The Lost Padre

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
It was a foggy night on August 2, 1921 when Father Patrick Heslin disappeared. He had not returned from a late night plea for last rites, and the fear was that he had driven off Highway 1, and plunged into the ocean below.

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Holy Angels Church in Colma where Father Heslin disappeared from c.1921 (Source-San Francisco Examiner)

It all started at 9 p.m. when a knock sounded out on the parish door of Holy Angels Church in Colma, California.

The housekeeper opened the door to a man dressed in a heavy overcoat with the collar pulled up to obscure his face. He also wore motorist goggles and a hat with a visor, which further impeded sight of his face. He told her that he came on behalf of a dying friend that needed last rites. The priest jumped in the car and they drove off.

Later witness statement were contradictory as to the description of the man.

On the morning of August 3, Father Heslin had not returned, however his housekeeper imagined the  dying man was lingering on his deathbed.

Two days later a posse of Colma citizens searched the roadsides and gulches in the area, hoping to find his body.

Mariel Wendel (Marie Wendell), the housekeeper said the heavily muffled man appeared to be a foreigner, who walked back and forth as if deeply anxious. The only other fact that was known was that the stranger drove a Ford auto.

Word went out to find if there was sick man who had sent for a priest, but none could be found.

Parishioners from Holy Angels Church joined in the hunt by driving the roads surrounding Colma. There were three spots that initially were investigated, they were: an abandoned rock quarry on the side of Pedro Mountain, Carroll Lake an isolated body of water, and a deserted adobe relic of the Portola expedition dating back to 1770. This stood in a lonely canyon, three miles from Salada Beach and a mile from the highway.

Three days after Father Helsin was taken, a typewritten ransom note was sent to Archbishop Edward J. Hanna. The demand was for $6,500 for the priest's safe return. Since it was received before the disappearance of Father Helsin became publicly known, it was believed not to be a hoax.

At the bottom of the note, the ransomer had written in his own hand: "HAD TO Hitt (sic) Him four times and he is unconscious from pressure on Brain so better hurry and no fooling."

Two handwriting experts concluded the writer was deranged, and possibly harbored anti-Catholic sentiment.

Even after receiving the ransom note, many did not believe any harm would come to Father Heslin. Others though suspected the worse. Airplanes, bloodhounds, sheriffs, mounted police and parties from the Knights of Columbus engaged in the search, not only along the roadways but in the surrounding hills. Others watched the surf in case his body washed ashore. There was debate as to whether the action was directed at Father Heslin, or against the Catholic Church.

After the receipt of the ransom note it was found the automobile of Holy Angels' parish, which Father Heslin often drove was missing from the garage at the rear of the parish house. The fence was broken and tracks on the lawn showed it was turned south toward San Francisco.

​It also came to light that on the day before his disappearance, Father Heslin hinted at trouble when he was lunching with Thomas McCo. He said that he was very unhappy in regard to "Colma conditions and wished he were back at Turlock."

Strangely the newspapers referred to the little town of Colma, as "home of prize fights and eccentric characters." This description would prove to be quite prophetic eight days later.

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William Hightower

A reporter from the San Francisco Examiner stood outside the offices of Archbishop Hanna hoping to get a scoop about the missing priest, when he was approached by a man named William A. Hightower. 

The strange man said that he too had come to see the archbishop with important information about the disappearance of Father Heslin. At this time, the church had offered an $11,000 reward for information about the crime.

Hightower said Dolly Mason, "a woman who he knew in Salt Lake City who told me she met a foreigner under the influence of liquor, who said he was the slayer of the priest." To add to the strange story, he said the grave was being guarded by a man flipping pancakes. Hightower then changed the story, and stated a different woman told him it was bootleg liquor buried on the beach, but he had not dug in the sand to see if either a body or illegal hooch was buried there, but instead marked the spot with a scarf. 

The reporter asked Police Chief Daniel O'Brien to come with him to the beach, accompanied by Hightower. Surprisingly they found a billboard for pancake flour, depicting a man making flapjacks. Three other newspapermen joined the group, who dug by lantern into the sandy beach.

Hightower started to dig, and when cautioned by the police he said: "Don't worry, I'm digging at the feet." He was right because what emerged from the sand was a human arm. The search for Father Heslin was over. A stretcher was lowered by ropes more than a hundred feet to the bottom of the cliff, in order to recover the body.

The officials found that no automobile could have been driven to the edge of the cliff, and it was believed he had been asked to walk over the sand dunes to the cliff and had been shot at that point, or after he fell the murderer found him at the bottom, and shot him there. His injured skull was believed to have occurred due to the fall.

Chief O'Brien said Hightower had no problem finding the grave, and that he admitted to working on the Ocean Shore Railway when it was being constructed and thus was familiar with the area.
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Hightower was rather surprised when the police arrested him for the murder, since he thought he had done a good thing by bringing the authorities to the location of the body.

