The Timber Lake Murder: Who Killed Arthur Denton?

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Two hours.

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That’s the amount of time Wilma

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Denton says she spent trapped in

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the basement of her home on

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Timber Lake in Posey County,

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Indiana.

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Duct taped to a chair alone in
the dark, listening to what she

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believed were the final moments
of her husband’s life unfolding

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somewhere above her.

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She says she fought to break

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free from the tape for nearly

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two hours.

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Eventually, one arm came free,
just enough to grab a phone and

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call 9-1-1.

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It’s August 18, 1991, when police arrived.

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Just after 2 AM, they find

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78-year-old Arthur

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Denton dead on the main floor of

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the home.

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Arthur was a respected retired

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Evansville attorney, former

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state legislator and deputy

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prosecutor for Vanderburgh

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County.

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He had been beaten and stabbed
to death inside his own house.

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Wilma told police that a masked

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man wearing long black gloves

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found her in the basement,

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slapped her and bound her with

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duct tape.

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She then claimed that she heard

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other men in the house, likely

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stealing $12,000 dollars

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in cash.

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Even though Arthur’s friends
insisted he never kept large

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amounts of cash on hand.

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Police never found a murder
weapon, and no one was ever

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charged in Arthur’s death.

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So what really happened inside
the Dentons’ Timberlake house in

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the middle of the night?

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Was it a violent home invasion

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gone wrong or the perfect

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murder?

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Every time we’re together, it’s
overshadowed by the fact that

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someone’s missing someone.

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Very important.

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I went to pry it open.

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And when I kicked the door in,
next thing you know was all you

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seen was my brother, and he was
slumped over on the couch.

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And.

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I mean, blood just coming from
everywhere.

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I offered the cops to go and
take them to the exact spot I

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pulled over in.

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When I turned around, I pulled

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over and I called my wife and

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I’m walking him out my rear view

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mirror, and he’s walking towards

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the tracks where he went from

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there after I left from that

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spot.

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Don’t know.

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I was there at Saint Joe and

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Diamond working, you know,

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mid-morning.

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You know, my cell phone rings.

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I don’t recognize the number.

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So this woman, I didn’t

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recognize her because she was

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distressed.

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She.

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She says this man come in and
shot me.

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Thank you for joining me for

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another episode of River City

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Mystery.

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I am your host, Matt Deig.

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In this episode, we’re going to

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be looking into the murder of

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Arthur Denton in Posey County,

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Indiana.

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And this is a really strange
case with some twists and turns.

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And I had actually never heard
of this particular case.

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I did have it on my radar

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because I have a database on my

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discord of all of our cold cases

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from the region, but I hadn’t

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really dug into it until I

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started doing research for this

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episode.

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And it’s a really strange case.

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It’s it’s an unsolved case.

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And as far as I know, the last
article I saw on this, it’s not

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being actively investigated.

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So my hope is that maybe
somebody will hear this and

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it’ll trigger something that may
kindle some sort of a some a

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phone call or something that
might help lead to the solution

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of this case.

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So who was Arthur Denton,
exactly?

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He wasn’t just a lawyer.

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I mean, he was a lawyer.

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He was a lawyer in the
Evansville, Indiana area for

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about fifty years.

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But he was also a former state

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legislator and three time deputy

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prosecutor for Vanderburgh

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County.

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So for many decades, he was a
very integral part of the

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Evansville legal community.

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For more than fifty years, he
lived a very quiet and I would

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say, predictable life with his
wife, Eunice, and they lived in

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a very modest home on Taylor
Avenue in Evansville.

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And they lived very what’s been

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described as very routine,

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predictable lives, like they

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would go out with their friends,

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Bill and Sherry Forman on

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Saturday nights.

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They would go play bridge.

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Uh, most evenings they would go

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out to eat, they would go play

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cards at the Civic Center or

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they go, you know, he’d go to

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shoot pool at the downtown Elks

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Club.

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They didn’t really deviate much
from that.

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They would they were very close
to their friends.

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Very communicative, Predictable.

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Bill foreman, one of his friends

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who met him at IU School of Law

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in the thirties, described him

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as being very careful and

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reserved.

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He’s a person from the
depression era, so very just,

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he’s kind of shaped by hardship,
was the way he worded that.

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And he never really showed his
wealth.

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So neighbors who lived next door
never really knew he had any

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money at all.

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Everything kind of collapsed in
June of nineteen ninety, though.

