CA CA - Jean Spangler, 27, Los Angeles, Oct 1949

[Ozoner]

Not sure if I posted these before. It's what Kirk wrote in his memoirs and it's ugly.
I did some research a long time ago to find out how many "Kirk"s were living in LA at the time and there weren't many.
I also don't believe in coincidences.
But I don't think he was the person responsible for her disappearance.
Her cousin doesn't believe Dexter is guilty, but I don't know how well he knew them, and like someone said, a wife is not a good alibi.

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eta: These are from a book on archive.org, a free, online library.

I think that Kirk Douglas was the Kirk mentioned in the note. The trouble is, the note makes it sound like she had agreed to get an abortion, so it's tough to see a motive for Douglas. I can't rule out an accidental death during an abortion, but I also can't rule out murder by Douglas, Benner, or someone else.
Anyone who had firsthand knowledge is almost certainly dead by now, so I think that this one will remain unsolved. If Jean's body is found by happenstance, there could be some additional clues, but even then, I would not bank on a resolution.

 

[Noirdame79]

Not sure if I posted these before. It's what Kirk wrote in his memoirs and it's ugly.
I did some research a long time ago to find out how many "Kirk"s were living in LA at the time and there weren't many.
I also don't believe in coincidences.
But I don't think he was the person responsible for her disappearance.
Her cousin doesn't believe Dexter is guilty, but I don't know how well he knew them, and like someone said, a wife is not a good alibi.

View attachment 405412View attachment 405413View attachment 405414

eta: These are from a book on archive.org, a free, online library.

As I said before, even if he wasn't involved, I think it's possible he was less than honest about how well he knew her. Also, in his first autobiography, The Ragman's Son (published in 1988), he pretty much admitted to preying on young girls and even said that one of the reasons he was attracted to 19-year-old Italian actress Pier Angeli (whom he was engaged to between his two marriages) was because she looked younger and he often called her "my virginal one" and "a beautiful child". He also had anger issues and would take his anger out on women, by his own admission. Lana Wood has named him as her sister Natalie's rapist (something I've known about for years), so at the very least he was an abuser of women and young girls.

 

[Noirdame79]

Not sure if I posted these before. It's what Kirk wrote in his memoirs and it's ugly.
I did some research a long time ago to find out how many "Kirk"s were living in LA at the time and there weren't many.
I also don't believe in coincidences.
But I don't think he was the person responsible for her disappearance.
Her cousin doesn't believe Dexter is guilty, but I don't know how well he knew them, and like someone said, a wife is not a good alibi.

View attachment 405412View attachment 405413View attachment 405414

eta: These are from a book on archive.org, a free, online library.

This contradicts what has been stated about Douglas not being interviewed by the police in person, and the statements of her family and friends, who never claimed that she and Douglas ever dated. Her family did know that she dated a man named Kirk bur they never saw him. The misogyny is maddening as well - describing Spangler as a "psychopathic liar". Even if the chief didn't say that, it's pretty obvious that he dropped the ball on the "Kirk" angle. Douglas also doesn't say he was recovering from the flu when Spangler disappeared. Hmmmm.

 

[Noirdame79]

Jean Spangler's mother, Florence


Jean Spangler's ex-husband, Dexter Benner

Dexter Benner and his second wife, Lynn Lasky


Dexter, Lynn, and Dexter and Jean's daughter Christine

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Jean Spangler's mother, Florence
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Jean Spangler's ex-husband, Dexter Benner
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Dexter Benner and his second wife, Lynn Lasky

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Dexter, Lynn, and Dexter and Jean's daughter Christine

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Noirdame.... this has been a fascinating read... so thank you for your very intersting posts and pictures....

One thing that leaves me with questions is the information in the Dexter Benning obituary connecting to comments that have been in this case thread over the years...and I thought you might have answers...
The obit mentions daughter Christine as Williams. The grandchildren mentioned include 2 with the last name of Ellis.... I guess I have to assume these are Christine's children???
My curiosity was peaked a bit because I do live so close to Jacksonville where Dexter came and lived the rest of his life.

 

[Noirdame79]

Noirdame.... this has been a fascinating read... so thank you for your very intersting posts and pictures....

One thing that leaves me with questions is the information in the Dexter Benning obituary connecting to comments that have been in this case thread over the years...and I thought you might have answers...
The obit mentions daughter Christine as Williams. The grandchildren mentioned include 2 with the last name of Ellis.... I guess I have to assume these are Christine's children???
My curiosity was peaked a bit because I do live so close to Jacksonville where Dexter came and lived the rest of his life.

