Episode description

June 11, 1955. Salt Lake City, Utah. 22-year old Jocelyn Hickenlooper, who suffers from developmental disabilities and scoliosis, vanishes without explanation from her home. Over two weeks later, Jocelyn’s decomposed body is discovered in a shallow grave located near Parley’s Canyon. After a two-year investigation, a suspect named Bernt Murphy, who also has developmental disabilities, confesses to killing Jocelyn. Even after Bernt recants his confession and the murder charge against him is dropped, a district court judge rules Bernt to be legally insane and he is committed to the Utah State Hospital. When the Utah Supreme Court overturns this decision in 1988, Bernt is released from the hospital, but due to a number of troubling inconsistencies in his own original confession, there is a lot of doubt about whether he was actually responsible for Jocelyn’s murder. Did Bernt Murphy kill Jocelyn Hickenlooper, or was he nothing more than a convenient scapegoat while the real perpetrator got away with it? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” marks the first time we have covered a cold case from Utah, which means podcast has now officially explored at least one unsolved mystery from all fifty American states.

Additional Reading:

https://www.abc4.com/justice-files-2/the-justice-files-the-murder-of-jocelyn-hickenlooper/

https://www.abc4.com/news/top-stories/the-justice-files-the-murder-of-jocelyn-hickenlooper-pt-2/

https://www.abc4.com/justice-files-2/the-justice-files-who-really-killed-jocelyn-hickenlooper-pt-3/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/456177920/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/598639766/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/598639775/

https://apnews.com/0c13258c4edf6eec2aa761a1fca11684

https://law.justia.com/cases/utah/supreme-court/1988/19824.html

https://apnews.com/article/c899f55b284c7edc97ec677d48040585

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/08/us/man-who-was-judged-insane-is-held-in-attempted-break-in.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/iscz2h/who_killed_jocelyn_hickenlooper/

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at  “Crimecon 2022: Vegas” at Paris & Bally’s in Las Vegas from April 29-May 1, 2022. To get a 10 % discount off a standard badge, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” at the Leonardo Royal Hotel &  Spa in London on June 11-12, 2022. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo  code, “COLD22”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.co.uk.

“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.