Episode 69: Big Shot
Money can lead to dangerous outcomes. A generous gift one year leads to a triple homicide decades later.
In 1978, a triple homicide occurs inside a home in Palm Springs, California. The trail follows multiple trusts, family disputes, and suspicious characters across California to Texas and even Denmark and Zimbabwe. At the center, a trust setup by Barbara Hutton decades earlier for her cousin Curtis Hutton.
Archival music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
My recurring Waldorf-Astoria hotels webinar – Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 and Part 2 Thursday, December 8th at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. New York Adventure Club www.nyadventureclub.com or the events section at https://asthemoneyburns.com.
Thursday, December 1st, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel Part 1: A New Standard of Luxury (pre-1929), Come learn more about the Astor family dispute behind the famous hotel and its construction as well as the hotel’s influence on luxury travel and fine dining. Connections to the Titanic as well as other events and famous people will also be explored. But all good things come to and end.
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 2: Manhattan’s Grandest Hotel (1931-present), The second version of this fine luxury hotel comes during the dawn of new era which will bring new challenges and excitement. A lingering Astor family connection adds to the saga until a new family the Hilton dynasty rises and takes over. More celebrities and events will add to allure of this hotel. Finally, updates reveal the recent renovations, an auction, and the future for the third incarnation.
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Publish Date: October 13, 2022
Length: 26:39
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 2 Music: Nightfall by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Ban
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 069 – Big Shot
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:29
Story Recap
Prince Serge Obolensky gives up his royal title for American citizenship, while Prince Alexis Mdivani’s in-law Sert paints murals for the new Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
Big Shot
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
Money can lead to dangerous outcomes. A generous gift one year leads to a triple homicide decades later.
01:00
[Music – Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:17
Thursday, October 12th, 1978, Palm Springs, California
Aging 71 years old Sophia Brownell Hutton Friendly prepares for her evening dinner at her vanity mirror. She smoothes out her still beautiful copper red hair as she touches up her makeup. She slips on gold shoes to match her glittering gown. Fancy and dolled up, it is hard to imagine that this will be dinner for two at home.
Her husband 74 years old Ed Friendly too dressed up in evening attire mixes himself a stiff drink at the bar as he watches the news.
Their maid 67 years old Frances Williams finishes setting the dining table with the finest crystal and silver including slender fish knives then returns to the kitchen to check on the plates that remain heated in the oven at a low temperature.
02:14
As the sun sets, the doorbell rings and Sophia opens the door to politely speak with a stranger.
A .45 caliber pistol emerges from the stranger. Sophia flees down the hallway to escape. The stranger follows and shoots her in the back of the head.
The killer heads to the kitchen. In front of the refrigerator, the maid Frances turns and falls to her knees as the pistol presses against her forehead. He fires a shot, and she crumples to the ground.
Only yards away, Ed, nearly deaf, does not hear all the commotion with the television blaring.
The killer now enters the living room and shoots Ed in the chest. The blunt impact throws Ed against the bookcases as his blood splatters onto the Venetian blinds. Then the killer steps closer and fires a shot into Ed’s head for good measure.
Other items are tossed about, but nothing is taken. Even an open wallet with $400 dollars is left in plainsight.
Before the killer exits, he grabs a few hats off the rack and covers Sophia’s head with a gray fedora then exits into the dusk.
03:24
Friday, October 13th, 1978
At 7:30am, the pool maintenance man begins his regular cleaning routine when he notices a body laying in blood from the kitchen window. He drops his net and runs to find a phone at a neighbor’s house.
Quickly, the pink Mediterranean style home is full of police scouring the place. The grisly scene with multiple bodies found throughout. Inside the warming oven, the fish dinners have burned to a crisp.
The police fan out over a 3 block grid looking for the weapon. No luck.
04:02
Back in May, the home was burglared, but no suspects emerged then. In a vacation town, few neighbors remain year round, even fewer pay attention to others, and most stay in their secluded quiet routines. The only perpetual problem is the raccoons continuously rifling through the Friendly’s trash. No one heard any shots nor suspected any foul play.