An autopsy found that Father Heslin had been shot twice, but only after receiving massive injuries to his skull, and his brain had been crushed by the force of the blows. He was shot in the heart, and the head. Father Heslin had $80 in his pocket, proof that robbery was not a motive in the crime. The final cause of death was the injury to his skull, and the doctor believed he was shot after he was dead.

The newspaper described Hightower's mental state as unstable. "He says he is a prohibitionist. He insists the world is going to the devil because of machinery supplanting man in industry. He says he is the author of religious tracts."

After his apprehension Hightower said he thought the murderer would kill Dolly Mason, a prostitute for giving him the clue of what was buried on the beach. She was traced to Santa Rosa, and a review of the city records found a woman with that name was arrested there in 1916 on a charge of "plying men with liquor and then robbing them." However this was the mother of the young Dolly Mason who was implicated in the crime by Hightower.

Another connection was made to Doris Shirley, a woman who Hightower said he had been living with until the prior week. Police found her trunk which had been sent from the Hotel Marymont as a shipment to Santa Rosa.

Hightower's story of his earlier life was verified. The small bakery he owned in Clovis was still doing business under a different owner. He got married in 1910 to Ethel Bowers. The records show he was from Texas, and his wife from Oklahoma. Hightower was well liked by his neighbors however he did not have a good marriage, and his wife left Clovis sometime in 1913. In 1921 she returned to Oklahoma, and died exactly one month before Father Heslin's kidnaping.

This is an instance of where forensic geology was used over a hundred years ago: 

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In a remarkable bit of genius or luck, U.C. Berkeley chemistry professor Edward Heinrich examined handwriting on the note and announced to the police that the writer “had the hand” of a baker and decorator of cakes. Thus, when William Hightower reported to the police that he had heard where the body of Father Heslin was buried, they were immediately suspicious that he might know more than he admitted. Hightower was a master baker.

Heinrich examined the place on the California beach where Hightower indicated the body of Father Heslin would be found. The body was found and the investigation also produced a number of objects of physical evidence, such as boards from a tent floor. Heinrich studied grains of sand recovered from Hightower’s knife and pronounced them similar to the sand on the beach where the body was found. In Hightower’s room a tent was found, and the tent contained an abundance of sand, which, when studied, confirmed the results from the knife. It appeared that Hightower had kidnapped and murdered Father Heslin and kept his body in the tent on the beach for several days before burying it in the sand. Having done these things, he then reported to the police having received information about the location of the body. 

Written before the discovery of Father Heslin's body, a new letter was received by Archbishop Edward Hanna in which $15,000 was demanded for the safe return of the priest. It read:​

​Archbishop Hanna, 
Don't be surprised to get this. It is to tell you Father Heslin is not dead, neither is he injured, yet. Fate has made me do this. Sickness and misery have compelled my action. I must have money. Please forgive this act, if you can.

Have $15,000 cash ready.

You will hear from me very soon.

The manner in which this is to be paid will be revealed to you in my own way very soon, in fact now that the excitement has died down.

Father Heslin is brave and says for you to help him.

Have money ready for my future instructions. You will hear from me very soon.

You will know I am the right person as I will have the piece of paper that fits in this letter.

William Hightower (L) Next to him Asst. DA Isador Golden, Above and to the left is DA Swart of San Mateo county, at his left is Captain of Detectives Duncan Matheson c.1921

Another letter was received directing police to the Grand Southern Hotel at 1095 Mission Street. 
​The intent of the letter though was to make sure Hightower was implicated in the crime.

In the room police found what they called an "infernal machine" which consisted of ten shells loaded with shot, and imbedded in plaster of paris. It turned out Hightower was registered there, and he later admitted he had taken the "contrivance" to a point on the San Pedro Road a mile above Colma, to the spot to which the ransom was to be dropped off. He then decided to bring it back to his room.

Even though a rifle and a number of cartridges were found in Hightower's room, along with newspaper clippings about the reward, the cartridges did not match the ones found at the shallow grave.

Prior to his stay at the Grand Southern Hotel, Hightower had stayed with a young woman at the Larne Hotel on July 23, then on July 31 he registered with a woman at the Hotel Senate. 

A comparison of the signatures from both hotels matched. When he came to the Grand Southern Hotel he was alone.

Police also discovered that Hightower had rented a Ford auto and picked it up from the garage on the day of Father Heslin's abduction. Inside the room was a typewriter he had rented, which matched the ransom note.

