Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found.
Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind.
Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast.
Listener discretion is strongly advised.
Hi everyone, welcome back to Dying to be Found, where every week I talk to some really cool guests on some of the podcasts that I like to listen to, or I get together with some of my family members.
Today, my sister Beth is here to listen to an older case from the Victorian era.
Hi Beth.
Hi Deb, how are you?
I am doing well. So good to see you as always.
Yeah, it's been a while.
It has been a while, but we're not going to let that stop us from talking about a really good episode today.
We don't just talk about true crime around here.
I'm also here to educate.
Beth, do you know why we call the 1800s the Victorian era?
No, do tell.
Queen Victoria reigned over the UK and Ireland between 1837 and 1901.
So this is the time when Britain was beginning to establish itself as a powerful country around the world.
Never knew that.
That's why I looked it up because I didn't know that either.
So yeah, we do all sorts of things around here on Dying to be Found.
Yes.
If our listeners have a Victorian story or any other story for that matter, be sure to click on our Linktree account found in our show notes.
And if you're new here, we actually have a system.
My sister Beth gets older cases.
My son, Corey, gets the rough and tough cases.
And Shelby, my daughter, gets what she likes to call the leftovers.
You'll have to go back a couple of episodes.
I'm pretty sure that's what she said.
So be sure to catch up on our episodes in the meantime.
Beth, what fascinates you about the Victorian era?
I don't know.
I've just loved it for so long.
I think the outfits that they used to wear, those beautiful dresses and I'm just an old fashion kind of gal.
And that is OK because I love all those PBS shows like Downton Abbey and.
Oh, they're coming out with another movie.
Oh my goodness.
Well, let me know when that comes out.
I'll definitely have to see it.
OK, yeah, I like the Victorian era as well.
Today we're going to be talking about a 23 year old medical student by the name of William
Henry Theodore Durant, also known as the demon of the Belfry.
I'm not sure if you've heard of him, Beth, have you?
No.
OK, well, this is a pretty interesting one.
And honestly, you might be thinking of some comparisons here based on the Victorian era,
but I'll let you figure that out as we go along.
OK, all right.
Let's start on April 3rd, 1895, when a young lady named Blanche Lamont disappeared from
San Francisco, California.
I love that name Blanche.
Not me.
No, no.
It's old fashioned from the Victorian era.
Yep.
All right.
Well, that's it.
The end.
She disappeared.
Well, what's the rest of the story?
I'm just kidding with you.
So yeah, let's skip ahead 10 days because I'm actually going to link Blanche's disappearance
with another crime pretty quickly here.
OK.
Ten days later, on April 13th, 1895, Minnie Williams.
How about that name Minnie?
That's cute.
Yeah, I like Minnie.
Minnie Williams, a member of the local Emmanuel Baptist Church, was discovered inside a small
closet on the church's property.
Several women had come to the church to prepare for Easter services the next day.
This is when Minnie was discovered.
Wow.
That's creepy.
And that's such a funny place to find someone.
I know.
That's exactly what I was thinking as I was doing my research here, Beth.
Of all places, it's bad enough that you're going to stumble across something like that,
but of all places, a church.
Yeah.
The police were immediately called to the scene, and when they began looking around,
they discovered Blanche Lamont's library card near Minnie's body.
The police thought nothing about this library card at first.
They disregarded it as evidence because they learned that Blanche Lamont was also a member
of Emmanuel Baptist Church.
So you know, people drop things, and I just assume that that's what they thought.
But they quickly changed their minds when they realized that Blanche had gone missing
10 days before and devised that there had to be a link between Blanche's disappearance
and Minnie's murder.
Well, that's good.
They're on it.
During their initial investigation, authorities theorized that whoever had something to do
with Minnie's crime might have had some inside knowledge on that church's layout because
hiding a body inside a closet deep inside the building's structure was to them a little
too coincidental.
Yeah, I guess that goes along the lines of you saying how odd it would be.
Beth, you are going to find out in just a couple minutes how stupid criminals are, and
we know that saying crooks are stupid.
Yes.
Well, the police worked tirelessly throughout the night covering every inch of the church
looking for clues in Minnie's murder.
Their investigation continued well into Easter morning when church members began arriving
for Easter services.
Can you imagine coming up on that?
I know.
Well, of course, no one was allowed inside the building and a crowd began to form outside,
which eventually covered an entire city block.
I'm thinking that word was beginning to spread that something scandalous was happening inside
that church.
That's an awful lot of people, an entire city block.
I know.
And so this is 1895 in San Francisco.
It is a big city.
This is kind of my mindset.
