Murder of Marion Parker

Marion Parker (October 11, 1915 - December 17, 1927) was the 12-year-old daughter of Perry Parker, a prominent banker in Los Angeles. She had a twin sister named Marjorie. On December 15, 1927, Marion was abducted from her school by William Edward Hickman, who called himself "The Fox." Her murder has since become the subject of folk songs. Songs and some reports about Marion frequently misspell her name as Marian.

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Investigation

A massive manhunt for Marion's killer began that involved over 20,000 police officers and American Legion volunteers. A reward of $50,000 was offered for the identification and capture of the killer, dead or alive. Suspicion settled upon a former employee of Mr. Parker named William Edward Hickman. Several years before the abduction, Hickman was arrested on a complaint by Mr. Parker regarding stolen and forged checks. Hickman was convicted and did prison time. Police traced a laundry mark on a shirt found with Marion's body to an apartment house in Los Angeles, where they questioned a man named Donald Evans who matched Hickman's description. Evans allowed the police to search his apartment, but they found no evidence and left. Evans then disappeared but was later identified as Hickman. The getaway car used at the ransom exchange had been found by police, and it was identified as having been stolen weeks before. Investigators had Hickman's fingerprints on file owing to his previous arrest and incarceration, and they matched them to prints found on ransom notes and on the getaway car.

Capture and death of Hickman

A week after the murder, officers Tom Gurdane and Buck Lieuallen found Hickman in Echo, Oregon, and recognized him from wanted posters. He was extradited back to Los Angeles, where he confessed to another murder he committed during a drug store holdup as well as to many other armed robberies.

Hickman told his attorneys that he had killed Marion on the directive of a supernatural being called Providence. This was one of the first insanity pleas on behalf of an accused killer in California, but Hickman failed to convince the jury that he was insane. He was convicted of murder and later was hanged at San Quentin prison in 1928.

Motives for the crime

Hickman pleaded insanity as his official motive for the crime when at trial, although he had initially told police that he needed the $1,500 to go to a Bible college. Evidence against his insanity defense included prison guards from Oregon who testified that Hickman had asked "how to act crazy." Prosecutors, however, speculated that he wanted revenge against Mr. Parker for testifying against him in his earlier trial for theft and forgery. There is evidence that he did it in part for the notoriety because he told a reporter he wanted as much press coverage as high-profile killers Leopold and Loeb.