Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Times Wins Pulitzer for Public Service

Posted on May 4, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 5, 1942: The Times wins a Pulitzer Prize for public service. The prize was awarded after The Times fought contempt of court charges for publishing editorials on pending cases. The dispute began in 1938 when a group from the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Snake Killer Dies on Gallows

Posted on May 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1942: Major Raymond Lisenba, better known as Robert S. “Rattlesnake” James, becomes the 214th and last person to be executed by hanging in California. James was hanged because the murder of his wife occurred in 1935, before the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Doolittle Raiders Bomb Tokyo

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 18, 1942:  The Doolittle Raiders, flying from the carrier Hornet, bomb Tokyo. According to DoolittleRaider.com, the  five surviving crew members are scheduled to attend the 70th reunion, which is being held through April 20 at the National Museum of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Internment of Japanese Farmers Causes Food Shortage

Posted on April 16, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 16, 1942: If you send all the Japanese farmers to internment camps, there’s no one to grow strawberries, tomatoes, carrots, green peas and onions. Oops. Charlotte LeNordtestifies that she killed her foster mother Celeste Frank — who read palms … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Explosion in Caltech Secret Project Kills 1, Injures 6

Posted on March 28, 2012 by lmharnisch

March 28, 1942: A fiery explosion during a secret experiment at the Kellogg Radiation Laboratory kills Raymond L. Robey and injures six others. Robey was thrown 50 feet by the force of the explosion, which scorched the four-story building, The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Abortion, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Manzanar Internment Camp Rising Rapidly in Owens Valley

Posted on March 20, 2012 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1942: A crew of 400 carpenters working 10-hour shifts is hurriedly building the internment camp at Manzanar for “10,000 alien and American-born Japanese from Los Angeles and other Southern California cities,” The Times says. “Manzanar is the former … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on March 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: A Johnny Lightning Santa Monica Maniacs Haulin’ Hearse listed on EBay with bids starting at $1.30. Queen of the Dead – dateline March 19, 2012   •  The Telegraph has come through with another corking portrait of a colorful … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Eve Golden, Found on EBay, Libraries, Queen of the Dead | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

FBI Arrests Buddhist Priests in Japanese Roundup

Posted on March 14, 2012 by lmharnisch

  March 14, 1942: The FBI leads arrests of Buddhist priests, teachers, photographers, housewives, gardeners and businessmen in the continuing roundup of “enemy aliens.” Among the arrested was the Rev. Hiroshi Izumi of the Japanese Congregational Church in Santa Barbara. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on March 12, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: A 1957 side-loading Cadillac hearse listed on EBay, with bids starting at $15,900 (there is a reserve).   Queen of the Dead – dateline March 12, 2012 •  Photographer Stan Stearns (who died on March 2, age 76) will … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, Eve Golden, Film, Found on EBay, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, Television | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Lipstick Killer’ William Heirens Dies at 83

Posted on March 7, 2012 by lmharnisch

The Chicago Tribune is reporting the death of William Heirens, 83, who allegedly wrote “For heaven’s sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself” in lipstick on a mirror at a 1945 crime scene. Heirens was convicted … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, 1945, Black Dahlia, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Obituaries | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Over Protests of Racism, ‘The Clansman’ Opens in Los Angeles

Posted on February 9, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 9, 1915: The Los Angeles premiere of D.W. Griffith’s “The Clansman” (later retitled “The Birth of a Nation”) provokes protests and an attempt to prevent Clune’s Auditorium from showing the film, which was based on Thomas Dixon’s “The Clansman.” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Theaters | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Body of Kidnapped Girl Found in Riverbed

Posted on February 4, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 4, 1942: “As Coroner R.E. Williams and his aides bore the pitiful little body, still clad in her gay blue and white striped red school dress, toward town for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the hundreds … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Art & Artists, Cold Cases, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Angry Butcher Cuts Wife’s Throat

Posted on February 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

Betty Rowland at the Follies! Photo: 6152 Agra St. Credit: Google Street View. Feb. 2, 1942: Lewis Buell Chase dialed the sheriff’s substation in Firestone Park and told a deputy: “I have just murdered a woman.” He had gone to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, Sports, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

William Desmond Taylor Shot!

Posted on February 1, 2012 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory points out that this is the 90th anniversary of William Desmond Taylor’s death. I did several posts when the Daily Mirror was at The Times: William Desmond Taylor, Mystery Guest | Crime scene photos

Posted in 1922, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged | 7 Comments

Mob Slaying of ‘Big Greenie’ Greenberg Retold in Bugsy Siegel Trial

Posted on January 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 27, 1942: Ida Greenberg testifies in the trial of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (d. 1947) and Frank “Frankie” Carbo (d. 1972) in the killing of her husband, Harry “Big Greenie” Greenberg, who was shot to death in his driveway at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, 1942, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Music, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to Wear a Hat – Rod Steiger Edition

Posted on January 24, 2012 by lmharnisch

We have explored how newsboy caps were worn by several men in “Monkey Business” and by Lee Marvin in “King of the North,” by Henry Fonda in “The Grapes of Wrath” and by Marc Chevalier in real life. Here’s Rod … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Fashions, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs, Photography | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Black Dahlia at 65

Posted on January 15, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: Lobby of the Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Credit: Larry Harnisch/L.A. Daily Mirror. I wandered over to the Biltmore on Monday night to keep my annual appointment. I’m not compulsive about being there, and I don’t bother … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Downtown, Film, History, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , | 24 Comments

The Black Dahlia: Princess Whitewing Follies

Posted on January 13, 2012 by lmharnisch

OK. Princess Whitewing fans, pay attention.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Black Dahlia: Biltmore Hotel

Posted on January 11, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo 1: Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Credit: Larry Harnisch Photo 2: Biltmore Hotel, 1940s The top photo shows the old lobby of the Biltmore on Monday as it was on the anniversary of the night Elizabeth Short … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Interior Design, LAPD | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Bonnie and Clyde Submachine Gun for Sale

Posted on January 6, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: Thompson submachine gun, serial No. 4208, with detachable stock and ammunition drum. Credit: Mayo Auction and Realty. This .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun 1921A, reputedly seized after a 1933 shootout with Bonnie and Clyde, is being auctioned, along with the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, 1933, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 1 Comment