There are some cases that gain international attention for various reasons. Little did firefighters know that they’d stumbled onto just such a sensation as they doused a fire on an otherwise pleasant Sunday morning in 1975. The incident would gain notoriety as The Barbecue Murders.
Marlene Louise Olive was born in Norfolk, Virginia on January 15th, 1959. She was born to an unmarried mother who couldn’t keep her. She was subsequently adopted by a middle-aged childless couple, Jim and Naomi Olive.
Marlene spent most of her childhood happy and carefree in Ecuador. Her father had a very good job there, and they got along very well. Father and daughter had a very good, very healthy relationship. Marlene’s relationship with her mother could be said to be the exact opposite.
Naomi was described as having “descended into paranoid schizophrenia and alcoholism. The role of parent was just too much for her.” This caused her relationship with her daughter to be very troubled and tumultuous.
After Jim lost his job, the Olives moved back to the US in 1973, when Marlene was young, vulnerable, and discovering her teenagehood at the age of 14. The family settled in Marin County, California, in the Terra Linda community of San Rafael. Jim started up a consulting firm, which was quite successful. But this success came with a few setbacks – long hours, a lot of stress, and less time spent with Marlene.
“By the start of high school, Marlene had grown into a sullen teenager who wrote sad poems, told big lies, and lived in a weird fantasy world, where she imagined herself a witch.” She began abusing various substances, and gained interest in glam rock, witchcraft, and sex work. It has been speculated, though never confirmed, that Marlene’s interest in sex work stemmed from repeatedly being called a “whore” by Naomi.
Marlene’s criminal activity started out small.
Marlene shoplifted, stole her parents’ credit cards, used and overdosed on drugs, ran away from home, and routinely received stolen goods from burglaries committed by a boyfriend. These major changes in behaviour added to the strain Naomi already felt, and began to tear Jim and Marlene apart.
The arguments between mother and daughter would escalate to levels described as domestic violence, with Jim constantly and consistently taking Naomi’s side. This perceived betrayal made Marlene resentful of her father.
She started talking to her friends about her hatred towards her parents, often saying she wanted to kill them. At one point, Marlene attempted to poison Naomi. She mixed large doses of ground up prescription drugs into Naomi’s food, but the taste was too bitter and Naomi refused to eat. Marlene’s delinquent behaviour was steadily escalating towards more sinister, more serious forms of criminality. Especially after meeting Chuck.
Charles “Chuck” Riley was born in 1955 in Marin County, California. He’d been obese since childhood, leaving him with deep-seeded insecurities. He dropped out of high school during his senior year, choosing to work instead of study. He worked as a newspaper and pizza delivery man, a bartender, and a factory worker. But these weren’t very lucrative occupations for him.
Riley soon turned to dealing – and doing – drugs, mostly for the income, but partially for the social status and popularity he knew he’d gain as a dealer. He was also known to own multiple guns and was a very skilled marksman.
Riley met Marlene when he was dealing drugs at her high school – he was 19, and she was 15. Immediately, Riley was smitten. He’d never had a girlfriend before, and he wanted Marlene to be his first.
Marlene was initially put off by Riley, but was soon flattered by the attention. He pursued her by wooing her with small gifts and free drugs. Marlene liked getting things for free.
In due course, they started having sex, Marlene using it as a reward system for jobs well done. She was very much in control of the relationship. She claimed to have magical powers of control over Riley – claims that he believed wholeheartedly. (Sound familiar? I posted about a Canadian case with similar controlling tones.)
Riley provided Marlene with free drugs, transportation, and he listened to her problems – especially the problems involving her parents. He would routinely help her carry out sexual and criminal fantasies. Marlene would often make him shoplift expensive gifts for her – gifts he was rewarded for in terms of sexual favours.
Marlene was abusive and controlling of Riley – something she took great pride in. She often used emotional, sexual, and psychological blackmail to get what she wanted. And if he didn’t do as she said or asked? She would threaten to break up with him, often leaving him anxious, depressed and suicidal.
At the beginning of their relationship – the abuse hidden from their view – Jim and Naomi approved, seeing Riley as a polite, charming young man. It didn’t take long for that to change. The couple went on a shoplifting spree, stealing $6,000 worth of merchandise. They were caught in March of 1975 for grand larceny.
Before this point, Riley had no prior history of delinquency or antisocial behaviour – aside from dealing drugs. Grand larceny was his first adult arrest.
The Olives decided Riley wasn’t such a good influence on their teenage daughter. They also realized Marlene needed some severe intervention. They threatened her with juvenile detention, and plans to send her away to school. They forbade her from seeing Riley – a mandate that was also court ordered. Jim also ordered Riley to stay away from the house, threatening to kill him if he ever returned. This did not please the couple. They were determined not to stay apart for long.
On Saturday, June 21st, 1975, Marlene had a massive argument with her mother. She picked up the phone and called Riley, telling him: “We’ve got to kill that bitch today.” Marlene had a plan. She arranged to go out shopping with her father, leaving the door unlocked for Riley to enter the house while Naomi was sleeping off a drunken stupor. Riley took some LSD, and then went to the house with a loaded .22 caliber revolver.
Despite having the gun, Riley struck Naomi in the head over and over again with a hammer. After beating her, Riley then stabbed and suffocated Naomi. Jim came home during the attack, rushing at Riley. Riley grabbed his gun and fire four shots at Jim, killing him. Marlene and Riley very quickly proceeded with damage control.
They hid the bodies and drove them out to China Camp, a camp that was often used by hunters to cook deer meat. The couple put the bodies in a barbecue pit, loaded it up with gasoline and logs, and then lit it ablaze. When firefighters doused the blaze the following day, they assumed they were looking at the remains of a hunters’ cookout.
