and not hurting someone, and not doing something, you know, vandalizing, not things that are gonna get them in trouble. It's like, you can be good at this now. After meeting with the approval of the state and the prison board, that was going to be responsible for the oversight of the school. The Preston School of Industry opened in June 1894, and they transferred seven young men from the state prison at San Quentin to the new Reform School.

There were kids in San Quentin. That's the most fucked up thing. All of them were under the age of 18 and were serving sentences ranging from two to 10 years for robbery, burglary and grand larceny. But several of them had prior arrests or were known to have engaged in violent acts, including murder. Oh.

Before long, the school was populated with boys as young as seven and as old as 17.

So seven-year-olds are in there with 17-year-olds who may have committed murder. Yeah, and like I said, some were just unfortunate wards of the state, right, right?

It's so sad. But to the outside world, the Preston School of Industry was a prime example of progressive policies and reform. At work like this looked great. Once. Wayward boys taken off the streets out of adult jails and given three meals a day and a solid education in a well-regulated environment. What more could you want?

What could go wrong? The school had a farm where they were learning industrial and agricultural schools. Looking at this from the outside, you're like, Oh my god, there's a farm. they had tennis courts. I'm sorry that farm is too big.

Too big, one might say. As soon as I heard 300 acres, I was like, that's a lot of fuck shit that could go on well. And they also had tennis courts, a rose garden and quote, a 7,000 book library with a veranda overlooking the town. Wow. The building itself was a 46,000 square foot monument of romanesque revival architecture that had 77 rooms, 43 fireplaces.

It was super ornate, like ornate fixtures outside inside 257 windows that were all looking out on, like the Northern California landscape. It seems like the perfect place to actually do some good shit. It does what a waste sounds like it.

And as far as most were concerned, if these boys had to be confined for something that they had done. Where better to serve your time than Preston School, especially when the alternative was San Quentin or Folsom Prison? Little different now, inside the walls, though, life at the school was not easy. No, and it was frequently dangerous.

Boys entering the school for the first time were stripped of their clothes, and they had their hair shaved from their heads and bodies. To get rid of any lice. That alone is so traumatizing. And then they were dunked in a bath of caustic chemicals to rid any other bugs or parasites that they could potentially bring in with them. And for many of the boys that were entering Preston, head and body lice were a regular occurrence, as were open sores and cuts, which would have made the delousing process excruciating. Yeah.

Once they were inside, they were expected to follow the rules exactly as they were given to them. And those who didn't, and even some who did, because who the fuck cares? were subject to whippings, beatings, or sometimes worse now. Some of the horrors experienced by residents at the school were inflicted by the hands of guards and administrators. That absolutely happened a lot, I'm sure.

Others were simply a product of the era. Unfortunately. For example, residents that needed medical care or surgery in the first two decades of operation at the school were operated on or treated on the floor. What, in the middle of the place? what?

Because they just didn't have the professional facilities, so they made this beautiful school and never put in a medical facility. Or they didn't in the first two decades. And it's like, you can't, just like, bus them to a nearby medical facility. No, you're just operating on them in the middle of everything, right out in the open. Do you know how fucking clean an operating room is?

Yeah, I'm like, you're ensuring that you give them a chemical bath when they come in. And then, just like bloodborne pathogens everywhere, you're just like, What the fuck my God? Now? Things only worsened with the onset of the 1918 flu epidemic. Oh, shit.

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

Oh, God, now. Within the first four years of operation, the school reported four deaths, so one a year, one from spinal meningitis, one from pneumonia and septicemia, and two from quote. Exploded appendix whoa, which I was like, damn.

That's insane and I'm also like, So they were in pain leading up to it. You needed that appendix out.

Right, and they couldn't get it out because they didn't have an exploded appendix, and I myself have not had an exploded appendix. But I know people who have and I can't fathom. And obviously it kills you if you don't get it in time, right?

Now, while most residents were resigned to serving their time with as little conflict as possible, they just wanted to get out of there. Others were less inclined to do that. Escape attempts were common, and while most ended with the escapee being caught either still on the grounds or, just like, immediately outside of them, right?

A few had more unfortunate endings. In January 1913, for example, 15 year old John Miller was shot and killed 15, Oh my God, during an escape attempt.

