The Portland Green Trunk Murder Mystery
True Crime Historian
Richard O Jones
4.4 • 729 Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2023
⏱️ 80 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Episode 241 is a variation on one of our favorite tropes: The Trunk Murder. Culled from the historic pages of True Detective Magazine and the Oregon Daily Journal, this story takes place in the Pacific Northwest, when a couple of shady transients try to pull a long con on a wealthy, recently widowed rancher. Getting rid of the body is always the tricky part.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Popular.com |
| 0:03.0 | The night of Monday, June 20th, 1910, was uncomfortably sultry, and as J.B. Davis mopped his brow and went about his job of moving trunks at the Union Depot in Portland, Oregon. |
| 0:24.1 | The thought occurred to him that there must certainly be some easier ways of earning a livelihood. |
| 0:29.9 | However, he felt a little better when he glanced at the large clock in the baggage room of the |
| 0:35.1 | railway station and saw that the time was now nearly 1130, |
| 0:39.7 | only a few more minutes and he would be off duty. Then he could have a cool glass of beer and go |
| 0:45.8 | home for a shower which always soothed his tired muscles before going to bed. This comforting thought |
| 0:53.6 | spurred the baggage smasher to renewed effort as he's |
| 0:57.1 | tackled the few remaining trunks that had to be taken to the Puget Sound train, which was due to |
| 1:03.1 | depart at 1145. When Davis grasped one of them, preparatory to loading it into his hand truck, |
| 1:12.2 | he found it to be extremely heavy, so heavy, in fact, that he lost his grip, and the trunk fell back to the floor with a |
| 1:18.3 | resounding thud. What the deuce is in that thing, he muttered to himself as he took hold of it |
| 1:24.8 | again, and with a grunt, stood it on end. Then his eyes widened as he stared at it. |
| 1:32.0 | A trickle of crimson was issuing from one corner of the lid and was dropping onto the floor. |
| 1:38.7 | The trucker's first impression was that a bottle of wine or other liquid had been broken when he dropped the trunk. |
| 1:45.4 | But when he examined the substance, he came to the conclusion that it was blood. He lost no time |
| 1:52.2 | in summoning the baggage master and showing him the stains. The latter, after only one look, |
| 1:59.3 | hurried into the main lobby and hunted up the policeman's station there. |
| 2:03.6 | When the officer satisfied himself that it was indeed blood, he instructed the employees to break open the trunk, which was securely locked. |
| 2:12.6 | After setting it in its proper position, they used a crowbar to force open the lid. |
| 2:18.4 | What they saw inside caused the three onlookers to draw in their breath sharply. |
| 2:23.9 | It was the doubled-up body of a man whose head had been crushed. True Crime Historian presents Pulpun |
... |
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