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His world kind of came crashing

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down on June twenty first,

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nineteen ninety.

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While out with friends, Eunice

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Denton suffered a ruptured colon

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and died.

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So after fifty years of
marriage, Arthur was suddenly

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alone and friends said.

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From that point on, he was never
quite the same.

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Just three months later, Arthur
Denton shocked nearly everybody

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who knew him.

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On August fourteen, nineteen

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ninety, the seventy seven year

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old widower drove to Henderson,

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Kentucky, and married Wilma

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Scales.

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Everyone called her doodle.

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That was her nickname.

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I’m.

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I’m just going to call her

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Wilma, just to keep keep

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consistent here.

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But everyone did call her doodle
at that time, and I’m assuming

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Arthur did as well.

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But the differences between
those two were hard to ignore.

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Wilma was thirty nine years old,
so there’s about a forty year

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age difference by this point.

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This was Wilma’s fourth
marriage, and it’s thought that

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they met through Wilma’s work
because she was a housekeeper or

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in the janitorial staff at the
courthouse where Arthur

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maintained his office.

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So at some point they crossed

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paths and Wilma ended up as the

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personal housekeeper for Arthur

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and Eunice at their own home for

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six months prior to Eunice

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passing away.

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So at the time Eunice passed
away, Wilma was their

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housekeeper, and Arthur’s
closest friends were blindsided

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by the marriage.

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Bill foreman, one of his closest
friends, said.

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He was quoted as saying, I never
heard of the second Mrs. Denton.

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I never met her.

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The marriage kind of sparked a
bunch of quick changes.

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By October of nineteen ninety,

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Arthur had sold the Taylor

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Avenue home he lived in for

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decades.

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He moved Wilma to the house on

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Middle Mount Vernon Road in

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Posey County, right on Timber

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Lake.

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There the house is surrounded by

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a chain link fence, and four of

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Wilma’s dogs roamed around this

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yard in the chain link fence

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area.

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There was a beware of dog sign
on the fence.

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Two of the dogs were German
shepherds and two were mixed

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breed, so they were pretty much
guard dogs and they were.

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According to neighbors, those

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dogs would bark at anything that

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walked by.

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They were not quiet, docile
dogs.

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They were guard dogs.

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That comes into play a little
bit later on.

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In January of nineteen ninety
one, Arthur makes a big change.

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He revises his will.

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He names Wilma Denton as the
sole beneficiary of his entire

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estate, which was valued at
about three hundred and

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seventeen thousand dollars at
that time, which is about seven

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hundred and fifty thousand
dollars in today’s dollars.

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Seven months after he made those
changes to his will.

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Arthur Denton was dead.

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So what exactly happened on the
night of August eighteenth,

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nineteen ninety one.

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Everything we know about that

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night, for the most part, is

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from Wilma Denton’s account

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herself.

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She’s the only witness.

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She’s the only one who was
there.

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So there were no other
witnesses.

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There were no neighbors who saw
anything.

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Uh, so we have to kind of keep
that in mind when we’re

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listening to the story.

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Speaker:
We have no other person.

225
00:07:21.170 –> 00:07:22.689
Speaker:
Obviously, Arthur’s voice is not

226
00:07:22.689 –> 00:07:24.149
Speaker:
heard in this because he’s

227
00:07:24.149 –> 00:07:25.170
Speaker:
deceased.

228
00:07:25.170 –> 00:07:29.850
Speaker:
What Wilma claims happened was
that she was downstairs in the

229
00:07:29.850 –> 00:07:32.410
Speaker:
basement making a phone call or
about to make a phone call at

230
00:07:32.410 –> 00:07:36.529
Speaker:
twelve fifteen a m while she was
in the basement, she heard

231
00:07:36.529 –> 00:07:38.689
Speaker:
people enter the house upstairs.

232
00:07:38.689 –> 00:07:40.129
Speaker:
She says a man wearing a ski

233
00:07:40.129 –> 00:07:42.209
Speaker:
mask and long black gloves found

234
00:07:42.209 –> 00:07:43.930
Speaker:
her in the basement, slapped her

235
00:07:43.930 –> 00:07:45.250
Speaker:
and bound her to a chair with

236
00:07:45.250 –> 00:07:46.449
Speaker:
duct tape.

237
00:07:46.449 –> 00:07:49.410
Speaker:
She claims that while that was
going on, she heard other people

238
00:07:49.410 –> 00:07:51.009
Speaker:
upstairs with her husband.

