Dr. Ohta & the Killer Prophet
Morbid
06/11/26
•67m
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In the early evening of October 19, 1970, police and firefighters were called to the Santa Cruz County home of Dr. Victor Ohta, a well-respected ophthalmologist, for a report of a house fire. Intending to siphon water from the pool out back, firefighters ran a hose from the truck to the backyard. However, when they reached the pool, the made a horrible discovery—floating in the pool were the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ohta, as well as their two children, and the doctor’s secretary, Dorothy Cadwallader. When they searched the scene, investigators discovered a cryptic note stuck under the windshield wiper of Victor Ohta’s car that made references to the occult and the counterculture movement.
At the time of the murders, Southern California was experiencing an unprecedented wave of violent murders by multiple serial and spree killers, as well as the notorious murders committed by the Manson family. Given the content of the note and the potentially ritualistic way in which the Ohta family had been killed, investigators and residents couldn’t help but fear that they may have another murderous cult on their hands.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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Resources
Bennett, Bruce, and Christine Connor. 2017. "Killer Prophet." A Crime to Remember. Janaury 24.
Hagar, Philip, and Dick Main. 1970. "Neighbor charged in Ohta murders." Los Angeles Times, October 23: 1.
Holmes, Christian. 1970. "Doctror, family slain in mansion." San Francisco Examiner, October 20: 1.
John Linley Frazier v. The Superior Court of Santa Cruz County. 1971. 22812 (Superior Court of Santa Cruz County, July 7).
Murray, Emerson. 2022. Murder Capital of the World. Santa Cruz, CA.
Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1970. "Live Oak fire chief first to discover bodies in pool." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.
—. 1970. "'Most tragic murder'." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Previous Episode
The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre
June 8
•78m
On the afternoon of July 18, 1984, James Huberty left his apartment in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, and drove one block over to the nearby McDonalds. After walking through the door of the restaurant, Huberty raised his Uzi semi-automatic 9mm and began indiscriminately shooting at patrons, employees, and anyone else who happened to cross into his line of sight.
At the time, and for decades after, the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre was the worst mass shooting in American history, with the shooter killing twenty-one people and injuring nearly two dozen others before being struck down by a sniper’s bullet. The incident lasted over an hour, during which time San Diego police and SWAT members surrounded the building, but didn’t enter the building until an hour after the shooting started, when Huberty was already dead.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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References
Ben-Ali, Russell. 1990. "After a long wait, monument is dedicated at Massacre site." Los Angeles Times, December 14.
Corwin, Miles, and Tom Howlett. 1984. "Neighbors reall a man who never smiled." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 14.
Crea, Jackie. 2025. Survivors remember San Ysidro McDonald's mass shooting. July 18. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-ysidro-mcdonalds-mass-shooting-40-years-later/3569489/.
Cummings, Judith. 1984. "Neighbors term mass slayer a quiet but hotheaded loner." New York Times, July 20: 1.
Freed, David. 1984. "21 die in San Diego massacre." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 1.
Logan, Alan C., Jeffrey J. Nicholson, Stephen J. Schoenthaler, and Susan L. Prescott. 2024. "Neurolaw: Revisiting Huberty v. McDonald’s through the Lens of Nutritional Criminology and Food Crime." Laws.
2016. 77 Minutes. Directed by Charlie Minn.
New York Times. 1984. "Coast man kills 20 in rampage at a restaurant." New York Times, July 19: 1.
Time-Life Books. 1993. Mass Murderers. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books.
Weintraub, Daniel. 1984. "'That guy's gonna shoot you'." Los Angeles Times, July 20: 2.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
The Pickwick Club Disaster
June 15
•47m
In the early morning hours of July 4, 1925, the crowd at The Pickwick Club in Boston were celebrating the holiday at the “Before-the-Fourth” dance when roughly fifty couples took to the dance floor for one of the final songs of the night. With so much revelry and vibrations from the dancing, no one noticed the subtle sounds distressed infrastructure makes just before a tragedy, and even if they had, there likely wasn’t enough time to avoid the disaster. Around 3:30 am, the ceiling above them collapsed, as the entire five-story building came down on top of them, killing forty-four people and injuring countless more.
At the time, the Pickwick Club disaster was the deadliest building collapse and one of the worst accidents in in the city’s history. It was followed by large investigation, during which the disaster was temporarily blamed on the Charleston, and a sensational trial aimed at punishing those responsible. However, in the one hundred years since the disaster, the tragedy at the Pickwick Club has been largely forgotten, overshadowed by larger and more devastating accidents.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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Preorder The Butcher Legacy!
References
Boston Daily Globe. 1925. "12 bodies taken from the Pickwick Club ruins as searchers place toll of death at 40." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 1.
—. 1925. "Leaping of dancers caused collapse, view of survivor." Boston Daily Globe, July 6: 11.
—. 1925. "Officer beaten in raid staged at Pickwick Club." Boston Daily Globe, February 9: 2.
—. 1925. "Stabbing and small riot in Pickwick Club." Boston Daily Globe, March 23: 1.
—. 1925. "Survivors' stories of building horror." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 20.
—. 1925. "Testifies Hendrick said Pickwick safe." Boston Daily Globe, Juky 28: 1.
—. 1925. "Testimony ends in cluyb tragedy." Boston Daily Globe, July 11: 10.
—. 1925. "Thousands seek sight of ruins." Boston Daily Globe, July 6: 12.
Donovan, John J. 1925. "Probe planned by grand jury." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 20.
Harris, Henry. 1925. "Pickwick Club lure lay in its mystery." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 18.
Keefe, John E. 2024. Deathtrap: Boston's Pickwick Club Disaster. Boston, MA: Menotomy Publishing.
—. 2018. The Pickwick Club Disaster. Boston, MA: Menotomy Publishing.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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