Alaska Bar Association Historians’ Committee Luncheon

A Fairbanks Murder Mystery:
Ted Stevens, Johnny Warren and the Unsolved Murder of Cecil Wells
Recorded Friday, November 17, 2023

Speaker:  James T. Bartlett, Author of The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America

Nicknamed “the most beautiful woman in Alaska,” 31-year-old Diane Wells was bruised and bloodied when she screamed for help in the early hours of October 17, 1953. Her husband Cecil, a wealthy Fairbanks businessman, had been shot dead, and she claimed they were the victims of a brutal home invasion.

Blonde, glamorous and 20 years younger than Cecil, police were immediately suspicious of Diane's account, and the investigation soon turned toward her alleged lover, black musician Johnny Warren, who had left town the night of the murder.

The scandal hit the pages of Newsweek, Life, Ebony, Jet and the pulp detective magazines, and nearly 70 years later, journalist James T. Bartlett uncovers new evidence including an unpublished memoir, unseen photographs, and re-examines the FBI files of what was one of Ted Stevens’ early cases as U.S. Attorney in Alaska.

He tracks down and interviews the people close to Cecil, Diane, Johnny, and the mysterious “Third Suspect”, dance instructor William Colombany, to reveal the story of “the most notorious and baffling murder in the history of Fairbanks,” and how the push for statehood played a role in the investigation.

James T. Bartlett

Anthony Award-nominated and National Indie Excellence Award Winner James T. Bartlett is originally from London, but has been living in Los Angeles since 2004.

As a travel and lifestyle journalist and historian, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, BBC, Los Angeles Magazine, ALTA Journal California, Vera, High Life, Hemispheres, Westways, Frommers, Crime Reads, American Way, Atlas Obscura, The Guardian, Real Crime, Variety, History Ireland and Bizarre, among others.

In 2012 he published Gourmet Ghosts – Los Angeles an alternative guide to the history and ghost stories behind some of the city’s oldest bars, restaurants and hotels, while 2016’s Gourmet Ghosts 2 focused on true crimes that took place at more of L.A.’s notable locations and eateries. 

The books led to lectures, events, book club hosting, and appearances on radio, podcasts, and television shows including Ghost Adventures and The UnXplained. His short story “Under The Stars” was published in Entertainment To Die For, the 2023 anthology by Sisters in Crime – Los Angeles.   

Find out more at www.thealaskanblonde.com or email him at jbartlett2000@gmail.com