APParition Distorts Real Preston Castle History

With the latest film that came out, APParition (2019) there has been a flood of misinformation that has been spread about not only the history of the Preston School of Industry, but that of Anna Corbin, a victim of a heinous murder that took place there in 1950. This blog is to sift through what has been spoon-fed to you by way of Hollywood, and what the real facts are, so that you can make an informed opinion about the real history of Preston.

First and foremost, The Preston School of Industry had gained a bad reputation over the years that it was open. There is no doubt about that. In fact, my blogs that I initially published on my "Dreaming Casually" blog site exposed a lot of the true stories that took place there that no one had written about since the events had taken place, some in upwards of over 100 years or more.

Later on, I moved my blogs over to this blog and also published my books on Preston's history. Had I not published these stories in depth on my blogs or in my two books, most people today wouldn't even know about these stories in the first place. Even the people who took over running Preston as a tourist spot weren't aware of most of the real facts behind most of these stories. Besides myself, John Lafferty (former Preston Librarian and author) and Scott Thomas Anderson, a crime reporter/journalist, there really hasn't been many people out there willing to do the research into the history of the school or events that took place there.

After my first book, "Behind The Walls" came out in 2012, even some of the docents that worked there figured out much of the stories they had been sharing with the public were not factually correct and a few of them started using my book as a means of sharing the facts with their guests to make sure they had the stories right. I have since published a follow up book, "If These Walls Could Talk: More Preston Castle History, which has even more information and forgotten stories from Preston's past.

You see, most people over the years had heard rumors about deaths or knew names, but that was about it. They had sensationalized ideas passed down to them from friends or family members, but no one had actually researched and shared these stories with cited sources.  Many of the stories I cover in my two books were not even mentioned in John Lafferty's original Centennial History book. When I was finding the stories, I went to the library in Jackson with a list of stories I had previously uncovered and went through his book to see if he had written about any of these stories so I could reference them. As it turned out, most of the ones I had found earlier on in my research were stories he had not written about, so I was excited to share newly found stories that had been lost to the annals of history. The incidents that Lafferty had covered in his book, that I had also found in my research and put on my list, were in chronological order in his book, mostly with brief mentions of the events in short paragraph form.

For the record, Lafferty's book is a great source for a timeline of events going on from the start of the school until it closed, and his research is invaluable to anyone who wants to get a run down on the school's history. He has been a great support over the years and I have gone to him many times for advice in my research on Preston. In fact, without Lafferty's help no one would have figured out the exact location Anna Corbin had been found. I always knew that she was found in a larger store room in the basement based on witness testimony, but which room it was I was uncertain of. I always knew it wasn't the closet "cubby hole" that everyone else has tried to insinuate, and I have published that time and time again on my blogs and in my books. But thanks to John Lafferty, for transcribing the testimony of Goula Wait, we now know that the store room was the room with the plunge bath.

Going back to my work, when I decided to publish my research, I wanted to do something different with my books than anyone else had done. I wanted to take the time to write in more detail about very specific events, and  I wanted to make sure I did a thorough job detailing every part of each person's story that I possibly could so that these stories would be told with respect but most importantly with accuracy.  I took such care into researching these stories because I knew that for the most part, no one had ever read about them before since they had made headlines at the time the events took place. I also wanted my work to be easy to read and concise, so that my readers could be engaged in the story and not feel like they were reading a boring history book from school, but one that made Preston's history come alive.

This blog post is to go step by step with you to explain that what you saw in the movie APParition is not based on facts. Yes, they took the name of a person who died there but they twisted and distorted the history in such a way that there is nothing left of the real story and all that is left is the fabricated one pushed in the film.

