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

Epilogue

epilogue The Hazel and Nancy Frome murder case was acknowledged by officials of the Texas Department of Public Safety as the most costly murder investigation in the history of the state. It is still often referred to as the biggest unsolved mystery in the American Southwest. This dubious distinction was first awarded the Frome double murders in an in-depth retrospective, written fifteen years after the crime by Dawson Duncan, a reporter for the Dallas Morning News. The lengthy article appeared in newspapers across America and for a brief moment revived interest in the case, which was all but forgotten during the long years of World War II. “Texas’s costliest, most intensive, and most complex crime-detection project—to find the Frome murderer—will be fifteen years old March 30, and the end is not in sight,” Duncan wrote, in 1953.373 “Results so far: Dozens of criminals wanted for other offenses jailed. The most complete murder investigation file in the history of the Department of Public Safety developed. The double murder still not solved.” Twenty-oneyearsafterthemurders,TexaspublicsafetydirectorHomer Garrison described the case as “the state’s most exhaustive murder investigation .”374 It comprises the largest case files in the department, with more than 2,500 interview transcripts alone. “There are several theories of the case,” Garrison said. “Some think they [the Frome women] were mistaken for dope or counterfeit-money runners and were tortured to make them talk. Others think they were killed after being robbed. They were tortured. There’s no doubt about that. Somebody wanted information. The husband and father said he felt robbery was the only motive. But if it was robbery alone, why did the killers pass up Mrs. Frome’s diamond-encrusted wristwatch and gold ring and necklace? Why was the spare tire slashed in the killers’ search of the car?”375 Chris Fox, the former sheriff who coordinated the early months of the investigation, was interviewed by the reporter for the same article. He still 310 epilogue maintained his strong belief that the women’s murder had its roots and motive in California. By this time Fox had been out of law enforcement for nearly two decades and was a highly successful banking executive in his hometown of El Paso. Yet he still had a keen interest in the unsolved murders, as did many of the original lawmen involved in the investigation. After leaving the job as sheriff, Fox continued to correspond with local, state, and federal law enforcement officers, sharing tips and ideas. One of the oddest of these was a contact with a counterespionage agent intheOfficeofNavalIntelligenceattheheightofWorldWarII.Thatagent, who signed his letters simply “Joe,” had run across a German agent named Francisco Lugo with a Mexican wife, hiding under an assumed persona as a rancher living twelve kilometers south of Nuevo Laredo.376 The ONI agent told the former sheriff he was investigating a case that was similar to the Frome murders. Lugo was involved with an Axis group that had murdered an American man from California, his Mexican wife, and a maid on the border. The victim’s car was taken, along with luggage and personal belongings, to be searched later. The agent asked Fox what he shoulddowiththeinformation.FoxreferredhimtotheElPasosheriff’sdetective ,CaptainShea,whowasstillworkingonthecase,astimepermitted. Fox remained interested in the Frome murders, as a civilian, for the rest of his life, until his death in March 1984, as evidenced by an extensive file of clippings on the case left in his personal papers in the archives at the University of Texas at El Paso. Theformersheriffwentontobecomeoneofthemostsuccessfulbanking executives and prominent civic leaders in El Paso. He was often referred to as “Mr. El Paso,” a title conferred on him by his business peers. He and his family, however, suffered a major tragedy shared by thousands of American families during the Second World War. Shortly before theNazissurrenderedtoendthewarinEurope,Fox’sson,Chrisjunior,was killed in a German artillery barrage on the front lines. First Lieutenant Fox died leading his company, part of the 273rd Infantry Regiment attacking the Siegfried Line in western Germany, on February 27, 1945.377 V-E Day was declared on May 8. The death-hardened former sheriff was devastated by the tragedy, so near the end of the war. Fox wrote a close friend that, on learning of his son’s death, he, too, epilogue 311 would have wished for his life to end, except that he felt it his obligation to...