239
00:07:51.009 –> 00:07:52.610
Speaker:
For the next two hours, she

240
00:07:52.610 –> 00:07:54.069
Speaker:
claims, she sat in the darkness,

241
00:07:54.069 –> 00:07:55.449
Speaker:
listening to movement above her,

242
00:07:55.449 –> 00:07:56.970
Speaker:
trying to break free from the

243
00:07:56.970 –> 00:07:58.160
Speaker:
tape that was tying her to the

244
00:07:58.160 –> 00:07:59.040
Speaker:
chair.

245
00:07:59.040 –> 00:08:00.879
Speaker:
Finally, around two a m, she

246
00:08:00.879 –> 00:08:02.759
Speaker:
broke free from the tape and was

247
00:08:02.759 –> 00:08:03.959
Speaker:
able to call nine hundred eleven

248
00:08:03.959 –> 00:08:05.120
Speaker:
for help, which did arrive

249
00:08:05.120 –> 00:08:07.319
Speaker:
around two fifteen a m. Police

250
00:08:07.319 –> 00:08:09.079
Speaker:
arrived to find Arthur Denton

251
00:08:09.079 –> 00:08:11.000
Speaker:
had been beaten in the head and

252
00:08:11.000 –> 00:08:12.360
Speaker:
stabbed multiple times in the

253
00:08:12.360 –> 00:08:14.279
Speaker:
neck, and he was deceased on the

254
00:08:14.279 –> 00:08:15.240
Speaker:
scene.

255
00:08:15.240 –> 00:08:17.079
Speaker:
As investigators examined the

256
00:08:17.079 –> 00:08:18.319
Speaker:
scene, they started to notice

257
00:08:18.319 –> 00:08:20.399
Speaker:
some inconsistencies, some odd

258
00:08:20.399 –> 00:08:22.240
Speaker:
things starting to pile up a

259
00:08:22.240 –> 00:08:23.319
Speaker:
little bit.

260
00:08:23.319 –> 00:08:25.800
Speaker:
Number one is the dogs.

261
00:08:25.800 –> 00:08:27.879
Speaker:
The Denton’s had four dogs.

262
00:08:27.879 –> 00:08:30.399
Speaker:
They had two German shepherds
and two mixed breeds.

263
00:08:30.399 –> 00:08:33.460
Speaker:
They would roam around the chain
link fence area, which they were

264
00:08:33.460 –> 00:08:36.519
Speaker:
known to bark very aggressively
at anyone who walked by so the

265
00:08:36.519 –> 00:08:41.399
Speaker:
neighbors would notice barking
often if there were animals in

266
00:08:41.399 –> 00:08:43.000
Speaker:
the area, or maybe people.

267
00:08:43.000 –> 00:08:45.639
Speaker:
That night, the neighbors did
not report hearing any

268
00:08:45.639 –> 00:08:47.279
Speaker:
aggressive barking or any
barking at all.

269
00:08:47.279 –> 00:08:49.039
Speaker:
As a matter of fact, the Posey

270
00:08:49.039 –> 00:08:50.480
Speaker:
County Prosecutor, Kim Kelley,

271
00:08:50.480 –> 00:08:52.240
Speaker:
more noted, and some of the

272
00:08:52.240 –> 00:08:53.399
Speaker:
articles I’ve read about this,

273
00:08:53.399 –> 00:08:54.480
Speaker:
that that doesn’t necessarily

274
00:08:54.480 –> 00:08:55.159
Speaker:
mean anything.

275
00:08:55.159 –> 00:08:56.200
Speaker:
It just means that the neighbors

276
00:08:56.200 –> 00:08:57.559
Speaker:
may not have heard the barking,

277
00:08:57.559 –> 00:09:00.399
Speaker:
or maybe the intruders avoided

278
00:09:00.399 –> 00:09:00.919
Speaker:
the dogs.

279
00:09:00.919 –> 00:09:04.879
Speaker:
We don’t know, but it is an
interesting tidbit, I would say.

280
00:09:04.879 –> 00:09:07.120
Speaker:
Another interesting tidbit is

281
00:09:07.120 –> 00:09:08.639
Speaker:
that Wilma claimed that twelve

282
00:09:08.639 –> 00:09:10.000
Speaker:
thousand dollars in cash was

283
00:09:10.000 –> 00:09:10.759
Speaker:
missing.

