FILE 95 / 5 December 2018 / 148 MIN / full

Yes, No, I Don't Know...

Oskaloosa, KansasListen

The town

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This week, in Oscaloosa, Kansas ... it's in Jefferson County. about 0:07:31

History, in brief

Town note

More settlers came from Iowa the same year.

about 0:08:46

Town note

A Baptist minister began holding services in people's houses in the 1850s, before a church was built.

about 0:09:07

1856

Officially founded as Oskaloosa in 1856, named after Oskaloosa, Iowa.

about 0:09:28
All 24 history facts

Town note

More settlers came from Iowa the same year.

about 0:08:46

Town note

A Baptist minister began holding services in people's houses in the 1850s, before a church was built.

about 0:09:07

1856

Officially founded as Oskaloosa in 1856, named after Oskaloosa, Iowa.

about 0:09:28

Town note

The name is said to mean 'black rain', not 'last of the beautiful'.

about 0:10:11

Town note

Forty acres were laid out in the same pattern as Oskaloosa, Iowa.

about 0:10:34

1856

Two skirmishes of the Kansas-Missouri Border War took place near Oskaloosa in September 1856, including the Battle of Slough Creek and, two days later, the Battle of Hickory Point.

about 0:11:36

Town note

Joseph Fitzsimmons's wife became the town's teacher.

about 0:12:38

1860

By the end of 1860 the population was about 400.

about 0:14:14

Town note

Samuel Popard built a 350-pound sailing wagon with a nine-by-eleven-foot sail that could reach 15 miles an hour.

about 0:15:14

Town note

Popard and companions set off for Pikes Peak with 400 pounds of provisions; within 100 miles of Denver a whirlwind destroyed the vehicle and injured all aboard after four weeks on the road.

about 0:16:05

Town note

Local men formed the Lazy Club; members seen with any implement of labour were expelled, and the champion received a barlow knife.

about 0:17:33

1888

In 1888 Mary D. Lohman was elected mayor with an all-women city council, the first city in the state to do so.

about 0:18:09

Town note

The town had a high school and churches of many denominations.

about 0:18:35

Town note

Local farmers produced grain; the town had a canning factory, an electric light plant and a bridle bit factory.

about 0:18:46

Town note

Parker Pharmacy, a 1950s pharmacy with an old-fashioned soda fountain, still operates.

about 0:18:50

1910

Dummy Taylor, a deaf major league baseball pitcher, came from the town around 1910.

about 0:19:37

Town note

James Reynolds, an actor on Days of Our Lives for over 30 years, is the town's best-known celebrity.

about 0:20:52

The figures, as told

Religious

39.8%

Biggest faith: Methodist, 13%

about 0:22:45

Who lives here

White about 89% · Black 2.3% · Asian 0.0% · Hispanic 4.18%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ about 20% under the average

about 0:30:04

Violent crime
▼ just below average

about 0:30:08

Money

Median home value$109,000
Two-bedroom rent$840 a month
Median household income$51,000

For sale

1,216 square feet for $115,900

Three-bedroom, two-bath listing

about 0:26:26

For sale

1,650 square feet for $164,900

Three-bedroom, three-bath listing

about 0:26:43

For sale

4,400 square feet on 15 acres for $588,000

Four-bedroom estate listing

about 0:27:06
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2018

Property crime

"about 20% under the average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:04

Violent crime

"just below average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:08

Population

"1,086"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:04

Population change

"up 1%"

Comparison: "since 1990". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:09

Median age

"38.8"

Comparison: "about a year older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:17

Male population

"52%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:20

White population

"about 89%"

Comparison: "small town America is 90% white". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:15

Black population

"2.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:15

Asian population

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:15

Hispanic population

"4.18%"

Comparison: "usually almost 17%". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:15

Democrat voters

"30%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:28

Republican voters

"62%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:28

Independent voters

"7.3%"

Comparison: "normally 1 to 2%". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:45

Unemployment rate

"about 4%"

Comparison: "lower than normal". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:48

Median household income

"$51,000"

Comparison: "national average almost $54,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:58

Cost of living index

"86"

Comparison: "100 is average". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:18

Religious population

"39.8%"

Comparison: "50-50 is the normal". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:45

Housing cost index

"58"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:24

Median home cost

"$109,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:24

Homes worth under $100,000

"over 50%"

Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:45

Average two-bedroom rent

"$840 a month"

Comparison: "about $400 lower than normal". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:05

Three-bedroom, two-bath listing

"1,216 square feet for $115,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:26

Three-bedroom, three-bath listing

"1,650 square feet for $164,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:43

Four-bedroom estate listing

"4,400 square feet on 15 acres for $588,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:06

The reviews

5.0 / 5 · average of 1

5 stars

“A lifelong resident says there is no better small town, with just enough people to talk to and not enough to feel claustrophobic; the people are friendly and extremely united.”
about 0:27:35

