Dr. Ohta & the Killer Prophet
6/11/20261 hr 7 min
In the early evening of October 19, 1970, police and firefighters were called to the Santa Cruz County home of Dr. Victor Ohta, a well-respected ophthalmologist, for a report of a house fire. Intending to siphon water from the pool out back, firefighters ran a hose from the truck to the backyard. However, when they reached the pool, the made a horrible discovery—floating in the pool were the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ohta, as well as their two children, and the doctor’s secretary, Dorothy Cadwallader. When they searched the scene, investigators discovered a cryptic note stuck under the windshield wiper of Victor Ohta’s car that made references to the occult and the counterculture movement.
At the time of the murders, Southern California was experiencing an unprecedented wave of violent murders by multiple serial and spree killers, as well as the notorious murders committed by the Manson family. Given the content of the note and the potentially ritualistic way in which the Ohta family had been killed, investigators and residents couldn’t help but fear that they may have another murderous cult on their hands.
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Resources
Bennett, Bruce, and Christine Connor. 2017. "Killer Prophet." A Crime to Remember. Janaury 24.
Hagar, Philip, and Dick Main. 1970. "Neighbor charged in Ohta murders." Los Angeles Times, October 23: 1.
Holmes, Christian. 1970. "Doctror, family slain in mansion." San Francisco Examiner, October 20: 1.
John Linley Frazier v. The Superior Court of Santa Cruz County. 1971. 22812 (Superior Court of Santa Cruz County, July 7).
Murray, Emerson. 2022. Murder Capital of the World. Santa Cruz, CA.
Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1970. "Live Oak fire chief first to discover bodies in pool." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.
—. 1970. "'Most tragic murder'." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAsh Kelley· Host0:00
Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:02
And I'm Alayna.
Ash Kelley· Host0:03
And this is Morbid.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:05
[spooky music] This is Morbid.
Ash Kelley· Host0:20
It's also kinda like an 800 call service- Yeah ... because I have a sexy voice.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:25
It's true, she does.
Ash Kelley· Host0:25
It's, like, in and out, though. Like, I, I can- It is ... I can force it to not be so- Yeah ... ugh.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:31
It's, it's the allergies.
Ash Kelley· Host0:33
It's the allergies, it's the asthma.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:35
The asthma.
Ash Kelley· Host0:37
[laughs] My asthma. It's just, it's a whole bunch of things, you know?
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:41
Yeah, you know?
Ash Kelley· Host0:42
What are you gonna do?
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:43
It's the goddamn pollen. It's here to stay. I don't know when it's... We've had several rains, several- Yeah ... intense rains.
Ash Kelley· Host0:50
Yeah.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:51
Storms, even.
Ash Kelley· Host0:52
It rains every fucking weekend.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:54
It's raining all the time.
Ash Kelley· Host0:55
Yeah.
Alaina Urquhart· Host0:55
And it's like, and then we wake up and it's just somehow more pollen on my porch.
Ash Kelley· Host1:01
Yep.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:01
And now just puddles of pollen. Now the pollen has gathered.
Ash Kelley· Host1:05
Ugh. The pollen puddles- Yeah ... gross me the fuck out. I'm also driving a pollen mobile.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:10
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Ash Kelley· Host1:10
If you have a black car- Yeah ... pollen mobile.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:12
Yeah, there's no... Don't get your car washed in New England right now.
Ash Kelley· Host1:16
[laughs] I recently did, and I don't know why I did.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:19
Oh, it's, that- It was a waste of $22 ... that's crazy.
Ash Kelley· Host1:21
I know.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:21
Yeah.
Ash Kelley· Host1:21
I know. I know.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:23
Like, that's actually wild that you did that.
Ash Kelley· Host1:24
Ugh. I just hate, like, if, when it builds up to a certain point, I, like, can't handle it.
Alaina Urquhart· Host1:28
I know, it's true, but