He was escaping and he ended up striking a guard in the shoulder with a pickaxe. Holy fuck like damn. And. Miller had made a previous escaped attempt from another institution before arriving at Preston six months earlier, and was generally considered to be by the administration. They considered him disruptive and disrespectful, so to them, it was like, Yeah.

It's like, I wonder what the escape attempt really was about? Yeah, probably escaping the horrors that were in those walls, torture. He is one of those 18 boys that I mentioned buried in the cemetery at Preston.

Really, and a lot of them died of illness or disease. Quote, unquote, quote that allegedly, but he is one of them, and he was killed now. Though they were overwhelmingly the targets of abuse, the residents of Preston weren't the only ones who experienced violent assaults at the school.

Guards were often subject to physical and verbal assaults at the school, and at least three staff members were murdered. Between the school's opening in 1894 and the closure of the main building in 1960, because, although it closed in 2011 for good, the main building was closed in 1960. So it didn't function like it did for that long, okay?

All three of these murders of staff are a tragedy in the school's already dark history, of course, but only one of them garnered any public attention. Really, wow, and there was a lot of controversy involved in this one. And this is really the murder that contributed to Preston's really notorious reputation now, and that is the murder of Anna Corbin.

I was wondering now. On the afternoon of February 23rd, 1950, a little before 2 p...m. 17-year-old Robert Hall was sent to get the head of housekeeping, Anna Corbin, from her office. So he reached her office and saw that the room was empty. And when he looked around, he noticed a pool of blood that was collecting in front of the padlocked door of the utility closet. So he was worried, obviously, that she was hurt or what the hell was happening in the closet.

Well, then, to be a student, to stumble across that scene, are you going to get accused of whatever just happened? Exactly so. But he kicked down the door, Wow, because he said he was worried she was inside and hurt and he wanted to get to her.

And unfortunately, he discovered 52-year-old Anna Corbin. Her face was severely beaten and she had a rope tied tightly around her neck, and there was a rug just casually draped over her. Quote Blood-spattered body, my God now. According to the initial press reports, quote. She had been beaten in the face and head so badly that it couldn't be determined whether she was bludgeoned or stabbed.

What the fuck now a little about Anna? Anna was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1898, and she spent her early life in the Midwest, where she was raised by her aunt and uncle, who adopted her in 1918. When she was only 20 years old, she ended up marrying Robert Corbin.

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

She joined the local women's club, she participated in a methodist church choir, She was active in several other local civic and social groups. She was like, that kind of gal, just doing it all.

Everybody liked her, she was very well liked at Preston. She was known as quote a strict disciplinarian, but not harsh or cruel, so she liked the rules. But she was not harsh, and she was not cruel, meaning she wasn't beating these kids.

And people liked her, and I think that's why people respected her is because she wasn't harsh and cruel, but she was strict. They respected that she wanted things to be the way they were, but she wasn't gonna hurt you. And although this attitude she was very well liked, but obviously some of the troublemakers, she was not popular among them. Because they didn't wanna listen to anything.

But, and honestly, it had earned her some verbal and written threats from students over the years. Because they just didn't wanna listen. But again, this was just because they didn't wanna listen to her, not because she was cruel in any way. But mostly, those were only a handful. Most of these boys looked to her for support and they respected her for the meticulous and thorough performance of a very frequently overlooked job as well. Because, remember, she's head of housekeeping, she keeps that place clean.

Right, which back then, Jesus? She's having to clean up after fucking surgeries on the floor. She's contending with a lot and people respected her for it because they were like, you do your damn job. And again, for boys to look to her for support like that tells you something she was very motherly.

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

She's there because she's like, Yeah, this is a job, but I give a shit about these kids. And I would like to see them leave and be better members of society. And I'd like to be a mother figure for them and have them come to me. Because I have now gained a better understanding of why they are, the way they are, exactly. That's like, Anna's cool.

Like, that's just really cool. She respected what they were supposed to be doing there. She did not need to do that, and the fact that she did is so badass. And school, and actually the school, superintendent Robert Chandler told reporters she was like a mother to the boys.

She struck him with her motor vehicle, she had been under the influence, and then she left him there. In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe. It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location. What happens next depends on who you ask.

Was it a crime of passion? If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling. This was clearly an intentional act. And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia or a corrupt police coverup?

