178 - The Murder of Marvin Brandland

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2021

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While children from coast to coast donned masks of ghosts and monsters for a night of trick or treating, a real life monster was walking the streets of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Arriving at the home of sixty-nine year old Marvin Brandland, the man pulled a pillow case over his head and tucked a gun into his waistband.

Believing the man was a friend pranking them for the holiday, Marvin and his wife Ethel didn't take him seriously. The hooded man demanded to be led into the basement where the Brandland's kept a secret safe. Marvin fought back, reaching for the gun when a shot rang out and the man burst through the front door moments later, disappearing into the night.

While investigators believed the crime was likely random, a robbery gone wrong, members of Marvin's family began to think that they knew who the killer was and he was not a stranger.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/marvin-brandland

Transcript

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0:00.0	Once every year there's a night when a knock at the door hours after the sun has gone
0:13.5	down, doesn't raise concern or warrant a cautious glance at the front window.
0:19.1	Across the country, thousands of doors fly almost instantly open to swarms of children
0:24.2	hidden behind creepy masks, hungry for candy, regardless of how heavy their bag has gotten.
0:31.2	For the most part, it's a night of pretend scares and laughter, but sometimes the person
0:36.3	on the other side of the door isn't just pretending to be a monster.
0:40.9	Thirty-nine years ago, Marvin and Ethel Branland were preparing a retire after a long night
0:46.2	of handing out candy, then came another knock at the door.
0:50.7	Minutes later, a gunshot rang out and Marvin fell to the floor as the shooter disappeared
0:55.8	back into the night.
0:57.7	Left behind on the kitchen floor was the pillowcase the killer had worn over his head.
1:03.7	Police arriving on the scene began a sweep of the entire neighborhood, looking for witnesses
1:08.4	and the unknown assailant.
1:10.6	Despite Ethel having seen the shooter's face, investigators couldn't track down the
1:14.8	killer and his time went on it began to seem like they never would.
1:19.8	While locals worried that the murderer might come knocking at their door, Marvin's family
1:24.7	began to believe that the crime may have been carried out by someone they already knew.
1:30.8	This is Trace Evidence, episode 178, the murder of Marvin Branland.
1:44.2	Welcome to Trace Evidence.
1:45.9	I'm your host, Stephen Pacheco.
1:48.5	Today we examine the murder of Marvin Branland, a case which, despite the passage of decades,
1:54.8	continues to be as disturbing and frustrating as it was nearly 40 years ago.
	...

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