Joe Arridy and Frank Aguilar were both charged with the crime — Aguilar consistently accused Arridy of harming the girls, while Arridy seemed to not understand the situation enough to defend himself (via History of Yesterday). It wasn’t until years later that it was determined Arridy may not have even been in town on the night of the attack (via Office of the Governor).
Frank Aguilar, on the other hand, was accused of committing a similar crime two weeks before he harmed the Drain family — he had hit two women in the head as they slept (per Friends of Joe Arridy). One woman survived the assault and was able to point out Aguilar as the culprit. Meanwhile, during the week of the attack, Arridy was most likely working as a dishwasher on a volunteer basis, earning food and a place to stay in Cheyanne, Wyoming.
There was very little evidence against Arridy, but the main factor was a single hair found at the crime scene that could have belonged to him. In recent years, this hair evidence has been discredited. The only other evidence against Arridy was that he seemed to know Aguilar, saying (via Friends of Joe Arridy), “That’s Frank,” when asked to identify him.