For one, Anna Corbin (whom the character of Anna Collins was inspired by) was never involved romantically with the Superintendent. He also was never called a "Warden" either. He also didn't kill her. Anna did not live at the Castle, and she did not have a baby there either. Anna was in her 50's when she died. She was not found in a closet under the stairs, she was found in the basement store room where the plunge bath is located. At that time period the plunge bath had not been in use for decades, and that room became a store room for supplies. The pool part had been boarded over long before Anna came to work there. Anna was not a cook, she was the head of housekeeping. Anna did not witness any boys being abused or mistreated. She allegedly walked in on two wards, Eugene Monroe and William Mercer in the middle of an "act of sexual perversion" (what it was considered back then), and that was alleged to be the reason Monroe later killed her, to keep her from talking about what she saw. Did she really witness this act? There is no way to know for sure, but according to ward William Mercer during the trial, he claimed this was true.

Anna took her job seriously and proved to be a motherly influence on the boys at the school. So much so, that after news broke out about her death, many of the wards there said that if they found out who killed her they would take revenge themselves for her death. Had she witnessed staff abusing the wards there, there is no doubt in my mind that she would have said something or done something about it. She kept a daily journal of her life and there has never been any mention that she ever accused the school of abusing its wards during the time she was employed at Preston.

As far as the abuse and mistreatment of the boys goes in the film, there were times in Preston's past that there was documented proof that staff mistreated the wards. There were some deaths that can be blamed on the staff, but the place was not a "murder house." There were no boys beaten to death, no boys burned to death with acid, nothing like that.

Going back to the late 1890's with Superintendent O'Brien, he was a real tyrant and there are affidavits that prove that he abused wards. Did he kill any of them? We will never really know that, so we cannot definitively accuse him of murder.  We do know that he beat a ward, A. Ascensio very badly, and he hurt another ward Nicholas Hamilton (ward # 170), who did in fact die 6 months after the news got out about O'Brien's mistreatment to him, but documentation always insisted he died of tuberculosis. O'Brien even threatened a young boy who lived in Ione, who came up to visit the school (since back then it was an open-campus, meaning there were no fences). There were a few other Superintendents over the years who had been accused of using harsh corporal punishment on the wards as a form of disciplinary action, but there were never any accusations that the boys at Preston were being beaten to death.

As far as the deaths during an escape, Joseph Morgan was shot in Sheldon in 1899, after having escaped, although the guard in charge told the other guards not to shoot, they did it anyway.  Herman Huber was shot wantonly in 1911, and this is one of the few instances that I truly believe the guard who shot him, did it in cold blood. Why he did it, no one knows. Maybe he just didn't like Huber. But there was a witness to the murder who once paroled went straight to the Governor's office to tell him of what happened. He also admitted that at that time period the staff was abusing the wards, whipping them on the back and he showed the Governor the lash marks he had on his back from his multiple punishments. Sam Goins was shot in 1919 at the Thornton Ranch after he failed to surrender and continued running. He tripped over the fence (as witnesses stated in the inquest records) and as J. Kelly went to shoot his leg to stop him,  because he was in mid-fall, the bullet penetrated his back. He lived long enough to admit to everyone that he knew it was his own fault for being fatally injured.  Another example of negligence on the part of the staff.  Then in 1924, there was the death of Ray Baker, who in attempt to escape he fought with guard Tom Dooley, choking him nearly to death. During the tussle, Dooley was able to reach for his pistol and shot Baker, fatally wounding him. That was a classic case of self-defense, and Dooley was exonerated for any wrong doing.

Any other deaths of the wards that took place at Preston were either accidental, suicide or caused by illness (natural). The only two staff members that I could ever find who were murdered were Anna Corbin (1950) and James Wieden (1965). For the record, although he was attacked on the farm property of the school,  James did not die at Preston. He passed away at the hospital.

I hope that with this short but concise blog out there for people who are earnestly seeking the facts, you will be able to decipher between Hollywood's fakelore and the real facts surrounding Preston Castle.

Happy History Hunting!

(Copyright 2019 - J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

For more information on Preston Castle and it's complicated history, please check out this blog or either one of my books on the subject which can be found on AMAZON here!

PURCHASE YOUR COPIES OF "BEHIND THE WALLS" OR "IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK" HERE! 

