Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The first line of suspects in Murrell's murder, the ones we talked about in the previous episode, can be roughly placed in the speculative bucket. Even, you might say the deeply speculative bucket. As in, one by one, most of these folks eliminated themselves from consideration. Donnie Wayne Pitts. Nope. He was big talk. But under pressure, even the slightest trick trace of pressure, his story collapsed.
[00:00:33] Attorney Carl Johnstone.
[00:00:36] State prosecutors dug up a counterfactual.
[00:00:40] Carl Johnstone did not in fact assert that the bomb was intended for him. Rather, he duly noted his antagonism to pro labor interests in Alaska had in fact, gone up against the Teamsters.
[00:00:56] Did confirm that his car was parked in the same lot.
[00:01:00] But the rest of the story, that he was a bomb target was conjectural.
[00:01:07] And of course, there was this. Jones Stone was on a quick path to becoming a judge. Under the circumstances, it was perhaps better for him to stay away from such hot button issues.
[00:01:20] Not that that ever came into play. But yes, he did get the judgeship.
[00:01:27] Equally conjectural was speculation that the actual bomb target was Robert File, Muriel's brother. It was said that he sometimes drove Mural's car. And more important, it seemed he'd been involved in union activity focused on labor strikes involving his employer. That employer being Alaska Airlines, for whom he was a senior pilot.
[00:01:52] In fact, he was employee number 13.
[00:01:56] Senior.
[00:01:58] Once again, some folks in the community were swinging for the labor angle. And all this always.
[00:02:04] It's always a great target.
[00:02:06] And then there's another, by the way, in this case, wasn't it Robert File who suggested that DM McKay was not Scotty's father?
[00:02:15] All of which leads us down another road. What about the journalist working on the Fairbanks Teamsters story? Well, she reconsidered her original assessment. Her Volvo, she noted, was older, was a different color, and she parked all over the lot. Muriel's car, on the other hand, only parked in that one spot, the scene of her murder. But the journalist was right in her other assessment. There was something about Fairbanks.
[00:02:47] As the Fairbanks Daily News Miner reported on September 13, 1976, it noticed the proximity of the date to Miro's murder, which was on 30 September. At any rate, 250 pounds of dynamite, which was stolen the previous June, was discovered in brush near mile 24 of the Trans Alaska Pipeline.
[00:03:13] The explosives and 4,000ft of fuses were found intact by two bulldozer operators. And the theft set off an extensive search, with officials saying at the time that if that dynamite fell into the wrong hands, it might have posed a threat to Pipeline construction or something like that.
[00:03:36] And then on October 22, 1976, less than a month after Muriel's death, another one, another bombing hit Anchorage.
[00:03:46] This was about a mile from Muriel's brother's house.
[00:03:51] Somebody had placed an incendiary device in the filler neck of an unoccupied state trooper patrol car.
[00:03:59] And they found wires and footprints leading to the vehicle remote detonation. This just fit right in with all these theories floating around.
[00:04:12] Okay, getting spicy here.
[00:04:18] And then back In Fairbanks, mid November 1977, another abandoned vehicle was destroyed by an explosion.
[00:04:29] The wrecked vehicle had been left alongside the road when it was bombed at 1:30am on a Sunday morning.
[00:04:38] So troopers and Fairbanks were investigating what was now the second recent car bombing in the city.
[00:04:45] And finally, an exhausted Anchorage Police Lt. Ralph Christensen, comparing the characteristics of the two Fairbanks bombings, reluctantly noted the only real similarities are that both vehicles were station wagons and they were both bombed.
[00:05:05] He confirmed that four investigators were working full time on the case and that interviews of possible suspects and witnesses had continued.
[00:05:16] He added that his agents had been going through travel manifests. We talked about that before, talked about polygraph, but declined to name any possible suspects.
[00:05:33] We're still interviewing possible witnesses, he said. That was because besides the business people located in the area surrounding the parking lot, many windows of the Captain Cook hotel located a short distance. So I overlooked the bomb site.
[00:05:50] We're still tracking many of these people down. He said other investigators were still sifting through the evidence, which was at this point at a secure Anchorage police garage. And so it went. Indeed, there were some interesting leads coming in as this case went on.
[00:06:17] How interesting.
[00:06:19] Really interesting.
[00:07:04] One of the new revelations was noticed that during her European sojourn, Mural file had a relationship with a guy named Jocham Piper.
[00:07:15] Let's put the relationship part in quotes.
[00:07:19] And there are several reasons for doing so. He was 45. She was 25.
[00:07:26] And although he had that certain handsome German ruggedness and was no doubt charmed by the two German Americans, Mural had her studies to keep her occupied. And Piper was in Stuttgart, 130 miles away. Plus, he was married, if that made a difference.
[00:07:46] And his position as publicity chief with Volkswagen put in an alternate universe. But anyway, here's what we know, and this is about Piper.