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Portrait of four men standing in front of a car near the Salada Beach bluffs. The man at the left is smoking a cigar, the second from left is holding what looks like a piece of a towel or blanket. Text written under photo: "officials finding evidence, used in case." c.1921 (Source-CSL)

Another letter written before the discovery on the beach, was a baffling "black hand" letter sent to Constable Landini of Colma saying the priest was "done for" and advising the constable to "lay off". The letter was printed in ink, and bore a number of peculiar marks. It was slipped under the door of the Archbishop's residence.

Later another Black Hand letter was received by Constable Landini which said: "Don't try to get Heslin any more. He is done for. This is how we did it." There was a picture of a knife dripping with blood.

In the meantime, Hightower would respond with the word: "Ishkabibble," when asked a question he did not like. Instead of worrying about a murder charge hanging over his head, Hightower spent his time writing poetry in his jail cell.

Two months after the disappearance of Father Heslin, Hightower was brought to trial in Redwood City. During the proceedings, the housekeeper identified Hightower as the man who came to the rectory seeking a priest to accompany him. An acquaintance of Hightower told authorities he had expressed his hatred for the Catholic Church.

​On October 14, the jury gave a guilty verdict after deliberating for two hours. His fate was life in prison to be served at San Quentin.

Behind bars Hightower continued with his odd behavior. A baker by trade he poured his efforts into baking goods, and became the prison's top chef. He also helped create a dietary guideline for the prison. Between his baking bouts he wrote a weekly newsletter titled Observations from A. Hightower.  Over the course of his life he produced 15,000 of them that were filled with jingles, aphorisms and epigrams.

Hightower was released on parole on March 29, 1965 when he was 87 year old. He had been denied parole 26 times before. He told the prison guards he had a friend coming to pick him up, however no one ever came. He died in 1974 at the age of 95.

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Reference to the number 13 and the murder of Father Helsin c.1921 (Source - SF Examiner)

HESLIN'S HISTORY​
Father Heslin's family immigrated from Ireland, and settled in San Francisco. He had a cousin who was a monk in St. Elizabeth's Franciscan monastery in Oakland. His brother was Bishop Thomas Heslin of Natchez, Mississippi who had passed away in 1911. He had first served at Sacred Heart Church before leaving St. Columba, then he went to Turlock where he was pastor. Then a month before the abduction he was promoted by the archbishop to pastor of the larger parish at Colma on the outskirts of San Francisco.

​A disturbing incident regarding Heslin occurred on May, 1904. Agnes Pereira, an 11-year-old accused Father Heslin of a "serious offense" which was a euphemism for some type of molestation. The girl along with her parents made a sworn affidavit with the prosecuting attorney. The priest was released on a $5,000 bond after being arrested. He denied the allegations and said it was done for spite. A month later the case was dismissed based on the grounds "that the complaint did not state sufficient facts to justify a cause of action".

Hightower with his erratic behavior was easily identified as Father Heslin's killer. But what could have been the motive, or had there been someone else involved in the act? Was there a mastermind accomplice who held a grudge against the priest who had served his parishes since 1887? Or was it as some thought, that the Church was the target? Most disturbing would be the thought this person walked away free.

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Young George Hodel c.1921 (Source-S.Hodel & SF Examiner)

According to Steve Hodel, an author of several books on his father Dr. George Hodel, the mastermind behind Heslin's murder was none other than his father.

There was a newspaper article referring to the number 13, and how it played into "bad luck" for Hightower. The significance to Hodel, is that he was 13 years old when the crime was committed.

Steve Hodel has also tied his father to the Zodiac killer who operated in Northern California during the late 1960s. This perpetrator also used the number 13, which he placed under a cross on the letters and ciphers he sent law enforcement from 1969 to 1974. Was the cross a reference to the murder of Father Helsin?

The drawing of the bleeding knife was a crime signature used by George Hodel, which he sent to the press. He used it as the Black Dahlia Avenger and as Zodiac. Steve Hodel believes his father drew inspiration for this depiction from a crude drawing sent by Jack the Ripper to police in 1886.

Steve Hodel believes this was his father's first murder. He was young then, but he had a very high IQ, and graduated from high school when he was 15 years old.

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CITY OF THE DEAD
Around 1900, a 2-mile area south of San Francisco's Mission District, which was then known as Cow Hollow was eventually eyed as the place to bury the overflowing dead from San Francisco.

Ironically the small town of Colma has always been known as a City of the Dead, due to the vast amount of cemeteries located there. The last count was 17, with about 2 million burials.

The discovery of gold in 1849 inflated the population, then bubonic plague broke out in San Francisco in 1900. An earthquake caused extensive damage and death in 1906. Soon after the earthquake, the city caught fire. Twelve years later the Spanish Flu struck San Francisco.

​Around 1924, the city had fewer than 1,000 residents, most of  who worked in the funeral industry. It was in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery that Father Helsin was laid to rest.