The Death of Sam Goins

"One story you may have heard while looking into the Preston School of Industry's history, is the story of Sam Goins. Goins was an African-American inmate who was fatally shot by John Kelly or J.E. Kelley (also seen spelled as Kelly). Samuel Goins was born on June 24, 1899 in Iredell County, North Carolina. He had been transferred to Preston from Alameda, where he was originally serving time for burglary charges. At the time of his death he was only 19, about to turn 20. 

According to the Amador Ledger dated April, 19, 1919 entitled “Guard Kills P.S.I. Escape,” states:

“Samuel Goins, colored, an inmate of the Preston School was fatally shot by guard J.E. Kelley last Saturday. Goins escaped from the school the day before and the guards found him at the Thornton Ranch. He threatened to kill anyone who attempted to take him. Kelly , failing to halt him by command, fired to hit him in the leg, but just as he pressed the trigger, Goins stooped to go under a wire fence and the bullet struck him in the back.

He lived several hours, and before dying, exonerated the guard, declaring he alone was to blame for the affair. Kelly was acquitted by the coroner’s inquest held Tuesday. The funeral was held in Ione, Wednesday. Goins was a native of North Carolina, aged 20 years. He went to the school from Alameda County for burglary.”       

         Samuel Goins was just two months shy of being released when he attempted his third escape. It was reported in the newspapers that ward J. Lopez, who was with Goins when he died, testified on J.E. Kelly’s behalf at the inquest. However, the inquest records state that his name was actually Joe Acosta. Acosta claimed that Goins, “tripped going over the fence and he got shot after he tripped over.” Eight months later, a ward by the name of James Lopez  died from bronchial pneumonia. He is also buried in the cemetery at Preston. It does not appear that Joe Acosta and James Lopez are the same person. 

Who Was J. E. Kelley?

According to census records and Amador County records there were only two men named John Kelly in Ione at the time, and one was named J.E. Kelley or Kelly and the other was J.K. Kelly (who was his son). I spoke with the grandson of a J.E. Kelly who claimed he had no knowledge of his grandfather being involved in any shooting of an inmate at Preston or that he ever worked there. I also spoke to the Amador County Librarian, Laura, who found the same information as I did about the two men named John Kelly in Amador County.

 According to records, one J.E. Kelly was born in 1865 in Plymouth, CA. He was the Constable of Ione for a lengthy period of time according to the old newspaper archives.  Another Kelly, J.K. Kelly was only 18 years old at the time of this incident and there is no record of him working for Preston. When this escape attempt occurred, John E. Kelly would have been about 54 years old. It is quite possible that he had been the Constable and also maintained a presence at Preston for certain incidents such as an escape. This would not be unusual.  If you recall, in Chapter 4, when Superintendent O’Brien threatened a young boy from Ione, his guard Officer Phillips was also an Amador County Sheriff's Deputy.

 So you see, in Amador County at that time, the local authorities and Preston’s officers were basically intertwined. Regardless of which Kelly it was, there were only two possibilities in Amador County at the time, so it had to be one or the other. According to Guard John Kelly’s statement, he claims he meant to shoot Goins in the leg and that Goins had waved a hammer towards the other guard Mr. Hunter approaching him prior to his running and ducking under the wire fence. John Kelly went on to say:

 “I knew what he told me before, that the next time he ran away whoever tried to catch him would either kill him or he would kill the person that was after him. I seen him watching Mr. Hunter and holding the hammer and I knew he would strike him if he would get a chance. He was nearing a low fence, I should judge it was three feet probably. It was what they call ‘hog wire’ on the bottom, two barb wires on top. As he neared the fence, I thought he was going to leap over it because I seen him jump before. He was a good jumper. I raised my gun and was just in the act, when he either tripped or fell as he was about to make the jump, and as I pulled the trigger, that I calculated on him jumping over, he fell through the fence. 

