This seems to be one of the lesser known UM cases. Bobby Fuller was a famous singer back in the early 60's; known for his song 'I Fought the Law.' In the case, the police found Bobby's lifeless body in his car. They still don't know if he committed suicide or he was murdered.

It's surprising that there isn't more information available on this case.

Whatever happened with this one, I think that the case was either botched or evidence was deliberately covered up.

Seems like there was a cop or emt who took a gas can from the scene and threw it away without processing it. Also, I thought his friends and family said that he had defensive wounds which pointed away from suicide.

It's been quite a while since I read up on this one. I need to refresh my memory.

http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/une_bobby_fuller.htm says this:

From the moment his body was discovered, police thought it was suicide, even though Bobby’s body was in full rigor mortis when they found him. This suggested that he had been dead for several hours. And according to Bobby’s mother, suicide just didn’t make sense. She also claimed that Bobby’s car had been gone all night and was still not there when she checked during the following day. It wasn’t until 5 P.M., when Bobby’s mother went to pick up the mail, that the car had mysteriously appeared with her son’s body inside.

Edna Gunderson: “The problem here is that dead men don’t drive cars, and that car got into that lot and Bobby did not drive it. So the question is, who did? Where did it come from? Why did they bring it back? Where did they go?”

The death scene itself was strange. There was blood on Bobby’s face and chest and on the car seat. His body and clothes were soaked with gasoline. On the floorboard, was a partly full gas can with a rubber hose attached to the spout.

Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records arrived while police were still investigating: “At about the same time I got there, the plain-clothes detective threw the can of gas in the dumpster. He said, ‘It’s just another rock and roll punk. He committed suicide or something like that.’ The police department didn’t do anything. They didn’t take prints. They didn’t ask any questions of anybody. It was just like he was a bum off the street.”

At first, it was thought that Bobby died after drinking gasoline. But the autopsy revealed no gasoline in his stomach. His death was then attributed to inhaling gasoline fumes.

According to Edna Gunderson, the coroner’s report had discrepancies: “On one page, it’s marked an accident. On another page, there’s a question mark next to the word “accident”, and a question mark next to the word “suicide”. There was nothing conclusive to suggest that Bobby had committed suicide. The other unusual aspect of this case, was that Bobby looked as if he had been beaten up. Now, some of this could’ve been the result of the early decomposition of the body, or it could’ve been earlier injuries, bruises, what have you. But two or three people said that he had a broken finger and that there was blood on his shirt.”

Nothing seemed to point to suicide, but the police were insistent. Edna Gunderson says that an offhand remark made by Bobby’s mother led to the ruling: “She did say that he had been upset in recent days. But she did not suggest that he had been depressed or despondent, as they had reported. And she was later very upset that they had concluded that he had committed suicide, because she believed that he was incapable of that.”

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Well, I can understand it being a suicide and the mom just not wanting to accept that.

Everything was soaked in gasoline, yet the plain clothes detective threw the gas can away? That's just weird.

Bobby Fuller was supposed to have gone to a party that night with a girl named Melody who's boyfriend was alleged to have been connected to the mob. This case seems strange for a mob hit, but maybe I've just got a stereotype impression how the mafia operates. I always think of their murders being more like the NYC italian restaurant mob hits, the Bugsey Siegel barrage of bullets hit, and the whole Jimmy Hoffa disappearing thing.

For the record, Melody contacted UM and said she doesn't think this was a suicide, she doesn't have mafia connections, and was not with Bobby the night he died.

Seems like I read elsewhere that he was originally from TX but was staying at his mom's apartment in CA temporarily for his job. I need to go find where I got that info.

EDIT:

On this site http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/F/Bobby%20Fuller/bobbyfuller.htm it says that Bobby Fuller's mom was visiting him in CA and that her home was in El Paso, TX.

"His death was attributed to inhaling gasoline fumes."

I wonder if he was huffing. Did people do that in the 60s? I thought they just smoked dope and did LSD and that huffing didn't really gain in popularity until the 70s and especially the 80s.

Also wondering where the blood on his face, chest, and the car seat came from. Did he have a nose bleed? Was his coughing up blood? Did he have wounds that broke the skin? I don't think the UM site brought up the source of the blood.

EDIT to add more info from the find a death site linked in previous post:

According to the official Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office autopsy report,

*"Deceased was found lying face down in front seat of car--
*a gas can, 1/3 full, cover open--windows were all rolled up & doors shut, not locked--
*keys not in ignition".

The report also noted

*excessive bruising on his chest and shoulders, and attributed the
*cause of death to asphyxiation "due to inhalation of gasoline".
*Bobby had been drenched with the gasoline, and he was in a state of rigor mortis.
*His body appeared battered, and
*his right finger was broken, as if it had been bent back.