Upon their return to the house, Marlene and Riley enlisted the help of a friend to clean the house. They needed help getting all the blood off the carpet, the walls, and the furniture. They partied and gloated to many other friends about what they’d done. “We had to do it,” Riley said. “They wouldn’t let me see her.”
For several days, the couple lived it up in the house where they killed Jim and Naomi Olive. They attended a concert, went shopping, ate out, and paid for their expenses using cash, cheques, and credit cards taken from Jim and Naomi.
Marlene had a grand plan. She always had a plan.
She and Riley would wait for her parents to be declared dead, and then she’d collect on the life insurance payout. Once financially stable, Marlene and Riley would move to Ecuador, the place where Marlene had been at her happiest.
This plan would not succeed.
Having missed a few days of work, Jim’s business parter became very concerned. He contacted the police and filed a missing person’s report. When the police went to the Olive home, they were greeted by Marlene who told lie after lie. Her falsifications included, but were not limited to, saying her parents had simply disappeared, or one had killed the other and fled with the body, or – most outlandish – that they’d been killed by Hells Angels.
Unsurprisingly, the police were skeptical about the teenager’s claims. They also noticed the disparity within the house. One particular room – where Naomi had been beaten – was much, much cleaner than the rest of the house. The rest of the house was in complete disorder. Major red flags.
Soon enough, the friends that the couple had gloated to – including the friend who’d helped with the cleanup – came forward and pinpointed Marlene and Riley as the killers. Police then went to China Camp and investigated the barbecue pit. What firefighters believed were deer bones were the remains of Jim (59) and Naomi (50).
Marlene Olive and Chuck Riley were arrested. Riley made a detailed confession, detailing how he’d carried out Marlene’s plan to make her happy. When Marlene was happy, he got sex. And he wanted sex with Marlene.
Marlene, however, said that Riley had done it all of his own volition. She claimed that he’d then held her hostage and forced her to sleep with him and take drugs.
Due to Marlene being a juvenile at the time of the crimes, she was tried separately from Riley.
Riley, who was 20 years old at the time of the murders, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faced the death penalty. On the stand, under hypnosis (which was later determined to be lacking in credibility), Riley explained that he hadn’t been the one to attack Naomi with the hammer – he’d found her that way after Marlene had left her mother to die. Not wanting her to suffer, Riley had stabbed and suffocated her in a drug-induced fit to put her out of her misery. He said he’d originally confessed to the beating in order to protect Marlene.
Prosecutors asserted that Riley used the hammer in the attack to avoid unwanted attention from the sound of gunshots. He’d only shot Jim because he didn’t have time to find an alternative.
Riley contended that he shot Jim out of self-defence. Jim had rushed him with the intent to kill him. Riley defended himself by killing Jim first.
The jury did not believe any of Riley’s defence.
They convicted him on both counts of first-degree murder. On January 26th, 1976, Riley was formally sentenced to the death penalty.
Marlene, who was 16 at the time of the murders, was tired in juvenile court. She was charged with violating section 602 of the California State Welfare and Institutions Code. The Code covered everything from petty theft to murder committed by a juvenile offender. The court ruled that Marlene had violated the Code, and sentenced her to 4 to 6 years in confinement with the California Youth Authority at the Ventura School.
In December of 1976, the California Supreme Court ruled that the California death penalty was unconstitutional. This meant that all California prisoners, including Riley, were not to be executed. Riley’s sentence was changed to two concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole after 7 years.
While in prison he lost weight, earned his high school diploma, and the equivalency of a college degree. He applied for parole approximately a dozen times. And approximately a dozen times, his application for parole was denied.
In 2011, Riley was 56 years old and physically disabled. He appealed his parole denial, arguing that he was not longer a danger to the community. He claimed that the parole board had not considered his age, and that his sentence was unconstitutionally excessive. A new parole hearing was ordered, where it was determined that he was suitable for release and granted full parole.
On February 26th, 2015, the decision was reversed, a reversal that Riley immediately appealed. On December 3rd, 2015, Riley’s parole was reinstated and was released for the last time on December 8th, 2015.
Marlene was allowed to serve part of her sentence living outside of the Ventura School with a woman who was a juvenile services volunteer. This was a freedom that was rarely granted, and Marlene took full advantage.
A few weeks before she was due to be paroled, Marlene escaped and fled to New York City where she lived and worked as a sex worker. She was caught, arrested, and sent back to California in order to finish the remainder of her sentence. She was released in 1980, when she was 21 years old.
Marlene moved to LA and changed her name several times. Over the next 10 years, Marlene was arrested at least 7 times for forgery and drug related charges. She served two one-year terms in jail.
In 1986, she was one of 14 people arrested in LA for allegedly operating a large scale counterfeiting and forgery ring. Investigators firmly believed Marlene to be the leaders. Marlene was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
In 1992, she served additional prison terms for falsifying financial statements, and was convicted again in 1995 for possession of a forged driver’s license.
The last anyone had heard of Marlene Olive was her 2003 conviction, and subsequent 7 year prison sentence, for possessing a false cheque.
Marlene may not be familiar to law enforcement these days, but she and Chuck Riley will always be known for The Barbecue Murders.
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Sources:
Adopted California teen convinces boyfriend to kill parents in 1975 ‘Barbecue Murders’ – Mara Bovsun for The New York Daily News
Marlene Olive and Charles Riley: The Barbecue Murders – an episode from The Black Umbrella Podcast (which can be found on Spotify here)
Barbecue Murders Wikipedia page