In the 1800s, the comparisons of today's world really were not that different because we're
looking at the Industrial Revolution era is coming up.
So there's a ton of activity going on in the world at that point in time.
But yeah, a city block of crowds of people.
I guess I just have to wonder, Easter services is going to be one of the busiest days of
the year at church, but I don't think a whole city block's worth.
No.
Investigators finally made their way up into the bell tower, but they had difficulties
entering the bell free because someone had deliberately damaged the doorknob.
Police were eventually able to push their way into the dark gallery to continue on with
their scene investigations.
And after lighting several candles, I guess that's the difference between 1800s and now,
police took a look around and this is what they discovered.
They found a lifeless body of 20 something year old Blanche Lamont.
Blanche was somewhere between the age of 20 and 22, but I could not find her birthday.
So she was in her early 20s.
By now, police had two female victims in one location.
And to differentiate between the two victims, Beth Blanche was found completely nude in
the upstairs bell free.
Many on the other hand was discovered wearing a man's cloak and the manner of death seemed
to be strangulation, but many had been mutilated while Blanche had not.
You know how they say that people tend to follow the same patterns.
There really weren't a ton of patterns going on here.
No, the poor girl so young.
I know.
I don't really know very much about many here.
There is not a ton to be said about her.
We are going in the direction of talking mainly about Blanche, but I'm glad they were able
to make the connection.
I mean, obviously you're going to if two women were found on the premises.
I find it interesting that they found a man's cloak.
I know exactly.
So during the investigation, police of course looked into see who had been with Blanche
last.
Eye witnesses had seen both ladies riding public transit around town on the respective
days that they had disappeared and identified rather quickly who they were both with.
Now Beth, I said I really didn't want to discount Minnie's death here, so we are going to be
talking a little bit more about Blanche, but police were definitely able to link both murders
to one person and I will tell you about that person in just a moment.
Good.
Blanche was new to the area and was attending Cooper College.
She had recently moved from Montana to California to further her education.
You know, back then too, I mean, not a lot of women were being educated, so good for
her.
Well, after classes were over on the day of April 3rd, 1895, Blanche was seen leaving
the campus with four other women when a man approached and tipped his hat at the ladies.
Because Blanche was new, she did not understand that women from that era were forbidden to
participate in meeting up with male companions or anything such as that while going to or
leaving the college campus.
Yeah, in other words, women were not allowed Beth to be seen in public with a male unless
they were married.
Whew, have times changed.
Have they ever?
Now, interestingly enough, because the three other women surrounding Blanche, they understood
the rules set by Cooper College.
They paid considerable amount of attention to this man and were able to provide police
with details after Blanche had gone missing.
Good for them, Beth.
They were paying attention to their surroundings.
Very important, especially for a woman.
Yes.
Now, Corey says it's very common for people to get details wrong.
So listeners, make sure you're paying attention.
And I think when he said that, it's because everybody's adrenaline is going and sometimes,
Beth, you question, did I really see what I just saw?
So details are really, really important.
It seems that William Henry Theodore Durant, I'm going to call him Theo, was the person
the eyewitnesses saw walking away with Blanche.
Theo was a medical student, like I had mentioned, but he also just happened to be the assistant
superintendent of the Emmanuel Baptist Church Sunday School program.
And remember, I had told you Blanche was a member of that church.
So I think it's pretty clear that Blanche probably knew Theo as he approached, and that's
why she left with him.
Yeah.
Police immediately tried to locate Theo, but he had slipped away to work with the San Francisco
Signals Corp, an extension of the United States Army that was in charge of communications,
which was first established during the Civil War two decades earlier.
So yeah, times are changing here.
The telephone was patented back in 1876.
So there's a lot going on, and I think that's pretty cool that they had a communication
system already set up so long ago.
That's quite an advancement.
Well, don't think that I knew that the telephone was invented off the top of my head, Beth,
because I think of these little things as I am refining the script, and I'm like, I
want to go look up to see when that telephone was invented.
Oh, for sure.
But remember that engineering test that I took when I wanted to start teaching audio
video?
Yes.
Okay.
Well, I actually had to know who invented bifocals and the steamboat.
You're kidding.
No, I think that's so important to know when I'm teaching students how to use a field
camera.
Come on.
Beth was quickly caught up with Theo Durant and brought him in for questioning.
Of course, Theo is going to 100% deny any involvement.
So what do the police do?
They take his word for it and dropped him as an immediate suspect.
For goodness sakes.
I know.
Well, I'm thinking, Beth, that they probably dropped him as a suspect because they discovered
Theo's status within the church.
