0:02

He was involved in a criminal

0:04

world with his friends and associates.

0:06

It quickly ed related into

0:09

the homicide. It wouldn't surprise

0:11

me at all incompetence or corruption,

0:14

especially in DC, there was a lot

0:16

of activity going on. The case was

0:19

forgotten while open up this can of worm.

0:22

There were things that were just mess left

0:24

Berry. Welcome

0:28

back to Shattered Soul's The car Barn Murders.

0:30

I'm your host, Karen Smith. This is

0:32

episode sixteen. This

0:35

podcast may contain graphic language and

0:37

is not suitable for children. Previously

0:41

on The car Barn Murders, I've

0:46

handed off my investigation on primary

0:48

suspect William Clark to you

0:50

the public jury. After

0:53

eighteen months of work, I've concluded

0:55

that the circumstantial evidence against William

0:58

Clark is overwhelming. Although

1:01

the whole story itself is complicated,

1:04

the actual plot of the crime is fairly

1:06

simple once you get down to the essential facts.

1:09

In episode fifteen, I outline

1:11

the means, the motive, and the opportunity

1:14

for William Clark to commit the robbery

1:16

and murders of James Mitchell and Emery Smith.

1:19

But contrary to popular belief,

1:21

that's not enough to convict him.

1:24

Another part of a murder case that needs to be

1:26

proven is intent. Criminal

1:29

intent is also known as men's raea,

1:31

which is Latin for guilty mind. It's

1:34

a conscious decision by the perpetrator

1:36

to do something that is wrong or forbidden

1:38

by law, having a full awareness

1:40

that their actions are wrong, and then making

1:43

a conscious decision to proceed anyway.

1:46

A suspect's confession is the best

1:49

way to show criminal intent, but that's

1:51

not the case most of the time. Because

1:54

there isn't an outright confession from William

1:56

Clark, you the jury have

1:58

to use inference based on the

2:00

circumstantial evidence. Inference

2:03

means that you need to assess all of the known

2:05

circumstances Clark's behavior

2:07

before and after the crime, along with his written

2:10

words and actions, to infer his

2:12

criminal intent to commit the robbery

2:14

and murders. My investigation

2:17

has found that William Clark's criminal intent

2:19

is evident through numerous factors

2:22

and points of irrefutable circumstantial

2:24

evidence, twenty five of them

2:27

to be exact. Number

2:30

one. William Clark

2:32

worked at the Chevy Chase Lake office as a

2:34

conductor for one month in September

2:36

of nineteen thirty four, so he knew

2:39

all of the details regarding money transfers,

2:41

pick up times, entry and exit points,

2:44

and all of the other necessary logistics

2:46

to pull off an armed robbery. Number

2:49

two Clark set

2:51

up the scene by ensuring that his friend

2:54

Francis Gregory left all of the doors

2:56

unlocked. Number three

2:59

Clark went to the Chevy Chase office two

3:02

times on Saturday, two days before

3:04

the murders for no authentic reason.