Williams is Christine's married name, I think she has children, but I think Dexter had more children with Lynn.

 

[Noirdame79]

Jean and her daughter Christine


Signed photo


"The Song Is You" by Megan Abbott, a crime fiction novel inspired by the Spangler case

 

[Noirdame79]

The novel is interesting, Megan Abbott is a very talented writer, the (fictional) twist is very surprising. It kind of reads like a 1940s detective novel.

 

[beubeubeu]

Not sure if I posted these before. It's what Kirk wrote in his memoirs and it's ugly.
I did some research a long time ago to find out how many "Kirk"s were living in LA at the time and there weren't many.
I also don't believe in coincidences.
But I don't think he was the person responsible for her disappearance.
Her cousin doesn't believe Dexter is guilty, but I don't know how well he knew them, and like someone said, a wife is not a good alibi.

View attachment 405412View attachment 405413View attachment 405414

eta: These are from a book on archive.org, a free, online library.

Gotta love the guy who has to have it all.

1. To appear playful and always up for some harmless jokes about such a coincidence of having same name as guy in the note.
2. To show himself as respectful and decent - quitting with jokes immediately after learning that things got serious, and woman was found dead.
3. Remind everyone that he's charming and of course, beautiful Jean wanted him, it was he who rejected her.
4. Respected by fellow decent man who protected his name and image from slander.
5. Respectful enough to publicly thank him for that.
6. Insult Jean in several classic ways, but not doing it directly. After all he hasn't called her or insinuated anything, he just quotted what others told him.

I can't help but believe what it says. Cause why not? They seem to have quite a crowd of people who agreed on her being a liar and interested only in dating famous men.

Gotta ask:
What exactly the girl was psychopatically lying about, huh? Not about her alleged relationship with him, cause she hasn't told people about it. She hadn't start any gossip, she hasn't called reporters to meet him accidentally and make it look like they were on a date.
And who exactly they were insinuating she was dating, huh? If only famous men, then Kirk from the note had to be pretty famous.
There were no other famous Kirk's, just him. And looks like she was lying by pretending for everyone that she's NOT dating him.

So... who was his stand-in? Did he had similarly strong opinions about other women who weren't interested in dating him and turned out missing or dead later?

 

[AliceInPain]

Gotta love the guy who has to have it all.

1. To appear playful and always up for some harmless jokes about such a coincidence of having same name as guy in the note.
2. To show himself as respectful and decent - quitting with jokes immediately after learning that things got serious, and woman was found dead.
3. Remind everyone that he's charming and of course, beautiful Jean wanted him, it was he who rejected her.
4. Respected by fellow decent man who protected his name and image from slander.
5. Respectful enough to publicly thank him for that.
6. Insult Jean in several classic ways, but not doing it directly. After all he hasn't called her or insinuated anything, he just quotted what others told him.

I can't help but believe what it says. Cause why not? They seem to have quite a crowd of people who agreed on her being a liar and interested only in dating famous men.

Gotta ask:
What exactly the girl was psychopatically lying about, huh? Not about her alleged relationship with him, cause she hasn't told people about it. She hadn't start any gossip, she hasn't called reporters to meet him accidentally and make it look like they were on a date.
And who exactly they were insinuating she was dating, huh? If only famous men, then Kirk from the note had to be pretty famous.
There were no other famous Kirk's, just him. And looks like she was lying by pretending for everyone that she's NOT dating him.

So... who was his stand-in? Did he had similarly strong opinions about other women who weren't interested in dating him and turned out missing or dead later?

Yeah I found it disgusting, I searched the book for Jean and reading that I had no wish to read what he said about anyone else, especially women.
I guess it would be a perfect book for someone researching Old Hollywood to learn how women were looked at and treated back then...

 

[beubeubeu]

Yeah I found it disgusting, I searched the book for Jean and reading that I had no wish to read what he said about anyone else, especially women.
I guess it would be a perfect book for someone researching Old Hollywood to learn how women were looked at and treated back then...

No need to judge him too harshly. It is disgusting, but they were like that then. All of them. The almost-decent ones were like that. Many much, much worse.
But they were raised like that, they grew up learning that they can do that or even should do that, and they lived surrounded by people who either accepted that, did same or were even worse.