If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a coverup to prevent one of their own from going down. Everyone had an opinion, and after the 10-week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision to end in a mistrial. It's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is. Law and Crime presents the most in-depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus. join Wondery Plus in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Anna's murder came as a shock to the staff and many of the residents at Preston. Obviously. According to the coroner, J..J. Denary, the cause of death was most likely blunt force trauma to the skull, although he couldn't be certain. Wow.

When asked about the rope that was tied tightly around her neck, he told reporters I doubt. If strangulation was the cause of death. I'm inclined to believe death was due to blows on the head. It appears Ms Corbin was knocked to the floor and the injuries to her head indicate she could have been hit by a club or her head banged against the floor. Oh, God.

There was no evidence of sexual assault and the office hadn't been disturbed at all, indicating that robbery was definitely not the motive to kill her. To investigators, the murder was, I guess what they deemed it as like, kind of ordinary for this time period, and I guess this environment, right?

Meaning there wasn't anything that stood out to them as like a signature kind of thing, okay, besides the rope, yeah, but they also didn't think that made it any easier to solve.

It was like, this is kind of like somebody who was unfortunately beaten to death. In a job where, like, you know, there's a lot of people around her that are criminals. So this makes it harder for us to solve. And there's really nothing that's like standing out as like, Oh, I bet it's this kid because of this thing, it could be anybody now.

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

However, an initial search of the scene didn't turn up a murder weapon. There were no bloody clothes. And in the absence of any obvious clues to point out who could have done this. Investigators began the very long and tedious process of interviewing all 657 residents. Holy shit and scrutinizing their clothes, their hands, their fingernails for any blood or trace evidence. This particular murder really shook everyone up. And, according to a group of Anna's closest friends, during a recent outing with them, she had told them about a disturbing incident with one of the boys. That seemed a little significant in the wake of her death.

According to Anna, she had been working alone in the administration building, with a boy assigned as her helper. And that boy turned to her and said, Are you afraid to be with me alone in here? And when she said, No, I'm not. The boy proceeded to tell her how easy it would be for him to kill her, and even described how he would do it. I'd be like, So we're gonna go ahead and move on to the next area.

Now, according to Anna's friends, they said it bore a remarkable similarity to the way she had been killed and disposed. In the closet, investigators located this boy who had supposedly made this threat. But at the time of the murder, he was actually in solitary confinement because he had tried to escape a week earlier. So he was like, I was in this room. Terrifying that two people within that school had very similar ideas. Yeah, just thoughts of that.

Now, according to those who knew her, Anna Corbin had no enemies and she had not been involved with any men since her husband had died three years earlier. So she hadn't gone on dates, she wasn't dating anyone. Grieving, Superintendent Chandler told reporters It is inconceivable to even think one of the boys here could possibly have disliked her as much as to commit this crime. So even they're like, this doesn't make any sense.

She did nothing yet. Chandler nonetheless acknowledged that the killer was almost certainly one of the students, and even suspected that two students might've been responsible for the murder. Investigators shared Chandler's belief that the killer was definitely a student. And after clearing the staff and teachers, they narrowed their focus. Basically, I think they were narrowing it down to a much smaller group of boys.

At this point, it was basically boys that would have had access to the administration building on that particular morning. Okay, I mean, that seems like a good lead to follow, exactly.

Now authorities investigated Anna's murder, while news of the death had reached the wider public. And quickly became a political talking point. For those who opposed the more progressive policies of both the school and the California juvenile justice system. Basically, people who don't want criminals to be treated as anything less than animals, yeah, and especially kids, yep.

Like, why not treat them like animals, too? Yeah, totally. In a press conference held just days after the murder, Amador County supervisor Harold Coburn told reporters he would quote Press a demand for a grand jury investigation in the case. And as far as he was concerned, Anna's death was as much the result of the lax policies of the California Youth Authority as it was the individual who actually did it.

Doesn't sound like the policies were that lax. I didn't. it didn't sound like it to me, but they were projecting that idea out. That's the thing to politicize it.

At the time, a lot of Anna's family members shared that sentiment, which you can understand absolutely now. Other politicians, however, were strongly disagreeing.

Amador County District Attorney Gard Chisholm told reporters it will not at this time aid in any way in the investigation. To think that way, okay, now? Most county supervisors and others in positions of political power sided with the district attorney, basically saying that as an active participant in the investigation. He knew best, yeah.