3:07

Number four Clark failed

3:10

to keep appointments on the day of the murders

3:12

with mister Stevens and Mr Kelly of the

3:14

transit company to get his job back,

3:16

and opted instead to turn himself in. No

3:19

follow up investigation was ever completed

3:21

after Clark's initial interview. Number

3:25

five Clark sold his Capital

3:27

Transit uniform to Francis Gregory

3:29

in December, proving that he knew Gregory

3:32

and had no true intent to

3:34

return to work for Capital Transit. Number

3:37

six Clark was spotted

3:40

outside of the fourteenth and East Capitol Street

3:42

ticket office on the morning of the murders,

3:44

as kW Gettings observed and

3:46

relayed to his roommate Jones. Number

3:50

seven Clark lied

3:52

during his interview about going to the Gaiety

3:54

Theater on Sunday night in an attempt

3:56

to establish a false alibi. There

3:59

was no Sunday night show at the Gaiety

4:01

Theater. Number eight Clark

4:04

lived two blocks from the location of the

4:06

stolen Green Buick, which was never

4:09

found. I witness Ernest Carter

4:11

was certain that he saw a Green Buick

4:13

flee the scene. Number

4:16

nine Clark neglected

4:18

to report his Sunday night meeting with a police

4:20

officer during his interview. Number

4:23

ten, Clark admittedly

4:26

knew James Mitchell and also knew

4:28

that Mitchell aided the police on his previous

4:31

robbery arrest. Mitchell was shot

4:33

three times in the head, with the final

4:35

shot being post mortem through the top

4:37

of his head, signaling revenge and

4:39

witness elimination motivations. Number

4:43

eleven Clark worked

4:45

with Emery Smith at Chevy Chase Lake,

4:47

yet described my uncle as the

4:49

short, chunky barn Man during his

4:51

interview instead of calling him by name. Clark

4:54

also denied speaking with my great uncle

4:56

on Saturday, but you can't deny

4:59

speaking with a purse when you say you don't know.

5:02

Number twelve, my great

5:04

uncle was shot four times in the head in

5:06

a similar pattern to James Mitchell, then

5:09

dumped into Rock Creek to cover up as murder.

5:12

This is consistent with the suspect knowing

5:14

the victim and another witness elimination

5:18

Number thirteen. Clark

5:20

attempted to murder Mary Branch five

5:22

months later when she threatened to talk

5:24

about what she knew. Clark

5:26

planted a blackjack underneath

5:29

his car seat. Prior to the crime, which

5:31

evidences premeditation. Number

5:34

fourteen. Clark had

5:37

massive debt and owed money to several

5:39

people, including Frank Sherman, who

5:41

was given a vehicle in arrears as

5:43

collateral on a loan. Sherman

5:46

was strong armed by Clark and several others

5:48

just days before the murders, but Clark

5:50

failed to get that car back. Mary

5:53

Branch had been financially supporting Clark,

5:55

and Clark didn't have a job. Clark

5:58

also failed to pay alimony to his wife,

6:00

Viola and in support of their three children.

6:03

Number fifteen. Clark

6:05

admitted to frequenting the horse track.

6:09

Number sixteen. Clark

6:11

was able to purchase furniture and put a

6:13

deposit on a house in the months after

6:15

the murders. Number seventeen.

6:18

Clark had previous arrests for armed

6:20

robbery and grand larceny.

6:23

Number eighteen Francis

6:25

Gregory admitted that he believed

6:28

Clark was in on the crime number

6:31

nineteen. By the detective's

6:33

admission, Clark could have been the gunman.

6:36

Number twenty d C Captain

6:38

Richard McCarty thought Clark could have been

6:40

responsible for the murders, and he failed

6:43

to report a bottle of anesthesia, a

6:45

gun, and bloody clothing belonging

6:47

to William Clark. Number

6:50

one prostitute Marjorie

6:53

told Richmond Police Sergeant Anthony that

6:55

William Clark was involved in the crime Number

6:58

twenty two. Moundsville

7:00

Penitentiary inmates Joseph wore

7:02

Kirby and Floyd Gray said

7:05

that Clark's name was mentioned in relation

7:07

to the murders Number

7:09

twenty three. Both of the

7:11

confidential informants named Clark

7:13

as the primary suspect. Number

7:16

twenty four. James Weir

7:18

shingle shop was located in the same

7:20

building as Green's Company Incorporated,

7:23

the beauty salon where the planning meeting

7:25

took place. Number

7:27

twenty five. Clark had

7:29

criminal connections to Robert Jenny

7:31

Walter Oliver and to Jonas

7:34

Willard Green, an ex DC

7:36

Police sergeant whose cousin was

7:38

DC Commission President Melvin Hazen

7:41

that resulted in the proximate safeguards

7:43

against Clark's investigation and his

7:46

arrest for the Carborn murders, twenty

7:50

five unquestionable associations

7:52

to the Chevy Chase Lake robbery and murders

7:55

of Emery Smith and James Mitchell a

7:58

prosecutor's dream and more definitive

8:00

links than some of my own cases

8:03

for which I provided testimony over the past

8:05

two decades. The defense hurdles

8:07

would be extraordinarily difficult, if

8:10

not impossible, to overcome when

8:13

you put all of those pieces together. As

8:15

far as I'm concerned, William

8:17

Clark killed James Mitchell and Emery

8:19

Smith with willful and purposeful

8:22

intent. Those

8:24

are the facts that all even your hands

8:26

to contemplate a ruling of guilty or

8:28

not guilty for William Clark.