We went down to where he was. Mr. Hunter was the first one to him. He went to where he was lying and he said, “Goins, are you hurt?” He said “Yes, sir.” I went up to the house to get some water. Mr. Thornton came with me. I asked Mr. Thornton where was the nearest doctor?  He first said Burson, but afterward he said Ione was as near. I wanted to get medical aid for the boy. He said “no.” We then laid Mr. Goins in the machine, proceeded to Ione, drove to the doctor’s office. The doctor was not in. We then went to the school and left him there at the school and the authorities up there sent for Mr. Gall at Jackson.”

  After Goins’ death, the school made sure his funeral was taken care of and even mentioned it in the local papers. Most of the time when other wards died at Preston, their deaths were basically unmentioned.

Many people speculate that Goins was shot with little to no regard for his life, but I believe that was not the case here. Think about it. He had escaped from Preston and was on the run. He was a fugitive who had escaped in the past and who had already made threats that he would not be taken alive again. He had also threatened that anyone who stood in his way would be taken out as well. Kelly was aware of Goins’ past threats. Upon seeing Goins with a hammer that he had retrieved from a shack on the Thornton ranch, Kelly felt that he had to protect his partner, Mr. Hunter.

        Testimony showed that Hunter’s opinion was that Goins wasn’t really that much of a threat to him at all. Hunter claimed that he was too far from Goins for him to have struck him with the hammer and that Goins was running in front of Hunter. From Kelly’s perception, Hunter and Goins seemed close in proximity. In the inquest records testimony, Kelly remained adamant that he didn’t mean to kill Goins. He claimed that he meant only to wound him in order to stop him.  

         Several witnesses claimed that they did see Goins trip and fall just as he reached the fence, meaning one of two things. He was either shot and fell on the fence, or Kelly was telling the truth about Goins fall. Perhaps, he did shoot at him while Goins was in the act of attempting to jump the fence but instead tripped and fell, causing the bullet to penetrate his lower back as opposed to the intended target of hitting him in the leg.

         Testimony of  Dr. A. M. Gall, who examined Goins’ body stated that the bullet  “entered the back, mid-way between the lower rib on the left right side and the upper border of the pelvic bone. Passed through, slightly upward and the exit was about two and one-half inches from the sternum and below the last rib.”

        Sam Goins later died from his wounds, after claiming that it was no fault of anyone involved, other than his own. He was later buried at the cemetery out behind the “Castle.” His story is one that will always cast doubts in many minds. Did Kelly purposely shoot Goins? Or was it just an accident? Did Kelly honestly feel that his partner was in direct danger? Or did he just want to catch Goins by whatever means necessary? We may never truly know."-- Chapter 8. from the book "Behind The Walls" by J'aime Rubio.  (Copyright 2012 - ISBN: 13: 978-1481075046)

Was Eugene Monroe a Serial Killer?

Eugene Monroe

I have often pondered the thought that Eugene Monroe, the man accused of murdering Anna Corbin in 1950, at the Preston School of Industry may have actually been a serial killer. For those of you unfamiliar with Monroe or the fact that he was the prime suspect in three murders (one of which he was convicted), there were just too many similarities in the three cases for me to ignore.

This blog is to give you a little more background information on just who Eugene Monroe was and what sorts of crimes he was accused of and/or convicted.  It will also be a way for you to connect all the dots and make the decision on your own in regards to his guilt or innocence.

Eugene Monroe was born on January 31, 1931 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am unsure when his mother died, but I could not find any mention of her in any records. It appears that he may have been removed from his home at an early age, as the 1940 Census in Taft, Muskogee County, Oklahoma lists Monroe as an inmate at the Institution for Deaf, Blind and Orphans. At this point he was only nine years old, and records indicate the highest level of education he had up to that point was 2nd grade.

According to newspaper accounts, as an young man Monroe had lived with his step-father whose last name was Jefferson, and Monroe went by the alias "Eugene Jefferson" at different times. I cannot confirm this for certain, but I believe that more than likely Monroe's biological father was not in the picture, and perhaps after his mother remarried to Mr. Jefferson, she may have passed away, thus the reason he would have been sent to an orphanage. Maybe upon his release from the orphanage he reached out to his step-father who took him in? There really is no way to know as of yet, for lack of records. What I can tell you for certain is that Eugene Monroe lived in both Tulsa, Oklahoma and Los Angeles during his lifetime.

