Ray Bourbon was a gay drag performer of the 1930s and 1940s whose career faded during the post-war era.
In the 1950s, after the notoriety of Christine Jorgensen, Bourbon claimed to have had gender reassignment surgery. The veracity of the claim was questioned by Bourbon’s friends. For those who would doubt it, Bourbon produced a photostat of a medical report - but it was signed by a doctor who did not exist.
“Ray” Bourbon was now billed as “Rae” Bourbon and the gigs were advertised with a new slogan:
“Is SHE a HE? or Is HE a SHE? You be the Judge!”
It did not resurrect Bourbon’s career as hoped.
By the 1960s Bourbon was referring to himself as a man once again.
Whether he was transgendered or not is hard to determine.
Bourbon continued to produce drag shows throughout the 1960s until being arrested as an accomplice to murder.
Ray Bourbon was one of the most popular vaudeville performers of the 1930s, performing both as a drag queen and as a regular comedian. He was a frequent collaborator with Mae West, having starred in both Sex and The Pleasure Man, and regularly appeared on tour with her. In 1949, he performed his act Don't Call Me Madame: A Midnight Revue at Carnegie Hall.
The 1950s, more and more laws began restricting drag performances, and he was arrested several times. Taking a note from Christine Jorgensen, Bourbon made the claim that he'd undergone gender reassignment surgery, and changed his name to the feminine Rae.
He built a whole comedic album around his "operation," which you can listen to here.
Bourbon's act didn't age terribly well into the 1960s. A new political gay rights movement based on respectability was underway, and Bourbon's swishy stereotype was at odds with it. Along with that, with the sexual and cultural changes of the 1960s, his act just wasn't that outrageous and shocking anymore.
Everything came to an abrupt and bizarre end when he was arrested and charged as an accessory to murder. Bourbon had been traveling across the country in a junky old car with a trailer carrying about 70 dogs towing behind it. After losing his car to a fire, Bourbon sent his dogs to the nearby Blount's Kennels, where he left them for several months. When he finally had the money to buy a new car and to bail out his "children," the owner of the kennel informed him that his pets had been given away. It's not clear exactly what happened to them, but Bourbon took it to mean that his dogs had been sold to a chemical company to be used in experiments.
Bourbon hired two young men to go look into the matter, to find out where his dogs were, and to rough up Blount. They killed him, instead. Bourbon plead not guilty, but was still convicted and sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. He died there in 1977.
Trevor Hamlyn (33) has been missing since June 16th, 2018. He was last seen at his home in Paradise, Newfoundland. Trevor, who sometimes goes by the nickname ‘Pepsi’, was reported missing by his sister three days later.
There have been numerous searches for Trevor by family and friends, police, and search crews–but unfortunately they have found nothing that leads to Trevor’s whereabouts. About a month after his disappearance, friends and family conducted an independent ground search near Trevor’s home. During said search, they found a cell phone that was confirmed to belong to Trevor. The phone was sent for analysis, but unfortunately nothing on the phone provided any useful information about this disappearance.
Trevor remains missing today. His family members and friends are continuing to try and spread the word about his disappearance, in hopes that somebody will come forward with important information. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary at +1 709-729-8000.
WHAT’S IN THE WISCONSIN WATER? (PART 5) - The Murder of Alex Woodworth
The scandalous love triangle that ended in cold-blooded murder.
Ezra McCandless, born Monica Kay, was a free spirited art student living in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
In the summer 2017, Ezra met Jason Mengel, a 33-year-old National Guard medic. The two quickly fell in love and Jason let Ezra move in with him and his then roommate after only a couple of months. She soon after found out she was pregnant with Mengel’s child, but had an abortion in October 2017.
Ezra first met Alex Woodworth at a local coffee shop. She noticed Alex deeply focused on his writing, and asked him what he was writing about.
Alex Woodworth was a substitute teacher and barista. He was very quiet, soft spoken and generally kept to himself. He had dreams of becoming a professor of philosophy. According to friends, he “always had his head in a book” during free time.
Ezra became romantically involved with Alex behind Jason’s back.
A few months later in February 2018, Mengel went through Ezra’s phone and discovered her relationships with both Woodworth and a second man, who was friends with Jason and who she claimed had sexually assaulted her.
Mengel confronted both men in a very public argument at a coffee shop in Eau Claire.
On February 24, 2018, McCandless sent a text message to Woodworth telling him to not talk to her ever again. McCandless blamed Woodworth for the ending of her relationship with Mengel, though she remained in contact with Mengel.
McCandless allegedly claimed that Woodworth was dealing with “internal pain and suffering.”
It was also speculated that McCandless murdered Alex so he couldn’t get in the way of her rekindling her relationship with Jason.
On March 22nd, 2018, McCandless reported that she was running errands in Eau Claire when she met with Woodworth to discuss their relationship. Ezra showed up at the coffee place where Alex worked. She said she wanted to end their relationship properly, return some personal belongings and also had some new art to show him.
It was during this encounter that McCandless purportedly stabbed and killed Woodworth, with the defense arguing that he attempted to assault her.
Ezra McCandless was charged and found guilty in the death of her ex-boyfriend, 24-year-old Alex Woodworth. She will be behind bars until, at least, 2070. She was convicted of first-degree murder in November, with the possibility of a life sentence.
She will have her first chance for parole when she is 72 years old.
What are your thoughts on this case? What motive could Ezra have to commit such a heinous act of violence? Do you think she just couldn’t face the reality of her decisions?