8:32

I believe his accomplices were Robert Jenny

8:34

and Walter Oliver. I also believe that

8:36

Francis Gregory was an unwitting

8:39

accessory before the fact, but before

8:41

I discussed Robert Jenny, Walter Oliver,

8:43

and Francis Gregory. At the end

8:45

of the last episode, I left you with

8:48

a thought about William Clark's

8:50

friend in Alibi James Weir, and

8:52

I asked you who Captain Theodore of Bolton's

8:54

male confidential informant might be. I

8:57

believe it was James Weir, and I

9:00

leave the female informant was his

9:02

sister, Neiva Berardinelli.

9:05

It took me a while to come to that conclusion,

9:07

and it's not one that I take lightly. There

9:10

are many reasons for my thoughts on this, But

9:12

first, who was James Weir?

9:15

He was born on October twenty one, nineteen

9:17

twelve. His father, John,

9:20

was a barber in South Carolina.

9:22

In nineteen thirty his family moved

9:25

to Scotland, North Carolina. When

9:27

James was eighteen. He still lived

9:29

at home and he had no occupation listed

9:31

in the census records. James

9:33

and the others followed his sister Neva to

9:36

Washington in nineteen thirty four.

9:38

By nineteen thirty five, James Weir

9:41

had a half interest in the Shingle Shop

9:43

beauty parlor. James

9:45

Weir was living with his siblings Sally

9:47

and Nettie, and his parents, John and

9:49

Susie at fourteen eleven Harvard

9:51

Street. In October

9:54

of nineteen thirty four, were was

9:56

arrested with William Clark by d C

9:58

detective Robert It for an armed

10:00

robbery. In December

10:03

of nineteen thirty four, James Weir

10:05

went with Clark to Francis Gregory's

10:07

house to sell Clark's Capital Transit uniform

10:11

on Sunday night, January.

10:13

James Weir was home by eleven fifteen

10:16

pm, according to his friend Joseph Goddard

10:18

and by the interview account of Mary Branch.

10:21

James Weir was arrested on January twenty

10:23

two and apparently substantiated

10:26

William Clark's false alibi about going

10:28

to the Gayety Theater, although the only

10:30

note made during his interview stated

10:33

quote we are made the

10:35

same statement as Clark did in reference to

10:37

his whereabouts on Sunday night and Monday morning.

10:40

We questioned him in reference to the murders and

10:42

were unable to learn anything at all from him.

10:45

Six months later, on June eleven,

10:48

NT James

10:50

Weir abruptly joined the Marines

10:52

and shipped out to Paris Island for boot

10:54

camp. He left d C during

10:57

the same week that William Clark was sentenced

10:59

to prison and for the attempted murder of Mary

11:01

Branch. By December of nineteen

11:04

thirty five, James Weir was

11:06

aboard the U. S. S. Henderson bound

11:08

for pay Ping, China, where he was

11:10

stationed at the United States Embassy through

11:13

nineteen thirty eight. By

11:15

June of nineteen thirty nine, James

11:17

Weir was back in Washington, D

11:19

C. And stationed at the Navy Yard.

11:22

By Christmas of nineteen thirty nine, were

11:24

had gotten into some kind of disciplinary trouble

11:27

and was quartered on the rein of Mercedes,

11:30

a permanently moored ship in Annapolis,

11:32

Maryland. It was used for housing enlisted

11:34

men who had committed some kind of infraction.

11:36

It wasn't the brig but the men

11:39

had to eat all of their meals on board and

11:41

sleep in a hammock in the crowded birthing

11:43

area. Basically, James Weir

11:45

got spanked for being a problem child.

