In this episode of Only Murders on the Harbor, we explore the mysterious death of Deputy Sheriff Carlton Mason Stearns, a cold case that has puzzled Grays Harbor County for nearly a century.

Born in 1894 in Deer Lodge, Tennessee, Stearns grew up facing tragedy and loss, including the early deaths of several half-sisters. By his teens, he was working in Hoquiam sawmills, later holding jobs in printing, retail, and trucking. In 1914, he married Edna McNamara and settled in Tacoma, building a life and family while rising through local law enforcement ranks.

By 1931, Stearns was Chief Criminal Deputy in Grays Harbor County, involved in enforcing Prohibition-era liquor laws and investigating local crimes. On a March night in 1936, he was sent to the remote Copalis Beach to check on thefts and burglaries at vacation homes. Hours later, his body was found on the highway under circumstances that shocked the community: a gunshot wound to the head, evidence of a struggle, and a missing service revolver.

Initial reports labeled the killing a murder, yet decades later, unpublished accounts and family manuscripts suggest a far murkier story. Questions remain about what truly happened that night: Was it a targeted attack? Was Stearns’ death connected to his law enforcement work? Or did darker, more personal forces play a role? The truth may never be fully known, but his story endures as one of the Northwest’s oldest unsolved law enforcement mysteries.

Today, Stearns is honored as an officer who died in the line of duty, yet the debate over his final moments continues—making this story part history, part legend.

📚 Sources

• The Daily Herald, March 10, 1936 — “Deputy Sheriff’s Body is Found in Road at Copalis” https://www.newspapers.com/image/1026097233/?match=1&terms=Carlton%20Stearns
• The Olympian, March 18, 1936 — “Award Posted for Deputy’s Slayers” https://www.newspapers.com/image/801902832/?match=1&terms=Carlton%20Stearns
• The Tacoma News Tribune, March 11, 1936 — “Mystery in Copalis Death Case Grows” https://www.newspapers.com/image/733396718/?match=1&terms=Carlton%20Stearns
• Officer memorial profile: https://behindthebadgefoundation.org/rollcall/stearns-deputy-carlton-m/
• Anderson, Rick. “The Deputy in the Road” (Seattle Weekly) — historical feature & manuscript analysis

Season Two of Only Murders on the Harbor opens with one of the most disturbing cases to emerge from Grays Harbor County, Washington. This episode examines the life and violence of David Allen Gerard — and the victims whose stories might otherwise have been forgotten.

Raised in Aberdeen, Gerard’s early life was marked by instability, isolation, and escalating aggression. Over time, his relationships became increasingly volatile, with a documented history of domestic violence that, in hindsight, revealed a much darker pattern.

Throughout the 1980s, several young women disappeared or were found murdered across rural western Washington, including Carin Connor, Connie Rolls, Roberta Strasbaugh, and Tracy West. While none of these cases have been definitively linked to Gerard, similarities in victim profiles, locations, and circumstances continue to raise questions.

The episode centers on two of the most brutal killings: Elaine “Brooke” McCollum in 1991 and Carol Leighton in 1996. Both women were last seen in Aberdeen before being found along the same remote logging road. Each case involved extreme, rage-driven violence, and despite extensive investigations, both went cold for years.

Everything changed in 1999.

After surviving a near-fatal claw hammer attack in a dairy barn, Frankie Cochran identified Gerard as her attacker. Her survival became the turning point investigators needed. At the scene, Detective Lane Youmans recognized a chilling similarity between the attack and the earlier murders — a realization that led him to reopen the cold cases.

As forensic technology advanced, DNA evidence linked Gerard to both McCollum and Leighton. Yet legal barriers complicated efforts to fully prosecute him. Gerard ultimately entered an Alford plea in Leighton’s murder and is serving time for the attempted murder of Cochran, but questions remain — particularly in McCollum’s case and others that may be connected.

The episode also explores the suspicious 1995 house fire that killed Gerard’s former girlfriend Patty Rodriguez, her two sons, and her mother — a tragedy ruled accidental, but one that continues to raise doubts.

At its core, this episode is about persistence and memory — the work of a detective who refused to let these cases fade, and the lives of the victims who deserve to be remembered.

In Grays Harbor, the past never truly disappears.

