I have been researching this case very heavily for about eight months now with the intent of possibly thinking about maybe writing a book about the whole thing. How's that for a definite maybe? While doing that research, and really looking at the whole thing, sometimes, something odd appears in the information available. One of those things has been the phone call placed to the Sodder house around 12:30 AM Christmas Day just before the fire. In using the information available, accounts of this call vary according to the various sources. It is generally accepted that the caller was a woman asking for someone that the Sodders did not know. Another account said the woman asked for someone who had no reason to be there, implying that the Sodders may have known this person. Either way, Mrs. Sodder told the caller the person they were looking for was not there. The woman, later identified by the State Police as Mrs. Frank Harding, apologized for calling. Mrs.Sodder accepted her apology and hung up. One interesting part of the call was just before Mrs. Sodder hung up, she said that a man in the background of the call let out a peculiar laugh or sound. Other accounts from the time say it was the woman caller who let out the strange laugh or sound, still other say There was raucous laughter and glasses clinking in the background.
Mrs. Frank Harding was a local a local resident in the Fayetteville area. When questioned, she at first admitted to making the call saying that she simply called the wrong number. Later, when questioned further about why she called, Mrs. Harding denied that she even made the call. This became one of several reversals that would haunt this case. This phone call was suspected by some as being a warning to alert the Sodders as to what was about to happen to them. to get them up so they could get out of the house without being hurt.
Later when the fire happened and different people were trying to reach the fire department by phone, they claim they cannot reach anyone because the local phone operator was not on duty or just didnt respond. The phone system there was the type where an operator has to place the call for you. No Dialing. Kind of like on the old Andy Griffith show on TV when he would pick up the phone and ask "Sarah" to get him so-and-so's number. If this is the case, Mrs. Harding would have had to have specifically asked the operator for the Sodder home when she called at 12:30. She could not have dialed a wrong number because the phones did not dial. In other words, she had to have specifically told the operator with whom she wanted to speak. Then we are back to the original question, was her call a warning call to make the Sodders aware and awaken them before the fire? Who was Frank Harding??? What relation could he have had to this case, if any? Could Operator have made a mistake and placed the wrong call? Possibly, it was late at night. She may have been asleep and just woken up. With this kind of system, the chance of making a mistake is small but still possible.
So, if someone knew in advance what was going to happen and someone else got a case of conscience and tried alert the Sodders, does this make a conspiracy?
Other thoughts?
Mrs. Frank Harding was a local a local resident in the Fayetteville area. When questioned, she at first admitted to making the call saying that she simply called the wrong number. Later, when questioned further about why she called, Mrs. Harding denied that she even made the call. This became one of several reversals that would haunt this case. This phone call was suspected by some as being a warning to alert the Sodders as to what was about to happen to them. to get them up so they could get out of the house without being hurt.
Later when the fire happened and different people were trying to reach the fire department by phone, they claim they cannot reach anyone because the local phone operator was not on duty or just didnt respond. The phone system there was the type where an operator has to place the call for you. No Dialing. Kind of like on the old Andy Griffith show on TV when he would pick up the phone and ask "Sarah" to get him so-and-so's number. If this is the case, Mrs. Harding would have had to have specifically asked the operator for the Sodder home when she called at 12:30. She could not have dialed a wrong number because the phones did not dial. In other words, she had to have specifically told the operator with whom she wanted to speak. Then we are back to the original question, was her call a warning call to make the Sodders aware and awaken them before the fire? Who was Frank Harding??? What relation could he have had to this case, if any? Could Operator have made a mistake and placed the wrong call? Possibly, it was late at night. She may have been asleep and just woken up. With this kind of system, the chance of making a mistake is small but still possible.
So, if someone knew in advance what was going to happen and someone else got a case of conscience and tried alert the Sodders, does this make a conspiracy?
Other thoughts?