Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Victor Segno: ‘How to Live 100 Years’

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

A. Victor Segno is my favorite Los Angeles charlatan. I wrote a feature about him for The Times in 2012.. The entire Daily Mirror post appears on Archive.org.

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Jan. 2, 1969: College Student Home on Vacation Killed, Dumped Off Mulholland

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

This is another story that I don’t remember at all. The original post is here at Archive.org. The killing of Marina Elizabeth Habe remains unsolved (I see that I garbled her name in the original post). See also Keith Thursby’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1969, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Keith Thursby | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Fine Mess? Stan Laurel Accused of Planning to Bury Wife in Backyard

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

I have written more than 10,000 posts about L.A. history over the years and I don’t remember many of them. Like this one, which was turned into a “Then and Now” a feature that continued briefly after Cecilia Rasmussen left … Continue reading →

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LAPD Crime Statistics for 1957 | Looking Back at ‘Our Lawless City’

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

If you are a longtime reader, you may remember when the Daily Mirror was hosted by the Los Angeles Times. The Times holds the copyright on these items, even though the blog was killed in 2011 (thank you, Jimmy Orr), … Continue reading →

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Dec. 30, 1907: Old Soldiers of the Civil War, Held as Drunks, Get Free Run of Jail

Posted on December 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 30, 1907 Los Angeles James Sullivan, 64, was a prisoner of the Confederates held at Belle Isle, Libby and Andersonville, where he and war correspondent Albert D. Richardson escaped by tunneling … Continue reading →

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Dec. 27, 1947: Youth Questioned in Georgette Bauerdorf Killing

Posted on December 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The last words her neighbors heard were “Stop, stop, you’re killing me!” as she fought hard for her life. The housekeeper found the body in … Continue reading →

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Dec. 27, 1907: Oklahoma Lynching — A Grim Record for New State

Posted on December 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 27, 1907 Henryetta, Okla., by the Associated Press A little more than a month after Oklahoma achieved statehood, James Garden became a wretched statistic: the first black to be lynched there. … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 6 No Connection

Posted on December 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Elizabeth Short contrasted with the unidentified woman found in George Hodel’s photo album. Not at all the same. Here are six reasons Dr. George Hodel did not kill Elizabeth Short that you will need to know before watching the TNT … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 5 Not a Practicing Surgeon

Posted on December 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Here are six reasons Dr. George Hodel did not kill Elizabeth Short that you will need to know before watching the TNT mini-series “I Am the Night” or listening to the eight-part podcast accompanying the production. Reason No. 5: Dr. … Continue reading →

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Dec. 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Posted on December 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The young mother asked the waitress at the cafe in the Subway Terminal Building to hold her baby for just a moment—and then she was gone. … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 4 Clinic Served Poor Blacks of Bronzeville

Posted on December 22, 2018 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles, May 25, 1944: At a Shinto shrine near City Hall, Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, second from left, Dr. George M. Uhl and Nicola Giulli of the city housing authority talk to black residents of Bronzeville. Courtesy of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Medicine, Television, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dec. 21, 1907: Desperate Girl, Alone and Friendless in L.A., Steals $10

Posted on December 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 21, 1907 Los Angeles Lillian Poelk was new to Los Angeles, with no friends and little more than a job as a waitress that didn’t quite cover the rent of her … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 1 Not a Prime Suspect

Posted on December 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Here are six reasons Dr. George Hodel did not kill Elizabeth Short that you will need to know before watching the TNT mini-series “I Am the Night” or listening to the eight-part podcast accompanying the production. Reason No. 1: Dr. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1949, 1950, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dec. 19, 1907: No, None of It Was His Fault

Posted on December 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 19, 1907 Los Angeles What you have to understand first about George White is that he isn’t to blame. Oh he’ll take his prison sentence for robbing the Hot Rivet Saloon, … Continue reading →

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A Walk in L.A., 1951

Posted on December 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a video I made in 2005 using clips from a police training film.

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Dec. 18, 1907: County Coroner Dead Drunk at Bordello

Posted on December 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 18, 1907 Los Angeles Los Angeles County Coroner Roy S. Lanterman was arrested on charges of being drunk and disorderly at the Navajo, a bordello run by Ida Hastings, 309 Ord … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, 1909, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dec. 18, 1907: County Coroner Dead Drunk at Bordello

Dec. 17, 1947: Frightening Food From the 1940s — ‘Unusual’ Fruitcake

Posted on December 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project..   Bonus factoid: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a $2,500 fine against Hollywood book dealer Marcell Rodd for selling the obscene book “Call House … Continue reading →

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Dec. 16, 1947: Back Broken and Skull Fractured, Girl, 2 Dies of Abuse; Mother Gets 10 Years in Prison

Posted on December 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Somewhere, there’s 57-year-old man; maybe his name is Steven, or maybe his foster parents changed it. He doesn’t know much about himself except that his birthday … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: “Little Shoes,” about the murders of three little girls, may not be everybody’s idea of an appropriate holiday gift, but it is more than a “true crime” book. In “Little Shoes” Pamela Everett explores her family’s tragic history in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

December 12, 1907: The .45-Caliber Newspaper Ombudsman

Posted on December 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. December 12, 1907 Los Angeles via the Associated Press Goldfield, Nev.—J. Holtman Buck, editor of the Western Nevada Miner in Mina, Nev., shot Francis L. Burton to death during a fight over … Continue reading →

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