A massive interstate search was launched to find Marion’s killer and within a few days, police arrested nineteen-year-old William Edward Hickman, a former co-worker of Perry Parker. During his interrogation, Hickman confessed to kidnapping and murdering Marion, claiming that a god he referred to as “Providence” had instructed him to do it. That confession prompted Hickman’s attorneys to take advantage of the state’s new law accepting a legal defense of not guilty by reason of insanity; however, a jury disagreed, and Hickman was found guilty and executed at San Quentin Prison the following year.

Because of the shocking cruelty and brutality of the murder, the well documented and exciting search for the killer, and the sensational nature of the defense, the story of Marion Parker’s murder and the trial that followed dominated the media and occupied several pages of all the major papers across the state for months. For these reasons and more, it remains one of the most notorious murders in California history.

References

Associated Press. 1928. "Hickman to have new judge." Fresno Bee, January 25: 1.

—. 1927. "Confession stuns mother." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 4.

Berger, Jackson. 1927. "Kidnapper tries to dash out brains in frenzy." Los Angeles Times, December 25: 1.

Los Angeles Record. 1927. "Hunt kidnappers of girl." Los Angeles Record, December 16: 1.

Los Angeles Times. 1927. "'Fox' ponders 'crazy' plea." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Fugitive caught in breakneck race with Oregon officers." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman believed in Seattle." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman pronounced sane." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman's finger-prints found in apartment." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1.

—. 1927. "'I liked her' declares youth while he sobs." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Kidnapper grows sullen when 'pal' proves alibi." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1928. "New crimes confessed by Hickman." Los Angeles Times, October 14: 3.

—. 1928. "New horror in Hickman case." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 1.

—. 1928. "Slayer makes self-analysis." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 2.

Neibaur, James. 2016. Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

New York Times. 1928. "Hickman sentenced to hang April 27." New York Times, February 15: 25.

—. 1928. "Hickman's father goes to his aid." New York Times, February 1: 13.

—. 1927. "Youth arrested in child slaying at Los Angeles." New York Times, December 19: 1.

Overton, Gerald. 1928. "Hickman goes to death on gibbet." Fresno Bee, October 19: 1.

Rasmussen, Cecilia. 2001. "Girl's grisly killing had city residents up in arms." Los Angeles Times, February 4.

San Francisco Examiner. 1927. "Kidnapped girl's body tossed omn lawn." San Francisco Examiner, December 18: 1.

State of California v William Edward Hickman. 1928. 204 Cal. 470 (Supreme Court of California, July 5).

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the afternoon of December 15, 1927, twelve-year-old Marion Parker was checked out of her Los Angeles junior high school by a man claiming to be an employee of her father, Perry Parker, an employee at a bank in the city. The man claimed Parker had been in an accident and he was to bring the girl to see her father, but this was just a ruse to abduct the girl. The following day, Marion’s parents received several cryptic ransom letters demanding $1,500 in gold in exchange for the safe return of their daughter. On December 17, Perry Parker delivered the money to the kidnapper, who took the money, then dumped Marion’s dead, mutilated body out of the car before speeding away.

References

Associated Press. 1928. "Hickman to have new judge." Fresno Bee, January 25: 1.

—. 1927. "Confession stuns mother." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 4.

Berger, Jackson. 1927. "Kidnapper tries to dash out brains in frenzy." Los Angeles Times, December 25: 1.

Los Angeles Record. 1927. "Hunt kidnappers of girl." Los Angeles Record, December 16: 1.

Los Angeles Times. 1927. "'Fox' ponders 'crazy' plea." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Fugitive caught in breakneck race with Oregon officers." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman believed in Seattle." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman pronounced sane." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1927. "Hickman's finger-prints found in apartment." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1.

—. 1927. "'I liked her' declares youth while he sobs." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

—. 1927. "Kidnapper grows sullen when 'pal' proves alibi." Los Angeles Times, December 24: 1.

—. 1928. "New crimes confessed by Hickman." Los Angeles Times, October 14: 3.

—. 1928. "New horror in Hickman case." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 1.

—. 1928. "Slayer makes self-analysis." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 2.

Neibaur, James. 2016. Butterfly in the Rain: The 1927 Abduction and Murder of Marion Parker. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

New York Times. 1928. "Hickman sentenced to hang April 27." New York Times, February 15: 25.

—. 1928. "Hickman's father goes to his aid." New York Times, February 1: 13.

—. 1927. "Youth arrested in child slaying at Los Angeles." New York Times, December 19: 1.

Overton, Gerald. 1928. "Hickman goes to death on gibbet." Fresno Bee, October 19: 1.

Rasmussen, Cecilia. 2001. "Girl's grisly killing had city residents up in arms." Los Angeles Times, February 4.

San Francisco Examiner. 1927. "Kidnapped girl's body tossed omn lawn." San Francisco Examiner, December 18: 1.

State of California v William Edward Hickman. 1928. 204 Cal. 470 (Supreme Court of California, July 5).

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the afternoon of June 22, 1954, Agnes Ritchie was preparing ice cream for two customers in her shop when two teenage girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, burst through the front door, screaming for help and saying one of their mothers had been killed. Agnes and her husband followed the girls into the nearby wooded area, where they found the badly beaten and obviously dead body of Honorah Parker. The couple wasn’t able to get much out of either girl, only that the woman had slipped and hit her head, but their behavior was strange and something about the whole scene didn’t feel right.

Just two days later, Parker and Hulme were charged with the murder of Pauline’s mother, Honorah Parker. According to the prosecution, the girls had developed an intense bond and had created romantic fantasy in the months leading up to the murder that bordered on obsessiveness. In 1954, the girls’ relationship became threatened when Hulme’s parents divorced and began talking of relocating. Fearing they would be separated and never see one another again, Parker and Hulme killed Honorah, believing that her death would put an end to any plans to relocate.

The story of Honorah’s murder and the trial that followed quickly spread across New Zealand and Australia and eventually made its way around the globe. Among other things, the case challenged existing beliefs about young women and their capacity for violence, but just as important were the sensational and salacious mentions of insanity and homosexuality that were often more implied than explicitly stated.

Thank you to David White, of the Bring Me the Axe Podcast, for research :)

References

Brisbane Telegraph. 1954. "Conspired to Kill." Brisbane Telegraph, August 23: 1.

—. 1954. "Teenagers remanded, police blame girl's passion for horses." Brisbane Telegraph, June 24: 1.

Chun, Louise. 1995. "Slaughter by the innocents: The case of the schoolgirl killers shocked New Zealand." The Guardian, January 30.

Graham, Peter. 2011. So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World. Wellington, NZ: Awa Press.

Neustatter, Angela. 2003. "‘I was guilty. I did my time’: Anne Perry, the novelist whose past caught up with her." The Guardian, November 20.

Newcastle Sun. 1954. "Girls shrugged at charge of murder." Newcastle Sun, July 16: 1.

The Age. 1954. "Girls smile at N.Z. sentence." The Age , August 30: 1.

—. 1954. "Defence says N.Z. girls insane as mother killed." The Age, August 25: 9.

—. 1954. "Description of quarrel." The Age, July 17: 3.

—. 1954. "Doctor says both girls certifiable." The Age, August 27: 5.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.