Breaking the Code

He’s a Druid. He’s trans. He’s a wealthy recluse. He’s found murdered in his own cabin.

I’m talking, of course, about Emmon Bodfish.

I only learned about Emmon’s life and death recently. Wearing one of my many hats as a freelance sensitivity reader, I didn’t know what to expect when an audio file called The Riddle of Emmon Bodfish hit my inbox. I invited my wife to listen with me, and we were both blown away by what we heard.

Emmon was bludgeoned to death in his own home. The next day, his son, Max, was found dead in a hotel room, where he appeared to have committed suicide.

It gets creepier. After reading Emmon’s diaries, one of the investigators learns that Emmon wanted to die in exactly this way: violently and unexpectedly. Emmon also mentions that he believes the soul leaves the body after three days and needs a way to escape.

Between Emmon’s death and the official discovery of his body, someone went to the cabin and opened a window. It’s likely that this person was one of Emmon’s killers, or at least knew about the murder ahead of time.

Did Emmon plan this himself, hiring people to end his life according to his wishes?

One of the only things missing from Emmon’s house was a painting. A matching painting was slit open on the back side, but left in the house. There’s speculation that the painting was taken because it had a bank account number hidden on the back, allowing the killers to access the money Emmon had promised them for the deed.

Was Emmon’s son, Max, involved? Is that why he killed himself? He had been suicidal before, but he’d been reluctant to go through with it while Emmon (who gave birth to him) was alive. A trail of receipts showed that he could at least have been the one to open the window, if not one of the people who killed his parent.

Also, I don’t want to say that the crime scene was cursed...but it was kinda cursed. One of the investigators contracted the rare disease Q fever...which he caught from the piles of deer hides Emmon kept on the property, in a room that was also full of animal skulls.

This case left me with so many unanswered questions, mysteries that may never be satisfactorily solved. (Though, with advancements in DNA technology since Emmon’s death in 1999, it’s possible that old evidence could yield new information.)

Paul Holes, the investigator who read Emmon’s diaries, had never met Emmon while he was alive. After reading decades of his journals, Paul gained a lot of insight about a notoriously reclusive man. He learned about Emmon’s struggles with his mental health, his body and his gender identity, and his strained relationship with his son. Before transitioning, Emmon worked as a plumber and became wealthy through investment banking. He lived well below his means, and while he was a very rich man, his money does not seem to be the motive for his murder (unless he paid for it himself). It also doesn’t appear that he was targeted because he was trans.

Oh, and did I mention that some parts of the diaries were written in a code so fiendish it’s still used to train FBI code breakers today? What a legacy!

Emmon was a practicing Druid, holding ceremonies on his land and writing for a Druidic magazine for many years. His writings and teachings are still part of the modern Druid religion.

This story ended up meaning so much to me. Emmon sounds like a really cool guy, someone I would have wanted to spend time with and learn from (though I must say I wouldn’t have wanted him as a parent). As a member of the LGBT community, this is a fascinating piece of queer history!

(If you want to know more about this case, I highly recommend reading or listening to The Riddle of Emmon Bodfish! It’s co-written by several of the original investigators—and they don’t come to the same conclusion about what happened to Emmon Bodfish. Please note that, because it covers the time before he transitioned, Emmon is sometimes referred to as she/her, at least in the audiobook.)