284
00:09:10.759 –> 00:09:12.620
Speaker:
Now Arthur’s friends, they

285
00:09:12.620 –> 00:09:14.240
Speaker:
insist that he was not the type

286
00:09:14.240 –> 00:09:16.019
Speaker:
of person to keep twelve

287
00:09:16.019 –> 00:09:17.919
Speaker:
thousand dollars in cash at the

288
00:09:17.919 –> 00:09:18.240
Speaker:
house.

289
00:09:18.240 –> 00:09:18.720
Speaker:
He was.

290
00:09:18.720 –> 00:09:19.840
Speaker:
He just wasn’t.

291
00:09:19.840 –> 00:09:22.440
Speaker:
He. He was the type that would
keep that at the bank.

292
00:09:22.440 –> 00:09:25.000
Speaker:
It would be very unusual for him
to have kept twelve thousand

293
00:09:25.000 –> 00:09:26.639
Speaker:
dollars in cash at the house.

294
00:09:26.639 –> 00:09:28.360
Speaker:
However, Wilma claims that

295
00:09:28.360 –> 00:09:29.519
Speaker:
twelve thousand dollars is

296
00:09:29.519 –> 00:09:30.399
Speaker:
missing.

297
00:09:30.399 –> 00:09:33.559
Speaker:
Prosecutors could never confirm
that anything had been stolen

298
00:09:33.559 –> 00:09:36.360
Speaker:
other than just Wilma’s word
that there was twelve thousand

299
00:09:36.360 –> 00:09:38.080
Speaker:
dollars and it was missing.

300
00:09:38.080 –> 00:09:39.639
Speaker:
Uh, no murder weapon was ever

301
00:09:39.639 –> 00:09:41.080
Speaker:
found, so the police did an

302
00:09:41.080 –> 00:09:41.919
Speaker:
exhaustive search.

303
00:09:41.919 –> 00:09:43.960
Speaker:
No murder weapon was ever found.

304
00:09:43.960 –> 00:09:48.159
Speaker:
Uh, within two weeks of the
killing, police responded to two

305
00:09:48.159 –> 00:09:49.759
Speaker:
reported break ins at the house.

306
00:09:49.759 –> 00:09:50.720
Speaker:
Oh. Wilma called the police

307
00:09:50.720 –> 00:09:52.759
Speaker:
twice within two weeks of

308
00:09:52.759 –> 00:09:54.779
Speaker:
Arthur’s death to report break

309
00:09:54.779 –> 00:09:55.240
Speaker:
ins.

310
00:09:55.240 –> 00:09:58.409
Speaker:
In both cases, nothing was
taken, according to Posey County

311
00:09:58.409 –> 00:10:00.470
Speaker:
Prosecutor Kim Kelley, more.

312
00:10:00.470 –> 00:10:02.230
Speaker:
Another strange turn on

313
00:10:02.230 –> 00:10:03.909
Speaker:
September eight, nineteen ninety

314
00:10:03.909 –> 00:10:04.629
Speaker:
one.

315
00:10:04.629 –> 00:10:08.110
Speaker:
Wilma’s brother, William Scales,
committed suicide.

316
00:10:08.110 –> 00:10:09.309
Speaker:
He OD’d.

317
00:10:09.309 –> 00:10:13.029
Speaker:
So this is about a month or so
after Arthur’s death.

318
00:10:13.029 –> 00:10:15.590
Speaker:
So you start to wonder, like, as
the investigators are looking at

319
00:10:15.590 –> 00:10:18.950
Speaker:
this, they’re thinking, is
William somehow was he was he

320
00:10:18.950 –> 00:10:24.629
Speaker:
paid by Wilma to to come in and
be involved in this in some way?

321
00:10:24.629 –> 00:10:28.429
Speaker:
And he was maybe overwhelmed
with guilt and OD’d less than a

322
00:10:28.429 –> 00:10:30.870
Speaker:
month after Arthur was killed.

323
00:10:30.870 –> 00:10:32.110
Speaker:
Investigators examined the

324
00:10:32.110 –> 00:10:33.629
Speaker:
possibility of a connection, but

325
00:10:33.629 –> 00:10:35.309
Speaker:
the prosecutor stated that

326
00:10:35.309 –> 00:10:37.149
Speaker:
William was actually out of town

327
00:10:37.149 –> 00:10:38.870
Speaker:
at the time of the murder, so he

328
00:10:38.870 –> 00:10:40.429
Speaker:
was ruled out as a possible

329
00:10:40.429 –> 00:10:41.549
Speaker:
participant.

