Erland’s Point Massacre
Today we are talking about the Erland’s point massacre! Sometimes known as “The Hammer Murders”. This topic is a huge part of why this podcast exists. The first time I ever heard this story was flipping through a HEFTY local history book in the middle of a thrift store and BAM, big letters, Erland’s point massacre. Wait, what?! A massacre?! On Erland’s point?! I immediately bought that book and took it home. You know, my mom loved true crime and we used to hang out on her bed, watching serial killer documentaries, old CSI episodes, and the investigation discovery channel. I think she would have gone BANANAS over this and I couldn’t believe I had never heard of this.
Correction: the header of the chapter says Murders, in the book. but the terms “massacre” and “murders” are used interchangeably in different places when you start researching this, so I think my memory bled them together.
I do have one disclaimer before I start though. There’s a lot of conflicting and biased information out there regarding these murders. I am going to do my best to put it into a cohesive but also entertaining narrative for you. In the end, you may want to go look it up and decide what you believe happened.
Let’s set the scene shall we? On the afternoon of March 31st, 1934, the Saturday before Easter Sunday, Thomas Sanders went for a walk to find out who’s dogs were constantly barking. The dogs had been barking for a couple of days and driving folks crazy. He found two or three small dogs, locked inside a sedan that was parked near the home of Frank and Anna Flieder. How do you say that name? Flee-der? Fly-der? I think I’m going with Flieder. Thomas got the dogs calmed down, gave them some food and water and then knocked on the door of the house. There was no answer, the door was locked, and the blinds were all down.
Except for one set of blinds in the back, in the sunroom. The blinds were caught halfway up. It was dark inside but with a flashlight, Thomas could see two prone bodies. He immediately went to call the sheriff’s office, and Louis Flieder (frank’s brother).
Sheriff and his Deputies arrived on the scene and entered the home. Inside, they found six people dead. Yep, six. And this is where the real conflicting information starts. Some sources describe the victims with wholesome, everyday jobs like grocers and bartenders and actors. Other sources throw darker, unconfirmable information in there and I’m not sure how much of it is hearsay. There are things in the red book (PSNY history) that aren’t in more historical accounts- is this because the red book is hyper local so there was more information about the victims available, or is it because the gossip mill started turning? Either way, it’s possible there’s a seed of truth behind it.
The victims were:
Frank Flieder (45), A retired grocer but also possibly a gambling man and a heavy drinker. His body was found in the living room, hands tied, dead from a blow to the head.
Anna Taylor-Flieder (51), Frank’s wife, the wealthy Widow of a local pharmacist. Anna was found in her bed, bound and gagged, with her throat cut and a blow to the head.
Eugene Chenevert (51), a former prizefighter and Vaudevillian (which is a sort of theater actor). Found dead from a blow to the head near the fireplace in the living room. It appeared he had quite a struggle with his attacker.
Margaret “Peggy” Chenevert (48), Eugene’s wife and also a Vaudeville actress. Found shot to death near the sofa in the sunroom.
Magnus Jordan (62), A retired Sailor and neighbor of the Flieder’s. Found shot to death at the card table in the sun room.
Ezra “Fred” Bolcom (56), local bartender, found dead from a blow to the head or his throat cut, stuffed into the closet of Anna’s bedroom.
There are also reports that some of the victims had their eyes taped shut, and that one of them may have been shot through the eye but I couldn’t find any information about who that might have been. Here’s a map of how the victim’s bodies were located in the home (mind, all of these images were pulled from books or the internet at large and are not mine).
In the home, many possible murder weapons were discovered. These included a carpenter’s hammer, a black jack (I had to look this one up, a black jack is a type of bludgeon with a short or flexible strap used as a hand weapon), a stove poker and two carving knives. All were covered in blood. No firearm was found. There was blood on the floors, walls and ceiling, broken bottles and glass on the floors along with playing cards and poker chips. The house had been tossed. Drawers had been emptied, wedding rings were missing from the women’s fingers and wallets were empty. The Flieders had been known around town for their money and their parties- Was it a robbery gone wrong?
At this point, the sheriff appointed a deputy in charge of looking after the scene and went to call Seattle Police for help. The bad news is, that deputy was not a responsible individual. He was in charge of the crime scene for the rest of the day and as lookie-loos started to gather, he saw an opportunity. According to the Kitsap Sun, quote he charged a crowd of 150 people 25 cents each to walk through the house and view the slaughter. The gawkers scattered gum wrappers and one woman stole the stockings off Anna Flieder’s legs” end quote. By the end of the day newspapers in Seattle had been made aware of the murders, and reporters started coming across on the ferry. They found the home unguarded and took photos of everything. The phone in the home had been ripped out of the wall, possibly during the crime, so the reporters went to neighbors houses to call in their stories back to the Seattle papers. The Seattle Post Intelligencer printed photos of the crime scene. And man, these photos are gruesome. If you’ve seen the Lizzie Borden photos, they’re a little like that. I’ll drop a link in the show notes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
This was the state of the crime scene when Seattle detective Luke May arrived on Easter morning. He collected as much evidence as he could and took it back to Seattle to analyze it. Detective May drew some conclusion before he left. There was a large amount of blood on the kitchen floor and broken glass, but no bodies in the kitchen and none of the victims had sustained extensive cuts. The two with their throats cuts were contained to the bedroom. He theorized that one of the assailants must have sustained a wound, possibly during a fight, in the kitchen.
He also guessed that there must have been at least two assailants- One to tie up the victims while the other held them at gunpoint. May thought that whoever killed these people must have had knowledge of their lifestyle and the parties they threw to plan such a robbery.
The date of the murders was also in the air at this point. Neighbors stated they had heard the dogs barking for days, maybe since Wednesday or Thursday. Inquiries around town turned up mixed information. A butcher reported that he had sold porkchops to Frank on Thursday. Ezra’s roommate stated he had seen Ezra on Thursday, having a beer at the smoke shop. A tavern owner said he had charged 12 bottles of beer to one of the victims on Thursday. But Thursday’s newspaper was found still in the mailbox, never brought inside. Local investigators thought the murders must have been committed on Thursday but that didn’t sit right with May.
At this point, May takes the evidence back to Seattle and an investigation begins but quickly fizzles out. Tips come into the local police. One woman calls and says she knows who the killer is because she has Anna’s blood covered stockings- It turns out she had stolen them off the body during the “tour”. A report comes in that a man with a bloody head wound was seen on the ferry back to Seattle, but he couldn’t be located. Two bartenders reported that they gave shelter to a woman who had turned up Thursday morning, soaking wet from the rain, covered in mud, her clothing ripped and torn. Police located that woman, Letha Peterson, in Seattle. They brought her in for questioning and she told them that she had been on a bad date with a sailor. He had tried to rough her up, so she had escaped his car and run back to town for help, in the rain. All of the leads dried up, and the case went cold for 18 months.
And that’s where we’re going to break for now! I feel like this episode is getting long so I’m going to split this into two smaller parts for easier listening.
General location of Erland’s Point on google maps
Bibliography:
Click at your own risk, they contain spoilers for the rest of the tale. This list will expand as I work on Part 2, probably.
Erland's point murders on HistoryLink
Perry, Fredi. Bremerton and Puget Sound Navy Yard. Bremerton, Perry Publishing, 2002, Print. Pp 182-185.