In Kansas

Closest episodes

  1. The Bondage That TiesAtchison, Kansas · 17 December 202241 km / 25 miShow on map
  2. Behind A Serial Killer's MaskLenexa, Kansas · 6 March 202552 km / 32 miShow on map
  3. Psycho StepmomEdgerton, Kansas · 2 May 202458 km / 36 miShow on map
  4. Brilliant BrutalityPrairie Village, Kansas · 25 September 202564 km / 40 miShow on map
  5. Jealously Turns Into Multiple MurdersBurlingame, Kansas · 15 March 201768 km / 42 miShow on map

The story

Oskaloosa is a small town of one square mile in Jefferson County, north-eastern Kansas, about thirty-five minutes from Topeka and an hour from Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of the episode its population was 1,086, about 89% white, with a median age of 38.8. It was settled by Dr James Noble in February 1855, founded officially in 1856 and named after Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Camille Arfman, whose full name was Zetta Camille Arfman, was 14 on 5 November 1999. Her mother lived in the next town. Camille was a studious, churchgoing girl who attended Countryside Baptist Church and had transferred to Oskaloosa High School from Nortonville.

At about 5.30 p.m. William Noble, a colonel in the US Army and a professor of military science at Fort Leavenworth, was bow hunting from a deer stand near the Zool dairy farm. He climbed down and ran towards the sound. He heard nothing more. Richard Zool, the dairy farmer, was working outside and heard nothing.

Camille was reported missing at 12.50 p.m. the next day, 6 November. Heidi had assumed she was with her mother. The police initially treated her as a runaway, saying that 90% of missing children are runaways.

He had graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1993, lived with his parents and worked as a security guard at Farmland Industries in Lawrence. He knew Camille and attended church with her. He was the only member of the family who did not join the search, and the police said he would have known her schedule.

She was found in the family's trash dump behind his parents' house, under dirt, several sheets of plywood and clothing. She had been shot once in the back of the head, a contact wound, and three times in the chest. The autopsy concluded that the head wound was not fired where she was found.

No fingerprints were on it, but shell casings in his bedroom matched it. The KBI could not say for certain that the bullet in Camille's head came from that gun because it was too damaged.

A detective established that he bought duct tape and a sweatshirt at a hardware store at 4.20 p.m. He worked at the Zool dairy farm and was seen starting the evening milking at about 6.15 or 6.30. He called Zool at 11.30 p.m. to say a cow was not giving milk, which was later than the three and a half to four and a half hours that milking normally took. Camille's mother called him at about 10.30 p.m. to say she was going to the police, and he told her not to.

The coroner said Camille was probably shot in the head first, placed in the ditch, and then shot three more times.

He left three suicide notes, one to his wife, one to his parents and one to 'whomever cares'. In them he wrote that he had killed Camille on 5 November 1999, that he had sex with her and killed her, and that he had driven her to the family trash ditch, got his nine-millimetre from behind the seat, pushed her down to scare her and the gun went off behind her head.

The case

Murder of Camille Arfman

Victims

Zetta Camille Arfman (14). known as Camille; lived with her older sister Heidi and brother-in-law ; student at Oskaloosa High School and member of Countryside Baptist Church

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 5 December 2018.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Rosa Bollinger. girl who attended church with Camille; testified about advances and heard Cody's account
Richard Zool. owner of the Zool dairy farm and employer
William Noble. US Army colonel and professor of military science at Fort Leavenworth; heard the screams while bow hunting
Dan Courtney. neighbour who saw a truck resembling leaving the field
my Arfman. Camille's mother
Jim Bollinger. minister, whom called before going to the police
Russell Ainsworth. attorney
Jim Vanderbilt. Jefferson County attorney and prosecutor
Mike Hays. attorney involved in representing at the start of the case
Jim Woods. KBI agent who investigated the murder

The timeline

  1. November 5, 1999, about 5 p.m. A friend calls at the trailer and finds Camille's coat and school bag but no Camille. ( trailer)about 0:41:38
  2. November 5, 1999, 6 p.m. attends a church function and stays about three hours. (Countryside Baptist Church)about 0:57:08
  3. November 5, 1999, 9.30 to 10 p.m. returns home and goes to bed. ( parents' house)about 0:58:06
  4. November 5, 1999, 10.30 p.m. Camille's mother telephones to say she is calling the police; tells her not to. (Zool dairy farm)about 1:32:36
  5. November 5, 1999, about 11 p.m. brother-in-law and two others drive to the dairy to speak to him; his car is gone and the lights are out. (Zool dairy farm)about 1:32:46
  6. November 5, 1999, 11.30 p.m. calls Richard Zool to say one of the cows is not giving milk. (Zool dairy farm)about 1:21:25
  7. November 6, 1999, 12.45 a.m. collects his two sons from the babysitter. (Babysitter's house)about 1:32:59
  8. November 6, 1999, about 2.45 a.m. returns the boys to the babysitter. (Babysitter's house)about 1:33:02
  9. November 6, 1999, 8.30 a.m. collects his sons again. (Babysitter's house)about 1:18:40
  10. November 6, 1999, 8 to 9 a.m. Neighbour Dan Courtney sees a truck resembling coming out of the field where Camille is later found. (Trash dump)about 0:54:34

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode