Notorious Bakersfield

Send Robert a Text!

This past week, a parole board recommended parole for a convicted murderer. In 2001 Torie Lynn Knapp was brutally stabbed to death by her then 15-year-old son Parker Chamberlin.

This was a gruesome murder that shocked everyone who knew both the victim and the killer. How could a teenager who appeared to have a close and loving relationship with his mother...kill her...and in such a brutal way?

It's a question everyone has-the family, friends of the family, even the detectives who investigated the case.

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

The 1961 kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 6-year-old Rose Marie Riddle happened in Shafter, only 15 miles from Bakersfield. It was so horrific, news of the crime reverberated throughout the state of California like an earthquake.

Families feared that if such an awful thing could happen in the small town of Shafter, it could happen in larger communities and cities too.

1961 was a period of innocence. Children could play outdoors without their parents fearing the unimaginable. That innocence was lost for many with this horrific crime.

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

During the summer of 1952, Bakersfield-actually, most of Kern County-experienced an earthquake, and a string of aftershocks that forever changed our city's landscape. Besides the tragic loss of lives, the earthquake altered downtown Bakersfield's architecture that took shape immediately following the quake. 

I had some questions regarding the 1952 earthquake and turned to Emily Fisher, a local geologist with a wealth of knowledge about earthquakes. 

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

The Bakersfield Police Department was embroiled in a corruption scandal that rocked city hall. It was a grudge match between two of Bakersfield's most powerful government officials. 

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

Through the Summer of 1981, there was a serial rapist prowling the streets of Bakersfield.

But you wouldn't have known about it unless you had a connection to law enforcement or a local news reporter. Or were one of his victims, or knew one of his victims. There were no newspaper headlines or nightly TV news stories warning the citizens of Bakersfield that there was a serial rapist.

Police and reporters were privy to that information and they deliberately kept the public in the dark until a suspect was finally arrested four months after the rapes began.

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

The subject of this episode deals with the death of a law enforcement officer.

Coincidentally, just last Sunday, July 25, 2021, the Kern County Sheriff Office and the entire community suffered a tremendous loss. Deputy Philip Campas tragically died in the line of duty in Wasco. I'm sensitive to the reality that many in our community are grieving Deputy Campas' death, and wanted to give a heads-up to everyone before proceeding to listen to this episode.

The circumstances surrounding these two incidents--the subject of this episode and Deputy Campas' death --are entirely different. Even though these two events are markedly different, I understand emotions are raw right now regarding this subject matter.

I extend my condolences to Deputy Campas' family, friends,  his coworkers, and fellow deputies at the Kern County Sheriff's Office.

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

The circumstances surrounding Eddie Lee Peel's 1977 murder are not only sad but truely bizarre.  If this were a movie, nobody would believe it.  But, it happened. And it's true. Except for a few names that had to be changed. 

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

The neighborhood that runs along Palm Ave in Rosedale looks remarkably the same as it did in 1992.  Like then, this neighborhood doesn't seem to be the type of neighborhood where a triple murder could happen.  But it did. And it left Bakersfield reeling. 

Kenneth and Cynthia Volpe, and Cynthia's mother Betty Reed were murdered by an evil man with a dark and deadly past. 

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

On July 11, 1986, a mysterious United States military aircraft—an aircraft that the Air Force never before acknowledged existed—had crashed just outside Bakersfield. This accident threatened to expose one of the United States' most secret aircraft. 

Killed in this accident was USAF Major Ross Mulhare.  

Support the show

Send Robert a Text!

In  March 1960, Bakersfield was the site of an awful railroad tragedy. A passenger train collided with a truck hauling highly flammable oil product. 14 people were killed and 64 more were injured.  

While this train accident was an awful tragedy, what I discovered in my research, was Bakersfield's response to this crisis was nothing less than inspirational. 

Support the show