Whiteys Career Case

The witnesses and experts, both medical and legal, were in place. When the judge entered the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the bailiff said, "All rise, Department 25 is now in session." A colleague turned to Los Angeles Sheriff's detective Harold White and said, "Whitey, are you ready?" Whitey nodded his head and said, "Let's get this show on the road." The "show" was the prosecution's case in the murder trial against William Dale Archerd in 1967. Detective White first knew of Archerd when he was shown the file on the 1957 murder of Zella Archerd, one of Archerd's seven wives. A few years later as one of the investigators in the murder of Archerd's nephew, White met Archerd personally. He was a handsome man with silver hair and a silver tongue - he looked like a banker or a corporate CEO. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the case of the death of the nephew, but convinced that Archerd was involved in the death of two of his wives, White contacted Archerd's current wife, Gladys, and frankly told her he was afraid she may be the next victim. This may have saved her life, as she lived to testify in Archerd's trial. Incredibly, despite the warnings Gladys testified for her husband. She was still in love with the scoundrel. What was it this guy had that made all these ladies become enamored with him? White focused on Archerd again when he investigated the death of yet another of Archerd's wives. He and his fellow detectives examined and reexamined the deaths of three wives and three other people. Circumstantial evidence pointed to death by insulin injection. The detectives located hospital records of each victim, interviewed their families and family doctors as well as lab technicians and psychologists. The detectives spent Saturdays at the Los Angeles County Medical Library researching insulin and its effect on the human body. They spent hours in the Los Angeles Law Library locating cases similar to theirs. They talked to a drug company and to experts in the field of insulin shock therapy, diabetes and hypoglycemia. Fully prepared and armed with the best case they could muster, the detectives helped the prosecution present the case against William Dale Archerd. Archerd was found guilty of the three murders charged. This was the end of the "road" for Archerd and he was sentenced to be executed in California's gas chamber.