Fetch the Devil: The Sierra Diablo Murders and Nazi Espionage in America

For those considering if they should read FETCH THE DEVIL or the one on the same subject written by Steve Hodel, IN THE MESQUITE, I recommend reading FETCH THE DEVIL by Clint Richmond first. I thought when learning of Richmond's book that his premise sounded like something out of an old B movie. Nazi agents torturing and murdering two naïve women driving across the Texas desert? But on reading more and more of FETCH THE DEVIL, I became a convert to this notion based on the evidence Richmond presented. I had no idea of the extent of Nazi espionage going on this country prior to World War II. The behavior of the husband and father, Weston Frome, was particularly bewildering. Why was he so uncooperative with the chief investigator, Sheriff Fox of El Paso? Why was he so insistent that the Frome women never stayed at the Los Angeles Biltmore while enroute to El Paso when the evidence clearly showed otherwise? Clearly, this man had something he was hiding, and it was so very sinister! The strange interactions which took place by the women in El Paso/Juarez seems like a set-up of some sort for the extreme evil which followed. What was in that envelope Hazel Frome received at the El Paso Cortez Hotel that caused her to squirm? And that murder bullet of German origin not even available in the United States? How compelling that is! Having read FETCH THE DEVIL several times now, I am more convinced than ever that Richmond has come to the most plausible conclusions about this case. What an intriguing cast of truly creepy characters with so many unanswered questions! The dominant question is who tortured and murdered these women and why? They were not kidnapped for ransom despite their wealth, they were not sexually violated, and while they were robbed of their luggage, they died with their jewelry on, and their expensive Packard was driven a short distance down the highway and abandoned undamaged. Everyone will have an opinion on this still unsolved case but one I put forth is the Nazis were looking for an envelope placed in a wheelwell of the car at the Frome home in Berkeley and the Frome women were unknowingly couriers of this envelope which was either removed by mechanics at the El Paso dealership where the car sat for several days getting unexpected repairs or it became loose on the drive across the desert and blew out the back of the car. The Nazis were desperate to get their hands on this envelope and were willing to go to any extreme to get the Frome women to reveal where it was even though the women had no idea what they were ranting about and yet they ended up dead on the desert floor because they had none of the answers nor the envelope the Nazis were looking for. If the Nazis were indeed the perpetrators here, then the two women occupy the very unique position of being the only U.S. citizens EVER murdered by Nazis on American soil. There is no real proof at this time as to what really went on here, but it was obvious the Nazis were after SOMETHING and all of this was set in motion by Hazel & Nancy's father, Weston Frome, manager of Atlas Powder in Richmond, California near where the Frome family lived. Homer Garrison, head of the Texas Rangers, agreed the culprits were searching for something. It appears Mr. Frome was attempting to feed the Nazis classified information for espionage. If the Packard had not needed unexpected repairs in El Paso delaying the Frome women's trip east and undermined a very predetermined agenda, this whole bizarre thing would have taken a very different turn. I have read dozens of true crime books but this one disturbed me so much more because the plot involving these Nazi hooligans and two very naive women in a remote part of the west Texas desert in 1938 was so EXTREME and just BEGGED for resolution! I find myself drawn back to this again and again with endless speculation, something any reader will find it desirable to do on completion of reading FETCH THE DEVIL. Steve Hodel, who has written several books on the Black Dahlia case, has written his own about the Frome case, pretty much rewriting the whole thing to make his father, George Hodel, not only the killer of the Frome women but of the Black Dahlia in 1947and identifying his father as the Zodiac killer of 1968-69. If true, that would be quite an unprecedented series of murders through time and space! Clint Richmond spent many, many years thoroughly researching this admittedly complicated case in FETCH THE DEVIL which I find next to impossible to explain simply to anybody. It took him 322 pages to do so, and I know there is more out there for us to learn. That is why I instigated a re-investigation of this case with the blessings and participation of Clint Richmond, now deceased, along with four others, including a retired FBI Special Agent and a Professor of Intelligence & Security Studies. The case is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with dozens of pieces at first seemingly unrelated, but then when put together, can only lead to the conclusions put together through a process of elimination as to why the women were killed and who did it. We differ with the notion Richmond had that the women were murdered because they refused to be coerced into helping the Nazis in a plot involving Weston Frome and Atlas Powder. Frome was clearly already cooperating with the Nazis and did not require further prodding. Richmond resisted the notion that the women were couriers of documents because he was sure (as we are) that the women were not deliberately involved in any way with the Nazis. What happened is that they were clueless of the fact that Weston Frome had placed documents in a wheelwell of their car for transport to the southwest without their knowledge. This case may never be solved completely but anyone who reads about this case should find it an extremely compelling and unique mystery suitable for endless debate. Highly recommended!

As a self-described true-crime junkie,I was amazed I had never heard of this bizarre unsolved double murder of he Frome women until listening to a podcast on it recently. Especially given its taking place in one of my favorite periods to read about, the pre-World War II Depression era, and one of my favorite locales, the desert Southwest. The book is very detailed and well-researched and was hard to put down most of the time. But I will admit the parts on the various Nazi spies in America and potential link to the murders did get a bit dry at times. I also began to question the facts presented when I read this sentence containing a glaring error toward the end of he book: "But he was prepared to cross the Pacific Ocean to the Azores in a small motor launch if necessary." It made me wonder how many other "facts" were mistakes or editing errors. But in short, a mostly riveting book on a fascinating unsolved and tragic double murder with an intriguing hypothesis presented by the author. I enjoyed and recommend it, especially considering it cost me only $6 and arrived vert timely in perfect condition. :)

I just finished reading "Fetch The Devil" by Clint Richmond. Let me rephrase that...I didn't read it, I inhaled it!! My poor dogs haven't even been on their daily walk in two days because rather than walk them... I was enthralled in this kaleidoscope of new and in-depth research on the infamous Frome Murder Case that occurred in Van Horn, Texas some 120 miles from El Paso, Texas where I reside.I have been intrigued by this case ever since it was brought to my attention by my Mother who recalled certain aspects of the case even though she was only about 12 or 13 when it occurred.There have been various theories regarding this gruesome murder including the one that author Clint Richmond has explored. However; this is the first time ( that I am aware of), that such deep and unrelenting journalistic investigation regarding the "Espionage Theory" was so meticulously focused upon.Mr. Richmond takes the reader from the dry parched desert floor of the Chihuahuan desert where the bodies are first discovered to the posh homes of the San Francisco Bay area and then, through a myriad of twisting snarled dark pathways of political jealousies and then... down the "rabbit hole" of Espionage.I must admit that this is, one of the best books I have ever read that so diligently combines a "cold case murder", and historical Espionage that eventually culminated in a lone dry caliche pit with the tragic death of a mother and daughter.Although we will never know for sure what happened I believe that author, Clint Richmond has come the closest to understanding what actually occurred. Hopefully, the souls of Hazel and Nancy Frome will now have some "peace of mind" thanks to the author's unrelenting determination to remember the victims of this horrible crime.Tomorrow I can walk my dogs again!None the less, as I walk them I will still be thinking about this superb book; "Fetch The Devil."