Category Archives: #courts

Changeling — Part X

Los Angeles Times file photo Gordon Northcott ignores his attorneys and argues with the judge, Dec. 5, 1928. Oct. 17, 1928: The Police Commission decides not to punish Capt. J.J. Jones for putting Christine Collins in a mental ward. The … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, Changeling, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | 50 Comments

Changeling — Part VIII

Los Angeles Times file photo Gordon Northcott: "Youth Convicted as Boy-Butcher." Los Angeles Times file photo "I killed Alvin Gothea on the ranch…" Gordon Northcott is convicted and sentenced to death. There were appeals but he was hanged at San … Continue reading

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Changeling –Part VII

                                     Los Angeles Times file photo From left, prosecutor Earl (sometimes spelled Earle) Redwine, Loyal Kelley, A.H. de Tremaudan (sometimes spelled Tremandon), J. McKinley Cameron, David Sokol, Gordon … Continue reading

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Changeling — Part VI

Los Angeles Times file photo In going through the photographs from the Gordon Northcott case, I’m struck by how different Northcott looks from one image to another. Sometimes he appears  thoughtful, even bookish. In others, he looks quite demonic. In … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, @news, Changeling, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | 4 Comments

Movie star beaten to death, November 1, 1968

Photograph by the Los Angeles Times Newsmen gather outside Ramon Novarro’s house, 3110 Laurel Canyon, after he was found beaten to death, 1968. View Larger Map The 3100 block of Laurel Canyon, where Ramon Novarro lived, via Google maps’ street … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | 5 Comments

Serial killer Harvey Glatman captured, October 31, 1958

Harvey Murray Glatman is arrested and freely admits killing three women.  He was executed in the gas chamber Sept. 18, 1959. It took him eight minutes to die.

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Changeling stories — Part IV

Los Angeles Times file photoLouisa Northcott, the mother of Gordon Northcott, isn’t portrayed in “Changeling,” but played a key role in the actual case. Above, she’s booked in jail. Los Angeles Times file photoLouisa Northcott with one of her attorneys … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, Changeling, Homicide | 10 Comments

October 28, 1938: Mayor investigates honorary LAPD badges

Above, Police Chief James Davis turns over a list of more than 7,800 people who have received honorary badges from the Los Angeles Police Department. Recipients include Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Louis B. Mayer, Joe E. Brown, King Vidor, Bela … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, City Hall, Downtown, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics | 1 Comment

Changeling stories — Part I

Police Capt. Jones and LAPD officers search the lake in Lincoln Park for the body of Walter Collins, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1928. The boy claiming to be Walter Collins poses with Christine Collins, Aug. 18, 1928 Several regular … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, @news, Changeling, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Parks and Recreation | 42 Comments

October 22, 1958: Mob suspected in bookie’s killing

Clifford Rue was a man who was ahead of his time and behind on the payments to his bookie. A former Marine who changed his name from Rubenstein for business purposes, Rue had been working at his father’s liquor store … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, Front Pages, Homicide, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | 1 Comment

L.A. firefighter buys job for $600, October 21, 1938

A 2,000-acre brush fire burns from Stone Canyon Dam to Beverly Glen and north to Mulholland Drive. A political bombshell explodes in the Los Angeles City Fire Department: The sale of jobs for $600 ($8,745.89 USD 2007). Fire Chief Ralph … Continue reading

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Stolen statue — Nuestro Pueblo, October 19, 1938

Posted in #courts, Architecture, art and artists, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo | 3 Comments

Officers buy police jobs for $150, October 16, 1938

Above, imagine my surprise to recognize the Coliseum in this panel from "Ella Cinders" by Bill Conselman and Charlie Plumb.  Ruth Etting’s ex-husband Martin Snyder kidnaps Etting’s husband, Myrl Alderman, forces him to drive to their home at 3000 Lake … Continue reading

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Civil Service chief arrested, card players held in vice crackdown, October 13, 1938

At left,  the general manager of the city’s Civil Service Commis-sion is arrested on charges of tampering with the final results of employment tests. Police Chief James Davis calls a meeting to tell captains  to focus on serious vice and … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, #games, Current Affairs, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD, Parks and Recreation, Sports | 1 Comment

Dodgers and Philadelphia in the playoffs, October 4, 1977

Note the Dial Torgerson byline in a story datelined Jerusalem. Torgerson and freelance photographer Richard Cross were killed in Honduras on June 21, 1983, when their car drove over a U.S.-made landmine evidently placed by Nicaraguan forces.   By Keith … Continue reading

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Young cancer patient cheers for Cubs, October 6, 1938

Nazis bill Czechs for "reparations"; Mayor Fletcher Bowron plans investigation of civic corruption. Crowds gather outside on 1st Street outside The Times Building to watch World Series results on the newspaper’s scoreboard. It looks like they had loudspeakers as well. … Continue reading

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‘There is no longer any violence in the eyes of O.J. Simpson,’ October 6, 1968

 Nixon leads Humphrey in state poll By Keith Thursby Times staff writer It’s easy to pick apart an old profile of a famous person. The celebrity talks of hopes and dreams and you can see what went according to the … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, @news, broadcasting, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Sports, Television | 1 Comment

Nazis roll into Czechoslovakia, October 4, 1938

Triumphant Hitler enters with troops into the Sudetenland Cheering crowds greet Nazi leader, shouting, ‘We thank our Fuehrer!’     Films in production: Claire Trevor is cast is "Stagecoach." Apes throw hand grenades British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain defends his … Continue reading

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Leading defense attorney dies; Dodgers win against Cubs, September 27, 1958

LeCompte Davis dies at 95 Prominent attorney represented the McNamara brothers in The Times bombing and Alexander Pantages in his famous sexual assault case.  Stewart Granger in "Harry Black and the Tiger."   LeCompte Davis, left, with Frank Bryson in … Continue reading

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Black civil rights leader stabbed; Dodgers win, September 22, 1958

Martin Luther King Jr. hospitalized Woman judged insane after plunging a letter opener into the civil rights leader’s chest. Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 29, is in critical condition at Harlem Hospital in New York after being … Continue reading

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