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I'm your host, Mark.
And I'm Courtney.
And this is Mountain State Mysteries.
Today, we want to tell you the story of a Huntington matriarch who was murdered in her
sprawling mansion along Huntington's elite millionaire's row.
This is the story of Juliet Buffington Insula.
She was born on March 9, 1873 in Huntington, West Virginia.
She was the daughter of Peter Clemm Buffington, who had the distinction of being the first
mayor of Huntington, and Louisa I. Garland Buffington.
She was the granddaughter of William Buffington, who was Cabell County's first surveyor.
Her great grandfather, William Buffington, was one of the earliest settlers of the region,
so her roots grew deep in the area.
Her first husband was Charles Baldwin.
Their child was Charles Baldwin Jr., who was born January 7, 1895 in Athens, Georgia.
After the death of Juliet's first husband, she married Frank Enslow, a lawyer who was
known as one of the most influential men in West Virginia.
He kept busy in Huntington's business and civic affairs and served as president of
the Huntington National Bank.
Frank also owned extensive properties in Huntington and was involved in the development of oil
and gas throughout West Virginia.
In 1890, he built one of the area's most elegant homes, boasting 27 rooms, marble fireplaces,
and Tiffany chandeliers.
Located at 1307 Third Avenue, it was the scene of many lavish parties and of meeting places
of Huntington's society.
They lived in their home together with their daughter Dorothy, who was born on October 22,
1902.
Frank's sons, Frank Enslow Jr., and Juliet's son, Charles.
Frank passed away on February 7, 1917 in Charleston, West Virginia.
As time went on, Juliet stayed in her and Frank's home with two servants and her son,
Charles.
That was last seen alive at 10.30 p.m. on October 16, 1936.
That night, her son Charles had three visitors who were playing bridge in the parlor.
Also in the home was the housekeeper and companion of Juliet Elizabeth Bricker, who went by Lizzie,
so we will call her Lizzie from here on out, as well as staff of servants.
You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
The morning of October 17, 1936 started as a typical morning at the home of Juliet Buffington
Enslow.
Her staff started to arrive to her mansion around 8.30 a.m.
Juliet's chauffeur, Judge Johnson, was sweeping the sidewalk around the house when he noticed
Juliet's wallet lying in the driveway.
He brought it inside to the housekeeper, Lizzie Bricker.
She rushed into Juliet's room where she found Juliet on the floor, beaten and bloody with
a towel wrapped around her neck.
They found five stab marks in her head, believed to have been made with an ice pick, as well
as defensive wounds on her hands.
They noticed that blood covered the sheets and pillows on Juliet's bed.
They both noticed that the ring's Juliet wore to bed had been torn from her fingers.
Her wristwatch was missing, an address or drawer was open as if valuables had been snatched
from it.
The servants rushed to awaken Charles, who was asleep in his suite, located in another
section of the house.
Charles, dressed in his pajamas, rushed into his mother's room and took her side.
Investigators were called to the scene and they suspected that Juliet had been awakened
and struggled with her salient.
Although the towel indicated that strangulation was the leading cause of her death, they also
noticed the abrasions on her face and forehead that they also said would have been made with
an ice pick.
It appeared that Juliet had risen from bed after her attacker fled and pulled a signal
cord connected to the kitchen before subcoming to her injuries and falling to the floor.
The cook, Nellie Bias, told police that Juliet customarily pulled the signal cord in the
morning to signal for her breakfast.
Bias noticed that the cord had been pulled when she arrived for work that morning so
she immediately began to prepare breakfast.
After the authorities arrived, they located the two rings in the yard near where Johnson
had found the wallet.
Authorities began to wonder why if it rained all night how the wallet was found outside
dry, leading to speculation that it had been planted.
There were no fingerprints found in the room and no sign of forced entry, leading police
to believe that it was an inside job.
They theorized that the burglar had entered through the guest window and after the serval
had exited the home through the window of the dressing room.
Juliet's funeral was held in her beautiful mansion and she was laid to rest in Spring
Hill Cemetery.
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Just four days after the murder, the citizens of Huntington were shocked when they read
the newspaper headline, 41-year-old Charles Baldwin had been charged with the murder of
his mother.
His trial was scheduled for March 25, 1937.
The witness list read like a social register for the Ohio River town.
As the trial started, Charles appeared to be soft-spoken as he maintained his innocence
and his plea of not guilty.
The former Army Captain impressed the public when he entered the courtroom supported by
a cane due to the loss of his leg in an accident several years before.
The prosecutors called Dr. Walter E. Vest to the stand.
Dr. Vest testified that he had registered Baldwin as a drug addict in 1935.
Under the conditions of the registration, Baldwin was allowed 5 grams of the drug each
day.
To protect the addict, the drug was overseen by Ms. Enslobe who gave him his prescription
amount who gave him his prescribed amount on a strictly regulated time schedule.
The prosecution maintained that Baldwin had killed his mother to get more of the drug.