[00:08:03] Formerly a lieutenant colonel in an armored division of the Waffen SS during the second World War. We're talking full on Hitler stuff here.
[00:08:13] Piper was ultimately held responsible for a massacre of American soldiers during the battle of the Bulge on the 17th of December, 1944. His armored battalion encountered a convoy of 30American vehicles near Maly, Belgium.
[00:08:34] The American battalion was quickly overcome and captured, then ordered to stand in a meadow before the Germans opened fire on them with machine guns. 84 soldiers were killed and their bodies left in the snow.
[00:08:51] It was thought to be characteristic of Piper's aggressive style of command. So at war's end, he was put on trial before a military tribunal and convicted as a war criminal.
[00:09:16] Now, here's Piper's own account of those atrocities.
[00:09:22] Okay, I'm quoting. Translated from the German. I admit willingly that after the Normandy battles, my unit was composed of young fanatic soldiers. Many of them had lost their parents or brothers and sisters in the bombardments.
[00:09:37] Some had seen for themselves at Cologne, where thousands of bodies were crushed after the terrorist raids. Their hatred of the enemy was such that I admit I could not always control them.
[00:09:49] At the Malmedy, there were no doubt, some excesses, but then, and this is kind of a twisty turn kind of thing, we'd have to go deeper to really make sense of it. But the Americans community's death sentence to life imprisonment, there was no firm evidence, people said, that he actually gave the order.
[00:10:12] And he was released from incarceration after some prison time.
[00:10:17] And he soon got a job with Porsche, except they were uncomfortable with his reputation.
[00:10:24] So that's when he moved into the publicity chief position for Volkswagen. And that's where he met Muriel File and her sister Caroline.
[00:10:38] Now, the two of them were in Europe early 60s and before Mira returned and opened her travel service.
[00:10:47] At the time, Piper's work for Volkswagen put him in a position to help them acquire a car.
[00:10:53] And it was with that car that the two sisters toured the best ski areas in Europe. It seemed from all appearances that some form of friendship continued throughout their stay.
[00:11:05] And it can be debated as to who was closer, Muriel or as seemed more likely, her sister Caroline.
[00:11:12] Whatever the case, the two of them soon returned to the States.
[00:11:17] And then, years later, Muriel sort of casually revealed the Piper relationship to a friend.
[00:11:26] And it was only then that she learned of Piper's horrific background. A background to which, by the way, Muriel seemed oblivious.
[00:11:36] And it was this same friend who came forward after the murder and told police of that relationship. And. And here's the nugget.
[00:11:48] During the summer of 1976, Joachim Piper was residing in a lodge in France.
[00:11:56] Townspeople, having previously learned his identity, warned him to leave. He refused.
[00:12:03] And so, on Bastille Day, July 14, 1976, which is if, for those of you that know, that's the French version Of the fourth of July.
[00:12:12] He was murdered when his lodge was blown up by what some considered as a high velocity explosive.
[00:12:22] Except the details there are incorrect. Piper's house was firebombed.
[00:12:28] It was Muriel who was killed by an explosive device.
[00:12:34] But people were putting those two things together because two months later, it was Muriel who was murdered.
[00:12:42] Were they related?
[00:12:44] Well, I'm going to go down in history saying no, they were not.
[00:12:55] Sa.
[00:13:23] And then there was another one. This guy. Lewis Edward Dickinson was Muriel's boyfriend at the time of her death. And he was a little inconvenient because he was married.
[00:13:37] A founding partner in a prominent Anchorage civil engineering firm. He was the kind of guy who showed him at groundbreaking ceremonies to city water wells and sewage treatment plants and new housing developments. A doer. I knew her.
[00:13:54] And turned out he was probably better friends with her brother Bob and his wife Maryanne.
[00:14:04] So information trickled in that that relationship was little rocky because, of course, it had an impact on Dickinson's marriage.
[00:14:19] His wife, a clinical psychologist, Knew her husband was having an affair with mural. They traveled in similar circles, but that's all they got from Jackie Dickinson. She declined to take a polygraph that might demonstrate her lack of involvement and the death of mirophile because she said she was experiencing psychiatric problems as a result of the difficulties she was having in her marriage.
[00:14:52] And honestly, to some, it seemed like more than an affair.
[00:14:56] Lewis had given burial a ring.
[00:15:01] And that's. That's. That's the half of it. She actually did a show and tell with that ring before in front of here. Look at this. Virginia Zwocke, her ex husband's legal secretary. Now, in my estimation, that was not too smart. It was really sort of shoving it in his face.
[00:15:28] But be that as it may, Sam.
[00:16:02] Foreign.
[00:16:07] But let's get back to Fairbanks, shall we? And the teamsters, because as Anchorage daily news reporters Howard Weaver and Bob Porterfield noted In their landmark December 1975 investigation, the Northstar terminals in Fairbanks were a hotbed of workers with criminal histories.