11:49

Between June of nineteen thirty nine and

11:51

November of nineteen forty, James

11:53

Weir was stationed in the Washington,

11:55

D C. Area. In November

11:57

of nineteen forty, We're shipped out to Autonomo

12:00

Bay, Cuba, and left the military at

12:02

the end of his enlistment in January of nineteen

12:04

forty one. He re enlisted during

12:07

World War Two, and he spent the majority

12:09

of that enlistment between Washington, d C. And

12:11

San Francisco. He left

12:13

the Marines permanently in November of nineteen

12:15

forty five, when World War Two was

12:18

over. By nineteen forty seven,

12:20

James Weir was married to his wife, Louise,

12:23

and they had one daughter. They lived

12:25

in Falls Church, Virginia, in a two story

12:27

home in a middle class neighborhood. James

12:30

Weir eventually became a clerk for

12:32

American Airlines, and he stayed married

12:34

to Louise until he died at the age of seventy

12:37

two in nineteen eighty five. It

12:40

seemed like James Weir got his life together

12:42

after his military enlistment, and he lived

12:44

quietly with his wife for the latter part of his

12:46

life. He was never reinterviewed

12:49

about the Carborn case. James

12:52

Weir's sudden decision to flee Washington

12:54

d C. In June of nineteen thirty

12:56

five was likely precipitated

12:59

by William Clark's attempted murder of Mary

13:01

Branch less than a month prior. Weir

13:03

left the shingle shop and his entire family

13:05

behind to join the Marines at the age of twenty

13:08

three. Were had been running around

13:10

with William Clark since at least October

13:12

of nineteen thirty four, when they were arrested

13:14

for the robbery. Then he was with Clark

13:17

in December at Francis Gregory's

13:19

house. James Weir provided

13:21

a half hearted alibi for Clark for

13:23

the night of the murders, but there were no details

13:25

about exactly what he said. Clark

13:28

said he was with James Weir most of the day

13:30

on Sunday, going back and forth to

13:32

Weir's Harvard Street apartment a couple of times.

13:35

During his arrest and very brief questioning,

13:38

James Weir may have thought that William

13:40

Clark had his back, but Clark

13:43

threw James Weir under the bus.

13:46

During his interview, Clark

13:48

was asked about being seen wearing a dark

13:50

colored suit in December of nineteen

13:52

thirty four while he was standing outside

13:54

of Milton Cronheim's Bond office.

13:57

Clark was with James Weir, and he told

13:59

to Frank Brass that he wasn't

14:01

wearing a dark suit, but James

14:03

Weir was. Clark also

14:06

said that We're was wearing a dark suit

14:08

just a few days before the murders.

14:10

Clark also just happened to know the name and

14:12

address of James Weir's cleaners. It

14:15

seemed to me that William Clark was

14:17

trying his level, underheaded best to

14:19

set James Weir up as the fall guy for

14:21

the murders, or at least get the trail

14:23

off himself. With a friend

14:26

like that who needs enemies. William

14:29

Clark and James Weir were likely outside

14:31

of Milton Kronheim's bond office to

14:33

get Kronheim's help for the October

14:35

nineteen thirty four robbery arrest by

14:38

d C Detective Robert Barrett.

14:41

Recall that Robert Barrett became

14:43

the chief of the DC Metropolitan

14:45

Police and he was the subject of

14:47

widespread corruption and kick back

14:50

investigations by Congress. This

14:52

is a quote from the DC Metropolitan

14:54

Police website about Chief

14:57

Robert Barrett. An investigation

15:00

led by The Washington Post brought

15:02

out what became known as the pocketing

15:04

scandal. Apparently, detectives

15:07

were routinely reclassifying

15:09

crimes or simply not

15:11

entering them on the books as crimes

15:14

to be investigated. Note

15:16

from me cover ups. This

15:19

was one of many allegations of malfeasance,

15:21

corruption, and brutality that

15:24

were to plague Superintendent Barrett's

15:26

term in office. By nineteen

15:28

fifty allegations began to

15:30

swirl about corruption and gambling.

15:33

Superintendent Parrot and the police Department

15:35

became the focus of a wide ranging investigation

15:38

into gambling, kickbacks, and narcotics

15:41

dealings. His life outside

15:43

the department was filled with speculation, as

15:45

he neglected to appear to testify to the

15:47

Commission, and when he did appear, he

15:49

refused to answer any questions. However,

15:52

he remained under suspicion and in nineteen

15:54

fifty seven was indicted for federal

15:56

income tax evasion. Corruption

15:59

at that level doesn't begin

16:02

when a person becomes the chief of police.