Sources

• The Seattle Times (2006). “One-man task force keeps cold cases on front burner.”
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer / Associated Press (2002). “Police find prisoner’s DNA on 2 murder victims.”
• The Daily Herald (2002). “DNA evidence revives probe into savage murders.”
• The Chronicle (2009). “Woman in a Coma After 1999 Beating.”
• The Lineup (2019). “The Woman Who Was Bludgeoned by a Claw Hammer—And Survived.”
• HuffPost (2012). “The Devil You Know: Woman Faked Her Death To Survive Boyfriend’s Attack.”
• Oxygen / The Price of Duty (2018). “Women Murdered on Same Logging Road in Washington.”
• Archival newspaper records via Newspapers.com (Carin Connor, Connie Rolls, Roberta Strasbaugh, Tracy West, Elaine McCollum)

Between 1905 and 1910, Aberdeen, Washington’s harbor became a place where men vanished and bodies surfaced with unsettling regularity. Newspapers called them “floaters.” Locals whispered darker explanations.

In this season finale of Only Murders on the Harbor, we examine the rise and reckoning of William “Billy” Gohl — union leader, labor advocate, and alleged architect of violence along Grays Harbor. As sailors and timber workers disappeared, patterns emerged: disputes over union dues, moonshine debts, and quiet confrontations that ended in silence.

This episode focuses on the murder of Charles Hedberg, whose battered body surfaced in 1910, and the disappearance of John Hoffman, last seen after withdrawing a large sum of money. We follow the investigation, the arrest and conviction of John Klingenberg for manslaughter, and the growing belief that Gohl controlled the waterfront through fear, leverage, and ambiguity.

Inside the courtroom, witnesses described a man whose power determined who worked, who survived, and who vanished. Though evidence against Gohl was often circumstantial, newspapers estimated his responsibility in as many as 50–60 deaths. Even after convictions and Gohl’s life sentence, the questions never stopped. How many men truly died? How many survived by obedience or luck?

Billy Gohl died in prison in 1927, but Aberdeen’s harbor never forgot. His story sits at the intersection of labor history, crime, folklore, and fear — a reminder that water remembers what towns try to bury.

Only Murders on the Harbor will return in Season 2 after a short holiday break, exploring other murders and mysteries tied to the waterfront. Until then, remember: the harbor keeps its secrets — until someone dredges them up.

Sources Used

• Aberdeen Herald (1904–1912)
• San Francisco Call (1906–1910)
• Los Angeles Herald (1910)
• The Tacoma Times (1910)
• The Spokane Press (1910)
• Goings, Aaron. The Port of Missing Men. University of Washington Press, 2020.
• Hughes & Beckwith. On the Harbor. Stephens Press, 2005.
• Lane & Gregg. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Berkley Books, 1995.
• Morgan, Murray C. The Last Wilderness. University of Washington Press, 1955.
• Osborn, Andrew. Face Down in the Wishkah. UW Tacoma, 2013.

Step into the fog of early-1900s Aberdeen, Washington—a boomtown of mills, muddy streets, and a harbor crowded with sailors from every corner of the world. In this episode of Only Murders on the Harbor, we explore the rise of William “Billy” Gohl, the Sailors’ Union agent whose power on the waterfront shaped both labor politics and local legend.

Part 1 traces Gohl’s early activity in the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, beginning with his participation in the State Federation of Labor conference in Spokane in January 1904, where he represented the needs and grievances of deep-sea workers. By April he was elected as the union’s Aberdeen agent, gaining authority over job dispatching and seafarers’ welfare. His office quickly became the refuge of stranded sailors—and the gatekeeper for every man hoping to work the Grays Harbor ships.

But that power bred conflict. Aberdeen’s waterfront was a pressure cooker of rival unions, strikebreakers, labor spies, and restless drifters. Gohl clashed regularly with non-union sailors and company men, appearing in the local courts for fights, threats, and barroom brawls—offenses he typically defended in court and walked away from with fines. He became known for “protecting” his men from wage theft and crooked boarding-house runners, even as rumors spread that he used intimidation as readily as advocacy.

And then there were the disappearances. As early as 1905, bodies—often unidentified sailors—began surfacing in the harbor with troubling frequency. Papers referred to them simply as “floaters.” While no evidence at the time linked Gohl to any death, the pattern deepened his legend. Some townspeople insisted he was a fierce defender of working men; others whispered he used the harbor itself as a weapon against enemies. His union authority, legal entanglements, and the rising tide of corpses created a perfect storm of suspicion.

Part 1 lays the historical foundation of who Billy Gohl was before his arrest: a skilled labor organizer, a combative political actor, and the most influential figure on Grays Harbor’s unforgiving waterfront. Part 2 will follow his downfall, trial, and the transformation of rumor into enduring Pacific Northwest mythology.