330
00:10:41.549 –> 00:10:43.190
Speaker:
But the prosecutor does admit

331
00:10:43.190 –> 00:10:45.049
Speaker:
that there are some obvious

332
00:10:45.049 –> 00:10:47.549
Speaker:
timing questions that raise

333
00:10:47.549 –> 00:10:48.549
Speaker:
eyebrows.

334
00:10:48.549 –> 00:10:51.269
Speaker:
One thing that interests me is,
you know, it’s it’s easy these

335
00:10:51.269 –> 00:10:54.950
Speaker:
days to kind of track people
with cell phone technology.

336
00:10:54.950 –> 00:10:56.539
Speaker:
Like a lot of people.

337
00:10:56.539 –> 00:10:58.460
Speaker:
If you watch these true crime

338
00:10:58.460 –> 00:11:00.220
Speaker:
shows like they, they will track

339
00:11:00.220 –> 00:11:01.740
Speaker:
everywhere you go with your cell

340
00:11:01.740 –> 00:11:01.980
Speaker:
phone.

341
00:11:01.980 –> 00:11:03.019
Speaker:
Back then, the nineteen ninety

342
00:11:03.019 –> 00:11:03.980
Speaker:
one people didn’t have cell

343
00:11:03.980 –> 00:11:05.259
Speaker:
phones.

344
00:11:05.259 –> 00:11:08.480
Speaker:
So you wonder how they verify
that someone was quote unquote,

345
00:11:08.480 –> 00:11:11.139
Speaker:
out of town or out of the area
at the time?

346
00:11:11.139 –> 00:11:12.539
Speaker:
Is it or is it just a he said,

347
00:11:12.539 –> 00:11:13.860
Speaker:
she said kind of a situation

348
00:11:13.860 –> 00:11:15.139
Speaker:
where he says, I was out of town

349
00:11:15.139 –> 00:11:16.580
Speaker:
and everyone just has to believe

350
00:11:16.580 –> 00:11:17.340
Speaker:
it.

351
00:11:17.340 –> 00:11:19.460
Speaker:
Um, I don’t know.

352
00:11:19.460 –> 00:11:21.620
Speaker:
Either way, it’s a strange
coincidence.

353
00:11:21.620 –> 00:11:25.700
Speaker:
Wilma’s brother OD’d less than
about a month after Arthur’s

354
00:11:25.700 –> 00:11:28.539
Speaker:
murder, so that’s what it is.

355
00:11:28.539 –> 00:11:29.779
Speaker:
And in February of nineteen

356
00:11:29.779 –> 00:11:31.299
Speaker:
ninety two, a grand jury heard

357
00:11:31.299 –> 00:11:32.539
Speaker:
testimony from twenty five

358
00:11:32.539 –> 00:11:32.940
Speaker:
people.

359
00:11:32.940 –> 00:11:34.299
Speaker:
There were they heard from

360
00:11:34.299 –> 00:11:36.019
Speaker:
neighbors, police officers,

361
00:11:36.019 –> 00:11:37.659
Speaker:
friends.

362
00:11:37.659 –> 00:11:41.980
Speaker:
One person who did not testify
was Wilma Denton.

363
00:11:41.980 –> 00:11:46.340
Speaker:
So she never actually spoke or
testified as far as what her

364
00:11:46.340 –> 00:11:47.220
Speaker:
side of the story was.

365
00:11:47.220 –> 00:11:49.460
Speaker:
And she was the only one that
was there.

366
00:11:49.460 –> 00:11:51.460
Speaker:
After the prosecutors looked at

367
00:11:51.460 –> 00:11:52.539
Speaker:
all the information, they

368
00:11:52.539 –> 00:11:53.740
Speaker:
decided not to move forward with

369
00:11:53.740 –> 00:11:54.460
Speaker:
any indictments.

370
00:11:54.460 –> 00:11:57.850
Speaker:
So there was never anyone
charged in Arthur’s murder?

371
00:11:57.850 –> 00:12:02.409
Speaker:
There was one more interesting
tidbit that I came across in one

372
00:12:02.409 –> 00:12:03.769
Speaker:
of the articles I read.

