# MoNo Encore: The Murder of Cecil Wells w/ James T. Bartlett Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575/mono-encore-the-murder-of-cecil-wells-w-james-t-bartlett Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575/mono-encore-the-murder-of-cecil-wells-w-james-t-bartlett.md Podcast: [Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575) Published: 2026-05-22T04:33:00+00:00 Episode link: https://tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML1736659421.mp3 Audio file: https://tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML1736659421.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575/episodes/mono-encore-the-murder-of-cecil-wells-w-james-t-bartlett Duration seconds: 6106 ## Resource (Orig pub date: 6/21/22) In the early morning hours of October 17, 1953, a frightened, battered woman named Diane Wells told a horrific tale to police. She said intruders had broken into the top-floor penthouse apartment she shared with her husband Cecil, murdered him, beat her, and then made their escape. It was an especially sensational story because 31-year-old "blonde bombshell" Diane Wells was nicknamed "the most beautiful woman in Alaska", and Cecil (twenty years her senior) was a wealthy and well-known Fairbanks businessman. There were suspicions, however, that Diane was lying. It was soon learned that she was having an affair with a local musician and also being comforted by a dance instructor who worked downstairs. My guest is James T. Bartlett, author of "The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America". He shares details from his research into the almost 70 year old cold case, including an account of Diane's own tragic end. More information about the author can be found at these links: https://www.gourmetghosts.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thealaskanblonde https://www.instagram.com/thealaskanblonde https://www.twitter.com/alaskanblonde53 30% off sitewide at Batch! Go here and support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠hellobatch.com/NOTORIOUS⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use the code NOTORIOUS at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575/episodes/mono-encore-the-murder-of-cecil-wells-w-james-t-bartlett/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-notorious-a-true-crime-history-podcast-453575/mono-encore-the-murder-of-cecil-wells-w-james-t-bartlett.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.