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Mar 254 min read

The Career Girls Murders - Part 2




Wrongfully accused George Whitmore, Jr. in cuffs. | Courtesy: The Boston Globe

An over-eager detective, an unethical interrogation and a false confession lands 19-year-old George Whitmore, Jr. behind bars for the notorious 'Career Girls Murders.' However, the public would soon find out that the real sadistic killer- was still on the loose and police knew it.



An article on the brutal double slaying of the 'Career Girls.' | Courtesy: The Daily News

Time to dive back into the case that shook New York City in the 1960s.










Part 2 covering the double murder of Janice Wylie and Emily Hoffert in their upscale Manhattan apartment explores how a newspaper journalist would finally help to rectify an erred investigation, and how the  Career Girls Murders Case would go on to change the fabric of criminal investigations. 










Eventually, a tip from a career criminal and known-drug dealer would lead detectives back to a familiar face- a 20-year-old named Richard "Ricky" Robles (PRONOUNCED: row-bells).


Ricky Robles after his arrest. | Courtesy: The Daily News

Robles had been questioned early on in the investigation. His name was added to a long list of suspects who lived in the area and were known for crimes involving breaking and entering (B&Es). Robles was a convicted felon who had previously admitted to committing more than 100 similar crimes. He was released from prison shortly before the murders.


Robles was cleared after his alleged alibi was confirmed and he showed up to a police interview with two probation officers who acted as character witnesses. Robles' mother, and a group of female neighbors, vouched for Robles and told detectives that they had seen him cleaning around his mother's house around the time of the murders.


A newspaper article covering Robles' defense. | Courtesy: The Daily News

A January 1965 article printed in the The Daily News, basically called out the fact that police investigators and prosecutors within the District Attorney's Office knew they had the wrong man in custody for the Career Girls Murders and that they knew who had likely actually committed the crime.


Jan. 1965 article by The Daily News which led to Robles' arrest. | Courtesy: Newspapers.com

The journalist wrote that the news outlet had sat on this information for months in an effort to comply with their law enforcement source who did not want to jeopardize the investigation into Robles. However, after several months with no action taken by police or the D.A.'s office, the outlet could no longer ethically withhold the information.


This article led to the immediate arrest of Robles and was the first indication to the public that Whitmore was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of committing.


Robles was eventually charged, tried and convicted in the heinous double murder in 1965, but would maintain his innocence until his second parole hearing in 1986.



An older Ricky Robles in prison mug shots. | Courtesy: NYS Department of Corrections & Supervision


The Two Sleuths Podcast confirmed he was quietly paroled in 2020 after serving 54 years. There was no press coverage of his release. Public records show his assigned parole office is in Manhattan... meaning Ricky is likely living in the area.


George Whitmore, Jr.'s confession was eventually discredited. After a lengthy journey, he was cleared of the Career Girls Murders, the separate Murder of Minnie Edmonds and the attempted rape and assault of Elba Borrero. The latter cases remain unsolved.


Whitmore went on to sue the City of Brooklyn for $10-million dollars over his improper arrest and malicious prosecution. He won and was awarded $500,000. He died in 2012 at the age of 68.


Wrongfully accused George Whitmore, Jr. with his mother.

In 1966, several years after that fateful night that Whitmore crossed paths with an officer investigating an attempted rape, and then was interrogated for more than twenty hours, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Miranda vs. Arizona. It’s a landmark decision that’s still in place and that sets the boundaries for how law enforcement must conduct investigative interviews. 


It basically says that law enforcement must warn a person of their constitutional rights before interrogating them, or else the person's statements cannot be used as evidence at their trial.


In fact, in the SCOTUS reasoning that was handed down after the ruling, it was written:

”Interrogation procedures may even give rise to a false confession. The most recent conspicuous example occurred in New York, in 1964, when a [man] of limited intelligence confessed to two brutal murders and a rape which he had not committed.”

Listen to part one of the Career Girls Murders Case here. A direct link to part two can be found at the top of this article.



 

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