But still, Anna's family, and those critical critical of the school itself, continued building a campaign to hold the school in what they believed to be its failed approach to justice. Responsible. Because I get it like, that's, it's tough. Yeah, it's like, because if you look at the, you can see both sides here.

That's the thing, exactly, and I understand why her family wanted to hold that school responsible. I probably would have done the exact same thing, that's my exact thought, so it's like, I get it.

But then you see the other side of it, where it's like, Yeah, so it makes sense, right? Anna's nephew, Herbert Morris, said in a statement to the press I do not harbor any animosity, nor am I out to gain revenue for the brutal murder. But the situation of laxity in the operation of the Reformatory has existed a long time.

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

Like, you guys are preaching this whole thing. But the conditions there are deplorable. You're whipping these kids, beating these kids, treating them like animals, but then touting this progressive approach to reform. And it's like, you gotta get your shit together, right? Isn't one, or is it the other?

Yeah, you're making animals in there, What do you expect animals to do? It's basically what they're saying, like, you gotta fix this, which I agree, I agree.

Now, while their grief and frustration over Anna's death was obviously very genuine. It's worth noting that the anti-Preston political rhetoric coming from certain politicians, not Anna's family and certain segments of the public, were typically framed in ideological terms. And seemed more often focused on how criminals should be treated, yeah, instead of focusing on the specific investigation into Anna's death, right? They were using it like the family was trying to say. We need to look into this, my family member's death, and what the school has to do to make sure this doesn't happen again.

And politicians were using it as their own little platform to, as a whole, talk about criminal reform. Like a bird's eye view of it all. Yeah, and get their agenda across now. Whatever rhetorical battle was happening on the outside really had little effect on the investigators. They were like, we still have a murder to solve.

Yeah, that's kind of our primary focus here. Good luck with your campaign. Yeah, like bye. But they narrowed the pool of suspects from 600 to 20. Wow.

And intensive interviews were done, polygraph tests were administered, and they weren't really getting any closer to the truth, Guard Chisholm told reporters in a press conference. We haven't got a thing to hang our hats on. Oh, no. The district attorney added that the evidence collected from the scene, which included seven bloody fingerprints, had proven to be of little use to getting a suspect. Oh, that's a bummer.

Among the 20 boys considered to be suspects was one who admitted to the crime but later denied that and recanted it. And another whose polygraph results showed deception regarding his whereabouts during the murder. But school administrators were quick to add that they didn't think either boy was actually the killer. Yeah, they just didn't have anything with it. And the polygraph, like we know, is tough.

Hot dog. So the break in the case came about a week later. Oh, okay. When doing a room-by-room search, investigators discovered a bloody Preston uniform hidden in the bedroom of 19-year-old Eugene Monroe. He was a student who was among those regularly assigned to work with Anne.

Anna, Excuse me. Monroe had been sent to the school about six months earlier after a conviction for burglary in Los Angeles. And in addition to the bloody uniform, he took a polygraph and it showed repeated attempts at deception. So, like when paired along with it, it makes your eyebrow go up, that's the thing.

Also, during further interviews, several of the other boys at Preston admitted to investigators that they had known of Monroe's involvement in the murder. But had been afraid to come forward. Okay, so we're heating up in the investigation here. So it turned out this was not the first time Eugene had been a suspect in a murder case. Oh okay, we're really ramping this up.

Three years earlier, in 1947. Monroe was the prime suspect in the murder of 17-year-old Vestabelle Sapinter, who was an honor student and resident of the housing project, where Monroe also lived. Like Anna Corbin, Sapinter was brutally beaten about the head and face and had a rope tightly wrapped around her neck, using the same square knot as the rope found around Anna's neck. So that's an MO right there? She was found by her 14-year-old brother, Carlisle, who was coming home from the playground.

Oh my god. She was found partially nude in her own bedroom, and they think she was attacked while she was just hanging up like shades on her window. Jesus Christ, yeah. Monroe had delivered furniture to the residence on the day of the murder.

And according to Vesta's youngest brother, Carlisle, Eugene had returned to the apartment later that afternoon, but the boy didn't know why. In the case of Vesta's murder, the sheriff's department wasn't able to corroborate the brother's story or find sufficient evidence to connect Monroe definitively to the crime. But Lieutenant R.R Coppedge told reporters he always believed Monroe was guilty of the murder and felt the investigators were right on the right track with the Corbin case. He said He was like you.

