Category Archives: #courts

October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

Posted on October 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 7, 1909: Pedro Vasquez was arrested by Detective Talamantes for stealing two pairs of trousers. After the jurors convicted Vasquez,  they took up a collection so he could buy a shirt since he didn’t have one.  Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Fashion, LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

October 1, Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on October 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 1, 1959: Paul Coates writes about Caryl Chessman and his scheduled execution. And Mickey Cohen plans to marry Beverly (Jean) Hills. Continue reading →

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October 1, 1909: Fatal Land Dispute Near El Monte

Posted on October 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 1, 1909: High winds ground the aeroplanes of the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss…. A property dispute near El Monte ends in a death with racial overtones. Continue reading →

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September 29, 1919: Omaha Mob Burns Courthouse, Tries to Kill Mayor Before Lynching Black

Posted on September 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 29, 1919: Trigger Warning: Graphic coverage of a lynching in Omaha, Nebraska. A mob burns the courthouse, tries to lynch the mayor and murders a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. Many women take part in the lynching, saying the mayor didn’t do enough to guard their virtue Continue reading →

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September 23, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1959: Paul Coates on how not to start a conversation … and Abby’s advice to a widow who wants to meet a good man and get married. Continue reading →

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September 17, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 17, 1959: Paul Coates looks at the case of Caryl Chessman, scheduled to be executed in the gas chamber. A letter writer asks Dear Abby if it’s appropriate to ask restaurants for leftovers in a doggy bag. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Caryl Chessman, Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off on September 17, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

September 7, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 7, 1959: Paul Coates writes about a young woman’s experiences in traffic court. Hint: she wore a tight, revealing dress that she made herself, and has flaming red hair. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Columnists, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

August 31, 1958: Woman kills husband as children sleep, Giants win over Dodgers

Posted on August 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 31, 1958: Lillian Kella admits stabbing her husband, Ed, to death after a swimming party. Both had been drinking heavily. Continue reading →

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August 28, 1958: Intruder kills former actress

Posted on August 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 28, 1958: Helene Jerome, described as a retired actress, is found strangled in her apartment at the Las Palmas Hotel. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Cemeteries, Dodgers, Film, Forest Lawn, Front Pages, Hollywood, Hollywood Division, Homicide, LAPD, Sports | 1 Comment

August 27,1958: Woman kills husband over singing, Reds win against Dodgers

Posted on August 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 27, 1958: Was the late Benjamin Beynon, stabbed to death by his wife, an abusive husband or just a bad singer? Continue reading →

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August 26, 1938: LAPD officer accused in bizarre plot to kill neighbors

Posted on August 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 26, 1938: A suspended LAPD officer hires a couple of men to tunnel to his neighbors’ house, to plant bugging equipment … or explosives. A judge finds The Times guilty of contempt for editorials on pending court cases. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Front Pages, LAPD, Sports | 4 Comments

August 11, 1969: Ritual Killings Terrorize L.A.

Posted on August 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Here is Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi’s opening statement in the Tate-La Bianca murders of August 9-10, 1969. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Music, Rock 'n' Roll, Television | Comments Off on August 11, 1969: Ritual Killings Terrorize L.A.

Feb. 23, 1938 — Editorial: U.S. Doesn’t Need Anti-Lynching Law

Posted on February 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

Feb. 23, 1938: The Los Angeles Times editorializes that the U.S. doesn’t need a federal anti-lynching law. Backed by New Dealers, it’s merely an appeal to Black voters and lynchings hardly ever happen anyway, The Times says. And a pig test out San Quentin’s new gas chamber. Continue reading →

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Mayor Accuses LAPD of Spying on Political Supporters

Posted on June 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 9, 1961: Mayor-elect Sam Yorty comes out swinging, with charges that the LAPD was spying on his supporters, and he takes a little shot against The Times. Police Chief William H. Parker quickly disputed Yorty’s allegations, saying they were … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1961, art and artists, Comics, Countdown to Watts, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Comments Off on Mayor Accuses LAPD of Spying on Political Supporters

‘Hunchback Killer’ Arrested, June 8, 1941

Posted on June 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 8, 1941: For some time, I have been coming across stories about Alfred Horace Wells in going through the 1941 clips — “hunchback killer” is not a nickname that’s easy to forget. But I haven’t done anything on him … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | 2 Comments

Tip Poff, July 17, 1932

Posted on June 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 17, 1932: I’ve been meaning to post some of the Tip Poff  gossip columns that The Times used to run in the movie/drama pages of the 1930s. The Times experimented with the column and by 1939 was calling it … Continue reading →

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June 4, 1941: Burbank Man Invents Death Ray!

Posted on June 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 4, 1941: I’ll admit I’m a sucker for stories about death rays. Evidently The Times’ editors were too since they put this item on Page 1. Promoter Kurt Van Zuyle credited L.E. Riley of Burbank as the inventor. It … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Death Rays, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on June 4, 1941: Burbank Man Invents Death Ray!

From the Stacks – ‘Facts You Should Know About California’

Posted on June 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

    Since March, when I examined Louis Adamic’s “The Truth About Los Angeles,” I have been hunting the other pamphlets he wrote for E. Haldeman-Julius. A box of a dozen musty tracts arrived Friday, courtesy of EBay, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1927, 1928, books, Crime and Courts, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Zombie Reading List | 3 Comments

Jim Murray, June 1, 1961

Posted on June 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

           June 1, 1961: Among those celebrating the convictions of Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo is a Boyle Heights prizefight manager named Harry Shall. Harry gave the government a chance to throw the book at Blinky … Continue reading →

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Yorty Elected Mayor!

Posted on June 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

             June 1, 1961: Sam Yorty defeats Norris Poulson in the mayor’s race. Poulson says one reason for his loss was the Memorial Day riot in Griffith Park in which a mob of African Americans … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1961, art and artists, Comics, Countdown to Watts, Crime and Courts, Front Pages, LAPD, Parks and Recreation | Comments Off on Yorty Elected Mayor!