373
00:12:03.769 –> 00:12:05.850
Speaker:
One of the Denton’s next door

374
00:12:05.850 –> 00:12:07.850
Speaker:
neighbors, Jim de Haven, claims

375
00:12:07.850 –> 00:12:09.409
Speaker:
that he heard a prowler around

376
00:12:09.409 –> 00:12:09.769
Speaker:
his home.

377
00:12:09.769 –> 00:12:10.509
Speaker:
This would have been at two

378
00:12:10.509 –> 00:12:12.649
Speaker:
thirty in the morning on Friday

379
00:12:12.649 –> 00:12:12.850
Speaker:
night.

380
00:12:12.850 –> 00:12:15.850
Speaker:
This would have been two days
before the murder.

381
00:12:15.850 –> 00:12:17.269
Speaker:
So he hears some sort of

382
00:12:17.269 –> 00:12:19.049
Speaker:
disturbance or prowler around

383
00:12:19.049 –> 00:12:20.250
Speaker:
his house at two thirty in the

384
00:12:20.250 –> 00:12:20.889
Speaker:
morning.

385
00:12:20.889 –> 00:12:22.490
Speaker:
Another family member turns on a

386
00:12:22.490 –> 00:12:24.070
Speaker:
light to the outside, I guess,

387
00:12:24.070 –> 00:12:26.129
Speaker:
and the prowler apparently

388
00:12:26.129 –> 00:12:27.169
Speaker:
flees.

389
00:12:27.169 –> 00:12:28.370
Speaker:
He never actually called the

390
00:12:28.370 –> 00:12:29.570
Speaker:
police to report the incident,

391
00:12:29.570 –> 00:12:30.509
Speaker:
but that is an interesting

392
00:12:30.509 –> 00:12:30.850
Speaker:
tidbit.

393
00:12:30.850 –> 00:12:31.850
Speaker:
So it’s kind of like you wonder

394
00:12:31.850 –> 00:12:32.970
Speaker:
if there were people scoping out

395
00:12:32.970 –> 00:12:36.250
Speaker:
the area, or maybe trying to get

396
00:12:36.250 –> 00:12:37.570
Speaker:
around the dogs or something, I

397
00:12:37.570 –> 00:12:39.250
Speaker:
don’t know, but that is

398
00:12:39.250 –> 00:12:40.610
Speaker:
interesting.

399
00:12:40.610 –> 00:12:44.350
Speaker:
So it is possible that maybe
there were some prowlers, uh,

400
00:12:44.350 –> 00:12:48.529
Speaker:
who, who were targeting Arthur
for some reason.

401
00:12:48.529 –> 00:12:51.570
Speaker:
Several years went by and the
case was appearing to go cold,

402
00:12:51.570 –> 00:12:56.159
Speaker:
but investigators never really
stopped looking at Wilma.

403
00:12:56.159 –> 00:12:57.039
Speaker:
In this case, I think they

404
00:12:57.039 –> 00:12:58.320
Speaker:
always viewed her as being a

405
00:12:58.320 –> 00:12:59.320
Speaker:
potential suspect.

406
00:12:59.320 –> 00:13:01.720
Speaker:
They just didn’t have the the

407
00:13:01.720 –> 00:13:04.240
Speaker:
evidence to to pin the murder on

408
00:13:04.240 –> 00:13:05.679
Speaker:
her.

409
00:13:05.679 –> 00:13:07.120
Speaker:
They did have something that

410
00:13:07.120 –> 00:13:07.960
Speaker:
they had found during the

411
00:13:07.960 –> 00:13:09.919
Speaker:
original investigation.

412
00:13:09.919 –> 00:13:13.519
Speaker:
While they were searching
Wilma’s car, they found a check

413
00:13:13.519 –> 00:13:15.879
Speaker:
in her glove box.

414
00:13:15.879 –> 00:13:17.240
Speaker:
It was a fifteen thousand

415
00:13:17.240 –> 00:13:18.960
Speaker:
dollars check made out to Wilma

416
00:13:18.960 –> 00:13:19.600
Speaker:
Scales.

417
00:13:19.600 –> 00:13:23.700
Speaker:
Scales was Wilma’s maiden name
and the check appeared to be

418
00:13:23.700 –> 00:13:26.120
Speaker:
signed by Arthur Denton.

419
00:13:26.120 –> 00:13:29.600
Speaker:
Indiana State Police handwriting
analysts examined the check and

420
00:13:29.600 –> 00:13:32.960
Speaker:
reached a troubling conclusion,
you might say.