[00:16:30] It was the central pipeline supply warehouse for the north slope. But starting at the very top and winding down through the ranks, it employed some pretty shady characters. Men convicted of murder, robbery, and drug crimes.
[00:16:45] In fact, three of the top six union officials on the terminal roster had criminal records, Felonies, you know, you name it.
[00:16:56] Now, the fear of the moment was theft.
[00:16:59] Theft because it was a vast storehouse at the facility, Supplies equipment destined for the north slope.
[00:17:09] And then you have all these men with shady past. I'll give you Example, the number one man, Frederick Dominic Figone, known to underworld associates as Freddy the Fix, was convicted and sentenced to a year probation by California authorities in the early 1950s. He was also arrested in Alaska in 1966 on charges of being an accessory after the fact to a felony. So kind of light stuff. That charge itself was later dismissed.
[00:17:42] We'll get into the good stuff here. In addition, Bernard House, also known as Johnny House, the number three man on the roster, he was sentenced to life in Prison in 1957 on conviction for first degree murder.
[00:18:02] He served time at Alcatraz and McNeil island federal penitentiaries before he was pardoned by then Governor Walter J. Hickel.
[00:18:11] May 9, 1968.
[00:18:13] And here's the thing. Insiders at North Star Terminals, this is the warehouse, say House operated its Figone's right hand man in administering the facility.
[00:18:26] The number four man on the roster, Jack Martin, also had felony convictions. His record revealed a 1962 federal conviction in Seattle for a violation of the Man act, which is all about interstate prostitution.
[00:18:43] Okay.
[00:18:47] And if you happened to be looking for killers, Bernard House wasn't the only man on the list. Guy named Peter Bonamassa, listed on the roster as the number one yard crew employee at Northstar, was convicted of murder in 1957. He too received a governor's pardons from former Governor William A. Egan.
[00:19:11] Also on the yard crew, a guy named Jack Jeffrey McCracken, who was convicted in a 1959 shooting with intent to kill in a case involving an Anchorage bartender and a cocktail witness.
[00:19:32] And it's not like nobody noticed.
[00:19:34] I mean, the apparent concentration of really high number persons with criminal backgrounds had long bothered law enforcement in Fairbanks. They'd already began compiling information on those guys.
[00:19:48] But their suspicions notwithstanding, officials at the terminal assistant. There is no evidence of crime at the facility. In fact, Alaska Teamsters Union Local 959 issued a brief statement to the Daily News in response to their repertorial investigation. They indicated that any theft should be investigated and prosecuted. I'm quoting. We do not have any evidence of massive thefts out of that facility. An alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Spokesman told reporters. Furthermore, if evidence of theft exists, we will take appropriate action.
[00:20:27] And notice the little nuance there. No evidence of massive theft.
[00:20:32] Apparently there might be some.
[00:20:35] And here's the thing. Maybe Alesa was aiming too low.
[00:20:39] One source close to the facility noted that, quote, the paperwork is under the complete control of the warehouse. It could be 10 years before they find out what's missing.
[00:20:51] And that was Only the half of it. Because sure enough, July 1976, two Northstar Teamsters went missing under suspicious circumstances.
[00:21:04] By August 3, 1976, the Fairbanks Daily News minor would headline a page three article, Missing Teamsters feared dead.
[00:21:16] Police sources confirmed the worst. There was an atmosphere of fear among many employees of the terminal and Fairbanks. It seemed they had everything.
[00:21:59] Now, as a postscript, let's duly note that not everyone is readily tempted to deviate from the straight and narrow. I know it's hard to believe, but, you know, not everybody says, hey, I love jail. Let's go back. I mean, it's. Prison is a place that few like and. And even fewer still actually relish. But recidivism is a reality, and some will stray. They can't help it.
[00:22:32] And in that calculus, we should probably ask, how much you going to pay me, mister?
[00:22:39] You got to make it worth my time.
[00:22:42] As a gauge of that, remember that Robert Pfeil was offering 20 grand for information about Muriel's killer.
[00:22:53] Was he doubling up what he thought the cost of the contract was? Are just matching.
[00:23:01] In fact, it wasn't long before he upped that amount to 50 grand.
[00:23:08] Is that what it cost?
[00:23:10] Who has that kind of money? Who? And while we're at it, let's also duly note that criminal organizations, organized criminal enterprises, are notoriously difficult to. To penetrate. There's. There's a price for talking, and the price is. Is death.
[00:23:34] So you got your work cut out for you if. If you've got a tight organization and it's really us against the world kind of an organization, and you want to get in there willy nilly and have them say, hey, that guy, that guy, that guy blew up. Burial foil. I mean, not gonna happen. Or if it does, it's a rarity now.
[00:24:00] We're kind of seeing signs of that. Remember the guys going missing and maybe they're dead. And we'll talk about that in more detail. But that's just the other side of this coin. Easier said then. Done.
[00:24:33] See you next time.
