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Part 1: The Poison Pistol
In the weeks leading up to an ocean voyage to The Philippines, Gene Bassett listed his brand new Chrysler for sale in local (Seattle) newspapers. He'd decided to sell the automobile rather than have it shipped to him in Manila, having recently accepted a position there. The morning he left on a ferry to meet a prospective buyer was the last time any of his family ever saw him. The brand-new vehicle also vanished with Gene Bassett. It was recovered days later, eight hundred miles from its last known sighting, driven by a man with at least a dozen aliases- and Bassett, thought dead, was said to have been buried somewhere in the wilds outside of Seattle.
Episode Host: Josh McCullough
Part 2: Anaconda Skeleton
Last week, Josh detailed the disappearance and likely murder of Gene Bassett, who had vanished soon after arriving in the Pacific Northwest while on a day–trip to sell his car in Seattle. Found in possession of Bassett's vehicle and belongings, DeCasto Mayer and his mother Mary Smith were found guilty only of grand larceny in the case, as the murder of Gene Bassett could not be proven. In part two of Deadly Potentialities, a confession written on the eve of a prison release, a gruesome death by shame via suicide, and a reach into the past, to solve the vanishing of a a man and woman who were never seen again after entering the home of Mayer and Smith.
Episode Host: Josh McCullough
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James Eugene Bassett disappears while on a trip to Seattle on September 5, 1928. - | HistoryLink.org | Eugene Bassett on May 12, 1938. - HistoryLink.org | Washington Law Review - The Case of DeCasto Mayer and Mary Ellen Smith(1947) | Decasto Eugene Mayer and Mary Eleanor Smith are charged with the 1928 murder of James | Eugene Bassett on May 12, 1938 | Delasto E Mayer in the 1900 United States Federal Census | Washington, U.S., State Corrections and Jail Records for Decasto Earl Mayer | Washington, U.S., State Corrections and Jail Records for Earl Decusto Mayer | Washington, U.S., Death Records, 1907-2017 for Decastro Earl Mayer | Mann Act | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute | Truth in the Machine - Cal Alumni Association | America On The Mov | Road Trip! Show tackles first coast-to-coast auto drive | Official Automobile Blue Book, 1920 | View of The Official Automobile Blue Book, 1901–1929: Precursor to the American Road Map | Clason's Touring Atlas of the United States & Canada: With Road Maps of Every State | Dating Clason Touring Atlases, 1923-31 | Road Trip! Long-distance Driving in 1920 – RBSC at ND | PART 4: From Named Trails to U.S. Numbered Highways - THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD | Navigating Without Road Maps: The Early Business of Automobile Route Guide Publishing in the United States | Automobile History | 46a. The Age of the Automobile | The Consumer Economy and Mass Entertainment | The World's Biggest List of Bank Slogans - Over 1,100 Financial Taglines | When was the first U.S. driver’s license issued? | 1900-1930: The years of driving dangerously | The Bus Industry in the United States – EH.net | The Pikes Peak Ocean To Ocean Highway | FHWA | THE PIKES PEAK OCEAN TO OCEAN HIGHWAY THE APPIAN WAY OF AMERICA | THE PIKES PEAK OCEAN TO OCEAN HIGHWAY - Route 36 Guidebook | Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Map(1927) | Railroad Map of Washington - Public Works | Feature Restoration 1929 Chrysler Series 75 Roadster - AutoRestorer | 1928 Chrysler Paint Colors | Oakland City Hall - Wikipedia | Social Annapolis | New Suits - Civil - Filed, October 10, 1922 | Now The Poison Gas Pistol | Skidmore Freed On Auto Theft Charge | Suit At Butte Opens Mystery | Montana News In Tabloid | Prisoner Shot By Officers | Skidmore Sentenced | Skidmore Will Serve Sentence | About To Be Released | Skidmore Must Finish Sentence In Penitentiary | Poison Gas PIstol Latest In Weapons In | Gruesome Find Made By Miner Seeking Wood | Skidmore Called Bootlegger King | Colorado Police Are Holding Skidmore On Burglary Complaint | Skidmore Gets Three Years For Burglary | Skidmore To Be Released Oct. 20 | Idaho to Rearrest Notorious Convict, Soon to Be Paroled | Notorious Butte Character Makes Break From Jail | Noted Crook Breaks Jail | Convict Returned to Pocatello for Trial | Capture Man Of Many Aliases | Bad Actor Finally Lands in Fed Pen; LaCasse Put Away | Skidmore Will Be Tried At Salt Lake City Today | Skidmore Guilty; Appeals Decision | Federal Prison Sentence for C.C. Skidmore In Utah | Fight To Save Prisoner Fails | Five Rum-Runners Nabbed In Poison-Gas Pistol Fight | Jury Fails To Come To Agreement in Frazzini Case | James E. Bassett, Marriage Index - 1926 - Ancestry | De Casto E Mayers in the 1930 United States Federal Census - Ancestry | Marylander Missing On Coast, Report | Nation-Wide Hunt On For Bassett | Police Find Poison Gas Pistol | Pair Taken At Bay In Auto Belonging To Murdered Man | Think Maryland Youth Slain In West | Ex-Utah Convict Baffles Solution of Murder | Four Held On Plot Charges | Lethal Gas Gun Seized | Arrest Duo At Oakland For Poison Gas Murder | Poison Gas Pistol Fired Five Times | Suspect Denies Murder | 'Silent Grilling' Used On Poison Gun Suspect | Maryland Man Slain? | Ritchie Takes Action In Bassett Murder Case | Murder Hunt Started Here | Car Dealer Gave Mayer Sales Form | Annapolis Man In Seattle To Search For Son's Body | Search Is Extended | Diver Tells of Strange Creatures | Bassett | Conserving Hellbender Salamanders in Indiana | Spokane Chronicle(hellbenders) | Salamanders | ADW: Dicamptodon ensatus: INFORMATION | Pacific Giant Salamanders - The Nature Conservancy in Washington | Hellbender - Wikipedia | Pacific giant salamander | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife | Almost extinct giant meat-eating Salamander found swimming in river | Dore Withdraws From Mayer Murder Defense | Mayer Exposed As Confidence Man At Trial | Bassett's Parents Testify Against Mayer | Case Is Outlined | Surprises Due In Mayer Trial | Mayer's Move For Mistrial Denied | Handwriting May Figure In Mayer Defense Plan | Mayer Given Jolt At Trial | Mayer Hit By Own Chief Witness | Mayer Case Will Go To Jurors Tonight | Mayer, Mother "Guilty" | Mayer is Guilty Jury Asserts in Criminal Trial | Moon Aids In Body Hunt | Seattle Authorities Open Grave, but Fail to Find Body | Skeleton Is Found | Hope Fades | Skeleton May Be That Of James E. Bassett | Skull Is Not Bassett's | Park Skull Murder Clues Are Uncovered | Bones Found In Sack In Sound | Skidmore Case Takes On New Interest Here | Bassett Mystery Not Solved By Bones | Edmonds Physician Clears Up Mystery Of Skeleton Monday | Gruesome Discovery Reopens Investigation Into The Bassett Case; Diver Sent Down Monday | Bassett Case is Reopened With Discovery | The Town Crier, v.26, no.32, Aug. 15, 1931 Page 4(Police Brutality) | Old-Timer Solves "Murder Mystery" | Another Skeleton Unearthed Monday | Hibulb Cultural Center || Explore - Archaeology | Skeleton Of Man Is Discovered Hanging To Tree At Bryant | Mystery Skull Found Not Bassett's | Skeleton Found At River | Jack Says This Made Him Feel Just Like A Goat | Man's Skeleton Found Near Road | Divers Continue Bassett Search | Overnight News Of The Northwest | Farmer Reaches for Fencepost, Finds Hidden Skeleton of Man | Washington Law Review - The Case of DeCasto Mayer and Mary Ellen Smith(1947) | Anaconda- A Montana Gem | Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park | Montana FWP | The Rich History of the Anaconda Copper Mine | The Copper-Mining Industry in the United States, 1845-1925 | Anaconda History | Go Forth And