Having said that, I'd seriously suspect that Larry-guy he "recalled" having this conversation about Jean with.

 

[AliceInPain]

No need to judge him too harshly. It is disgusting, but they were like that then. All of them. The almost-decent ones were like that. Many much, much worse.
But they were raised like that, they grew up learning that they can do that or even should do that, and they lived surrounded by people who either accepted that, did same or were even worse.

Having said that, I'd seriously suspect that Larry-guy he "recalled" having this conversation about Jean with.

Don't tell me what opinions to have please.

 

[beubeubeu]

Don't tell me what opinions to have please.

I was thinking out loud, and the quote was there cause what you said caused me to have those thoughts. Sorry that it came out this way. Originally it had few examples of the attitude towards women back then, I removed it cause I looked at your post again and figured that you probably don't want to read more of that... and so it came out even worse. It wasn't to justify him, but to blame everyone who acted or accepted same attitude then.

 

[AliceInPain]

I was thinking out loud, and the quote was there cause what you said caused me to have those thoughts. Sorry that it came out this way. Originally it had few examples of the attitude towards women back then, I removed it cause I looked at your post again and figured that you probably don't want to read more of that... and so it came out even worse. It wasn't to justify him, but to blame everyone who acted or accepted same attitude then.

It's ok. Yes the misogyny back in the day was awful, and unfortunately still exists to some extent
Makes me wonder if Jean had lived today and been in the same situation (divorced single mom, show girl/ dancer, possibly pregnant etc) what the outcome of that evening would have been...

 

[Noirdame79]

It's ok. Yes the misogyny back in the day was awful, and unfortunately still exists to some extent
Makes me wonder if Jean had lived today and been in the same situation (divorced single mom, show girl/ dancer, possibly pregnant etc) what the outcome of that evening would have been...

Not all men were like that, but Kirk Douglas was a classic example of a misogynist. He also had a rage problem and in one of his books he admitted to taking his anger out on women specifically. He viewed most females as sex objects and by his own admission, targeted young girls for sex.

Dexter Benner was misogynistic too. However, despite his attempts to smear Jean (something that abusers often do to make sure that the victim will not be believed and will lose everything) the judge in the custody case sided with Jean and she won custody of Christine, something that no doubt, pissed off Dexter to no end. And I do consider him to be an abuser, not only because of him calling Jean vile names in front of their child and threatening to "fix it so you'll never see her again", but also because of how he isolated Christine from her mother's side of the family, (not to mention taking her on the run with him) but how he brainwashed her into disliking and/or forgetting her mother (and I do believe that is what he did). He didn't care what he had to do to keep Christine for himself and his new wife.

Sadly, women going missing and/or being murdered is nothing new, as we well know. Would the police have handled the case differently if it happened today? Interesting thought to ponder.

 

[alb1on]

... I am trying to recall all the details her disappearance, but agree there is something about the note in Jean's handbag that suggests stagecraft, especially given the conspicuous location her bag was found in.

I always thought that Jean's vanishing likely had something to do with the disappearance of her alleged boyfriend David Ogul. Ogul was a soldier in Mickey Cohen's outfit and the Mickster apparently had good reason to want him to vanish. Ogul, and Frank Niccoli, were under indictment along with Cohen and five other hoods for assaulting a bookmaker. Ogul and Niccoli's testimony could have probably put Mickey behind bars. In any event, Cohen was acquitted after Ogul and Niccoli mysteriously disappeared.

As Mickey may have had reason to think that Ogul had told Jean things that could incriminate him, he might have decided to tie up loose ends by making her disappear as well.

Slightly late, but I have just read the Lee Server biography of Johnny Rosselli, the Mob's man in Hollywood (called Handsome Johnny). He suggests another theory related to Spangler's possible involvement with Dave Ogul. Ogul, along with 5 others, had been indicted for beating a con man on the instructions of their boss, Mickey Cohen. At the time Cohen was in a struggle with Jack Dragna, the head of the LA family, for control of rackets. When the 6 men were indicted Cohen was obliged to stand bail for them, a total of $250k. Server suggests that Dragna, as part of putting pressure on Cohen, 'disappeared' (ie murdered) Ogul and Frank Niccoli (another of the 6) which meant Cohen forfeited the bond when they failed to surrender for trial. Server has firm confirmation of the Niccoli killing (by Jimmy Fratianno) but the Ogul case lacks the same detail although he states that Ogul was killed. In this scenario Spangler was collateral damage in a mob war.

