The hosts of a true-crime arts-and-entertainment podcast discuss the 1922 unsolved murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor, who was found shot in the back inside his Los Angeles bungalow; early crime-scene contamination and a mysterious "doctor" who wrongly declared a stomach hemorrhage complicated the case. Born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner in Ireland, Taylor immigrated to the U.S., married actress Ethel May Harrison, had a daughter, then disappeared in 1908, later resurfacing in California under a new name and building a successful directing career, including work with Mary Miles Minter. Suspects and theories include Mabel Normand (last known to see him, cocaine addiction), Minter and her mother Charlotte Shelby (who owned a .38 and claimed to discard it in a Louisiana bayou), former valet Edward Sands (criminal who vanished), valet Henry Peavy (a person of color targeted by sensational press), a drug-hit theory, and actress Margaret Gibson's uncorroborated deathbed confession.

00:00 Listener Warning

00:15 Meet the Hosts

00:59 Robe Reveal Banter

02:42 Case Introduction

04:40 Early Life and Dude Ranch

08:10 New York Marriage and Disappearance

15:20 Reinvention in Hollywood

20:34 War Service and Rising Fame

24:16 Body Found and Crime Scene Chaos

27:05 Autopsy Clues and Missing Cash

35:05 Media Circus and Coverup Claims

39:33 Suspect Mabel Normand

44:19 Intermission and Sponsor Break

45:10 Theories and Next Suspect Tease

45:52 Minter Letters Scandal

49:24 Press Fallout and Alibi

53:11 Stage Mom Prime Suspect

55:00 Bayou Gun Disposal

01:00:17 Valet Vanishes

01:05:32 Peevy and Profiling

01:09:20 Hitman and Confession

01:16:21 Hollywood Moral Panic

01:21:40 Final Theories and Wrap