421
00:13:32.960 –> 00:13:35.759
Speaker:
The writing showed
characteristics of a quote

422
00:13:35.759 –> 00:13:38.200
Speaker:
unquote, simulated forgery.

423
00:13:38.200 –> 00:13:41.480
Speaker:
By nineteen ninety five, Posey
County Prosecutor Trent van

424
00:13:41.480 –> 00:13:45.360
Speaker:
Haaften formally referred to
Wilma as a potential suspect.

425
00:13:45.360 –> 00:13:49.720
Speaker:
So she was she’d kind of morphed
into potential suspect realm.

426
00:13:49.720 –> 00:13:53.000
Speaker:
So they were really trying to
pin this on her at this time.

427
00:13:53.000 –> 00:13:53.860
Speaker:
And they were just looking for

428
00:13:53.860 –> 00:13:55.669
Speaker:
that one piece of evidence to

429
00:13:55.669 –> 00:13:57.070
Speaker:
get over the over the hump, I

430
00:13:57.070 –> 00:13:58.350
Speaker:
think, uh.

431
00:13:58.350 –> 00:13:59.929
Speaker:
Trent Van Haaften requested a

432
00:13:59.929 –> 00:14:01.549
Speaker:
handwriting sample to determine

433
00:14:01.549 –> 00:14:02.669
Speaker:
whether she had forged the

434
00:14:02.669 –> 00:14:03.309
Speaker:
check.

435
00:14:04.629 –> 00:14:08.190
Speaker:
Wilma’s attorney, a well-known
defense attorney, John de Klaus,

436
00:14:08.190 –> 00:14:11.889
Speaker:
in the Evansville area, argued
that spouses frequently sign

437
00:14:11.889 –> 00:14:14.350
Speaker:
each other’s names and that
forcing a sample would violate

438
00:14:14.350 –> 00:14:16.629
Speaker:
her Fourth Amendment rights.

439
00:14:16.629 –> 00:14:17.889
Speaker:
In December of nineteen ninety

440
00:14:17.889 –> 00:14:20.929
Speaker:
five, Judge James M Redwine

441
00:14:20.929 –> 00:14:23.029
Speaker:
agreed so she could not be

442
00:14:23.029 –> 00:14:24.090
Speaker:
compelled to provide a

443
00:14:24.090 –> 00:14:25.789
Speaker:
handwriting sample.

444
00:14:25.789 –> 00:14:29.610
Speaker:
And with that ruling, that
basically shut the door on on

445
00:14:29.610 –> 00:14:33.389
Speaker:
that whole avenue of thinking
about the forged check and maybe

446
00:14:33.389 –> 00:14:34.590
Speaker:
a motive there.

447
00:14:34.590 –> 00:14:36.990
Speaker:
According to an article in the
Evansville Press dated March

448
00:14:36.990 –> 00:14:39.470
Speaker:
eighteen, nineteen ninety six,
the Posey County Sheriff’s

449
00:14:39.470 –> 00:14:42.830
Speaker:
Department is no longer actively
investigating the case.

450
00:14:42.830 –> 00:14:43.990
Speaker:
So this is, for the most part, a

451
00:14:43.990 –> 00:14:45.110
Speaker:
closed case that they’re not

452
00:14:45.110 –> 00:14:45.830
Speaker:
looking into.

453
00:14:45.830 –> 00:14:50.269
Speaker:
So my goal of this episode is to
shine a light on the case.

454
00:14:50.269 –> 00:14:52.850
Speaker:
Maybe there’s somebody out there
who has heard something second

455
00:14:52.850 –> 00:14:55.820
Speaker:
hand, third hand, or that might
be relevant to the case.

456
00:14:55.820 –> 00:14:56.700
Speaker:
Maybe there were former

457
00:14:56.700 –> 00:14:58.179
Speaker:
neighbors that heard or saw

458
00:14:58.179 –> 00:14:59.139
Speaker:
something, and they were never

459
00:14:59.139 –> 00:15:00.379
Speaker:
asked by police at the time, and

460
00:15:00.379 –> 00:15:01.340
Speaker:
they want to come forward and

461
00:15:01.340 –> 00:15:02.419
Speaker:
say something.

462
00:15:02.419 –> 00:15:05.379
Speaker:
Either way, somebody out there
knows something.