If he had a pretty big role there, of course they're going to take his word for it.
If he's a man of God, right?
Right.
A few days had passed since the murders and a couple of things happened here.
Number one, Blanche Lamont's aunt received a package in the mail containing her niece's
rings that she had been wearing on the day that she disappeared.
But not before an unidentified man attempted to pawn these rings at a local pawn shop.
Interesting that they had pawn shops back then.
Yeah, that is really weird.
Well, I'm not sure why the transaction never took place at the pawn shop, but the rings
were mailed to Blanche's aunt.
Interesting.
Now, number two, you know that this was a major news break with the local newspapers.
Theo Durant's picture was published as a major suspect in the case.
And guess what?
What?
This is when Blanche's three classmates, who she was with at the time when that man approached
and tipped his hat, they came forward and gave a positive description that Theo Durant
was indeed the man that had approached them on April 3rd, the man that was in the newspaper.
That's interesting.
Yeah, it's very interesting.
But this is where I say crooks are stupid because Beth, it didn't really seem that Theo was
even attempting to disguise himself.
But do they do that back then?
You would think they never found Jack the Ripper.
Very true.
It's worse though, because everything just kind of adds up because another eyewitness
who lived just across the street from the college campus came forward as well.
And this eyewitness was keeping watch because there had been some break-ins in the area.
She took up an observation station in her upstairs window and decided to do a little
knitting and just keeping watch over the city.
How cool is that?
Yeah, I think I would be right with her.
I'd be knitting.
Have you knitted anything lately?
Well, I'm currently doing my biggest project.
It's 96 by 6 squares and they're all the same house, but just in different colors.
What are you making that into?
Like a quilt?
Yeah, into an afghan.
Oh my goodness.
Show me pictures.
That's going to be amazing.
I'll have to send that to you of what it's going to be.
Yeah, for sure.
And to our listeners, if you don't know Beth well, she is all about getting things done
in time for Christmas.
When the witness in the window first saw Theo, she noticed that he was pacing up and down
the street for almost a full hour.
Yeah, I'm thinking that's a little odd.
I'd be paying attention too.
Theo Durant eventually approached Blanche and her classmates and the Good Samaritan
knitter also confirmed seeing Blanche walking off with Theo.
There seems to be an awful lot of witnesses.
Absolutely, Beth.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg because this woman amongst others went on to testify
in court later that she saw this man tip his hat at the four women in the street.
She too assumed that Blanche knew him and she went about her day after the group split
up.
Another eyewitness on the trolley that Blanche and Theo had boarded came forward to say that
they happen to know Theo very well and sat directly across from the couple while exchanging
pleasantries on their trip.
Another person reported that he tried to get Theo's attention on the trolley, but Theo
just seemed to be too smitten with Blanche to notice him.
So that witness didn't really persist getting Theo's attention after that.
He just let them be on their way.
Two more witnesses near Emmanuel Baptist Church observed Theo and Blanche approach the church
and go inside.
So lots and lots of eyewitnesses here.
Yes.
This is where I'm saying Theo Durant is really sloppy because he had all of these eyewitnesses
who chronicled his every move throughout the entire day.
They positively identified him.
So Beth, I'm pretty sure he was a cooked goose from the get-go, but either he was oblivious
or just plain stupid.
So now I'm just wondering what his IQ is.
Do you think I looked that one up? because I looked up when the telephone was invented.
Did you look it up?
I did look it up, but I couldn't find it.
Oh.
Plus I don't understand what the numbers would mean anyways.
Oh, I would have let you know.
I think the average person has like a 111, 111.
And I think Einstein was something like 140, 160.
I can't really remember off the top of my head, but yeah.
So sorry, no information on Theo's IQ, but I'm thinking it's rather low in comparison
to other people that we know when they have high IQs.
All of these eyewitness accounts led to Theo's arrest and every one of them remained steadfast
throughout Theo's trial.
All right.
There was one last witness who just happened to show up to practice the organ inside the
church for the upcoming Easter service.
Again, I told you I digress, Beth.
I don't like the organ.
Do you?
No.
Why not?
I really enjoy the sound of a piano.
Yeah, me too.
The organ is just so mysterious and deep and I think that's what it is.
It's not a happy sound.
It's ominous.
Well, guess what?
What?
I discovered why I don't like the organ sound.
Why?
I have a student that helped me figure this out just a couple of weeks ago.
I don't know why, but he takes to me and he very proudly rolled in an old organ into my
classroom.
Yes, into my classroom.
From where?
He had purchased it.
It was a really old one from probably the 1960s.
I think he's a collector of musical instruments.