WHAT’S IN THE WISCONSIN WATER? (Part 4) - Jeffrey Dahmer “The Milwaukee Cannibal”
Jeffrey Dahmer, known as “the Milwaukee cannibal” was a serial killer who took the lives of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
This is another case that I’m sure we all know of by now, however it is from Wisconsin so I’ve included it in the list.
Over the course of more than 13 years, Dahmer sought out his victims, the majority of which were Black men, at gay bars, malls, and bus stops, lured them home with promises of money or sex, and gave them alcohol laced with drugs before strangling them to death, and doing unspeakable things to the corpses, before dismembering and disposing of them.
He would often keep body parts as souvenirs, and take photos of his victims at various stages of the murder process, so he could recollect each act and relive the experience afterward.
Dahmer was captured in 1991 and sentenced to 16 life sentences. He was killed by fellow prison inmate Christopher Scarver in 1994.
ELIJAH VUE: The Missing 3 Year Old Boy from Wisconsin
[Ongoing Investigation]
Elijah Vue is a 3 year old boy from Twin Rivers, Wisconsin, who seemingly vanished without a trace
Elijah Vue is a 3 year old boy from Wisconsin, who vanished from an apartment in Two Rivers on Feb. 20, where he was staying with his mother's boyfriend, Jesse Vang.
Elijah was last seen at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at an apartment building in the 3900 block of Mishicot Road in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Elijah’s mother, Katerina Baur, (31) and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, (39) have been charged with felony child neglect.
Elijah was sent to stay with Vang in Two Rivers by his mother for "disciplinary purposes,” according to Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre.
Katrina lived in Wisconsin Dells when Elijah went missing and had been traveling back and forth between there and Two Rivers
Investigators said Katrina sent Elijah to stay with her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, in Two Rivers to "learn how to be a man." on February 20th, Vang told police when he woke up from a nap, and the little boy was gone.
Jodi Baur, Elijah’s grandmother, said the last time she spoke to Katrina was March 1, after she had been arrested and charged with child neglect.
"When you did talk to her, is she asking, where's Elijah? Is she still wanting to know where he is?" Reporters asked.
Baur said she thinks getting answers relies on her daughter receiving mental health care.
"Until we get her in touch with what's real and what's not real, we're not going to know," Baur said.
In a recent interview with Katrina, she said the following about Elijah’s disappearance:
"You find yourself driving alone, you're looking in every ditch, you're looking in every lake, you're looking at every, you know, farm field. And it's just you, just the trauma doesn't stop because there's no closure," Baur said. "Please keep looking for him because somebody is going to find something."
A post was made to social media about a $40,000 reward for any information leading to Elijahs whereabouts.
The post reads:
“10,000 from Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers for the arrest and charging of the individual/s responsible for his disappearance, $15,000 for information leading to the location and return of Elijah Vue and/or the arrest and conviction of the individual/s involved in his disappearance, and an additional $15,000 thanks to funds raised by donations set up through the City of Two Rivers.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the department by phone at 844-267-6648, through the Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers P3 App, or via email at [email protected]
As Katrina and Vang remain in jail, Elijah remains missing.
What’s in the Wisconsin Water? (Part 2) The Eyedrops Killer
The case that was initially ruled a drug overdose.
39-year-old Jessy Kurczewski, was a long time friend and caregiver to Lynn Hernan. Lynn and Jessy met through Jessy’s mother, who was close friends with Lynn.
on Oct. 3, 2018, Jessy called the police to report that she went to Hernan's home and found her unresponsive and not breathing, according to the the 911 call.
Police found Hernan unconscious in her living room recliner, next to a table filled with prescription pills, and what appeared to be crushed medication on her chest.
Kurczewski also allegedly told police she believed Hernan to be suicidal because of her debilitating health conditions.
According to a police report, the case was initially ruled a drug overdose.
The Waukesha County Sheriff's Office reopened the investigation three months later, after an autopsy revealed Hernan died from ingesting a fatal dose tetrahydrozoline, the main ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops.
In June of 2021, Kurczewski was arrested and charged for the death of 62-year-old Lynn Hernan.
She was also charged with theft, After Detectives confirmed she had stolen at least $290,000 from Hernan over a 3 year period.
it took 2 days for a jury fo find her guilty, and she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
What’s in the Wisconsin Water? (Part 1) The Case of Nicole VanderHeydan
In May 2016, the 31-year-old Ledgeview mother of three was found dead in a field.
Investigators initially suspected VanderHeyden's boyfriend Douglass Detrie of killing her, however there was little evidence to back up this claim.
Additionally, data from the boyfriend's Fitbit backed up his story that he had not been active in the middle of the night when the crime took place.
DNA evidence and phone records linked George Burch, a man from Virginia, to the crime.
At a trial in 2018, Burch testified that it was Detrie who killed VanderHeyden before forcing Burch to help move her body to a field.
But the jury found (now 44 year old) Burch guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
He was sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole.
At Burch's sentencing hearing, Judge John Zakowski called the crime “the most brutal murder committed by one person in the history of Brown County.”
Burch appealed his conviction on grounds that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated, when a judge allowed location data from his phone to be used as evidence in the trial.
He also argued the court should not have allowed data from Detrie's Fitbit to be presented at the trial without also having experts to testify about the technology's reliability.
In June 2021, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld Burch's conviction, and he remains in prison where he will continue to serve life without parole.
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