First, Ed Friendly’s background is searched for suspects. Ed has connections with real estate, finance, and horse racing. He was an executive of one racetrack that had burned down in 1964. Ed Friendly too has complicated relations within his own family. He is in argument with his son Tony, and his daughter television producer Suzanne Friendly admits most of the family saw her father as a black sheep.
Then other mysteries start unraveling. Ed Friendly’s leads run dry. Nothing ties back to him. However his wife Sophia is another matter.
05:09
Across the desert and over in Santa Barbara, another man is confined to a bed drawing close to his last breaths of life. That ailing man is Curtis Hutton – Sophia’s ex-husband of 24 years and paternal cousin to Barbara Hutton.
Two weeks later…
October 26th, 1978, Santa Barbara, California
Curtis Hutton dies.
05:38
The potential motive crystallizes in the Palm Springs investigation. There are several trusts and financial matters that require much forensic accounting. A new police recruit and recent college grad with computer skills is given the duty to compile a spreadsheet. It takes him 16 hours, but ohhh what it reveals…
Born Sophia Brownell in 1904 San Francisco, her father is a prestigious doctor and her mother is an heiress to the Talbot fortune based in lumber and shipping. After a grand debutante coming out in 1924, the pretty copper redhead Sophia wanted to be an actress and headed out to New York City where at age 23 she met and married Curtis in 1927. Later, his cousin debutante and heiress Barbara Hutton would give him a $1 million dollar trust fund as a sign of friendship and goodwill.
06:33
Though Sophia came from wealth, it was *nowhere near as substantial as Curtis’s relatives, the Hutton brothers and their heiress wives. Sophia would mention being overwhelmed when visiting E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Mar-a-Lago estate, as well as intimidated by the collection of jewels and furs worn by Marjorie, Barbara’s stepmother Irene Hutton, and Barbara’s maternal Aunt Jessie Woolworth Donahue.
07:02
When the United States joins World War II, 41 years old Curtis joins the navy. Leaving Sophia at home with their two young children son Edward Franklyn Hutton and daughter Sophia Hutton Merrill, who goes by Sophie. The trust was revised in 1942 with an irrevocable change that allowed the income to go to the mother Sophia in case Curtis dies rather than waiting for the children to reach majority and they would get the principal only after her death. He survives the war but not Sophia’s rage when she learns of Curtis cheating with a minor actress and takes the children to San Francisco to live with her mother the elder Sophia Brownell, referred as Gammy by the grandchildren. Despite divorcing in 1951, the trust remained unchanged. At the time, Curtis also purchases a townhome setup for Sophia to live for the rest of her life, but the ownership truly belongs to their children much like how the trust was setup.
08:01
Back in San Francisco, Gammy gives additional support to Sophia and the kids by generously offering to Sophia access to family funds as Gammy had a bit extra needing to be unburdened according to her accountant for tax purposes. Two years later in 1953, Sophia marries Ed Friendly. He struggles in business, and the couple dips more into Gammy’s funds. Only the estate is managed by Sophia’s brother William Brownell who often balks at the over indulgent expenditures, and Sophia hates his oversight. In the early 1970s, Sophia convinces her children to sign over the townhome to her and will purchase the Palm Springs home in their names under similar conditions. Only, Sophia doesn’t and puts everything in her and Ed Friendly’s names.
08:51
When Gammy dies in 1976, the long ago Pope-Talbot family trust remains to be split three ways with Sophia and her two siblings, yielding close to $6 million ($31 million in 2022). Only Sophia keeps the money to herself and not reimbursing or sharing with her children for the townhome. Fearing everything will get lost to Ed’s gambling debts, the younger Sophie then sues her mother and stepfather but with little luck. Furthermore, Sophia changes her will and cuts them out.
Now as Curtis nears death with the trust reverting to Sophia, actions needed to be taken to protect their children’s interests.