As evidence, they submitted a can opener from Baldwin's room which they believe to have
been the murder weapon.
They maintained that Baldwin had taken the can opener to his mother's room where he
had planned to use it to break the lock protecting the drugs.
They also submitted Baldwin's pajamas which were stained with what was believed to be
his own mother's blood.
The prosecution maintained that Baldwin was desperate because his mother was trying to
break him of his drug habit by limiting his supply.
The state hoped to show that the blood on his pajamas was the result of the struggle
with his mother during the murder.
The state maintained that it had found two bloody handkerchiefs and a bloody key to the
bathroom of Juliet's in the basement hidden by Baldwin.
The handicapped army captain proved to be an impressive witness.
As a former attorney, he was comfortable and convincing on the stand.
Baldwin stated that the blood stain on his pajamas was his mother's but he got it when
he embraced his mother after finding her body.
He also maintained that drug theory was simply ridiculous.
Baldwin also stated that he obtained more than 400 grams of the narcotic during a recent
trip to Canada and that he had far more in his possession than the five grams his mother
guarded.
The defense maintained that the murder had been committed by a robber who was surprised
by Ms. Enslow.
They produced witnesses who claimed to have seen a prowler around the sprawling Enslow
mansion that night.
The witnesses also testified that they heard screams and later saw a car leaving the house.
A list of character witnesses from some of Huntington's most prominent families took
the stand in defense of Baldwin.
Among them was his half sister by a later marriage who testified that there was nothing
but love, affection, and understanding between him and his mother.
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The trial lasted nine days before the jury was released to deliberate.
After two hours, the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty for Charles Baldwin.
With his characteristic charm and grace, Baldwin immediately stepped forward to shake hands
with the members of the jury.
Following the verdict, Huntington police returned to search for the murderer of Juliette Buffington
Enslow but to no avail.
Huntington police returned to search and on February 27, 1940, one of Juliette's diamond
rings was found in a catch basin behind the Enslow mansion.
It is described as a large diamond solitaire set in platinum with a black onyx mounting.
Huntington's were skeptical that such a large ring could sit there for almost four years
and survive the 1937 flood.
However, the case was not reopened.
So you might ask yourself, who killed Juliette Buffington Enslow?
Was it her son?
At the time of the murder, he was not practicing law and was living with his mother.
Could he have been short on money?
Could he have been mad with her having control over his drugs?
Could Lizzie have been an accomplice?
Was she more than just a housekeeper to Charles?
Maybe Charles guest murdered her?
Unfortunately, these are the questions that we have that will never be answered.
Another sad fate to go with the story is the Enslow mansion.
It ended up being sold and was a steel funeral home for many years until it tragically burned
to the ground in a fire.
We believe that someone knew the truth, someone with access to the stolen rings.
Sadly, we will never know.
If you have any information on the case of Juliette Buffington Enslow, email us at
mountainstatemysteries304 at gmail.com.
Courtney, do you have any final thoughts on this case?
Well, you kind of wonder, like, in the bridge game, like, was all Charles, like, hopped up
on something, you know?
I mean, he said he had, like, 400 grams of whatever narcotic he'd done, so maybe he
was really just messed up on whatever he took, and maybe he murdered his mother and
didn't even realize it.
I mean, I don't know.
I mean, there's just so many different things.
Could, you know, could one of the guests have done it, or, you know, surely to goodness,
I mean, while this was going on, somebody would have heard her, you know?
I mean, you would have heard noises coming from the bedroom as she was being murdered
and her being strangled, you know, strangulated.
Is that right?
Strangled.
You would have heard noises while she was being strangled.
I mean.
I won't get a shirt made for you that says strangulated.
It's a new word.
Webster, if you're listening to this, strangulated, new word.
But, I mean, it does make you wonder, like, if there was people still there or anything,
you know, there's no time of this murder when that happened that was mentioned.
So, it just makes you wonder if it was of the early evening, later at the night, early
morning, things of that nature.
Just makes you wonder, could it have been a guest, could it have been a servant, could
somebody had heard all of this going down?
And if someone was there, why didn't they rush to her side to see what was going on?
Just makes you wonder.
So, Mark, do you have any final thoughts?
She was strangulated and stabbed.
Those were my final thoughts.
I kind of have the same thoughts as you.
You know, just coming across this case randomly like we did, and then just really doing a
deep dive into it.
I've always believed it was her son that did it.
I've always believed that it was over the drugs and possibly money because, you know,
the rings were missing.
Her wallet was missing.
Who's this Aiden?
Try to sneak in and go get his mom's wallet to buy some more drugs on the corner or something.
I mean, you never know.
Do I think Lizzie had something to do with it?
I'm not sure.
I do think people would hear unless she was on the totally opposite side of the house.
And people were downstairs and it was just a very quiet house at night.
I'm not sure, but I definitely do believe Charles committed the murder.
Next time on Mountain State Mysteries, join us as we tell you the story of a woman who
was abducted at an Amacost service station in Beaver, West Virginia in 1977.
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