Better keep following that lead. And he was actually quoted as saying about the Vesta murder. He said I am certain this boy did the job, but we were just never able to prove it. He was the only one in the house at the time and had ample time to commit the act. I wonder why they were never able to prove it.

I think they just couldn't get physical evidence, which that's so tough, especially back then. And then he just had the 14 year old saying that he saw him right and the other witnesses, the murder victim.

Just the fact that nobody was there, yeah, damn now. Eugene Monroe was arrested on March 1st, 1950, though he vehemently denied any involvement in Anna Corbin's murder.

Two days later, District Attorney Gard Chisholm filed formal murder charges against him, and he was transferred from Preston to the county jail to await a preliminary. I'm like, hard falling all over my words. Judge terms appearing the following week, now, on March 10th, 1950, Eugene Monroe appeared before Justice of the Peach.

Peach, that's cute. I am the justice of this here. Peach, I wanna be a justice of the peach. How cute would that be?

It's like, boop. I love peaches, so I'll be the justice of the peach. Peaches are so cute they are and they smell good.

And then you kind of be a justice of the booty at the same time. There you go. It's a nice little double dipping, yeah.

But unfortunately, he did not appear before a justice of the peach. It was a piece. he appeared before a justice of the piece, L..P. Gebhard. This was for his preliminary hearing.

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

Oh, fuck. And in the environment, he was in snitches, get stitches, and I can understand why this child was terrified. You see this man do this, like, obviously you wish this kid would have said something.

And as an adult, I'm like, say something, kid, but I don't know what that environment was like, very different. That kid was trying to save his own skin. He was terrified of what would happen.

And again, he's not an adult with like, rational thinking skills, exactly. And who knows? Sounds like it was really bad in there, so it's like he was living in a state of fear constantly.

You're thinking, that's gonna happen to me if I say anything. Yeah, at least he's talking now, right? At least he eventually came through now. In his closing statement, Coley asked that the charges against his client be dropped, claiming that the evidence and hearsay testimony were insufficient to hold Monroe. He said. Quote In the haste to get a conviction, We should not rush this man to trial.

Justice of the Peace Gerhard Genhart overruled the motion, and Monroe was bound for trial in the Superior Court. Good. His trial was set to begin April 24th, but just weeks before the start date. Jack Mercer threw a little curve ball because he recanted his entire statement about what he'd heard and seen. Fuck, did someone get to him?

Yeah, me thinks, yeah. In a statement provided to the press by Monroe's lawyer, Nathaniel Coley, Mercer wrote Quote The testimony I gave in court was not true. Monroe never told me that he was going to kill Mrs Corbin, and I never saw him hit her. That sounds like somebody's being forced.

Sounds like he had some friends that were working in the background for him. According to Coley, Mercer only told investigators he'd seen Monroe kill Anna because they promised to release him from Preston if he did so. But he decided to tell the truth once he realized they weren't going to live up to that. And also quote to clear his conscience before an expected visit from his mother. I don't know about any of this.

Now, arguing that Mercer's testimony at the preliminary hearing that had been the only real evidence that district attorneys had against Monroe. Coley announced his intention to move that the charges against his client be dropped. Oh, shit. Despite Mercer recanting his statement, District Attorney Chisholm was undeterred. And he was like, No, we're going forward, and Chisholm told the press it is all right for Coley to make these statements.

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

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

Also, when they searched Monroe's room, investigators found the Preston uniform covered in blood. That was a match for Anna's blood type. Okay, and they had a statement from another boy that Eugene had tried to get him to burn that uniform. The fuck.

Finally, there was Mercer's statement that he'd seen Monroe kill Anna just days after the young man had told him that he intended to do so. Among the witnesses called by the prosecution were a number of Preston staff and residents, including a bunch of boys who'd seen Monroe go to Anna's office that morning. And when they saw him later that day, he, quote, appeared to be worried about something a girl. The most important witness, though, was Jack Mercer.

What did he do? He did indeed testify that he had seen Eugene Monroe kill Anna Corbin. Which makes you wonder, did he get offered some kind of protection for staying true to his original statement? And it's like, he's on the stand. Yeah, that's sworn testimony.

