Reminder: My Next Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia Case Is October 6

Posted on September 29, 2026 by lmharnisch



Boxie and I will be doing a live Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube. The next Black Dahlia Book Club is Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube.

In this session, I’ll give an update on the book, discuss the latest developments in the murder of Elizabeth Short and pick away at my backlog of questions.

Reminder: Don’t dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween.

Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them!

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated)

Posted on September 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Weird ceremony with man in scary mask at altar with skulls
For Monday, we have a mysterious ceremony. Hint: No vampires, gorillas or amusement parks appear in this week’s mystery movie. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Daniel Curtis Interview on The Growth Time Machine

Posted on September 18, 2026 by lmharnisch

I recently had a very pleasant chat with Daniel Curtis regarding the Black Dahlia case, British vs. American sensibilities about murder, the English and American schools of mystery writing (Agatha Christie fans, be warned), Sherlock Holmes, Renaissance drama, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Crippen, Jack the Ripper – and Mozart.

Give it a watch!

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Black Dahlia Book Club for September 2026

Posted on September 15, 2026 by lmharnisch

Welcome to the ninth session of the Black Dahlia Book Club!

I finally got tired of talking about George Hodel and Steve Hodel (at this point, I know Steve’s monologues from memory) so I decided to spend some time looking at portrayals of the murder and the investigation. I consider myself first and foremost a historian of the Black Dahlia case, and think it’s important to examine the source material in detail to emphasize the challenges of researching the murder of Elizabeth Short.

The high bidder on an inscribed first edition of Michael Connelly’s“The Narrows is Kostadin Hadzhibanov. Congratulations! The book will be on its way once I receive proof of a donation in the winning amount to a charity of your choice in memory of Elizabeth Short.

Coming soon: The auction of a signed first edition of Michael Connelly’s The Drop with the winning bid going to a charity of one’s choice in memory of Elizabeth Short

Next month: Black Dahlia Ask Me Anything, October 6 on YouTube.

Links:

Joan Renner: “James Ellroy Presents Elizabeth.”

LAPD Public Records Request on the Black Dahlia (pdf).

In this session, I discussed the Los Angeles County coroner’s files and the LAPD files in the Black Dahlia case. I also discussed: Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, September 2026

Posted on September 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

This is the Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case for September 2026.

The Black Dahlia Book Club will meet September 15, 2026. The next Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case will be October 6, 2026.

the_narrows_coverI am auctioning for charity a signed, inscribed first edition of Michael Connelly’s The Narrows starting today and ending with the Black Dahlia Book Club on September 15. The winner will donate the bid amount to a charity of their choice in memory of Elizabeth Short. Send me proof of the donation, and the book will be in the mail.

Send bids to LMHarnisch@Gmail.com with “The Narrows” in the subject field. I will post the bids (if any) once a day.

Reminder: Do NOT dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween.

In this episode, I discussed the complicated backstory of Killer in the Code and the roles of Mr. Alex Baber, Rick Jackson, Mitzi Roberts, Michael Connelly and the possible role of someone in the Marvin Merrill family.

I also discussed: Continue reading →

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September 28, 1938: Los Angeles Mayor Begins City Hall Cleanup

Posted on September 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

September 28, 1938: L.A. Times front page, Mayor Fletcher Bowron asks 117 people to resign. Mayor Bowron asks 117 commission members to quit

Two members of the Police Commission resign and the head of the LAPD vice squad announces his retirement.

Germany issues a new ultimatum on Czechoslovakia and King George VI places Britain under a state of emergency as President Roosevelt makes another plea for peace.

Quote of the day:
“I have done all that one man can do.” –Neville Chamberlain

Italian leader Benito Mussolini says war in Europe is inevitable and tells his generals that fighting will begin in two or three days at most. Thousands of foreigners flee Italy by every available train and boat.

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 1938, @news, City Hall, Downtown, Front Pages, Politics, Sports | Leave a comment

Voices — Christine Collins, September 28, 1931

Posted on September 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

September 28, 1931: A letter from George Anderson regarding Walter Collins and his potential for parole.

Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Leave a comment

September 28, 1907: L.A. Motorcycle Club Backs Ban on Loud Pipes

Posted on September 28, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

September 28, 1907
Los Angeles

Members of the Los Angeles Motorcycle Club have written to officials in support of a measure banning loud exhaust pipes on motorcycles.

“The motorcycle club says that it has been making a direct crusade against open mufflers and that all members of the club are forbidden to open their cycle mufflers within any city or town limits,” The Times said.

“We wish it generally understood that those riders of motorcycles making this ‘popgun’ noise, which causes so many complaints, are not members of the Los Angeles Motorcycle Club,” the group said.

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September 22, 1947: Avak the Healer Comes to Los Angeles

Posted on September 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

image

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

And then he was gone as if he had never been here at all. The hundreds of people who threw themselves at his feet to kiss the hem of his robes or simply to occupy the chair where he had been sitting were nothing but a memory.