He knew that I don't like the sound of the organ and I saw him at the opposite end of
the hall tinkering with a big box.
I was like, what in the world is he doing?
Well, guess what?
Couple of minutes later, he comes rolling that thing in all proud to say, look, this
is what I bought.
I'm going to fix it up.
I just need to find the parts.
He has been working with something on the organ called the vibrato because there is
a little switch that you can turn off and on to change the vibrato.
If it's turned off, it has a smooth sound.
If you turn it on, then all of a sudden there's that little wavy sound and I guess that's
where the ominous sound comes in, but there's a distinct sound.
You'll have to go look that up.
That is why I don't like the organ is because of the vibrato sound.
Okay.
Isn't that interesting?
Yes.
I have waited all my life and you have too and so have our listeners to understand why
I do not like the organ.
I thought that was pretty cool.
You're so funny.
So I told you, I digress.
So all right, quit getting me off track bath.
Come on now.
All right.
Back to Theo Durant.
The organist told investigators how surprised he was when minutes after he had entered the
church, Theo came stumbling down the belfry stairs, acting all out of sorts.
Theo feigned illness from repairing the gas lines and asked the young lad if his eyes were bloodshot.
That's a weird question.
Yes.
The organist confirmed and Theo asked him to go fetch him some medicine from the local
drug store.
Of course, the organist obliged and quickly went on his way.
Now when he returned, he said that Theo seemed to be much better, but he did notice a spot
of blood on a nearby mirror, but thought nothing of it at the time.
And the two men ended up leaving the church together shortly thereafter.
Well, that's weird that somebody would say, do you have bloodshot eyes to even notice?
Yes, exactly.
It's like bringing attention to yourself.
Theo Durant is just a dumb criminal.
Yes.
That's the only word I can think of for him.
All right.
With everything stacked against him, Theo Durant was arrested and stood trial for the
murders of Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams, which by the way, in case Beth, you have not
caught onto this yet.
Minnie Williams is also the name of one of H.H.
Holmes victims.
Oh, yeah.
I do remember that now.
Yes.
I was going to look up the pictures of Minnie and then I was like, this does not look like
the Minnie and the other picture.
So of course, when I'm looking at the headlines, it associated Minnie Williams with H.H.
Holmes.
To our listeners, go back to episode eight and nine in season one of Dying to Be Found
and learn all about H.H.
Holmes.
Gosh, has it been that long?
It has.
Yeah.
Beth, we're getting close to a hundred episodes here.
Good.
Yeah.
Despite their best attempts, Theo's defense team did try to discredit every one of those
eyewitness accounts during his trial because every single person I had mentioned had seen
Theo and Blanche together and accounted for their actions.
They held steadfast to their testimony and never wavered.
Obviously, Beth, when you tell the truth, it's so much easier to keep up with than telling
lies.
Just what Judge Judy says on her shows every day.
I saw her a couple of weeks ago.
I cannot believe her show is still on.
Oh yes.
I watch it between four and five.
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah.
She's sassy.
That's why I like her.
Well, Theo even tried to deny his whereabouts throughout the entire trial, denying he ever
met up with Blanche and called every single witness a liar.
I mean, come on, Theo.
Who's the liar here?
Theo testified that he was at Emmanuel Baptist Church all day the day that Blanche disappeared
fixing those leaky gas pipes and the organist could testify of his whereabouts.
However, after a thorough investigation of the gas lines, the prosecution noted that
there was no need for repairs and they were in perfect working condition.
Now, I had mentioned that Theo was a medical student.
Also, when that testimony did not work in his favor, Theo contradicted himself and said
that he was attending class that day during the entire sequence of events from which he
was accused.
Theo's medical professors testified that Theo was indeed absent from class on the day of
April 3rd, 1895.
And I'm going to tell you, Beth, taking attendance is really important here because there was
a couple of years ago when I had another student who skipped class, I had marked them absent
and I also use another system.
It's called Class Dojo.
If you're a teacher, you know what that is, but it's basically a system that you can do
reward points and things like that.
So good points, bad points, you can mark people absent that day.
My administrators came to me one day asking if I had marked this student absent in Class
Dojo and I had.
So this kid adamantly denied skipping class.
Her parents believed this child and of course called the school to complain until they could
show my documentation.
Yeah, that's so important.
I know, right?
And you know, they didn't even expect that I use Class Dojo, but I do a lot of employability
skills in my class.
So I'm trying to teach kids work ethic.
They email me when they know they're going to be absent or they will get a no call, no
show.
Just trying to get these kids groomed to be working in the real world.
Well, they work with me.
