Category Archives: Crime and Courts

December 9, 1907: Black LAPD Officer Blames Firing on Racism, Rejoins Fire Department

Posted on December 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 9, 1907: Mayor Harper has restored E.J. Bowen to his old job in the Fire Department after the rookie police officer was fired for allegedly being a coward—a charge that Bowen, who is Black, blames on racism. Continue reading →

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December 5, 1907: Man Accused of Scheme in Selling Daughter to Gypsies

Posted on December 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 5, 1907: A Los Angeles couple have a novel way of making money: Antonio Thompson and his wife sell their daughter Marie to the Gypsies, then go to court to get her back. According to statements taken in St. Louis, Marie has been sold off several times as a Gypsy princess. Continue reading →

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December 4, 1911: Man Arrested for ‘Masquerading in Female Attire’

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4, 1911: Clarence Westfall, 22, is arrested for masquerading in female attire when the boat from San Diego docks in San Pedro. Continue reading →

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December 4, 1907: Shooting on Baldwin Ranch Raises Tensions Between Chinese, Latino Workers

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4, 1907: Shooting on Lucky Baldwin’s ranch raises tensions between Chinese and Latino workers. Continue reading →

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December 3, 1907: Gunman Kills LAPD Officer; Dies in Slow Agony Awaiting the Gallows

Posted on December 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 3,1907: Daniel Meskil kills LAPD Officer Patrick Lyons, who was trying to arrest Meskil and his companion, Rolla Robe. Meskil was sentenced to be hanged at San Quentin, but died of injuries from jumping off a roof during an escape attempt. Continue reading →

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December 2, 1958: Model stabbed, dumped off mountain highway

Posted on December 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 2, 1958: Model Charlotte Trosper is found stabbed to death in a clump of bushes off Angeles Crest Highway. Boyfriend Gerald Feasby was convicted in the killing. Continue reading →

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November 30, 1907: Witness Against Mexican Revolutionaries Poisoned!

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 30, 1907: A closely guarded witness in the trial of the Mexican revolutionaries goes into convulsions after being allowed to have lunch at a local cafe. Continue reading →

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November 27, 1907: Mexican Revolutionaries Accused of Gigantic Conspiracy

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 27, 1907: A shadowy, global conspiracy of anarchists is being described in the trial of revolutionaries Ricardo Flores Magon, Antonio Villareal and Librado Rivera in federal court. The fourth defendant, L. Gutierrez De Lara, was charged separately with committing larceny in Sonora, Mexico. Continue reading →

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November 26, 1941: L.A. Man Takes Fight Over Dog License to U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 26, 1941: George F. Harrington says owning his dog, named Kitty, is a constitutional right and he refuses to pay for a license, taking the fight to the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

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November 25, 1947: House Indicts the ‘Hollywood 10’ for Contempt

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1947: The House cites the Hollywood 10 for contempt. Continue reading →

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November 23, 1947: ‘Lonesome’ Woman Sought Threesomes and Husband, Ex-Wife Says

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

Kitty Higgins in all its uproarious humor. Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. This was rather a racy edition of The Times, especially for a Sunday paper. Next to the Kertz’s saga, … Continue reading →

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November 23, 1907: Baby Murdered With Ax, Half-Eaten by Pigs in Garbage Heap

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 23, 1907: Trigger Warning — half-eaten body of baby found in ranch’s pig pen. Continue reading →

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November 22, 1907: Son Beats Father With Baseball Bat to Protect Mother; Bleeding and Shot in the Head, She Vows Eternal Love

Posted on November 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 22, 1907: Though beaten and shot in the head by her drunk husband, Ellen Larkin vowed her eternal love and said he could come home as soon as he recovered from being beaten with a baseball bat by their son to protect his mother. Continue reading →

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November 21, 1947: Judge Tells Joel Thorne to Quit ‘Fooling Around’ With Racecars, Nightclubs

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1947: A judge admonishes Joel Thorne, who sneaked out of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital after being injured in a motorcycle crash to avoid paying alimony to his ex-wife. In 1955, Thorne was killed when his Beachcraft Bonanza plunged into an apartment building, killing eight others. Continue reading →

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November 21, 1907: Mother, 17, Throws Baby From Train to Hide ‘Shame’ From Family

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1907: Louise Williams is arrested on charges of throwing her baby from an inbound train. “She was suddenly overwhelmed with the shame of meeting her mother and sisters at Los Angeles, who had not learned of her ruin,” her attorney said. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1947: Bobby-Soxer Kills Girl, 5

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 13, 1947: Joyce, 13, forces Myretta Jones, 5, to undress, then smashes her with a rock and a shovel until she’s dead. Why? Joyce said she didn’t know. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1941: California Prepares to Execute Juanita ‘The Duchess’ Spinelli

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1941: Juanita ‘The Duchess’ Spinelli is about to become the first woman legally executed in California. She was an ex-wrestler and knife-thrower who could pin a poker chip at 15 paces. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1907: Police Capture Streetcar Bandits

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1907: Police arrest two men who staged daring holdups on the Ascot Park and Eastlake streetcars, robbing the motormen and conductors as the cars reached the ends of their routes. Continue reading →

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November 19, 1907: Crime Wave Sweeps L.A.

Posted on November 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1907: An influx of crooks, petty hoodlums and vagrants drawn by good weather and horse racing at Santa Anita are blamed for a siege of crime throughout the city. Continue reading →

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November 17, 1907: A #MeToo Moment in the Monkey House; Opera Tenors in Trouble

Posted on November 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 17, 1907: A detective in Central Park’s monkey house arrests Leon Cazauran, brought to New York to sing in “Thais” at Oscar Hammerstein’s Manhattan Operahouse, and his companion, Claude Modjeska, “a copper-colored young man,” The Times says. The charge was attempting to corrupt small boys Continue reading →

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