Oh, my God, isn't this wild? And his mom had visited him, so I wonder if he was able to talk to her. And she was like, you have to tell the truth, She was like, you gotta sit up there and tell the truth, right?

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

Do you have them? Yeah, I'm like, can you prove that? Did the blood match the blood type of the victim? As for the blood on Monroe's clothes, Coley and Monroe said that he had cut his hand that morning. Either in the shoe shop or the slaughterhouse, but neither the instructor in the shoe shop or in the slaughterhouse recalled him cutting his hand. Ever, they were like, No.

And you don't recall which it was, and if it was that bad to have that much blood on your uniform, I think you would recall that cut. You're using two different things in both of those things, like, did you cut it with a saw? or did you cut it with? Did you cut it with this? And to cut it that intensely, you don't remember where.

That there's blood all over your uniform, right? And the instructors are like, No, that didn't happen. And also are you the same blood type as she is, exactly?

I'd be interested to hear now. After a brief deliberation, the jury reported to the judge that they were unable to reach a verdict and were hopelessly deadlocked. I can understand why it would be tough to reach a verdict in this case, to a degree, because this is a child. Yeah, and I'm sure that was weighing heavily on them.

And when you find out more about Eugene, you're gonna go, absolutely. He got away with this, right? But in that moment, not knowing what we know now and what you will know soon, oh gosh.

Like, I can understand that, but sitting on that jury, I don't. I think they got a good amount of evidence, but I could see why there would still be a doubt, especially when there was 20 other boys. Yeah, well. In eight jury, jurors were in favor of a conviction and four were in favor of an acquittal. And after the jury confirmed quote, they would come up with the same vote if they voted for years.

Yikes. Judge Ralph McGee declared a mistrial and excused the jury. What are you about to tell me now? Guard Chisholm said. That's fine, we're gonna retry him.

Like, he was like, Fuck that. I love how determined this man is like, let's go. Eugene Monroe's second trial began in Amador County on June 11th, 1950. Same judge, same prosecutor, same defense.

Different jury, different jury. Among the hurdles with the previous case was the lack of motive for Anna's murder. That was the problem that they were really facing in that one, and the jury was like, I don't know what the motive is.

What was the motive with the unsolved murder of the girl that he may have been connected to? It's true, but that's the thing. It's like, if you don't have a motive and it's a little shaky, that will really count a lot more. It's like, if you have a motive and the rest is shaky, you can kind of talk up the motive a little more. No motive and some shaky evidence is like, Oh, I don't feel good about that.

So the second time around, Chisholm was determined to get a motive in hope of securing this conviction in his testimony at the second trial. Jack Mercer, our guy Jack over there, definitely got protection claimed. Monroe had quote beat and garrotted Anna to death in her office because she had caught Monroe and himself in what he referred to as a degenerate act. Oh, no. Although this information had been known to the prosecution and the defense in the first trial, the jury never learned of the motive. Because Mercer was told by Judge McGee that quote, he need not answer anything humiliating or degrading, which-.

And then you wonder if that's why he recanted his original statement, because he knew it was going to get further. This time, though, Jack was willing to give a detailed chronological account of the events leading up to the murder. And this is like upsetting, because it's just like it's sad, and it's literally like, this is what life was like for these kids now. According to Mercer, the day before the murder, he was propositioned for sex by Monroe. And Jack declined. But Eugene responded All right, I'll make it rough on you. Indicating that if he wasn't willingly going to, he would retaliate with violence.

Jack was scared and he didn't want any trouble, so he said he finally agreed. And the two engaged in that in the empty Sunday school room. But this was also, like, not consensual for Jack. No, obviously.

Like he was agreeing out of fear because he just didn't want any trouble, so he was raped. That's not consensual, exactly, so Eugene raped him. And that's where they were discovered by Anna, according to Jack.

Now shocked, Anna left the room and made her way down the hall to get a male staff member. But she was pursued by Monroe, who reached her just as she got to her office door. And quote, according to Jack Quote, he hit her several times on the face and head, and he told the jury. Then Eugene tied a rope around her neck and dragged her into the closet, which is when Mercer fled in fear.

Oh God now. Chisholm was certain that once they learned of the motive for the murder, the jury would have no trouble finding Monroe guilty. But after days of deliberation, the jury informed Judge McGee they were deadlocked. This time 11 in favor of conviction. And one holdout you what a oh, are you kidding me?