16:05

It's the result of years of making

16:07

connections, taking kickbacks,

16:09

and creating an insulating web of yes

16:11

men and trusted co conspirators

16:14

on the police department. They would

16:16

be just as culpable and willing to

16:18

conform in order to line their pockets

16:20

with kickbacks and payoffs. I

16:23

believe that Robert Barrett was just

16:25

as corrupt. In nineteen thirty five,

16:27

when he was selected and assigned by Superintendent

16:30

Ernest Brown to assist on the Carborn

16:32

case back to James Weir,

16:35

he high tailed it out of Dodge right

16:37

after William Clarke tried to kill Mary

16:39

Branch. That's not coincidental,

16:41

and it was my first tip off that

16:43

were was Captain Bolton's

16:46

confidential informant. Let me

16:48

walk you through it first. Recall

16:51

Robert Jenny's meeting with his wife Lillian

16:53

at the prison. Lillian told

16:55

Jenny the pre planned story that a

16:57

man had been arrested for the Carborn murders

16:59

and snitched to the police. Robert

17:02

Jenny came on glued and mentioned

17:05

the name James Moody and asked

17:07

Lillian if he was the one who would run his mouth.

17:10

That name was the first one that

17:12

popped into Jenny's mind. The

17:14

weakest link I believe

17:16

James Moody was actually

17:18

James Weir. Weir would

17:21

have had access to a lot of inside information

17:23

that would incriminate Jenny in

17:25

order for him to turn sheet white and panic

17:27

like that. Not only did Jenny's

17:30

reaction allay his guilt, it

17:32

also aired out his achilles heel. If

17:35

James Moody was the foible,

17:38

you can damn sure bet that William

17:41

Clark knew that potential weakness

17:43

as well and kept his thumb pressed

17:45

down on his buddy James Weir.

17:48

We're likely didn't use his real

17:50

name when he met with Clark's acquaintances,

17:52

being fully aware of their violent backgrounds.

17:55

The use of aliases was really common

17:57

back then. Remember Harry's

18:00

Simon, So Janny might

18:02

not have known James Weir's real

18:04

identity. Lilly and

18:06

Janny picked out James Weir's

18:08

photo, but she didn't call him

18:10

by name. Now, all

18:13

of this is really speculative on my part,

18:15

but it does make sense within

18:17

the big picture. Second, James

18:20

Weir knew everyone that Clarke was associated

18:23

with, including Jonas Willard Green.

18:26

Because James Weir half owned the

18:28

shingle shop with the Greens, he

18:30

might have been present at that beauty shop

18:33

planning meeting about the robbery and murders.

18:35

Captain Bolton's confidential informant

18:38

possessed an awful lot of insider

18:40

details that couldn't have been known by anyone

18:43

who wasn't at that meeting. Third,

18:46

James Weir was stationed in Washington,

18:48

d C. In nineteen forty when

18:50

the male confidential informant contacted

18:53

Captain Volton the first time. Weir

18:56

was also in the d C area in nineteen

18:58

fifty four. When Fullton was contacted

19:00

the second time, Volton wrote

19:03

that the identity of his informant could never

19:05

be disclosed under any circumstances.

19:08

I believe that's because Bolton knew that

19:11

if James Weir's name was revealed

19:13

as the informant, it might mean lights out

19:15

for him, just like it nearly was

19:17

for Mary Branch. And let's not forget

19:20

Duffy Jonas, Willard Green's

19:22

mechanic who disappeared in nineteen thirty

19:24

six. There's no statute

19:26

of limitations on murder investigations,

19:28

so James Weir was never

19:31

off the hook since he also carried

19:33

Clark's secrets. Fourth,

19:36

the simplest explanation for James Weir's

19:39

hasty escape from the d C area in

19:41

June of nineteen thirty five was

19:43

his fear of William Clark. Weir

19:46

felt that his life was in danger after Mary

19:48

Branch was pommeled and slung

19:51

into a river in the middle of nowhere. If

19:54

William Clark had the fortitude to

19:56

kill his own girl friend because of

19:58

what she knew, what made

20:00

James were immune Just

20:02

like Mary, James Weir knew

20:05

everything that Clark had done. He

20:07

left town with the military to get as

20:09

far away as he possibly could,

20:12

leaving everything behind. When

20:14

he got back to d C in nineteen forty,

20:16

William Clark was still in prison and

20:18

were felt safe enough to contact Captain

20:21

Volton with his intel about the Carborn case.