Sin Some More | Denies He Threw Body In River | Murder Case May Be Solved In Our County | River Hides Any 'Bundle' | Science Is Valuable To G-Men In War On Crime | The Story of the Bassett Murder Case | Here's More About Bassett |Mayer's Mother Breaks After Being Grilled | Says Son Killer | Murder In 1928 Finally Solved | Mrs. Mary Eleanor Smith, May 6, 1938 - Seattle Historical Photograph Collection | Confesses Killing J.E. Bassett | Believes Mother Insane | Officer Posing As Minister Duped Mother | Prisoner Quizzed | Priest Pose in Murder Case Attacked | Bishop Shaughnessy Joins Attack On State Patrolman's Masquerade | CRIME: Case Solved | TIME | Montana Wants Murderous Pair | Ira Smith Has No Fear Of Specters | Salt Lake Important Focal Point for G-Men Activities |Disappearance Still Mystery | Mayer 'Beat' First Rap---Today Faces Noose | More Murders On Mayer List | Story Of Killing Bared | Text of Confession Of Bassett Murder | Mrs. Mary Eleanor Smith, May 6, 1938 - Seattle Historical Photograph Collection | The Old Hag's "Perfect" Crime that Took 10 Years to Solve | Beal Claims Skidmore Has Made What Amounts To A Confession | corpus delicti | Wex | US | Law | LII / Legal Information Institute | Police Say Woman Knows About Larson | No Sign Indicates Fate of Agreement | Suspect Aged Anaconda Recluse Murder Victim | Skeleton May Be Murdered Woman | Great La Casse Mystery May Never Be Solved | Skidmore To Be Returned From Prison In Utah | Druggist Says Perfume Same | Skeleton May Be Missing Woman | Anaconda House Of Mystery, Still Shunned May Have Been Death Trap For Two People | Watch In The Skeleton Case | Skeleton Mystery Is More Baffling | Last Picture Of Mrs. E. La Casse | C.C. Skidmore Is Arrested In Colorado City | Colorado Police Are Holding Skidmore On Burglary Complaint | Skeleton of Murdered Woman May Solve the Famous La Casse Mystery | Boy Rambling In Hills Finds Skeleton Of Missing Woman | Is It Skeleton Of Mrs. La Casse They Will Bury? | Boulder Officers To Bury Skeleton As Unidentified | Noted Crook Breaks Jail | Probe of Old Murder in Washington Recalls Mysterious Slayings in Anaconda in 1921 |Ten Thousand Public Enemies - Courtney Ryley Cooper(1935) | The Astounding Climax of Little Minnesota Girl's Whirlwind Tragedy of Follies | Why the Swindling Society Mama is Back in Jail | Among Those Present | Check Artist Appeals Term | Check Artist Again Seized | New Trial Asked in Dress Thefts | Emily Paddleford Again in Prison | 'Tell All,' Mother Urges Slayer | Adventuress Gained Evidence in Old Murder, Hinted | Murder Charged | Bassett Murder Trial Date Set | Bassett's Body Will Be Demanded | Mother, Son Calm At Bassett Trial | Mayer, Smith Murder Trial Starts Monday | Former Socialite Will Play Big Part In Bassett Case | Bassett Death Story Related | Mayer, Smith 'Ruse' Defended | Man On Trial For Murder Ends His Life In Seattle | Picture Story of Weird Murder Case Which Ended in Mayer's Suicide | Triumphed | Convict Solver Of Mystery Dead | Adventuress Dies In Western Prison | Adventuress' Life Recalled as End Comes in Prison | No More Swindles for Clever Mrs. Paddleford | Headless Skeletons May Be Bassett's, Coroner Reports | Skeleton May Solve Mystery | Seattle Murder Solution Doubted | Doubt Raised If Skeleton Bassett's | Skeleton Linked To 1928 Slaying | Skeleton May Be Murder Victim | Not Concerned About Skeleton | Skeleton Find May Solve Two Killings in Anaconda | Probe of Old Murder in Washington Recalls Mysterious Slayings in Anaconda in 1921 | Eleanor Smith Paroled At State Penitentiary | Skeleton Found in Seattle May Be Butte Woman | Historian Doubts Skeleton Is That of Butte Woman | Bullet-Pierced Skeleton Tied To 1921 Case | Sketch of Woman Arrives Here In Probe of Seattle Mystery | Skeleton Case In Inactive File | Crime Story Ends With Grave Rites | Confessions of Shoe Box Annie