Episode 573: The Kidnapping & Murder of Marion Parker (Part 1)

In the heart of Los Angeles, California, the Parkers represented an average American family in the 1920s, bound by love and shared kinship, yet each member held a distinct individuality.

Marion Parker, a 12-year-old girl, was one of twin sisters with a close-knit family.

Born to Perry and Geraldine Parker on October 11th, 1915, Marion Parker and her twin sister, Marjorie, grew up in environments that nurtured their contrasting personalities. Though twins, Marion and Marjorie each carved out their unique niche in the Parker family tapestry.

Marion was described as a tomboy who enjoyed outdoor and traditionally "boy" activities, but she was also sensitive and reserved.

Marion, unlike her twin, was a tomboy at heart. She reveled in the sunlit streets of Los Angeles, engaging in rough-and-tumble games like football with the boys in her neighborhood. Her preference for trucks and trains over dolls reflected a spirit unbound by the social norms of her time. Yet, underneath this adventurous exterior lay a sensitive and reserved soul.

Marion shared a special relationship with her father, Perry Parker. As an assistant cashier at the First National Trust and Savings Bank, Perry often had his daughter by his side during afternoons at work, moments that Marion cherished deeply. It was this bond that likely led Marion to trust the man who claimed her father was in an accident and that he was there to take her to him—a trust that tragically contributed to her abduction.

Marion's twin sister, Marjorie, had a very different personality and preferred more traditionally "girly" activities.

Marjorie's world was tinted with the more traditional hues of femin ...

On December 15, 1927, the Parker family suffered a horrendous ordeal when a young man posing as a coworker successfully kidnapped Marion Parker from her school.

On December 15, 1927, a young man posing as a coworker of Perry Parker's tricked a school administrator into releasing Marion from school, claiming her father had been in an accident.

Mary Holt, the school administrator, was approached by a man who called himself Mr. Cooper, claiming to work with Perry Parker at the bank, alleging that Mr. Parker had been in an accident and was calling for his daughter. Despite the girls being twins, Mrs. Holt specified Marion when he asked for "the Parker girl." Without verifying his identity or the information he provided, and without contacting the Parkers, Mrs. Holt allowed Marion to leave with the man. Later, Mr. Parker was surprised and alarmed to learn from Holt that he had supposedly sent someone to pick up his child, as he had not had an accident nor sent anyone. Detectives interviewed Mary Holt, who remembered the man as young and unremarkable, but she could not overcome the guilt of her role in Marion's disappearance.

The administrator, Mary Holt, failed to verify the man's identity or contact the Parkers before allowing him to take Marion, despite the unusual circumstances.

Mrs. Holt, not realizing the man was ignorant of the twins' existence, handed over Marion without confirmation or a call to her parents. Mrs. Holt and another worker, Mrs. Freeman, did not inform Marion's twin sister, Marjorie, of the incident, nor did they attempt to contact the parents. Holt later felt overwhelming guilt requiring sedation.

After Marion's disappearance, the Parkers received a series of threatening telegrams from the kidnapper, who called himself "Fate Fox," demanding a ransom of $1,5 ...

The investigation into Marion Parker’s kidnapping turned grim when Perry Parker delivered the ransom, only to receive his daughter's mutilated body in return. Detectives launched an extensive manhunt to apprehend the culprit behind this crime, unveiling shocking details along the way.

When Perry Parker finally delivered the ransom money as instructed, the kidnapper returned Marion's mutilated body, with her limbs severed and her eyes sewn open to make her appear alive.

It was a moment of horror when Perry Parker summoned the strength to meet the kidnapper's demands, only to be faced with the grisly sight of his daughter, Marion. Her body had been mutilated, with her limbs severed. To compound the cruelty, her eyes had been sewn open to give the false impression of life, and makeup had been hauntingly applied to her cheeks, mimicking the flush of the living.

Coroners found that Marion had been strangled to death shortly after the initial failed ransom exchange.

Despite the kidnapper's savage efforts to disguise Marion's fate, coroners determined that she had been strangled to death soon after the initial failed attempt to secure her release via the ransom exchange.

Investigators quickly identified the kidnapper as 19-year-old William Edward Hickman, a former bank employee with a criminal history who had a grudge against the bank where Perry Parker worked.

Detective George Contreras and other officers initiated one of California's largest manhunts, striving to bring the kidnapper to justice.

Hickman had taken steps to conceal his identity and evade capture, but investigators were able to trace him through his fingerprints and the use of the ransom money.

Detectives learned that Hickman had avoided detection by using the name Donald Evans at the Bellevue Arms Apartments, which he vacated shortly before his identity came to light. Neighbors recognized him from the description pro ...