Who is that holdout? And again, a mistrial was declared. Undeterred, though, Chisholm tried Eugene Monroe for a third time. This motherfucker now. Unfortunately, by then, the facts of the case became a little muddled.

Mercer's testimony was getting more intense and confused. The jury in the third trial was also unable to arrive at a unanimous decision, and in October 1950, a third mistrial was declared. And is he gonna go for a fourth? He said He figured a fourth was just gonna have the same outcome.

So Chisholm declined to pursue it any further. The day after the third mistrial was declared, The day after the third mistrial was declared, the California Youth Authority announced they would parole. Eugene Monroe. I'm sorry. What? Within 60 days?

How do you think that's gonna end? He was just on trial for murder, what the fuck? And he was a main suspect in a murder before he even got here. What compelled you to parole him? And both of those women were murdered in the exact same fashion, with the same knot and the same grotted. I think it was like a a square knot, right?

A piece of hemp rope, okay, yeah, a square knot, you're correct. And why do you think they paroled him? So that he didn't cause any more trouble at the Preston School, so that they didn't get any more bad press? In his statement to the press, director of California Youth Authority, Carl Holton, said Before the murder charge was placed on Monroe, he had an excellent record at Preston.

Undoubtedly he would have been paroled at this time if the charge had not been placed, but it was, and that's a big fucking charge. So he was free from prison. And he left the state in 1950 for Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the following year he was arrested and convicted for the rape and murder of 22 year old pregnant woman. Dorothy Waldrop Oh my god, Dorothy was a former dance teacher and the wife of Robert Waldrop, a taxi driver. Like Vesta and Anna Corbin, Waldrop was found with a grotted hemp rope knotted around her neck.

She had been literally taken out of her home and killed and disposed on a hill near her apartment. Her husband had come home from work at like 1 a...m. and found her missing in the door open. And now, a book, Stories of the Forgotten by Jamie Rubio, tells an even more in-depth story of all of Eugene's life and deeds. It's a very interesting read.

That person also has a blog entitled Dreaming Casually Poetry, where they talk a lot about this. And they talk to some of the family members. And it's very interesting. I'm shocked right now. But when asked by the Press for a comment, Monroe said It just seems like I am always in trouble, even though I never did it. Oh yeah, it seems like you always are around people who get murdered and grotted with rope.

That's the thing like three women were murdered in almost the exact same way, and you just happened to be a suspect in all of those murders, I'm sorry. Where there's smoke and then there's smoke, and then there's smoke, there's a blazing fucking fire. He 100 killed all these women and was he convicted for this murder?

No, no, despite. no, he was, but oh God, despite what he told the press. When investigators found Monroe's fingerprints in Waldrop's apartment, he confessed to the murder. Were they ever able to go back then and get the fingerprints?

There were seven of them, I don't think they were able to. Are you fucking kidding me? I know it makes me crazy. That would have been like the smoking gun.

Exactly. He actually confessed to the murder of Dorothy Waldrop and was sentenced to life in prison by a Tulsa jury, but then never confessed to the other two murders. He was paroled in August 1981 for why?

Yep, he murdered a, he raped, excuse me, and murdered, kidnapped, raped and murdered a pregnant woman, and he was paroled. How?

This man, who literally was paroled the first time at 19, like a 19 year old, paroled after being heavily suspected of a murder. Twice, two different murders, and immediately upon exiting murders, a pregnant woman in the same fashion, and you think it's smart to parole him like this motherfucker.

Very well, could have been a serial killer, obviously, we can't say for sure because he wasn't convicted, but sounds to me like he was a serial killer. And so he was convicted of Dorothy's murder but let out of jail because why the fuck not? He murdered a pregnant woman after kidnapping her out of her home. But like, Yeah, let's just let him back out, and you don't know what terms he was paroled on.

No. He was paroled in August 1981 and lived for a time in Tulsa, which is where he killed Dorothy Butler before returning to Los Angeles. And he died there on October 3rd, 2007 2007. Holy shit, never being convicted of either Vesta or Anna's deaths, and both of those cases are unsolved technically.

Quote unquote? Yeah, you have to wonder, like, they should go back and look at that time period. That he was out of prison as well and see, because he didn't know he was a serial killer. These are strangers, Tim.