By the mid to late 1940's Monroe ended up in Los Angeles, and going by the alias Eugene Jefferson. This is when I think he was living with his step-father. It was on July 18, 1947, when a young honor student by the name of Vesta Belle Sapenter was found raped and murdered in her upstairs bedroom, that Monroe was held on suspicion of murder. She had been sexually assaulted and choked with a thin hemp cord tightened around her neck. After questioning another young man who had walked Vesta home from school earlier that day, and given the time frame of Vesta's murder and the statement by Vesta's brother that Monroe was at the house at the time of her death, investigators were certain they had their man.

"Monroe, delivering furniture to the Sapenter home, talked to the girl’s younger brother and asked to use the bathroom, according to Coppage. While the brother remained outside, Monroe went upstairs, he said, and came back down. He asked the boy where his sister was and was told, that she was upstairs.

The suspect, according to police, said he had not seen her. The brother and Monroe then re-entered the house and found her bedroom door locked. This was broken down and the body discovered. Coppage declared. The slain girl had been keeping house for her father and brother and was hanging curtains when the murderer entered the room, the police officer declared.

Monroe, who was using his step-father’s last name at the time, was questioned but later released, Coppage said, since there no witnesses to the crime nor could evidence be corroborated. The knot that was tied in a rope around the young girl’s neck was also the same type of knot that was in the rope around Mrs. Corbin’s neck, investigators said. The knot had been pulled up tight behind the left ear in both cases, it was reported. Coppage declared today, “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.”--- Youth Quizzed In L.A. Slaying

Unfortunately, because of lack of evidence and no other witnesses besides Vesta's little brother putting Monroe at the scene, the D.A. didn't pursue the case and let him go.  It wasn't very long before Monroe found himself in trouble again, this time arrested on burglary charges. It was then that he was sentenced to the Preston School of Industry to serve his time.

The school at that point, under the supervision of Robert V. Chandler was under minimum security regulations, which he felt gave the wards a feel of a proper rehabilitation program and less of an institutional or prison like atmosphere. The only problem with that was that many of the wards there were violent offenders and should not have been able to be roaming the grounds of the school like some of the other non-violent wards. Eugene Monroe was known at the school for his violent temper and when in isolation he was known to tear up his cell, including his mattress and even ripped a pipe off the wall in one instance. He also was known for self mutilation, scratching his own face to the point that it left visible scars.


On February 23, 1950, one of the housekeepers, Lillian Lee McDowall and her ward helper, Robert Hall discovered the brutally murdered body of Anna Corbin, the head housekeeper. She had been attacked in her office and dragged into the storage room area which is where the disinfecting plunge bath is located. At the time that room was used for storage and the pool had been boarded over.  Her murderer had strangled her with a thin hemp cord, but there was a vicious struggle. Items in the room had been knocked over, showing that she fought to the very end. Sadly, in a moment of vicious rage Anna was thrown to the concrete floor where she suffered a fatal blow to the head, fracturing her skull. Her autopsy showed no sign of rape, although it was very apparent that her murderer had tried, as her undergarments were down around her ankles and there was shoe polish on them from her assailants shoes rubbing against them during the struggle. She was then dragged to the corner of the room and rolls of carpet were placed to conceal her body.

The whole ordeal concerning the investigation leading up to Monroe's arrest was enough to make any one's head spin. I have so much research on this case that it would be impossible for me to put everything in this blog. Perhaps I will write more on this subject later, but to summarize, the school was literally put on lock down while each and every person, inmate and employee were questioned. The Berkeley Police Department's lie detector expert, A. Riedel came to help in the man hunt for Anna's murderer.

