A (28:54)
On January 14, 1963, 43 year old Daisy Zick was murdered at her home in Battle Creek, Michigan. The call went out around 1:15 that afternoon, but emergency dispatch didn't send out a radio alert as you might expect. Recently, local journalists had found a way to listen in on the police's radio calls in the hopes of hearing breaking news behind the scenes. There was also a simmering feud between the Michigan State Police and the local officers. So to keep things private, state police had an unconventional system. Whenever an officer stopped for lunch, they radioed in their location. And if they were needed while on break, dispatch called the restaurant directly. That's how state trooper Ralph Cartu found out about Daisy Zick. He was sitting at a diner just before he dug into a hot meal. Soon after, he and his partner, Robert Dockery met Detective Charles Kahn at the Zix tiny ranch style home. They shivered outside in the quiet suburban neighborhood. It wasn't the type of place anyone expected to find such a vicious scene. While Detective Khan and Trooper Dockery searched the house, Trooper Cartoo took care of the questioning. He got a play by play account from 45 year old Floyd who still seemed in shock. Next Trooper cartoon moved on to the neighbors. A cleaning woman down the street told him she didn't hear anything unusual that morning. But she did say Daisy's bedroom drapes were open earlier than usual. According to her, Daisy didn't usually get to them until around 11 when she left for work. However, she noticed they were wide open as early as 9:30 this morning. It was a small discrepancy, but the trooper noted it down. The woman who lived across the street, Mrs. Defrance was a bit more helpful. She said she spotted a figure outside the Zix home sometime after 10am they were bundled up against the cold so it was hard to tell, but she guessed it was a man. He looked average height with dark hair and a blue jacket. She remembered it being an Eisenhower cut, A waist length military style coat that was popular after World War II. Mrs. DeFrant saw him waiting outside the kitchen door shaking a bit in the snow. When the trooper asked if she thought the man seemed strange, she dropped her voice. She said she hadn't paid much attention to him. She often saw men she didn't know coming around to see Daisy. But now that he mentioned it, it was strange that he was outside with without a car in a snowstorm. Especially because when she peeked out her window again at around 10:30, the garage door was open and Daisy's vehicle was already gone. While the trooper did interviews, Detective Khan gathered physical evidence. The 48 year old was a veteran on the force, but even he hadn't seen many crime scenes like this one. On average, the county only logged a single murder each year. It didn't take him long to call for backup. He needed a professional crime lab and a forensics team. While he waited for the experts to arrive, the local sheriff's office sent over a man of their own. He was the one who noticed a fallen picture next to the north wall of the guest bedroom. That combined with the dislodged stereo equipment indicated that Daisy had fought back against her attacker. She must have knocked several things over while trying to defend herself. That explained the dark stains all over the south and east walls of the room. Floyd originally assumed his wife had been shot, but the blood spatters told a different story. She was probably stabbed many Times that level of overkill suggested an intimate relationship with the killer, though it was too early to know for sure. While her white blouse looked undisturbed, her brown wool pants had been yanked down. It was possible Daisy had been sexually assaulted, but they needed a medical exam to confirm. The forensics team arrived around 4pm they verified she'd been stabbed repeatedly in her chest and back, almost exclusively on her left side. The killer had also tied her hands, using a cord from one of her robes. Her lipstick was smeared and mixed in with the blood on her right sleeve. It was hard to tell, but there was some kind of greasy smudge there, too. An identical stain was found on her underwear. While the experts took samples from the crime scene, the rest of the investigators checked out the tiny house. In the master bedroom, they discovered the robe used to bind Daisy's hands. They also found a stray white button under the bed that didn't match any of her clothes. A single men's shoe was nearby, but its mate was nowhere to be found. A few feet away was Daisy's overturned purse, which the killer had clearly rifled through. Some cash was missing from the wallet, but it didn't seem like anything else was taken. None of the drawers were open either. That probably meant theft wasn't the motive, which made sense, considering how brutal the murder was. To figure out what actually happened, they needed even more evidence. Back in the kitchen, police found the most puzzling