20:24

Weir came forward again in nineteen fifty

20:26

four because the information he possessed

20:28

weighed on his conscience for nearly two decades.

20:31

Maybe he thought enough time

20:33

had passed to get the ball rolling again and clear

20:35

his guilt. Sadly, as

20:37

we all know, nothing happened. My

20:40

personal feelings about James Weir are

20:43

mixed. I don't believe that

20:45

he was a career criminal. He got

20:47

involved with the wrong crowd after

20:49

moving to Washington, d C. From Poe

20:52

Dunk, North Carolina.

20:54

Weir wasn't savvy about big city racketeers

20:57

and he got sucked into William Clark's world.

21:00

Weir's father was a barber, so

21:02

he probably learned to cut men's hair

21:04

at some point. James Weir likely

21:07

hooked up with Jonas Willard Green through

21:09

his sister, Niva Berardinelli, since

21:12

she worked at the shingle shop prior

21:14

to opening the Modern School of Beauty. Gertrude

21:18

Green brought James were in to

21:20

run the day to day business in nineteen thirty

21:22

four, eventually cutting him in on half

21:24

the proceeds, but Gertrude

21:27

didn't do that for altruistic

21:29

reasons. The Greens needed

21:31

a fall guy in case there were any

21:34

shall we say, legal troubles

21:36

with the Treasury Department, the precursor

21:39

to the I R S. It really wouldn't

21:41

surprise me if the Shingle Shop and Green's

21:43

Company Incorporated were money laundering

21:45

and prostitution fronts for the Greens,

21:48

but I can't prove it. When

21:50

things got really serious and James

21:52

Weir found out about the Carborn murders,

21:55

were told the detectives only

21:57

what William Clark told him to say

21:59

to give Clark a false alibi, no

22:02

details, the intimidating thumb

22:04

that Clark pressured to keep his mouth

22:06

shut. It's possible that James

22:09

Weir was already in fear of William

22:11

Clark after finding out about the double murder.

22:14

When Clark tried to kill Mary Branch, James

22:17

Weir thought he might be next on the list, so

22:19

he cut and run as far away from Washington,

22:21

d c. As he could get via the only

22:24

path he had available that would pay him to do

22:26

it the military. When

22:28

James Weir thought it was safe to tell what he

22:30

knew, he did it as Captain Bolton's

22:32

informant in nineteen forty. When

22:35

that went nowhere, he came forward again

22:37

in nineteen fifty four to offload

22:39

his conscience one more time. At

22:41

that point we're told Bolton

22:44

that the female informant was dead,

22:46

which brings me to Weir's sister, Niva

22:49

Berardinelli, whom I believe was

22:51

the female informant. Niva

22:54

Weir was born in eighteen ninety seven

22:56

in South Carolina. She

22:58

moved to Washington, d c. In nineteen

23:00

twenty five and got a job as a

23:02

beautician at Woodward and Lowthrop's

23:04

department store. She married Edward

23:07

Berardinelli in nineteen twenty

23:09

six. Neva started

23:11

working at the Shingle Shop in nineteen

23:14

thirty one, and she was still working there

23:16

in nineteen thirty five. Along with her

23:18

sisters Nettie and Sally. She

23:21

opened the Modern School of Beauty in nineteen

23:23

thirty five in the same location.

