The Demon of the Belfry

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One hundred twenty-eight years ago, San Francisco was haunted by a bizarre, brutal murder case. And in terms of macabre ingredients, this story truly had it all. In the final episode of our Boo Curious series, reporter Carly Severn digs into the story of Theo Durrant, and the subsequent media frenzy around this case that draws parallels with our modern-day obsession with 'true crime.' Additional Reading: Murder in the Belfry: How the Story of Theodore Durrant Captivated Victorian San Francisco Read a transcript of this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Carly Severn. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, and Holly Kernan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED. 128 years ago, San Francisco was haunted by a bizarre brutal murder case.
0:11.2	A mild-mannered, upstanding gentleman was suspected of killing two young
0:16.3	women who knew and trusted him. And to make matters worse, it happened inside
0:21.3	one of the city's revered churches.
0:24.0	The suspect came to be known as the demon of the Belfry,
0:28.0	and in 1895, San Franciscans found themselves completely obsessed by this case.
0:35.0	If you ask someone living here now whether they know about the demon of the Belfry,
0:41.0	there's a good chance they've never even heard of it.
0:44.0	I was one of them.
0:47.0	This is Boo Curious, and we've made it to our final installment in the series.
0:52.0	This week, we're revisiting the demon of the
0:55.4	Belfry case to learn what happened inside that church. What was it about these
1:00.4	murders that possessed the city? And how did such an infamous case virtually
1:05.4	disappear from the Bay Area's memory? We'll find out just ahead. I'm Olivia Alan
1:10.8	Price. Now stay close. You don't want to get lost.
1:15.0	Ha ha ha!
1:18.0	Support for Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family owned, operated, and argued over.
1:28.0	Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.
1:34.8	Visit Sierra Nevada.com to find your new favorite beer today.
1:40.7	The demon of the Belfry murders were the talk of the town in San Francisco around the turn of the century.
1:47.0	Here to tell us the tale is K-of-a-fours. mining backwater was all but gone. This place was now a bustling modern city staring
2:07.4	down a new century. For almost 20 years these streets had felt the hum of electricity and the rattle of cable cars.
	...

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