463
00:15:05.379 –> 00:15:07.419
Speaker:
Even if Wilma wasn’t involved,

464
00:15:07.419 –> 00:15:09.860
Speaker:
this involved more than one

465
00:15:09.860 –> 00:15:10.259
Speaker:
person.

466
00:15:10.259 –> 00:15:12.299
Speaker:
It sounds like it was a little
bit of an operation.

467
00:15:12.299 –> 00:15:14.139
Speaker:
So if maybe there’s a person out

468
00:15:14.139 –> 00:15:15.120
Speaker:
there who said something to

469
00:15:15.120 –> 00:15:17.419
Speaker:
somebody else who thinks that

470
00:15:17.419 –> 00:15:18.659
Speaker:
was questionable.

471
00:15:18.659 –> 00:15:21.539
Speaker:
Now, Arthur didn’t have any
children.

472
00:15:21.539 –> 00:15:24.460
Speaker:
So his obituary lists a couple
of nieces and nephews.

473
00:15:24.460 –> 00:15:27.220
Speaker:
There aren’t people following up
on this stuff over the years.

474
00:15:27.220 –> 00:15:29.059
Speaker:
And a lot of times when you have
these people without any

475
00:15:29.059 –> 00:15:32.580
Speaker:
children or close loved ones,
these cases just get swept under

476
00:15:32.580 –> 00:15:35.860
Speaker:
the rug because it’s easy to do
that, I think.

477
00:15:35.860 –> 00:15:39.019
Speaker:
Arthur spent his whole life
following the rules and

478
00:15:39.019 –> 00:15:41.620
Speaker:
following the law and doing the
right thing as much as he could.

479
00:15:41.620 –> 00:15:44.700
Speaker:
I’m sure I didn’t know him
personally, obviously, but I

480
00:15:44.700 –> 00:15:47.940
Speaker:
don’t think he deserved to be
forgotten like this.

481
00:15:47.940 –> 00:15:51.340
Speaker:
So hopefully someone hears this
and it triggers a memory or

482
00:15:51.340 –> 00:15:53.100
Speaker:
something that becomes helpful.

483
00:15:53.100 –> 00:15:55.090
Speaker:
As far as what became of Wilma.

484
00:15:55.090 –> 00:15:56.610
Speaker:
She remained at the house on

485
00:15:56.610 –> 00:15:58.570
Speaker:
Middle Mount Vernon Road for a

486
00:15:58.570 –> 00:16:00.090
Speaker:
while, and that was the house

487
00:16:00.090 –> 00:16:01.450
Speaker:
that Arthur had purchased for

488
00:16:01.450 –> 00:16:01.690
Speaker:
them.

489
00:16:01.690 –> 00:16:04.450
Speaker:
And she inherited his entire
estate worth hundreds of

490
00:16:04.450 –> 00:16:05.730
Speaker:
thousands of dollars.

491
00:16:05.730 –> 00:16:08.049
Speaker:
She eventually moved on and
remarried.

492
00:16:08.049 –> 00:16:11.330
Speaker:
She married a prominent
Evansville area dentist and

493
00:16:11.330 –> 00:16:14.409
Speaker:
whatever secrets that she knew
and didn’t tell anybody, she

494
00:16:14.409 –> 00:16:15.690
Speaker:
took to her grave.

495
00:16:15.690 –> 00:16:18.850
Speaker:
She passed away in twenty
fourteen, so we’re left with

496
00:16:18.850 –> 00:16:21.970
Speaker:
other people who may know
something in this situation.

497
00:16:21.970 –> 00:16:23.169
Speaker:
If you have any information on

498
00:16:23.169 –> 00:16:24.330
Speaker:
the death of Arthur Denton,

499
00:16:24.330 –> 00:16:25.370
Speaker:
contact the Posey County

500
00:16:25.370 –> 00:16:26.909
Speaker:
Sheriff’s Department at eight

501
00:16:26.909 –> 00:16:28.629
Speaker:
one two eight three eight

502
00:16:28.629 –> 00:16:30.169
Speaker:
thirteen twenty.

503
00:16:30.169 –> 00:16:33.409
Speaker:
Because a man who spent his own
life seeking justice for others

504
00:16:33.409 –> 00:16:35.570
Speaker:
shouldn’t have to wait forever
for his own.

505
00:16:35.570 –> 00:16:38.129
Speaker:
Thank you for listening to this
episode of River City Mystery.

506
00:16:38.129 –> 00:16:40.250
Speaker:
Until next time, take care.