09:33
Their eldest son Edward Franklyn Hutton, obviously named after Curtis’s uncles E.F. (Edward Francis) Hutton and Franklyn Hutton, has struggled over the years. He goes to the Cate School in Santa Barbara and later Columbia University where he meets his wife Caroline DuBois. Spoiled and unable to focus productively, Edward has none of his great uncles’ financial acumen in stocks. Edward will work at 11 different brokerage firms from 1966 – 1977, including the London branch of E.F. Hutton. There in the London pubs Edward meets Danish Andreas Christensen, a semi nefarious figure with stories wrapped up in fantastical secrets of espionage, assassinations, and other covert operations. They pal around the clubs especially the Nelson Pub on Montepelier, and Edward constantly finds himself in financial hot water. He lives extravagantly especially taking advantage of the new rent now buy later options, though there is still never enough. By 1976, his long suffering wife Caroline finally gives up, leaves him, files for divorce, and takes the children. Edward will continuously miss support payments.
10:51
By 1978 and heavily in debt, Edward returns to the United States and relocates to Houston and by July involved in a new venture Le Seule Etoile restaurant (the Lone Star restaurant). That September, Edward meets up with Andreas. They visit Curtis in Santa Barbara only 3 weeks before the homicides. Sister Sophie is also present caring for their ailing father and had a cold, uncomfortable feeling about Andreas, especially as he has oddly dyed his thinning blonde hair to a dark shiny black.
11:24
When detectives arrive in Houston to ask questions, Le Seule Etoile owner Henry Kelsey points the detectives towards the maître d’ David St. John and head waiter Antonio Garrido. David proves to be a worthwhile informant. Before the murders, Edward and Andreas were asking around to find someone to help purchase a .45 gun for Andreas, an avid collector. It would be Garrido who buys the firearm at a local pawnshop. In Texas, guns had to be purchased with a valid Texas driver’s license, which Edward had not yet received – a lie later proven in the investigation.
12:01
The Palm Springs police put Andreas on the Interpol watch list as he has already left for Europe and is far outside California’s jurisdiction.
While Edward is staying with a friend in New York City, he receives a call informing him that 21 years old David St. John is found dead in the bathtub of Edward’s Houston apartment. David was housesitting while Edward visited his kids in London. Local Houston police attributed the death to an overdose of cocaine and booze unaware of the California murder investigation. Coincidentally, shortly thereafter, Garrido is killed by a hitchhiker in Arkansas. That murderer was caught and given a 50 year sentence.
12:44
Before the investigation began, Andreas slips out of the United States but is eventually caught abroad. In 1981, he is arrested in Copenhagen for a minor bank robbery charge that uncovers a slew of other issues. Palm Springs detectives flew to Copenhagen for interviews, the first yielded some information as in Andreas confessed to disassembling the Garrido gun and throwing it out of a train in Europe. By the next interview, Andreas refuses any more follow up. In Zimbabwe, he is identified as a mercenary, and a former girlfriend leads officers to a cave serving as a large hidden arsenal of weapons including guns, grenades, and ammunition for .45mm. Another mentions hearing Andreas on the phone demanding a $150k payment which was overdue. While in custody, Andreas re-establishes his Danish citizenship to prevent any future extradition to anywhere that might enforce the death penalty. Andreas will be tried for the triple homicide in Danish courts.
13:47
Now with two witnesses dead, no weapon, no confession, and only circumstantial evidence, the trail runs cold.
Edward too relocates to Brazil in the mid-1980s and later Mexico. The limited resources of Riverside County halt further investigation especially with two extraditions needed. Palm Springs is a wealthy enclave inside a much larger, more blue collar area. There is a later attempt to revive investigation in 2006 with new technology only to have a later 2010 political change thwart further efforts.
As of today, the case remains officially unsolved, but the speculation points in a very clear direction towards Edward Hutton and Andreas Christensen.
14:37
[Music – Nightfall by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
14:50
One of the most popular questions I get when I mention my podcast – are there any deaths or murders related to any of the main fortunes?
Hmmm,… From the beginning, Episode 01: Trust No One goes back to Buck Duke’s death and how his wife Nanaline Duke might have hastened his demise only to learn he had changed the will leaving everything to their daughter Doris Duke. There are other brutal and abhorrent crimes related to these fortunes as well.
15:16
In fact, each primary fortune chosen is based on several factors, especially how they end up. There are several crimes committed against our heirs and heiresses, and others already known in the story are committing a few already. Crimes of the heart also included.