The first letter received after the abduction read:

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Act with caution, for I have father of Colma in bootleg cellar, where a lighted candle is left burning when I leave. At bottom of candle are all the chemicals necessary to generate enough poison gas to kill a dozen men.

As he is fastened with chains you will see that he is in a very bad way, and if I am arrested, or bothered in any way, I will leave him just where he is and in two house from the time I leave him he will be dead. The candle will not burn more than an hour and a half after I leave him, for I cut it at that length.

If the door is opened to this cellar by anyone except myself, it will ignite a bunch of matches, and upset a can of gasoline on top of him, and the entire police force, and all your damn knights would not be able to get the chains off of him before he would burn to death.

So your one best bet is for you to get the $6,500 in fives, tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds but none higher than hundred and be sure there is no marks on them for if anything arouses my suspicion I will have him die right where he is. I had charge of a machine gun in the Argonne. And poured thousands of bullets into struggling men and killing is no novelty to me. Besides it will be your own bunch that will kill him if you do not do just as you are told.

Get the sixty-five hundred dollars in unmarked bills in package and seal it for the two men who will handle it before it gets to me think that it is dope, so don't leave it unsealed or I might not reach me after you sent it.

Have car ready with spotlight, and you will get instructions which road to take and you will turn the spotlight upward and drive slowly until you see a white strip across the road. Then stop, get out with the money, leave car and follow the string that it attached to white strip until you come to the end of string. Then put down package and go back to town, and remember your brother does not get out until I have the money and am in the clear beside ... (here comes about 18 words made undecipherable by being smeared with ink) ... and he is complaining of the pain when he is not gagged so he cannot make a complaint. Better have a doctor ready with you, and be at the house where he lived and wait for the instructions messenger with the instruction what road to take.

Remember! Just one man in that car, and he had better be careful or if he looks suspicious he will be tagged with a hand grenade as I have six of them ready for any treachery.

And the waiting man will be not be seen at all, and he will not see the man to whom he passes the package, and the second man gives it to me. But remember, if the cops are notified or any more  is made that will make it dangerous for me, I will not send you the instructions how to find him and release him. Besides, if this becomes public it will be seen how easy it is to trap your bunch of imposters, and others will go and do likewise.

"Nuff sed. It's up to you."

You will get the message about nine o'clock at night perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow night.

(The following was printed with ink).

Had to hit him four times and he is unconscious from pressure on the brain, so better hurry and no fooling.

Tonight at 9 o'clock.

Letter found in Hightower's room at the Southern Hotel. The handwriting was compared to the original ransom letter c.1921

Father Arthur Belknap was killed 3 months after Heslin, however his murderer was never apprehended c.1921

FOOTNOTE:
Three months after the murder of Father Heslin, another priest was murdered in Lead, South Dakota. His name was Father Arthur Belknap, and he was also lured to his death by a plea for last rites.

A man came to the residence of Bishop J.J. Fowler at about 3 a.m. on a sick call for a woman. The priest went to the garage for his auto but it failed to start, so he set out on foot with the man.

A short time later residents who lived in the area of Poorman Gulch Road heard three shots. A few minutes later the father was found dead. One of the bullets had entered his head. The police started to doubt the motive for the crime was robbery. 

Soon after the murder, Andrew (Andrio) Rolando was the prime suspect. He had come to Lead to work at the Homestake Mine. The young Sicilian had disappeared right after the murder, and by the end of the year a reward was being offered for his apprehension. A year later he was traced as far as Nemo, SD. Rolando was known to be manic in his hatred of anything connected with the Catholic church and priests.

Then in 1923, Father John Vraniak from Illinois mysteriously disappeared. Authorities looked to Rolando as a suspect since among his papers he made mention of knowing a girl who lived there, and that he had visited the town a number of times.

Nothing else happened in the case until 1932, when a priest in Ontario, Canada confessed to killing Belknap. Theordore Paul Hucal also confessed that he had paid Andrio Rolando $500 to get suspicion to fall on him. He said he had killed Belknap for "personal reasons".

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The disappearance of Father John Vraniak in 1923 has never been solved

However records did not coincide with Hucal's time in Lead, since he didn't arrive till after the murder. He stayed there a short time and left the priesthood soon after. He went to Denver and married. Prior to his arrival in Lead he had been a patient for a year for the "feeble minded" maintained by the church at St. Benoit, Canada. He was released after being deemed cured.

Hucal said in total he had paid Rolando about $1,900 to take the blame, and he believed the fugitive had fled to Argentina or Brazil.

The authorities in Lead discounted his confession because of the discrepancy in dates, and the Canadian police believed he was attempting to escape a forgery sentence.

Rolando was never apprehended, and the trail on him was lost somewhere in Wyoming.

​Father John Vraniak was never found.

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