Category Archives: #courts

William Parker, Part 3

Posted on June 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 19, 1957 Los Angeles This will be fascinating reading to anyone interested in the LAPD in the 1930s and ’40s, but never forget that it is told from the viewpoint of one man: William H. Parker. I wish I … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on June 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 18, 1957 Los Angeles By oath and by tradition, policemen and probation officers are on the same side of the law. Yet I know of no two groups so closely associated and so united in cause which are so … Continue reading →

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William Parker, Part 2

Posted on June 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 18, 1957 Los Angeles Part 2 of Paul Weeks’ series on William H. Parker. Page 1 Page 2 Daniel Webster’s speech is here (search for Captain Joseph White). The Bible passage is a little more problematic. It echoes Psalms … Continue reading →

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Reds freed!

Posted on June 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

Note the suicide of Stanford scientist William K. Sherwood. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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William Parker, Part 1

Posted on June 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 17, 1957 Los Angeles I’m extremely pleased to be able to present Paul Weeks’ series on Los Angeles Police Chief William H. Parker.  Weeks did a first-rate job with a subject who wasn’t especially cooperative. Although Parker realized … Continue reading →

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Sex slaying suspect

Posted on June 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 12, 1957 Los Angeles An illegal U-turn at Sunset Boulevard and Virgil Avenue at 1 a.m. led to the arrest of Charles Lawrence Dahlquist, a 6-foot-5, 211-pound fugitive from Chicago wanted for questioning in the sex slayings of three … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on June 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 11, 1957 Our national concern for the plight of soldier William Girard has, from the start, struck me as oddly misplaced. As well as I can understand it, we’re upset because the United States has failed to stand behind … Continue reading →

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Suicide note

Posted on June 9, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 9, 1957 Los Angeles James R. Shepard decided it was better to kill himself than be prosecuted for a crime so shameful that it could not be published in The Times. A few hours after  the 32-year-old insurance … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on June 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 8, 1957 Maxwell Spencer knows more drunks, habitual and occasional, than most men know sober people. But he is a man of strong constitution. So far, he hasn’t permitted his associations to drag him down the neck of a … Continue reading →

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Cop molests girl

Posted on June 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 6, 1957 Los Angeles Former vice squad Detective Sgt. Philip Barnes was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old girl, according to The Times. Barnes, of 3811 W. Avenue 41, presented an unusual challenge to prosecutors. Because he waived his … Continue reading →

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Soldier kills woman

Posted on June 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 5, 1957 Tokyo Until the moment he pulled the trigger on that day in January, Spc. 3rd Class William S. Girard of Ottowa, Ill., was a just bored 21-year-old soldier with an IQ of 90 guarding a machine … Continue reading →

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Chasing Marilyn Monroe

Posted on June 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Photographs by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles TimesThe "Wrong Door Raid" apartments at Waring Avenue and Kilkea Drive, May 27, 2007 June 2, 1957 Los Angeles Let’s suppose you are an American baseball legend being divorced by your beautiful Hollywood … Continue reading →

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Girl in coma

Posted on May 31, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 31, 1957 Long Beach Suzanne was supposed to have a simple bit of surgery. Didn’t everyone get their tonsils out? The 15-year-old went into St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach on May 31, 1956, but during the operation, … Continue reading →

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Maid held in murder

Posted on May 28, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1957 Los Angeles Former Nazi prisoner 33822 sat at the defense table, her hands clasped tightly.  Her light blue cotton dress was wilted from the heat and her dab of lipstick only accented her jail pallor. Police said … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Boy kills drunk father

Posted on May 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 27, 1957 Maywood Drunk again, Harold L. Johnson, 43, lay passed out on a bed at 3069 Prospect Ave. in Maywood. His wife, Agnes,  38, helped herself to some money in his pocket. When Johnson came to and … Continue reading →

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Crooked partner

Posted on May 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 25, 1957 Los Angeles Mohamad Ahmad should have picked a more honest partner for his liquor business. But maybe it was only after Ahmad died that the man’s true nature became clear. Ahmad, 55, died in Jerusalem on … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on May 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 24, 1957 REVENGE is a kind of wild justice, which the more man’s nature runs to, the more law ought to weed it out–Francis Bacon Six states out of our 48 have abolished the death penalty. And California had … Continue reading →

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Theft ring raided

Posted on May 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 23, 1957 Los Angeles David Schubin and Barbara Rose Frazier knew all about supply and demand. It was only later that they learned about the law. Schubin and Frazier set up a small department store in their apartment … Continue reading →

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Confidential: Tells the Facts and Names the Names

Posted on May 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

The Mirror scores a jailhouse interview with L. Ewing Scott, plus one of Confidential magazine’s main informants, Francesca De Scaffa attempts suicide again. According to news reports, De Scaffa was so eager to be a Confidential source that she was … Continue reading →

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Pusher gets life

Posted on May 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 18, 1957 Los Angeles Gilbert M. Zaragoza, 21, of 3322 Oregon St. was led out of Federal court to serve the rest of his life in prison, presumably thankful that he escaped the death penalty. His crime? He … Continue reading →

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