15:35
As I have mentioned, I often go down the trail of any new names that appear in the story, especially if there is a sense that I should know more. Such was the case back in Episode 51: Millionheir, I discussed several people going to the popular spot La Maze in Palm Beach, Florida. Attending dinner with Barbara Hutton and her father was her cousin’s wife Sophia Hutton. Now I needed to do some reverse engineering in connection as E.F. Hutton didn’t have a son, and Franklyn and E.F. do not have another a brother but a sister Grace Hutton Wood.
16:11
So who is Curtis Hutton? He is their sister’s son who had little contact with his own father Benjamin Wood. Over time, Curtis decided to change his name to associate more with the uncles he so admired – going from Curtis Hutton Wood to Curtis Wood Hutton. As a young child, Barbara also resided with her aunt in her California home. So Barbara was somewhat close to Curtis who is about 12 years older, but it is her maternal Woolworth cousin Jimmy – Jeem – Donahue who gets most of the press and is referred in her biographies especially as they would be periodic adult traveling companions.
16:47
In her biographies, there is reference to Barbara’s early childhood shortly after her Woolworth grandparents’ deaths with whom she stayed after her mother Edna Woolworth Hutton’s suicide. Aunt Grace was kind and bubbly, loved throwing parties, and had an eye as a collector. At first, they live in the Los Angeles suburb in Altadena then relocate nearby San Francisco in Burlingame to be closer to Barbara’s father Franklyn Hutton as he stayed there overseeing the West Coast operations of the E.F. Hutton brokerage firm and Barbara’s sizeable Woolworth inheritance.
17:20
It will be from Aunt Grace that Barbara will first find an interest in objets d’ arte especially of Asian and Oriental natures. There are dogs and a Shetland pony – the pony Barbara named Princess despite being a boy. Hint at one of Barbara’s future obsessions. At this time, Barbara also met her long time companion and French governess “Ticki” Germaine Toquet.
When Barbara turns 11, Aunt Grace remarries Thomas Middleton and moves to New Jersey. Barbara was already in different boarding schools and floundering in acceptance. So much time and yet no mention of her cousin Curtis.
17:58
There is however a mention back in that 1931 article, and then the trail only gets hot after the murders. Which is how I found out about the shocking triple homicide.
After Curtis Hutton dies on October 26th, 1978, the trust from Barbara Hutton estimated at $1.3 million (roughly $6 million in 2022) is split between his children Sophie and Edward. From their mother, the adult children also inherit another trust for the Pacific Northwest lumber empire setup by Frederick Talbot long ago in the mid-1800s, and Sophia’s later will could not modify or change that older family trust. In the mid-80s, Edward would receive $96,000 yearly from that alone (roughly $260k in 2022).
18:49
Longtime San Francisco Chronicle reporter Michael Taylor covers the case most extensively in 1981, then in 1995 follows up with a San Francisco Examiner article, and still later in 2006 contacts the Palm Springs new district attorney which leads to a reopening of the case. New forensic technology on ballistics with partial fingerprints could be used, only a failed 2010 re-election results in the case once again being dismissed by yet another new district attorney.
19:21
Overall, it is a winding tale of money, greed, and family disputes. With all the repetitive names, I’m sure you can see why I’m careful and utilize other nicknames or middle names for certain larger overarching characters for the series. I didn’t with this one, as it is more a one-off, and half the confusion and fun is keeping all the damn names straight.
19:42
The family entanglements seem unending, so much for money making life easier. Now Edward “Ed” Friendly had 2 prior marriages and loved children, his own two from his first marriage Tony Friendly was the same age as Edward Hutton and Suzanne Friendly a little younger. In 1995, Tony admitted he had recently had a spat with his father which caused a rift and silence for about a year, but Tony was assured they would have reconciled. A successful television producer Suzanne Friendly would be the first and only family member to arrive on the scene the day of discovery after learning of the crime on a television set in nearby Los Angeles (about a little over an hour to 2 hours drive depending on traffic). She too misses her father decades later.