Rosselli was the Chicago Mobs liaison with Jack Dragna and part of the planning to take down Mickey Cohen so this story is core to his story.

 

[Richard]

Dexter Benner (1920 - 2007) Ex husband of Jeane Spangler

Benner, 87, passed away peacefully on May 7, 2007. Born in Los Angeles, California on March 20, 1920 to Henry and Hazel Benner. He attended USC. He proudly served in WWII in the Asiatic Pacific and received numerous awards, the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, WWII Victory Medal, Combat Infantry Ribbon and Asiatic Pacific Medal. He also owned Benner Glass Company and Dexfronics Inc. He was past Commodore of St. Johns River Yacht Club and past President of Kiawanis Clubs. Dex was survived by his loving wife and best friend of 63 years, Lynn; 3 daughters, Christine Williams, Kimberly Ramsaier (Paul), Julia Smith (Dr. Dennis); 2 grandsons, Gary and Daren Ellis; 3 granddaughters, Alexandra and Stephanie Ramsaier and Morgan Smith. In accordance with his wishes a private burial at sea was held.

LINKS:

Dexter Benner (1920-2007) - Find a Grave Memorial

Benner, 87, passed away peacefully on May 7, 2007. Born in Los Angeles, California on March 20, 1920 to Henry and Hazel Benner. He attended USC. He proudly served in WWII in the Asiatic Pacific and received numerous awards, the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Philippine Liberation...

www.findagrave.com

Dexter and Lynn Benner

Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes.Born in Seattle, Jean Spangler married Dexter Benner (March 20, 1920-May 7, 2007) in 1942, when she was 19 years old. She first filed for divorce after six months, but their marriage officially lasted until 1946 and two...

calisphere.org

 

[Noirdame79]

Gotta love the guy who has to have it all.

1. To appear playful and always up for some harmless jokes about such a coincidence of having same name as guy in the note.
2. To show himself as respectful and decent - quitting with jokes immediately after learning that things got serious, and woman was found dead.
3. Remind everyone that he's charming and of course, beautiful Jean wanted him, it was he who rejected her.
4. Respected by fellow decent man who protected his name and image from slander.
5. Respectful enough to publicly thank him for that.
6. Insult Jean in several classic ways, but not doing it directly. After all he hasn't called her or insinuated anything, he just quotted what others told him.

I can't help but believe what it says. Cause why not? They seem to have quite a crowd of people who agreed on her being a liar and interested only in dating famous men.

Gotta ask:
What exactly the girl was psychopatically lying about, huh? Not about her alleged relationship with him, cause she hasn't told people about it. She hadn't start any gossip, she hasn't called reporters to meet him accidentally and make it look like they were on a date.
And who exactly they were insinuating she was dating, huh? If only famous men, then Kirk from the note had to be pretty famous.
There were no other famous Kirk's, just him. And looks like she was lying by pretending for everyone that she's NOT dating him.

So... who was his stand-in? Did he had similarly strong opinions about other women who weren't interested in dating him and turned out missing or dead later?

I just realized something else - he referred to what happened to Jean as a murder rather than a disappearance, and even briefly mentions a body being found in Mexico, but there's nothing to suggest that in any reports about Spangler going missing. It could have been a theory that was thrown around (i.e. that she went to Mexico to have an abortion, died during the procedure, and was buried in the desert), but still. I know he wrote this book many years after the fact, and it could have just been a mistake on his part, but that jumps out at me. Also, while Jean's family and friends knew that she briefly dated a man named Kirk, they never saw him, so they couldn't say if it was Douglas or not. If it was him, I think she would have been open about it unless he didn't want it to be known (he was married to his first wife Diana Dill at the time, although he was a known philanderer).

As you pointed out, nothing that the police supposedly told Douglas (if his account is to be believed) suggests that Spangler was lying about being involved with him or anything like that. So the "psychopathic liar" thing leaves a very bad taste (the same with how he talks about females in general in the book), and it was odd that he didn't mention what his alibi was, but most sources state that he was supposedly recovering from the flu in Palm Springs.