Sources:

Spokesman Review (Jan 12, 1904); Aberdeen Herald (Apr 11, Jun 3, Jun 16, Jul 11 1904; Oct 2 1905; Feb 1 1906; Jun 11, Jun 14, Jun 18, Jul 12, Aug 23, Aug 27 1906); Seattle Star (Jun 3 1904); Seattle Union Record (Jan 21 1905); Post-Intelligencer (Oct 17 1905; Jun 7 1906); Tacoma Daily Ledger (Jun 5 1906; Jun 19 1906); Spokane Chronicle (Jun 6 1906); and additional Aberdeen and Tacoma articles from 1904–1906 referencing Gohl’s union activities, court cases, and harbor conditions

We follow the case from the night of the murders through multiple trials, appeals, insanity hearings, political battles, and a series of last-minute legal maneuvers that stretched across nearly four decades.

Witness testimony, forensic details, and court transcripts reveal a chilling crime scene: ten shots fired from a Savage automatic pistol, brutal stabbings, and survivors who barely escaped with their lives. Prosecutor A. E. Graham painted Grassi as an “arch criminal,” claiming ties to violence in Italy, Chicago, and Tacoma, while Grassi maintained his innocence and insisted he did not remember the murders.

Despite a death sentence in 1924, Grassi’s execution was delayed repeatedly by petitions, sanity hearings, and conflicting rulings from multiple courts. Judges, governors, Italian consular officials, and prison doctors all became entangled in the case, which raised landmark questions about insanity, jurisdiction, and the limits of executive clemency.

By the 1950s, the story took an unexpected turn: Grassi—now elderly—sought only to return to Italy. A final sanity ruling allowed his sentence to be reinstated so he could legally be considered for a pardon. In 1959, after 36 years behind bars, Governor Albert Rosellini granted that pardon on the condition that Grassi leave the United States and never return.

He arrived in Viareggio, Italy, in February 1959, welcomed by family and quietly living out his remaining years. Guido Grassi died in 1961 at the age of 82 — a man still claiming innocence, still haunted by the night that defined his life and the decades that followed.

This episode explores justice, myth, memory, and the long shadow of fear that settled over Aberdeen for generations.

Sources Used

Primary Newspaper & Archive Sources:

• The Aberdeen Daily World (1923–1926) — coverage of the murders, trial testimony, executions stays, and community reactions.
• The Seattle Times (1950s) — reporting on Grassi’s pardon, sanity hearings, and efforts to return to Italy.
• The Spokesman-Review — articles on Grassi’s appeals and late-life hearings.
• The Associated Press — obituary notice and coverage of Grassi’s death in Italy (1961).
• The Oregonian — regional reporting on legal developments during the 1920s appeals.

Court & Legal Records:

• Grays Harbor County Superior Court transcripts (1923–1926).
• Washington State Supreme Court rulings regarding Grassi’s appeals and the jurisdictional issues surrounding insanity proceedings.
• Walla Walla Superior Court filings, including the 1925 and 1926 lunacy commission reports.

Government & Institutional Records:

• Washington State Penitentiary archives, Walla Walla: inmate reports, disciplinary logs, clemency petitions, and communications with governors.
• Office of Governor Roland H. Hartley — stay of execution records and correspondence on Grassi’s sanity petitions.
• Office of Governor Albert Rosellini — pardon documentation and conditions for deportation.
• Italian Consulate correspondence involving Vice-Consul Sam Grosso and Consul Alberto Alfani.

In this episode, Kaydee investigates a chilling case from Grays Harbor County, Washington, in November 1923. A string of brutal murders left a predominantly Italian immigrant community in terror. Central to the chaos was Guido Grassi, a laborer whose reputation for violence earned him the nickname the Cat-Man.

The night unfolded with shocking attacks: Joe Tollomi was found shot and slashed in his boarding house, while witnesses were injured, and John Ricci was murdered in a nearby shack. Amid dense fog and eerily silent streets, police scrambled to track the assailant. Survivors described him moving with catlike stealth, carrying a small white sack — a charm believed to render him untouchable.

Inside the sack were fragments of what appeared to be a human heart preserved in salt, though Grassi claimed it was a sheep’s heart. Fear of the charm delayed witness cooperation, allowing Grassi to evade justice temporarily. Once the talisman was seized, witnesses spoke out, revealing the horrifying details: Grassi had entered the Tollomi home, shot and stabbed multiple men, and terrorized anyone in his path.