20:30
Sophia’s side is a lot more convoluted. Her brother William Brownell tells of a lot of bad blood between his sister and her children. She was never maternal and very materialistic and spoiled. Her own daughter Sophie was suing before the murders for how Sophia manipulated them several times out of money. Then there is Edward Hutton, very entitled and leaving destruction in his wake. When his own son Teddy Hutton commits suicide in 1986, Edward refuses to send any money to his ex-wife for funeral expenses. His daughter Virginia “Ginny” Hutton also gave up hope of any contact, though her mother Caroline made a few more efforts even as referenced as late as 2006.
21:13
What is more damning is a letter written by Curtis in December 1976 almost 2 years before the murders and death, Curtis admonishes his son —
Dear Edward:
This is probably one of the hardest letters I have ever had to write to you. You, as my son, I love very much but as a man I cannot say you have amounted to much. Nearly 38 years old and no steady job with certainly no future to look forward to… Take a look at your own life. What have you accomplished in these past years? You have squandered money trying to be and live like a big shot… You must change your ways and improve your standard of living if you expect any inheritance from me. You must demonstrate your ability to be a good father and one that can be relied upon to contribute to the financial welfare of your children.
With love and good luck my son.
Surprisingly, money doesn’t solve all problems. In fact, in large amounts it can create a lot more.
22:18
[Music – Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
22:33
While developing this series, I have been continually asked about any crimes especially murder involved. I stumbled across this in last spring 2022.
But it is by far from the only legal crime and other abuse linked to these fortunes. There are quite a few in fact, which is why I have spent so much time developing these stories. It is also a prescient forewarning.
22:56
We often envy those we think have wealthy lives and might consider large inheritances like winning the lottery. It’s all good right? Why wouldn’t we have a little envy over such good fortune?
But that isn’t necessarily the case, trauma might lead to the fortune, and trauma will come with those who then try to take it away. As the Great Depression magnifies both greed and desperation, our heirs and heiresses will become primary targets. Next spring the Lindbergh kidnapping will work its way into the story and its impact on several already known characters.
23:32
While the stories might be interesting, history does provide important lessons. The pandemic definitely kicked off a set of scams and thefts, and those are going to increase with future instability caused by more financial and economic hard times on the horizon. It’s going to be a cold, dark winter in many ways.
23:52
Recently as in between these last 2 episodes, I became a target of identity theft. My new driver’s license (the one to be protective against this stuff) was intercepted via mail then used to attempt “in person” at getting a credit card at a Big Lots store – yeah that place in commercials, to which I have no idea where an actual store is, well until now… I learned after receiving a notice from the financial institution regarding the decline a week later. I’m not rich and have definitely been struggling these last few years, but even I was a victim. A pain, yet far better than my high school experience of being carjacked.
As I alerted other friends, my longtime friend and former classmate replied from New England – her credit card too had just been stolen, and within a very short period that person spent thousands at a resort and the Museum of Sex. Isn’t it great when someone wants to live well off of you?
24:56
Please be careful and reconsider your financial and identity security measures. Hopefully, I was lucky in catching this incident early, but this is only the beginning of more similar crimes in our present.
I hope you stay safe and well by all means and endeavors.
25:15
Good news, my two webinars on the Waldorf-Astoria hotels are returning to New York Adventure Club Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 and Part 2 on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. Weblinks will soon be available at www.nyadventureclub.com and the News | Events section at asthemoneyburns.com.
Thursday, December 1st, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 1: A New Standard of Luxury (pre-1929), Come learn more about the Astor family dispute behind the famous hotel and its construction as well as the hotel’s influence on luxury travel and fine dining. Connections to the Titanic as well as other events and famous people will also be explored. But all good things come to an end.
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 2: Manhattan’s Grandest Hotel (1931-present), The second version of this fine luxury hotel comes during the dawn of new era which will bring new challenges and excitement. A lingering Astor family connection adds to the saga until a
new family the Hilton dynasty rises and takes over. More celebrities and events will add to allure of this hotel. Finally, updates reveal the recent renovations, an auction, and the future for the third incarnation.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
25:46
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
The richest girl travels around the world and gets invited to all the fabulous parties, so with such a glamorous life why does she seem perpetually unhappy?
Until then…
Credits
26:06
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Goodpods, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
26:39
THE END.