Vesta and Dorothy, complete Dorothy, complete stranger. Tim, what the fuck like? And he just walked into these houses like Vesta. Supposedly he was delivering furniture or something like that, but still complete stranger. Well, he came back later, like afterwards, and Dorothy, complete stranger.

He just walked into her house and kidnapped her. And he took the blind, like he took the pull cords from one of her blind, like Venetian blinds, and used that to garrote her as well. I would be so interested to hear in the time after he got paroled, in the time of his death, if there was any more. Yeah, to me, I'm like, he killed again.

That's how I feel. I don't know, isn't that wild? The fact that he was paroled twice and the fact that that school, the California Youth Authority, was like, I don't understand what the problem is.

Like, he's fine, he was good until he was suspected of that. And it's like, right after he goes out and kills someone like, Do you guys feel stupid now? Yeah, now, yeah.

Holy shit, wow. So that blew my mind. I was just gonna say, that's mind blowing. And the main campus of the Preston School of Industry was closed in the spring of 1960, 10 years later, and the residents relocated to other facilities on the grounds.

And the school itself was shut down for good completely in June 2011.

Between 1960 and the closing ceremony in 2011, a lot of the main building fell into disrepair and became popular with vandals and looters. But the building itself gained the protection of the National Historic Registrar Register. Excuse me in recent years because of its architectural significance, because, remember, it's a beautiful building.

So it can't be demolished. Since 1997, the main campus has been leased by the Preston Castle Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve the buildings and promote the history and the heritage of the site. The group spent the latter half of the 90s and early 2000s renovating the interior in order to make the building safe. And for the last decade or so, they have tried to raise funds by, among other things, opening the campus to the public for ghost tours. Now, the organization regularly welcomes tour groups and even allows groups to pay an additional fee in order to spend a night in the supposedly haunted castle.

Guests routinely report seeing orbs spirits like full body apparitions wandering the halls. A lot of disembodied voices and things caught. And many have claimed to see who they believe to be. Anna Corbin herself. Oh, wow, now. The Preston Foundation board members, Carl Nobelock was initially skeptical.

He told reporters If there are any ghosts here, they've never talked to me. And that changed one evening. When Carl and a friend were exploring the castle on their own, and both men said they clearly heard a disembodied voice call Carl by name. I love that. They were like, Hey, skeptic?

Yeah, they were just like, hey-o, and Carl was like, all right, damn. So he came back and was like, I stand corrected now. Ghost tour guide Donny Page was similarly skeptical at first.

They said until an incident happened to him in 2010, involving a strong gust of wind and an eerie feeling that scared him off for six weeks before he would even return. Wow, now, while the ghost tours and overnight stays, they're like, supposed to all be in good fun. Going with the more lighthearted stories from the past and using historic reenactors. You know, things to scare people, like, it's supposed to be this lighthearted thing.

Tour guides do tell and share the tragic history of the school and its residents, according to the Sacramento Bee, Donny Page quote delights in telling about the crude conditions early on in the infirmary. And the cruelty and violence many of the boys experienced at the hands of the guards. They said, contrary to what they said at the time, this is what Donny told the Sacramento Bee, he said contrary to what they said at the time, the boys were beaten, severely punished and whipped and thrown into solitary confinement. So he's saying like they were projecting this whole image of progressive reform, wasn't that?

They were just as bad, despite the playful tone and the theatricality of the events held at Preston Castle. By telling and retelling the stories that are Preston's history. The foundation manages to provide a small consolation to those who, like Anna Corbin, died or suffered within its walls, because they keep their memories alive in the present. Which is at least a positive for that, sure, so that is the story of the Preston School of Industry and the murder of Anna Corbin, Dorothy Waldrop and Vesta Sapenter. That was a whirlwind.

And somebody truly needs to look into the time period that that motherfucker was out of jail. I wanna look into it. Let's go, please do, because I am not convinced that. He just was like, let me just live my quiet life. He was a violent dude, yeah.

And there's no way those aren't connected, no way like, Sorry, no, damn, wow.

Pretty horrifying. Thank you for listening and we hope you keep it weird. But that's the way that you go to a boys school because that's scary. I don't want anybody to end up there.

Yeah, I hate it all. Yeah, reform schools are fucked scary. Don't send your kids there, just love them.

Just love them, just love them, just love your kids, it's fine.

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