The police attributed his death to suicide, with the report stating that there was "no evidence of foul play." So basically he beat himself up, broke his finger, and then drenched himself with gasoline. Oh yeah, that makes sense. The case remains closed and sealed under California law.

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I want to know, where were the keys if they were not in the ignition? Were they missing from the scene, or just in his pocket?

How was his body "battered", including a broken finger, but it's considered suicide. I could see suicide by a more violent method causing trauma to the body, but sniffing gas until you die doesn't break your finger or batter your body.

ok wait, didnt some chick he was with that night made a statement he got into a fight? this chick had some weird nickname and refused to make herself public. Am I correct??

ok wait, didnt some chick he was with that night made a statement he got into a fight? this chick had some weird nickname and refused to make herself public. Am I correct??

There was an update that indicated this woman (her name escapes me as well) called the tele-center and set the record straight on some aspects of the case.

I don't recall all of the details regarding this.

I'm sorry I have nothing to offer of relevance; I remember this case well because as recently as 2004, a buddy of mine claimed "I Fought The Law" was sung by Roy Orbison. I knew it wasn't because of U.M.

There was an update that indicated this woman (her name escapes me as well) called the tele-center and set the record straight on some aspects of the case.

I don't recall all of the details regarding this.

Her name was Melody. According to the update, she confirmed some details (likely the relationship and given the time, the drug use), but denied being involved with a gangster or taking Bobby to any party. She didn't think it was a suicide either, however.

I'm sorry I have nothing to offer of relevance; I remember this case well because as recently as 2004, a buddy of mine claimed "I Fought The Law" was sung by Roy Orbison. I knew it wasn't because of U.M.

I remember everyone fawning over the guy during the segment and anointing him as a "musical genius" and the "next big thing" in music. Although I'm not sure that is all together accurate, I do know that when Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty respectively covered "I Fought The Law" in concert in the seventies their respective arrangements of the song blew Fuller's version out of the water in my opinion.

Anyhow I think this case has all the earmarks of a botched police investigation. There was a widespread stereotype at that time (admittedly somewhat accurate) that everyone involved in rock music was a drug addled raver. In fact I remember from the segment it was said that one of the cops made a comment along those lines in regards to Fuller. I don't think we'll ever know what happened to Fuller due to the botched effort by the police to determine what really happened to him.

The BF death is one of those cases you would think would be discussed more, but it isn't. I'm definitely aware of the iconic "I fought the Law" rock/pop song, but have still never heard of BF prior to seeing this segment.

This is an extremely odd case. If someone is trying to kill themselves, why would they douse gasoline all over them - i.e., to light themselves on fire?! I can't think of a more horrific & painful way to die, so I doubt he did this to himself. And, if someone is trying to cover up a murder, why douse someone with gasoline...would it be to make it look like they were trying to kill themselves?! Or, was he doused with gasoline to get rid of the body, and did the person/people later have second thoughts & decide not to go through with the burning?!

It sounds like BF may have had some kind of confrontation/altercation at the Hollywood party he went to, and was killed - and the crime was covered up by putting him in the car, etc.

Or, maybe he died of unintentional alcohol poisoning - i.e., drinking too much?! The UM wiki site mentions that no drugs were found in his system, but it said nothing about alcohol. If he did die because of this, it's possible the people at the party panicked & staged the elaborate cover-up; maybe the party-goers were worried that if the authorities investigated the party, they would find drugs, etc.

Though this wasn't mentioned in the segment, I read online that "Melody" apparently called the UM call-center after the airing of the segment & told them she didn't know anything about the crime. I don't necessarily believe it was actually her who called in, and if it was - I don't trust anything she says.

I vaguely remember the update, and being awfully curious as to how UM confirmed it was the same woman that dated BF years before.


The odd BF death is one of those cases you would think would be discussed more, but it isn't.

I just saw this UM segment, and it's an extremely odd case. If someone is trying to kill themselves, why would they douse gasoline all over them - i.e., to light themselves on fire?! I can't think of a more horrific way to go, so I doubt he did this to himself.

It sounds like he may have had some kind of confrontation/altercation at the Hollywood party he went to, and was killed - and the crime was covered up by putting him in the car, the gas, etc.

Or, maybe he died of unintentional alcohol poisoning - i.e., drinking too much?! The UM wiki site mentions that no drugs were found in his system, but it said nothing about alcohol. If he did die because of this, it's possible the people at the party panicked & staged the elaborate cover-up; maybe the party-goers were worried that if the authorities investigated the party, they would find drugs, etc.

I also heard that the mysterious "Melody" apparently called the UM call-center after the airing of the segment & told them she didn't know anything about the crime. I don't necessarily believe it was actually her who called in, and if it was - I don't trust anything she says.

According to journalist Dean Kuipers, the medical examiner found no evidence of a beating, bruises or broken bones on Fuller’s body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fuller#Death