Sheriff Lucot sat in with each and every session, as one by one, each ward came into an office, was hooked to the lie detector machine and grilled tirelessly searching for answers. According to the records there were originally three boys that the authorities initially suspected based on the fact their stories didn't check out and they all failed their lie detector tests. After more intensive grilling that proved Monroe had lied and also showed investigators his ill-temper, witness statements that put Monroe within 200 feet of Anna's office at the time of the murder, the fact that blood was found on Monroe's shoes and belt, and the fact the staff found his clothes in the incinerator, there was enough to officially charge him.

Another thing to note was the testimony of William J. Mercer.  You see, Mercer made claims that he saw Monroe strike Mrs. Corbin in her office but he ran off and did not witness the murder. He claimed that Monroe attacked her because she had witnessed them engaging in a homosexual act and she said she was going to report them. Although Mercer recanted his statement at the preliminary hearing, he later claimed at the trial that Monroe's attorney, Nathaniel S. Colley had threatened to have him killed if he didn't change his story. Mercer then recanted the story at the time out of fear that  Monroe's friends would "take care of him" after he got out, as told to him by Colley at the Amador County Jail. In the end it was his conscience that got the best of Mercer, so he risked everything to tell what he claimed to be the truth at the trial and admitting that his original statement was in fact true. Whether or not the jury believed he was credible was anyone's guess,  but Mercer was adamant that the only reason he lied was out of fear.

Officially charged for the murder of Anna Corbin on March 3, 1950, the first trial was in April, where a jury comprised of five women and seven men could not reach a verdict in the case. This upset the community, and the D.A. scheduled the second trial to take place in June. That also ended in a hung jury with the jurors voting 11 for conviction and 1 innocent. At that point Monroe's attorney, Nathaniel S. Colley requested that the third trial be moved out of Amador County and into Sacramento, which was allowed. The third trial ended in an acquittal for Monroe, and injustice done to the memory Anna Corbin's life.

Preston Murder Case Jury Disagrees

Jackson, April 29.-The jury trying Eugene Monroe, 19, Preston School of Industry inmate, for the murder of a school housekeeper reported itself hopelessly deadlocked late last night and was discharged by Superior Judge Ralph McGee. The jurors received the case at 3:10 pm yesterday but spent little more than two hours in actual deliberations before reporting they were deadlocked at 8 to 4 for conviction at 10:49 pm. Much of the time was spent in recess as they awaited the arrived of requested trial testimony from Placerville, where it had been sent for transcription. Monroe, who pleaded innocent, went to trial Monday on charges he beat and strangled to death the school’s head housekeeper, Mrs. Anna Corbin, in a storeroom last February 23. District Attorney Gard Chisholm said today he would try the case again.”---- Oakland Tribune, 4/29/1950

Third Trial Likely For Slaying Suspect

Jackson, June 19 –Prosecution attorneys say they “definitely” plan to try 19 year old Eugene Monroe for a third time on charges that he murdered a housekeeper at the Preston School of Industry last Feb. 23. Monroe’s second trial ended in a deadlock when the jury reported it was unable to reach a decision and was dismissed by Superior Judge Ralph McGee. At the time the jurors stood 11 to 1 for conviction. The first trial last April also ended in a hung jury.”----Press Democrat, 6/20/1950

Acquits Monroe

Sacramento, Oct 19. --Eugene Monroe’s third trial on charges of slaying a state reformatory school housekeeper ended in his acquittal today. The 19 year old Los Angeles youth was cleared of the death of Mrs. Anna Corbin, 53, by a jury of four women and eight men after two hours deliberation. His two previous trials, both in Amador County, ended in deadlocked juries. Mrs. Corbin was found beaten to death last February 23 at the Preston School of Industry at Ione. Monroe was an inmate there.”----San Bernardino County, 10/20/1950

After being acquitted for the murder charge, Monroe was paroled to Oklahoma to live with his aunt in Tulsa.  From the time of his release in late October of 1950 up until July of 1951, Monroe had been arrested four times on sexual perversion charges. It was while awaiting his day in court on one of those sexual perversion charges that he was caught slipping notes to fellow cell mates bragging about getting away with murder. Who was he bragging about? Could it have been the fact he managed to get through three trials in California only to be acquitted for one woman's murder, or was he bragging about the newest unsolved murder in Tulsa? Or could he have bragged about both?

All it took was questioning him about the note and running his fingerprints through the FBI database to find out his prints matched those found on the venetian blinds that came from the home of a recent unsolved murder of a young pregnant woman. Dorothy Waldrop's body was discovered on a grassy knoll near the apartment complex in which she and her husband lived. She had been brutally raped and strangled with a dirty handkerchief found knotted around her throat. After 11 hours of questioning Monroe confessed to the murder, but based on the circumstances of the crime, Judge W. Lee Johnson ordered that he face a trial by jury, for sentencing purposes.  During the trial there were 13 witnesses for the prosecution who came forward claiming that Monroe had confessed to the killing. The defense had no witnesses. Monroe was found guilty of Dorothy's murder.  Although he was spared the death penalty, he was sentenced to life in prison.

“Youth, Freed of Preston Killing, Confesses Murdering Woman

Eugene Monroe, 20, acquitted last October of the strangulation slaying of the head housekeeper at Preston School of Industry, confessed last night to another strangulation murder. Monroe, once linked to still another unsolved garroting, made his confession in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after he was hailed into the district court on a sex perversion charge. Police were informed while questioning him that his fingerprints matched those on a window shade in the apartment of an expectant mother, Mrs. Dorothy Waldrop, 22, who was found raped and strangled with a handkerchief on a nearby hilltop June 25.”--- Oakland Tribune, July 28, 1951

Records also indicate that he would also later be charged with an armed robbery at an Oklahoma City theater that had taken place prior to his arrest, where he received a 35 years sentence for that conviction, although he only served a total of 29 years in the Oklahoma prison system all together. During the 1970's he requested to be paroled but that request was denied. 

Eugene Monroe was sent to the state penitentiary in Oklahoma from April 25, 1952 to August 14, 1981, when he was paroled. He lived in Tulsa for a while but eventually moved back to Los Angeles and went M.I.A. in the ODOC system.  His last three residences were listed within Los Angeles County. Since he was listed on "inactive parole," eventually an officer within the ODOC started investigating Monroe's whereabouts and located his name on the Social Security Death Index. Monroe passed away on October 3, 2007. 

In conclusion, although Eugene Monroe denied having killed Vesta Sapenter and Anna Corbin initially, there is no way to know that he didn't brag about it while he was in jail later on. Witnesses claimed he did brag about getting away with murder, including Dorothy Waldrop's death. It is a known fact that if you are acquitted of murder, even if you brag about committing the act later on, you cannot be charged for the same crime twice due to Double Jeopardy laws. Perhaps his attorney told him about that, because it wasn't until after his acquittal that Monroe seemed to have become a bit too arrogant and mouthy which ultimately got him caught.

Although Dorothy and her unborn child received justice by way of Monroe's conviction, Vesta and Anna's deaths will forever remain officially "unsolved" and thus the justice for these two beautiful souls remains just out of our reach. I have researched all three cases meticulously and I truly believe that Monroe murdered all three of these women. Looking at all three cases, the M.O. was the same. Vesta Sapenter was raped and strangled, Dorothy Waldrop was raped and strangled. In Anna Corbin's case it was obvious by physical evidence left on her that her murderer had pulled down her undergarments in order to assault her, but Anna fought back. I don't think the perpetrator was expecting that, and I believe that is why she ended up beaten as well as strangled. Vesta was only 17 when she was murdered, and perhaps she was physically overpowered easier than Anna, who although she was older, was a tough lady and as her diary stated she "didn't scare easy." No, she was ready for a fight if it was going to come her way, and she did fight. Dorothy, being pregnant, I believe she was so scared for the safety of her unborn child that she was overpowered out of fear of her murderer punching or kicking her in the stomach.

