Episodes

Here's an update regarding Episode 38: The Supermarket Rapist. Purchase the Notorious Bakersfield Friday The 13th audio tour here: https://fridaythe13thtour.supercast.com/

Al "The Snake Man" Robbins entertained Bakersfield area school children for nearly five decades. The magician used live snakes to captivate his audience's attention. This is his story. If you'd like to support the Notorious B...

Glenda Jean Hough went missing April 1, 1984. Eight months later her car-with her body inside- was discovered submerged in a canal. Kern County officials ruled her death an accident. Glenda's family doesn't agree. If you'd li...

Alicia Manning was only three weeks away from graduating from CSUB when she was brutally murdered. Notorious Bakersfield takes a look back at that tragedy that shocked the entire CSUB community. If you'd like to support the N...

What was Amelia Earhart's husband doing in Bakersfield two years after she went missing? Learn all about that incident in this episode. If you'd like to support the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you can buy me a coffee. Visi...

When the father of the leading candidate for California Attorney General is killed in 1938, it becomes a sensational news story. Matt Warren, Earl Warren's father, was brutally murdered in his home on Niles Street. This is on...

Judge Alan Klein was in his chambers on Sunday, March 26, 1995. For someone devoted to his job like Judge Klein, it wasn't unusual to find him at the courthouse working on a weekend. But on this particular Sunday afternoon, t...

On the evening of November 21, 1992, Three members of the Kammeyer family were discovered brutally murdered in their home on Gibson Street next door to the Bakersfield Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The dea...

Merle Haggard was probably the most well-known person born and raised in Bakersfield. His career as a Country and Western singer, songwriter, and entertainer spanned over 50 years. Notorious Bakersfield takes a look back at t...

In 1967, A Kern County Sheriff Deputy discovered the lifeless body of Dominga "Dee" Montoya in a 24-hour laundromat. Because of the brutal nature of this crime, and the fact that the victim was a secretary for a California la...

In the late 1980s in Bakersfield, there was a serial rapist targeting women who were alone in grocery store parking lots. This predator became known as "The Supermarket Rapist". Congratulate Elvis Barber, on winning the Notor...

The March Meet drags are Notorious not only in Bakersfield but around the world. Every year race Fans flock to the Fomoso Dragstrip to witness a legacy of racing that dates back 63 years. You'll want to listen to this episode...

What makes a story rise to the notorious level? I look back to see how long a story remained in the headlines of the Bakersfield Californian. That's probably the main determining factor. The next is to see if the story made n...

Late in the morning of August 15th, the coffee shop at the Ramada Inn was still busy serving breakfast. The restaurant's manager Roberta Plank was working the cash register. The Ramada Inn's general manager, Warren Bruce, pop...

There are a lot of rumors out there floating around about the historic Padre Hotel in downtown Bakersfield. Many of them are 100 percent false. Most of these stories aren't based on any evidence whatsoever. These rumors have ...

Other than Col. Thomas Baker, who Bakersfield was named after, George and Julius Chester, who Chester Ave is named after, and Country music stars Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, I can't think of another name more closely associ...

In 1984, fast-moving fire in a hardware store in Pasadena killed four people. In January of 1987, a string of fires broke out in several different retail stores in the California Central Valley...two in Bakersfield, two store...

There's no denying that It's unusual for a newspaper to give a prison inmate a platform to share commentary and opinions. But that's what The Bakersfield Californian did in the early 1970s. Management at the Californian was s...

In 1972 a seven-year-old boy named Steven Stayner was abducted while he walked home from school in Merced, CA. His case drug on and went unsolved for so long, most people gave up any hope that Steven would ever be found alive...

I'm taking this week off for the holidays. I'll be back next Tuesday-next year-with a new Notorious Bakersfield episode. Until then, here's is an earlier Notorious Bakersfield episode. Have a safe and happy New Year! If you'...

During Christmas 1984 through to the New Year, the faithful and curious alike flocked to an East Bakersfield home to view what some claimed to be that of an apparition of the Virgin Mary. This is the story about The Virgin Ma...

In 1989, Kenneth Obney and a companion were ambushed by an assailant wearing a Santa costume in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Bakersfield. If you'd like to support the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you can buy m...

In the previous episode of the Notorious Bakersfield podcast, you learned about Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena's crimes, his rise in the ranks of the Mexican Mafia, and his assassination. For this episode, you'll learn about the 1975...

Edward James Olmos starred in and directed the 1992 movie American Me. The opening title card of the film says it was “inspired by a true story.” The lead character played by Olmos is named Montoya Santana. Everything written...