Category Archives: #courts

Cop held in bribery

Posted on May 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 3, 1957 Santa Monica Thomas Alfred Gates, 33, a chef at a Santa Monica restaurant, approached The Times with a story. Gates, who was charged with grand theft, said that during a recess in his preliminary hearing, Detective Curtis … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Old convict

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles Police officers had a kindly affection for old "Toothpick Charlie." At 93, the dapper, neatly dressed man known as James J. Fitzpatrick, James Hennesy and James Flannery had been  working his cons since before they … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Downtown | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jealousy slaying

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles Meet Henry C. “Clay” Hamby, 42, who lived with his wife, Mildred, and three children in a 944-square-foot home at 14519 Paddock St., in Sylmar. Clay is a drophammer operator at Reylon Precision Products, a … Continue reading →

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Voices

Posted on April 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

Note: Ulrich K. Quast, an auto salesman who took L. Ewing Scott and his wife, Evelyn, for a test drive along Mulholland in 1955, was probably the last person who saw her alive aside from her killer. As far as … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide | Comments Off on Voices

The bad dream

Posted on April 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 23, 1957 Los Angeles "It’s like a bad dream," he said. "You keep thinking you’ll awaken and find it’s a bad dream." Edward Simon Wein, given five death sentences under California’s "Little Lindbergh Law" for a series of kidnappings … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Caryl Chessman, Homicide, Long Beach, San Fernando Valley, Venice Division | 3 Comments

Cross purposes

Posted on April 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 21, 1957 Los Angeles Although Easter has passed in 2007, it has just arrived in 1957. One way Los Angeles marked Easter weekend was by arranging the lights in City Hall so that they formed a cross. I’ll apologize … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, City Hall | 1 Comment

Confidential tells the facts and names the names

Posted on April 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 19, 1957 Los Angeles Jerry Giesler, one of the most prominent attorneys in Los Angeles, was chosen to lead the war against Confidential magazine during a meeting of the Beverly Hills Bar Assn. at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Giesler, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Hollywood | Comments Off on Confidential tells the facts and names the names

April 5, 1957: Twice Burned in Club Mecca Firebombing

Posted on April 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 5, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch They were a six-pack of juiceheads, daddy-o. Human-torched by lowlifes that wildfired the imagination of young, L.A. bike-roaming James Ellroy, demon dogging the pulp novel city in type-O scarlet and memory napalm. … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1957, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , | 18 Comments