Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Jan. 5, 1947: Two Black 15-Year-Olds Set for Electric Chair After Losing Plea

Posted on January 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Jan. 5, 1947: “The majority of Americans belong to one minority group or another,” said Dr. Will Durant, author and lecturer, yesterday in outlining the scope of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, African Americans, capital punishment, crime and courts, electric chair, executions, Mississippi, quote of the day | 3 Comments

Jan. 4, 1947: Angry Sailor Sets Fire to Skid Row Hotel After Being Rolled

Posted on January 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947Project. Jan. 4, 1947: Suppose, for a moment, that you are a 19-year-old mess cook second class stationed in San Pedro. Suppose further that while you are on leave … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Fires, LAPD | Tagged #Skid Row, 1947, Edward A. Pavlischak, Fires, Harry Fremont, lapd, quote of the day | 1 Comment

Jan. 3, 1947: Actress Helen Walker Hurt in Crash That Kills Soldier, Injures 2 Others

Posted on January 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Yes, this is the Jan. 2, 1947, comics page, which pops up for Jan. 3, 1947. Note: This is a post that I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. This is one of those days where there’s too much to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Music, Transportation, Vietnam | Tagged 1947, Artie Shaw, Helen Walker, hollywood, Streetcars, Vietnam | 2 Comments

New York City’s Homicide Rate – And a Lesson in Using FBI Uniform Crime Reports

Posted on December 28, 2017 by lmharnisch

Actually, no. Ashley Southall of the New York Times has it wrong in saying that the current homicide rate of 286 is “the lowest since reliable records have been kept.” We can say this because the FBI Uniform Crime Reports … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940, Another Good Story Ruined, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #FBI, 1940, crime and courts, homicide, Uniform Crime Reports | Comments Off

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 20, 2017 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists … Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged #hollywood, #la, #photography, Architecture | Comments Off

Chinese Massacre – Oct 24, 1871

Posted on October 24, 2017 by lmharnisch

At top, an account of the massacre in the Daily Southern Cross of Auckland, New Zealand, Dec. 9, 1871, Above, a detail of a Los Angeles map displayed in the Globe Lobby of the Los Angeles Times Building showing the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Crime and Courts, Downtown | Tagged 1871, Chinese Massacre, downtown | Comments Off

L.A. Fourth of July, 1863: Pic-Nics and Fire-Works

Posted on July 4, 2016 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post from 2013 The complete July 4, 1863, issue of the Los Angeles Star is available from USC, which scanned a copy at the Huntington. July 4, 1863: Los Angeles plans to celebrate the Fourth of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1863, Crime and Courts, San Francisco | Tagged #Crime, #Fourth of July, 1863, San Francisco | Comments Off

LAPD Scrapbook: Radio Patrolmen Nab Burglar Suspect, Westwood Hills Press, Dec. 14, 1945

Posted on December 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

Dec. 14, 1945 This item in the LAPD scrapbooks at the city archive is from the Westwood Hills Press and profiles Officer Walter A. Callahan, who was awarded the Silver Star and Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal in World War … Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1945, crime and courts, lapd | 8 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2014 by lmharnisch

In 1982, Jim Romenesko, then a young reporter, compiled coroners’ reports on unusual deaths. Jim now runs the JimRomenesko.com blog and notes that he still has a few copies of his self-published book. He is selling them for $15, including … Continue reading →

Posted in 1982, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts | Tagged #Marilyn Monroe, Books and Authors, Los Angeles County coroner's office | 2 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 31

Posted on December 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf, National Police Gazette, August 1946. At long last, we finish our examination of the Georgette Bauerdorf case with many questions unanswered. Without more information, we can only speculate about many aspects of the killing. For that matter, we … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged 1944, 1947, black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 14 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 30

Posted on December 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 21, 1944: Fred Atwood, left, Los Angeles Times. Lulu Atwood, in a photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. In this series of posts on the Georgette Bauerdorf case, we have looked at the history of El Palacio … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged 1944, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood, homicide | 13 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 29

Posted on December 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 15, 1944: A handout photo of Georgette Bauerdorf, Oakland Tribune. We have been examining the behavior of Georgette Bauerdorf’s killer to see if we could distill something about him, going from least speculative to most speculative rather than chronological … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged 1944, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 12 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 28

Posted on November 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

Garner Brown and John Schilling examine the Bauerdorf car for fingerprints, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. So far we have been looking at the behavior of the man who killed Georgette Bauerdorf to see if we can distill … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged 1944, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood, homicide | 12 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 27

Posted on November 25, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 20, 1944: Garner Brown examines the piece of crepe tetra used to kill Georgette Bauerdorf, Daily News. In an attempt to distill the character traits of the man who killed Georgette Bauerdorf, we have been looking at his unusual … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 13 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 26

Posted on November 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

We don’t know much about the man who killed Georgette Bauerdorf, but let’s see what we can infer. The way he killed her was quite unusual (more about that later) and his behavior after the killing was also somewhat unusual. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940, 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged 1940, 1944, B-girls, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, homicide | 23 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 25

Posted on November 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 19, 1944: Los Angeles Herald-Express Before trying to theorize about what might have happened on the night of the killing, let’s sum up everything we know about our victim, Georgette Bauerdorf, and then take a look at what little … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, cold cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 9 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 24

Posted on November 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

The front door of the Bauerdorf apartment, photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. In the previous post, we examined the scenario about the light fixture in the entryway to the Bauerdorf apartment. At the time of the killing, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, Cold Cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 11 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 23

Posted on November 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

A photo (possibly hand-tinted) of Georgette Bauerdorf, National Police Gazette, August 1946, courtesy of Steven Bibb. And now we enter the realm of speculation in the Georgette Bauerdorf case. We have looked at all the evidence as it was reported … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, Cold Cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 36 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 22

Posted on November 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf in a photograph courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. So far in our examination of the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, we have looked at almost every aspect except the way the investigation was conducted. Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, Cold Cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 10 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 21

Posted on November 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

Henry James Lynch, a plumber who was found in the basement of El Palacio Apartments, explained that he could do a better job than the police in investigating the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. As … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged 1944, Cold Cases, crime and courts, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood | 15 Comments