The case illuminates the interplay of superstition, community fear, and crime, showing how belief in a talisman can influence both criminal behavior and law enforcement efforts. The episode ends with Grassi’s arrest and the lingering question of his charm’s influence on the community.

Sources & Context:

1. “Luck of a Salted Charm,” True Detective Mysteries, March 1930.
2. Tacoma Tribune, November–December 1923 – Coverage of the Grassi murders and arrests.
3. Grays Harbor County Records (1923–1924) – Criminal filings and coroner reports.
4. The Daily Olympian (Nov–Dec 1923) – Trial and witness accounts.
5. Walla Walla Penitentiary Records (1924–1926) – Execution delay documents.

Next episode, Kaydee will dive into the trial, the unraveling of Grassi’s “charm,” and the community’s confrontation with the brutal reality behind the myth.

On the night of November 18, 2008, Marlon Lee, a 41-year-old resident of Aberdeen, Washington, was brutally beaten and set on fire after leaving the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino in Ocean Shores. This episode of Only Murders on the Harbor examines the chilling events of that night, the investigation that followed, and the broader questions raised by the suspect’s extensive criminal history.

Roderick T. Reed, 31 at the time, was identified as the last person seen with Marlon. While in custody, Reed’s erratic behavior included a 2010 attack on a deputy prosecutor during court proceedings, highlighting both his violent tendencies and systemic challenges in managing repeat offenders. Reed’s record spans decades, including charges for assault, theft, drugs, and probation violations, as well as a lien for unpaid child support in 2008.

This episode not only explores the tragic events surrounding Marlon Lee’s death but also asks difficult questions about public safety, criminal justice, and the consequences of repeated legal failures.

Sources & References:

1. Seattle PI – Arrest in case of man set on fire: https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/arrest-in-case-of-man-set-on-fire-1292292.php
2. Thurston County Sheriff – Inmate Roster Search: https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/cm/sheriff/bureau-corrections-roster-search.asp?mod=third&idnum=Z0050215
3. The Jolt News – Police Blotter April 16, 2025: https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/police-blotter-for-wednesday-april-16-2025,19600
4. Docket Alarm – Thurston County Superior Court: https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Washington_State_Thurston_County_Superior_Court/25-1-00577-34/STATE_OF_WASHINGTON_vs_RODERICK_TERRY_REED_II/
5. FindLaw – Court of Appeals, Washington State: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/wa-court-of-appeals/115506512.html
6. Odyssey Portal – Washington State Courts: https://odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov/ODYPORTAL/Home/WorkspaceMode?p=1#
7. Grays Harbor County & Mason County case references:
   • Case No. 091001068 – Judgment Available (GHC)
   • Case No. 241002006 – Mason County
   • Case No. 061003821 – Judgment Available (GHC)
   • Case No. 061000253

This episode of Only Murders on the Harbor examines the death of 20-year-old Jimmy Smith-Kramer, a Quinault tribal member whose life was tragically cut short in a racially charged attack near Donkey Creek, Washington. In 2017, James Walker deliberately ran over Jimmy and another young man after shouting racial slurs. Though the attack was violent and intentional, the legal system failed to treat it as a hate crime—leaving the Quinault Nation and Jimmy’s family deeply frustrated.

The Quinault Nation immediately called for the crime to be recognized as racially motivated, emphasizing how it reflected broader patterns of discrimination and violence against Native communities in the region. Walker eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, receiving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence—a punishment many viewed as shockingly lenient given the gravity of his actions. Prosecutors argued that a longer sentence was unlikely due to Walker’s lack of a violent record, and the family faced an agonizing choice between accepting a plea deal or risking trial before a potentially biased jury.

Through narration, soundscapes, and historical context, this episode explores the legal proceedings, the emotional toll on the community, and the public outcry that followed. Jimmy’s jersey was retired at Taholah High School in a moving ceremony attended by hundreds, honoring him as a role model, provider, and beloved friend. His death became a symbol of vulnerability for Indigenous youth, reopening deep wounds within the Quinault Nation and underscoring the systemic failures that leave Native communities without justice.

The episode also examines the broader national context. Native Americans experience violence at rates far higher than other groups in the United States. Hate crimes against Indigenous people are often overlooked or minimized in the legal system, even when racial slurs or threats are present. Bureaucratic hurdles, under-resourced tribal law enforcement, and systemic bias all contribute to this gap. Each unacknowledged act of hate compounds historical trauma stemming from forced relocation, boarding school abuses, and systemic marginalization.