 

[beubeubeu]

I just realized something else - he referred to what happened to Jean as a murder rather than a disappearance, and even briefly mentions a body being found in Mexico, but there's nothing to suggest that in any reports about Spangler going missing. It could have been a theory that was thrown around (i.e. that she went to Mexico to have an abortion, died during the procedure, and was buried in the desert), but still. I know he wrote this book many years after the fact, and it could have just been a mistake on his part, but that jumps out at me. Also, while Jean's family and friends knew that she briefly dated a man named Kirk, they never saw him, so they couldn't say if it was Douglas or not. If it was him, I think she would have been open about it unless he didn't want it to be known (he was married to his first wife Diana Dill at the time, although he was a known philanderer).

As you pointed out, nothing that the police supposedly told Douglas (if his account is to be believed) suggests that Spangler was lying about being involved with him or anything like that. So the "psychopathic liar" thing leaves a very bad taste (the same with how he talks about females in general in the book), and it was odd that he didn't mention what his alibi was, but most sources state that he was supposedly recovering from the flu in Palm Springs.

I read his biography (different one than mentioned here) and he was a weird, weird man. He's bragging and flexing about the most bizarre things.
One of which (on multiple occasions actually) that he couldn't be bothered with remembering HIS OWN SON'S NAME and was notorious for mistaking one for another and brushing it off like it didn't really matter if it was Eric, Michael or Peter.
He was allegedly pretty violent and i with at least one of his sons. Never believed him when he was beging for help or told them that he was getting hurt or got hurt.

More you learn about him, more disgusting he appears. And no matter how many times I thought it's completely impossible for this individual to disgust me more, he sure did found a way to do so in the most sleazy way possible.
His reliable as any other compulsive liar. And it seems like he was surrounded by people who cheered for that attitude and expressed the same.
YET, despite of all the horrible ways he was treating women... Jean seems to be the one who was insulted and degraded the most by his "opinions". Pretty harsh way to speak about someone who he just briefly saw a couple times and rejected by himself. That doesn't add up really. Unless it's just another way for him to be disgusting.

Hard to decide on even theoretical suspect if all guys mentioned sound like serial killers.
My impression from when I added my last post was that his manager (or whoever this guy quotted as the one providing all the terrible things told about Jean) was even more suspicious than KD himself. If that person existed and really said that I could see him tricking Jean into another date with KD, but showing up himself and murdering her. Unless most of that was another of Kirk's lies.
Guy who brags about being unable to remember his (adult) kids names should never be taken seriously with his statements about anything IMO.

 

[Noirdame79]

I read his biography (different one than mentioned here) and he was a weird, weird man. He's bragging and flexing about the most bizarre things.
One of which (on multiple occasions actually) that he couldn't be bothered with remembering HIS OWN SON'S NAME and was notorious for mistaking one for another and brushing it off like it didn't really matter if it was Eric, Michael or Peter.
He was allegedly pretty violent and i with at least one of his sons. Never believed him when he was beging for help or told them that he was getting hurt or got hurt.

More you learn about him, more disgusting he appears. And no matter how many times I thought it's completely impossible for this individual to disgust me more, he sure did found a way to do so in the most sleazy way possible.
His reliable as any other compulsive liar. And it seems like he was surrounded by people who cheered for that attitude and expressed the same.
YET, despite of all the horrible ways he was treating women... Jean seems to be the one who was insulted and degraded the most by his "opinions". Pretty harsh way to speak about someone who he just briefly saw a couple times and rejected by himself. That doesn't add up really. Unless it's just another way for him to be disgusting.

Hard to decide on even theoretical suspect if all guys mentioned sound like serial killers.
My impression from when I added my last post was that his manager (or whoever this guy quotted as the one providing all the terrible things told about Jean) was even more suspicious than KD himself. If that person existed and really said that I could see him tricking Jean into another date with KD, but showing up himself and murdering her. Unless most of that was another of Kirk's lies.
Guy who brags about being unable to remember his (adult) kids names should never be taken seriously with his statements about anything IMO.

I think the guy you are referring to was his stand-in (Larry, no last name) who "warned" KD about Jean. Good ol' Kirk was known for coming onto females left and right (I say "females" because young girls were on his radar too, by his own admission), but he stops any pursuit because his stand-in tells him that she would use him to advance her career, and that is something KD draws the line at? He had no trouble luring 16-year-old Natalie Wood to a hotel room promising her an audition in a film he waa producing, but an extra that he showed interest in wanting to get more opportunities in the industry by dating him was somehow deeply offensive? Ugh.