Teachers always, always told us that the real working world will not put up with those shenanigans.
Well those shenanigans happen and they're not dealt with.
No, they're really, really not.
And you're so right.
Cause I dealt with that in the corporate world quite a bit.
And then I had to manage them.
Holy cow.
Managing adults.
That sigh says it.
Yeah.
I have to shake my head at that one.
All right.
Well, clearly we have an open and shut case here and clearly William Henry Theodore Durant
is the poster child for Crooks are Stupid.
I mentioned earlier that Minnie was also a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church and it seems
that Theo had taken a liking to her through his interactions during Sunday school.
However, Minnie didn't feel the same way because one eyewitness did come forward to
claim that Minnie and Theo were seen outside of Emmanuel Church having a heated discussion
before entering the church where Minnie was never seen alive again.
Durant's jury of peers voted unanimously that he was guilty and Theo was sentenced
to death by hanging.
Now remember Beth, this is the 1800s and normally we don't talk about the appeals process,
but I found some of the content that I wanted to bring up a few talking points where Theo's
defense had entered into court records.
Number one, the defense argued that it was better to acquit based on the innocence of
one man versus the fact that many other persons could have escaped.
I'm thinking this is in reference to the fact that there were two victims here, Beth, and
they didn't have to go with Theo, so they were probably insinuating that there was somebody
else involved.
Number two, the defense also argued that Theo's identity could not be established beyond a
reasonable doubt.
I mean, pause.
People witnesses with unwavering testimony could not establish a clear identification
of a perpetrator?
Yeah, that's kind of strange with multiple, I mean, multiple people.
Absolutely.
Well, the defense also argued that Theo had established an alibi or two.
I mean, which one was he doing though?
The gas leak or attending class?
Exactly.
Therefore, the jury failed to take Theo's character into consideration after all, Beth,
he was an assistant superintendent of the Emmanuel Baptist Church Sunday School program.
Last but not least, the prosecution could not prove that these murders were not conducted
by anyone besides Theo Durant, plus the prosecution could not establish a clear motive.
Like, what?
Okay.
I've read dozens more citations for acquittal by the defense, but these were just some of
the highlights that I read through.
Regardless, for every appeal set forth in court files, the defense cited multiple court
cases to back up their facts.
I thought that was interesting.
I mean, they had court cases to say the same thing they were arguing, so.
And that goes back so far.
It's like almost the beginning of time.
Absolutely.
Okay.
So, do you think Theo won his appeal or did he not?
I think he probably did.
Nope.
On January 7th, 1898, Theo Durant was executed by hanging for the deaths of Blanche Lamont
and Minnie Williams.
And that is the story of the demon in the belfry.
That was a good one.
I'm kind of intrigued by a few things.
One being that they were able to go back and look at other cases during the court case.
Absolutely.
I know.
Yeah.
Like you said, we're going back to the beginning of time if it wasn't in the Bible.
Yes.
All right.
So Deb, do you have a teachable moment for us today?
Yes, Beth.
In fact, I do.
And I think the teachable moment here is going to bring us to modern times, obviously, but
I think we just need to look up.
Look up from your cell phones, even to take a glance around from what's happening around
you.
We wear earbuds.
We are looking at our cell phones.
We're looking at our tablets, but we still need to be aware of our surroundings.
Besides, Beth, staring at your cell phone and wearing full headphones today out in public
is not safe.
You don't know who's watching you.
Amen.
If you're going to wear earphones or earbuds, Beth, just wear one because you need to not
just see what's going on around you.
You need to hear what's going on around you as well.
Staring at your cell phone and wearing full earphones is not safe in today's world.
And Beth, you just don't know who's watching you.
I personally am a people watcher and you do see quite a lot of various behaviors.
Look at that woman who was just observing while she was knitting up in the window.
Exactly.
I know today's storyline took place almost 130 years ago when times were simpler, but
we do live in a world now where you just never know when seeing something can make a difference
like it did in Blanche and Minnie's case.
So my teachable moment here, Beth, is to look up.
Take an inventory of what's going on around you.
It could very well make a difference in someone's life, maybe even your own.
Very true.
That was a very good story, Deb.
Thanks for sharing it.
Absolutely.
Thanks for being here with me today and dropping in, it was always good to see my sister.
Yes, I enjoy seeing you too.
Life gets so busy, but we're making the effort and that's what I love about this podcast.
So, all right, we would love to receive your feedback on this storyline or any of our other
episodes.
Be sure to DM us on Instagram or TikTok.
Until next time, see you soon.
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That is a wrap.
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Bye.
Oh.