clues of all. They couldn't understand why the phone line had been snipped. Detective Khan took a sample of the wire, hoping the pattern of the cut would match a murder weapon. At that point, he noticed a kitchen knife in the sink. The wooden handle had a dark spot on. Probably wasn't sharp enough to sever a phone cord, though. But maybe the blood on it was Daisy's or her killer's. While Kahn took a closer look, Trooper Cartwhee was examining the bunched up rug. It seemed like someone had slipped, knocking it out of place. If that was the case, it was possible Daisy's final struggle had started right there near the door. However, the strangest thing they found was in the living room. There was a puddle of snow on the rug, but no water in the kitchen or outside the front door. Door. There was no sign of forced entry, and considering the neighbor's testimony, they assumed the culprit came through the kitchen. But how did a sopping wet killer make it to the living room without a trace? Investigators wondered if they'd cleaned up some of the evidence before leaving through the garage. A blood stain on the garage door handle seemed to confirm that theory. But they couldn't find any other evidence to back it up. And that wasn't the only challenge they were facing. The ranch house was so small, it was hard to fit the forensics team and the state troopers inside at the same time. The problem was it was negative 10 degrees outside, meaning everyone had to be crammed together. Potential evidence was bound to get damaged or contaminated. On top of that, it was difficult to lift any solid fingerprints. Nearly all the surfaces were covered in some kind of oily varnish. Investigators ended up with 12 usable samples. Not bad, just less than they were hoping for. In all likelihood, most of them belonged to Floyd or Daisy, but only time would tell. After searching the house and the garage, there was only one place left to look. Daisy's sparkling white 1959 Pontiac Bonneville. It wasn't an expensive vehicle, but it was pretty flashy, with eye catching fins above the taillights and a slick, creamy interior. Daisy had loved it. And when it came to the Pontiac, her obsession with cleanliness helped investigators. It was easy to spot a bloody streak near the passenger door handle and some distinctive yellow fibers under the hood. In fact, the blood was so obvious, Detective Kahn wondered how Floyd had missed it when he checked the car earlier. He made a note of it for later. For now, they needed to examine the rest of the vehicle. The team ended up finding a lot of fingerprints, especially on the exterior. That wasn't too surprising on its own. This was the era of gas station attendance. There were a lot of reasons a stranger might brush up against a random vehicle. The more important samples were found inside the car. Forensics had high hopes for two strong prints on the rearview mirror, probably left there by someone adjusting the view. They worked overtime examining the Pontiac, finishing around 3am on January 15, 1963. Combined with their search of the Zick house, they felt like they had a solid foundation. The most important pieces of evidence were the knife in the sink, the white button in the wingtip shoe under the bed, and the fingerprints from the rear view mirror. Then there were the witness statements. Based on those, Daisy had been killed somewhere between 10 and 10:30am it was a good start, but there were plenty of reasons to be unsure, too. Floyd and Daisy's boyfriend, Raymond Mercer, were the two most obvious suspects, but they both seemed to have solid alibis. Nothing appeared off about Floyd's behavior. Although he somehow hadn't noticed the blood on the car, he did appear to be genuinely upset about Daisy's murder. And he swore up and down that he was at the butcher shop all morning. Meanwhile, Raymond was already at the Kellogg's factory when Daisy was killed. At least as far as they could tell. Something wasn't adding up. Given Daisy's busy social life, detectives were sure there was more to the story. And if they wanted the full picture, they'd have to look at everyone in Battle Creek as a potential suspect. Because it turned out Daisy Zick wasn't the only one keeping secrets. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carter Roy and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next time for part two on the murder of Daisy Zick and the public scandal that exploded after her death. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two part series, you'll get access to both at once. Plus exciting bonus content will be back on Thursday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzofsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Tara Wells, Beth Johnson and Russell Nash. Of the many sources we used, we found murder in Battle Creek, the Mysterious Death of Daisy Zick by Blaine Lee Pardo. Especially helpful to our research. 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