23:27

Niva Berardinelli died in nineteen

23:29

forty two at the age of forty

23:31

five. She was buried at

23:33

Arlington National Cemetery by virtue

23:35

of Edwards service in the Army during World

23:38

War One. Edward remarried

23:40

and moved to New Mexico. In nineteen

23:43

sixty four, he had Neva's

23:45

body disinterred from Arlington

23:48

and moved to Columbia Gardens Cemetery

23:50

in Virginia. Captain

23:52

Bolton's nineteen fifty four report

23:54

mentioned that a woman present at the planning

23:56

meeting at Green's hair salon was named

23:59

Emmanuel Well and she was married

24:01

to an Italian man, but Volton

24:03

didn't know her last name. In

24:06

my mind, that last name was

24:08

BERARDA. Nelli. But the information

24:10

is confusing because later in the report

24:13

it says that Immanuel's name was

24:15

actually Gertrude. There was also a

24:18

prostitute by the name of Marjorie whose

24:20

real name was never found. Was this

24:22

confusion like a game of telephone

24:24

where information gets lost in translation

24:27

and some of the names just overlapped. It's

24:30

hard to say, but here's what I do

24:32

know. The female informat

24:34

worked for Jonas Willard Green in

24:36

a beauty salon. Niva

24:38

Berarda Nelly worked at the Shingle

24:40

shop, which I've proven was

24:43

half owned by her brother James Weir and

24:45

half owned by the Greens. The

24:48

female informat said that the best

24:50

satisfaction she could get would

24:53

be to get back at Jonas Willard Green.

24:55

The murders were planned at his salon, and

24:57

that William Clark and the others were at this eating

25:01

Again, that's intimate knowledge

25:03

that only a person who was present would

25:05

know. Get back at

25:08

Jonas Willard Green for what for

25:10

selling her brother out, for taking

25:13

advantage of him, for setting him

25:15

up, for failure to pay Neva

25:17

or James, just like Jonas Willard

25:19

Green failed to pay his debts on credit to

25:22

the Flapper Dress Company. William

25:24

Clark wrote a letter to Neiva from prison

25:26

to congratulator on opening the Modern

25:29

School of Beauty? Was that a psychological

25:31

mind game? Clark's subtle way

25:33

of letting Niva know that he was keeping

25:36

tabs on her movements. Clark also

25:38

told Neiva's husband, Edward, to quote,

25:41

think of me when you take your next shot ha

25:43

ha, meaning a gambling

25:46

bed at the race track. Niva

25:48

BERARDA Nelli never wrote Clark back.

25:51

The male informant told Captain Bolton

25:54

that the female informant was dead. By

25:56

ninety four, Neiva Berardinelli

25:58

died in nineteen forty two. The

26:01

female informant went with Bolton

26:03

to look for the garage and vehicle used in the

26:06

murders in the area of Seventh and End

26:08

Street in nineteen forty. When

26:10

Nieva was still alive. Did

26:12

she need to clear her conscience? I

26:14

have no idea about her cause of

26:17

death, so I don't know if she was sick for

26:19

a long time or if it was something sudden,

26:21

But dying at forty tells

26:23

me it might have been something a bit insidious,

26:26

a prolonged illness. There's no

26:28

way to be sure. But between the

26:30

mention of an Italian last name,

26:33

the timing for the search of the car in nineteen

26:35

forty, her death in nineteen forty

26:38

two, and the male informant telling

26:40

Bolton she was dead by nineteen fifty

26:42

four, the pieces seemed to fit together

26:44

to me, especially since I

26:47

do believe wholeheartedly that her brother, James

26:49

Weir, was the male informant.

26:52

So what happened to

26:54

William Clark? He sat and

26:57

stowed in prison for five years

26:59

and was grand had early release on

27:01

that eight year sentence. He

27:03

was out by October of nineteen forty

27:06

and worked for McCloskey construction on

27:08

projects around the district for the Public

27:10

Buildings Administration. His

27:13

wife, Viola, moved back

27:15

in with Clark's parents by nineteen forty.