I was physically attacked many years ago when I was pregnant with my second child. My stalker broke through the front door of my house and attacked me. I was scared for the life of my unborn child as well as my three-year old son who was clenching onto my leg for dear life, so I defended myself the best I could, but I was terrified that I might get kicked or punched in the stomach, which thankfully didn't happen.  I can see how Dorothy must have felt being attacked in such a fragile state, and to top it off, she was raped, which is way worse than just being physically attacked.

All three victims were strangled in the very same way, two of the three being choked with the same type of cord, while Dorothy was strangled with a dirty handkerchief. All three were knotted in the same way. Now you tell me these murders are all just coincidence? I don't think so. Whether or not you believe Eugene Monroe killed these women is entirely up to you, but if he did, who is to say he didn't kill more women, and he just never got caught? It is very possible that Eugene Monroe was a serial killer, and I for one believe that to be the case.  I am sure Vesta, Anna and Dorothy would have agreed, too.

LET US NEVER FORGET THE VICTIMS:   

VESTA SAPENTER, ANNA CORBIN & DOROTHY WALDROP (and her unborn child)

(Copyright 2017 -- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Photos of Vesta Sapenter and Anna Corbin (c/o archived newspaper clippings)
Photo of Dorothy Waldrop's grave (c/o Cameron Herrell @ Find-a-grave)

Some of my many sources:
Pittsburgh Courier (7/26/1947; 8/2/1947)
1947 Project- Larry Harnisch
Public Records
1940 Census
Stockton Record, 2/24/1950
Oakland Tribune, 3/9/1950;4/29/1950;7/28/1951
Press Democrat 6/20/1950
San Bernardino County 10/20/1950
Odessa American 1/11/1952
Albany Democrat Herald 7/28/1951
Fresno Bee 4/25/1952
Records from the ODOC
Social Security Death Index
California Death Records, etc.

What Happened To Joseph Morgan?

One story that had basically been overlooked prior to my researching and documenting Preston's history, due to it being buried in the archives, is the death of Joseph Morgan. Morgan was a ward at Preston back in July of 1899. 

Sketch of Joseph Morgan (Newspaper Clipping)

One evening, Joseph Morgan and another friend Louis Siminoff escaped from Preston. Their plan had worked and they had made it as far as Sheldon, located near Elk Grove. When the staff realized that the pair was missing, Superintendent Hirshberg sent a group of men out to “fetch” the boys. H.H. Budd and Raphael Blair met up with James Carroll, James Kelly and a dog that tracked the escapees down to the farmlands. When the men approached the land where Morgan and Siminoff were hiding they all split up.

James Kelly and Raphael Blair found the boys behind a haystack. Siminoff freaked out and remained hidden while Morgan tried to run away. H.H. Budd hollered not to shoot the boy, which testimony from Siminoff confirms this. Yet, both Blair and Kelly shot with their Rifle and Pistols. One of the bullets from the gun James Kelly was using, hit Morgan through the chest and into his lungs.

He was fatally injured, bleeding to death while Kelly handcuffed him a second time. You see, when Morgan had escaped he was handcuffed. He managed to get one of his hands out of the cuffs but one was still attached to his wrist. As he lay there on the ground, coughing up blood until he died, they still had the audacity to cuff him again.

An inquest was held in Elk Grove, and witnesses were questioned. The newspapers headlines read “Unwarranted Killing Of The Reform School Lad-Bitterly Denounced.” District Attorney Baker filed murder charges against Kelly and also held Major Raphael Blair accountable as well. This would be the first time that someone would actually be held accountable for the wrongdoing they did to a ward from Preston.

To read more about the death of Joseph Morgan, and the rest of the Preston School of Industry's history, please check keep reading this blog and check out my book, "Behind The Walls" today!--

(© Copyright 2012-2015, J’aime Rubio, Originally published either on blog “Dreaming Casually” by J’aime Rubio, on my Facebook Page or in the book “Behind The Walls- A Historical Exposé of The Preston School of Industry” by author, J’aime Rubio.)

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