Jimmy’s story is both personal and collective. It forces listeners to consider hard questions: What does justice mean when the law falls short? How do communities begin to heal when history and the present collide? And how do we honor lives lost to hate while pushing for meaningful change?

Jimmy’s family and the Quinault Nation continue to speak at schools, advocate for Indigenous rights, and ensure his story sparks awareness and action. Their fight is a reminder that justice is not a single moment but a journey requiring shared responsibility, compassion, and persistence.

📚 Resources

• U.S. Department of Justice – Hate Crimes: justice.gov/hatecrimes
• Bureau of Justice Statistics – Violent Victimization of American Indians and Alaska Natives: bjs.ojp.gov
• Urban Indian Health Institute – Reports: uihi.org
• Native Justice Coalition: nativejustice.org
• Quinault Indian Nation: quinaultindiannation.com
• Local reporting from The Daily World and The Olympian (2017–2018)

In this episode of Only Murders on the Harbor, Kaydee unravels the tragic story of Curtis Engeland, a 74-year-old retired professor from Mercer Island, Washington. Known for his generosity, love of hiking, and passion for teaching, Curtis was rebuilding his life after the loss of his partner of 41 years.

But when he turned to online dating in 2024, Curtis met Philip Brewer, 32, on the app Scruff. What began as a simple coffee date quickly spiraled into theft, fraud, and ultimately, murder. With the help of his partner, Christina Hardy, 47, Brewer drained Curtis’s finances, impersonated him through sloppy text messages, and fabricated a cover story to explain his sudden absence.

On February 23, 2024, Brewer and Hardy attacked Curtis in his own home, injecting him with fentanyl before forcing him into the trunk of his car. They drove him over 100 miles to Cosmopolis in Grays Harbor County, where Hardy held him down as Brewer fatally stabbed him.

Curtis’s disappearance alarmed his family and neighbors, who knew the unusual texts and unattended cats were clear signs something was wrong. Investigators traced Brewer and Hardy using GPS data and financial records, eventually discovering Curtis’s body on March 7. The pair fled to California but were arrested after confiding in Hardy’s daughter’s boyfriend, who alerted police.

Today, Brewer and Hardy face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and identity theft. Curtis’s neighbors tend his garden in his memory, ensuring that his kindness and generosity are not forgotten.

This case is a stark reminder of the dangers of digital deception and the importance of recognizing red flags in online interactions.

📚 Sources & Citations

1. King County Superior Court documents (2024) – Charging records detailing the murder, kidnapping, and theft allegations against Philip Brewer and Christina Hardy.
2. Seattle Times – “Mercer Island man found dead in Grays Harbor; 2 suspects charged” (March 2024).
3. KOMO News – Coverage of the disappearance and discovery of Curtis Engeland, including neighbor and family interviews (March 2024).
4. KING 5 News – “Couple charged in death of Mercer Island man” (March 2024).
5. The Olympian – “Couple accused in murder of Mercer Island man found in Grays Harbor” (March 2024).

On April 8, 2000, sixteen-year-old Daryn C. Tolle left a Friday night “Rock & Bowl” dance in Aberdeen, Washington. A harmless tradition among friends turned tragic when he walked home alone and was found brutally stabbed under the Chehalis River bridge. Known as an “all-American” student with a quick sense of humor and no known enemies, Daryn’s death shocked a town that hadn’t seen a teen homicide in over 15 years.

Within days, police arrested two men. Dionicio J. Russell confessed to the stabbing—claiming he didn’t know why he did it—while his friend, Matthew Christian, admitted to helping afterward. In October 2000, Russell was sentenced to 30 years in prison and remains incarcerated today at Monroe Correctional Complex. Christian served one year for aiding the crime.

This episode explores the timeline of that night, the investigation, courtroom proceedings, and the grief-stricken response of the Aberdeen community. Through archival news reports, community recollections, and reflective narration, we examine how a single night’s small change of plans can ripple out with life-altering consequences.

Sources Used

• Man sentenced in slaying of Aberdeen teen, The Seattle Times, Oct 19, 2000 — crime details, trial, sentencing (link)
• Aberdeen Washington History Facebook Group — community reactions and local insight (link)
• Aberdeen Daily World archives, April 2000 — initial reporting and police statements
  • Police seek motive in Aberdeen boy’s slaying, Seattle Times, Apr 10, 2000 (link)
  • 2 held in slaying of Aberdeen teen, Seattle Times, Apr 14, 2000 (link)
  • Man sentenced in slaying of Aberdeen teen, Seattle Times, Oct 19, 2000 (link)