27:18

Clark's World War Two draft card, signed

27:20

on October sixteenth, nineteen forty,

27:22

indicated that he moved back in with his

27:24

mother and father as well. Clark never

27:27

served in the military. He never reconciled

27:29

with Viola and eventually granted her a

27:31

divorce. Viola remarried

27:33

in nineteen forty eight, but Clark never

27:36

did. There was no additional information

27:38

on William Clark until the nineteen seventies,

27:41

when he moved to Brandywine, Maryland

27:43

and opened Clark's Red Barn,

27:46

a business that manufactured storage

27:48

sheds. I have no

27:50

idea what happened to Mary Branch. The

27:53

only historical information I could find

27:56

was her previous marriage before she

27:58

lived with William Clark. Mary

28:01

was widowed her first husband,

28:03

John Branch, committed suicide

28:06

in April of nineteen thirty. An

28:09

article in The Washington Post detailed

28:11

his death domestic trouble,

28:13

cause of suicide. Man uses

28:16

gas to end life. A note says death

28:18

only means out succumbs in hospital.

28:21

The domestic troubles of John Harrison

28:23

Branch, thirty two year old cabinet maker

28:26

of Sixteenth and Streets Northwest, came

28:28

to a climax in his death at emergency

28:30

hospital yesterday after he'd been found

28:32

unconscious in his apartment with gas

28:35

escaping from three open stove jets

28:37

an hour previous. A note found

28:39

near the man declared that he'd been despondent

28:41

because of marital difficulties and chose

28:43

death as the only means out. Detecting

28:46

the odor of gas, an elevator operator

28:48

at the apartment notified the apartment manager,

28:51

who in turn called Missus Mary Branch,

28:53

twenty seven year old wife of the dead man.

28:56

Missus Branch instructed the manager to break

28:58

the door in. Missus Branch was employed

29:00

at an f Street store and was at work

29:02

when the tragedy occurred. That

29:05

article made me wonder if John Branch

29:08

found out that Mary was cheating

29:10

with William Clark and ended

29:12

his own life as a result, a

29:15

legacy of tragedy would follow both

29:17

Mary Branch and William Clark.

29:20

There was no information available after nineteen

29:23

thirty six on Mary Branch, and I have

29:25

no idea where she went, how long

29:27

she lived, or how she died, did

29:29

she change her name, did she leave d

29:31

C. Did William Clark eventually

29:34

do her in I have no idea.

29:37

It seemed like William Clark eventually

29:39

aged out of crime and went

29:41

off into the sunset to the thicket

29:43

of southern Maryland until he died in

29:45

ninety one at the age of

29:47

seventy two. He lived

29:50

thirty one years longer than Emory Smith

29:52

and thirteen years longer than James Mitchell.

29:55

I don't know why William Clark was never

29:57

questioned about the murders in the interview

30:00

in years, why nobody followed

30:02

up on the leads left by Captain Volton

30:04

and the other detectives. Why it

30:06

wasn't worth the effort to see what Clark

30:09

had to say in the nineteen fifties,

30:11

nineteen sixties or nineteen seventies.

30:14

Maybe he would have confessed or stumbled,

30:17

or at least given a little more information

30:19

to move the case forward. But as

30:21

it stands, he took all of his secrets

30:24

with him. I was talking

30:26

to my cousin recently about Uncle

30:28

Emery, and she told me that her

30:30

father, my great uncle Ray,

30:33

at the age of five, still

30:35

wondered about the case and why it was never

30:38

solved. Uncle Ray was

30:40

twelve when Emory was killed, and

30:43

that terrible memory stayed with him for

30:45

all of those years until he passed away.

30:48

In he told

30:50

his daughters that the first thing

30:52

he would ask God was

30:54

what really happened that morning? Seventy

30:58

eight years of wondering, seventy

31:01

eight years now,

31:05

eighty seven years later, It's

31:07

finally time for those questions to come

31:10

to an end. I rest

31:12

my case against William Clark.

31:18

Next week, I'll talk about Clark's accomplices,

31:21

Robert Jenny and Walter Oliver. I'll

31:23

deconstruct the statement of Francis Gregory,

31:25

which was inadvertently torn apart

31:28

by my great aunt Edith during

31:30

her police interview. If

31:33

you have information about the Carborn Murders,

31:35

go to the Shattered Souls Facebook page and leave

31:37

me a message. Shattered Souls

31:40

The Carborn Murders is produced by Karen Smith

31:42

and Angel Hart Productions