He was Avak Hagopian, a somber 20-year-old from Kharadag in Azerbaijan, and working in Tehran as a mechanic—or a goldsmith—the stories vary. He paused one day as he was about to bring down a mallet and was struck with a vision, a vision that returned twice more. With faith in God, he would cure the sick, the blind and the diseased. The young man with the dark, intense eyes grew a beard and let his hair flow to his shoulders. He became “Avak the Healer” or “Avak the Great,” performer of miracles.
Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

2026_0926_main_title

This week’s mystery movie was the 1943 Columbia film What a Woman, with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Willard Parker, Alan Dinehart, Edward Fielding, Ann Savage, Norma Varden, Douglas Wood and Grady Sutton. Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 38 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 14, 2026 by lmharnisch

Art Deco lettering over air brushed background of city skyline.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1928 Universal film Lonesome, with Glenn Tryon, Barbara Kent, Fay Holderness, Gustav Partos and Eddie Phillips.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

September 13, 1963: Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Posted on September 13, 2026 by lmharnisch

Sept. 13, 1963, Comics

Sept. 13, 1963, Body Hidden in Wall
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared.

Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley returned from a vacation in Montana and learned that her mother was missing.

According to Anna’s brother Charles Biba, she had visited in Chicago and boarded a direct flight to Los Angeles on Aug. 13.

Joseph told police “she has probably run off with some man,” but allowed investigators to search the home and agreed to a polygraph test — which he “passed with flying colors,” The Times said. Further investigation revealed that he had filed for divorce while his wife was gone.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

September 12, 1947: L.A. Times Columnist Lee Shippey

Posted on September 12, 2026 by lmharnisch

image

Sept. 12, 1947, L.A. Times, Lee Shippey

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Henry R. Wagner of San Marino will be 85 years old Sept. 27 but the Zamorano Club couldn’t wait that long. In order to surprise Dr. Wagner, it celebrated his birthday at its monthly dinner Wednesday night—and the members got a surprise, too.

Never before had a woman been introduced to the club, but at that dinner Mrs. Wagner, Dorothy Huggings of San Francisco and Ruth Frye Axe, Dr. Wagner’s present secretary, were honor guests.

Continue reading →

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September 12, 1944: Wife Stabs Venice Man to Death

Posted on September 12, 2026 by lmharnisch

Sept. 12, 1944, comics

Sept. 12, 1944, Killing

September 12, 1944

Charles Holdren, 45, lived at 1515 Trolleyway, Venice, with his wife, Ellen, and daughters from a previous marriage: Virginia, 20, Peggy, 18, and Lois, 13. He worked as a fish cutter and after Charles and Ellen had spent Sunday drinking heavily, he decided to go to bed.

Where he found his wife, Ellen, 44.

The Times said he “objected to her presence in bed when he started to retire.”

At the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre: Rainbow Rhapsody with ‘Spectratone.’

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Los Angeles City Hall, September 11, 2011

Posted on September 11, 2026 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles City Hall, Sept. 11, 2011

Photo: City Hall, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. Credit: Larry Harnisch/LADailyMirror.com

Posted in City Hall, Downtown, Photography | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

September 10, 1947: In Love but Unable to Marry First Cousin, 17, Man Shoots Himself

Posted on September 10, 2026 by lmharnisch

image

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Sept. 10, 1947, Attempted Suicide There are some obstacles that even love cannot overcome, or so David Everett has discovered. The 30-year-old mechanic is in critical condition at Torrance General Hospital after shooting himself in the head and neck in despondency over his frustrated love for his 17-year-old first cousin Janet. And yes, she lives in a trailer park.

Everett is the man who was handing out $100 tips the other day after withdrawing all his money from the bank. Not just to Flora Killingsworth for bringing him ham and eggs, but to 15-year-old newsboy Edward Grant for a nickel paper, and to a cabdriver who took him to Glendale. To top it off, Everett ripped up some $100 bills and threw them in the street.

Continue reading →

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September 10, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

Posted on September 10, 2026 by lmharnisch

September 10, 1931: Christine Collins letter to Warden Smith seeking a release from prison for her husband, Walter.

Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Comments Off on September 10, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

September 10, 1907: Horoscope — ‘A Very Uncertain Day’

Posted on September 10, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

September 10, 1907
Los Angeles

A very uncertain day. No evil omens glare anywhere but in all aspects there lies a heavy veil, defying those who would peer into this day. Beware, therefore, of all and any unconsidered act. Promise nothing unless you comprehend clearly the full scope and limit of the pledge. Sign neither note nor contract this day without full security in your hand. Avoid speculative enterprises like the plague.

“A red flag flows wildly” this day. Take heed that neither spark nor flame be left carelessly in dangerous places. Do not retire tonight without guarding against fire with much more care than usual. A great fire is threatened for a large city on the Atlantic Coast this night.

Continue reading →

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Dodger players buy homes in Compton, September 9, 1958

Posted on September 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

Continue reading →

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Sept. 9, 1947: Model Destroys Fake Painting Showing Her Semi-Nude

Posted on September 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

In New Delhi, unimaginable carnage. “I counted the bodies of at least 30 Moslems, men, women and children, who were chopped up like beef by bearded Sikhs at the main New Delhi railroad station as they were about to leave for the safety of Lahore in the Moslem Pakistan area of the Punjab,” says James Michaels of United Press.

In Hamburg, British troops force thousands of Jews from Exodus 1947 to disembark in Hamburg, Germany. “Many of the Jews, frustrated in their dream of celebrating the Jewish high holy days a week hence in Palestine, began to wail. They shouted against “Hitlerism” and being returned to “this land which is a bloody graveyard of millions of Jews,” according to Associated Press.

Continue reading →

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September 9, 1907: Taft Leads Bryan in Presidential Poll

Posted on September 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

September 9, 1907
Los Angeles

More than a year before the 1908 presidential election, Republican William Howard Taft is far and away the favorite over Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a straw poll reported by The Times.

 

Continue reading →

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