Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Times on Spinelli Execution: ‘Good Riddance’

Posted on November 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 22, 1941: Here is Times reporter Tom Cameron’s description of the execution of Juanita “the Duchess” Spinelli: Eight cyanide “eggs” under the chair dropped into a bucket of sulfuric acid and distilled water. Nothing happened. The Duchess, her back … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #death penalty, #Juanita 'The Duchess' Spinelli | Comments Off

Found on EBay – San Quentin

Posted on November 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

In keeping with the theme of the 1941 execution of Juanita “the Duchess” Spinelli, here’s a souvenir brick from San Quentin that has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $49.95.

Posted in 1852, 1980, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay | Tagged #EBay, #San Quentin | Comments Off

Duchess Spinelli, Doomed to Gas Chamber: ‘No Christian Will Kill!’

Posted on November 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 21, 1941: Juanita “The Duchess” Spinelli arrives at San Quentin to be executed in the gas chamber – the first woman legally executed in California’s history. “No one who is a Christian will kill!” the 52-year-old mother of three … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Religion | Tagged #death penalty, #San Quentin | Comments Off

California Prepares to Execute Juanita ‘The Duchess’ Spinelli, Nov. 20, 1941

Posted on November 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 20, 1941: California prepares to execute Juanita “The Duchess” Spinelli at San Quentin. Spinelli, her boyfriend Mike Simeone, Gordon Hawkins and Albert Ives were convicted of drugging and drowning Robert Sherrard to keep him from informing on them about … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged #Death Row, #Gas Chamber, #San Quentin | 6 Comments

Ford’s Theatre Bans O’Reilly’s ‘Lincoln’ Book Over Mistakes

Posted on November 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

Manson family member Charles “Tex” Watson was denied parole. L.A. Times | AP via Washington Post Stephan Benzkofer of the Chicago Tribune takes a look at Police Officer Francis O’Neill in Part 2 of his Legendary Lawmen series. Edith Brady-Lunny … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Chicago, Crime and Courts, History, Homicide, Washington, World War II | Tagged #Killing Lincoln, Bill O'Reilly | Comments Off

Scientists to Build Computer From 1830s Drawings

Posted on November 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: The lobby of La Concha Motel, designed by Paul Revere Williams. Credit: The Neon Museum The first in a planned series of monthly lectures in the newly reopened Globe Lobby is sold out. The next lecture is Dec. 8, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Museums, Music, Preservation, World War II | Tagged #Charles Babbage, #Ernie Pyle, #Jazz, #Louis Armstrong, #Neon Museum, #Paul Revere Williams | Comments Off

Found on EBay – ‘Justice for the McNamaras’

Posted on November 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

A “Justice for the McNamaras” pin, referring to the 1911 trial of the McNamara brothers in the 1910 bombings of the Times Building and the Llewellyn Iron Works, has been listed on EBay. Bidding on this button starts at $24.99.

Posted in 1910, 1911, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay | Tagged #Clarence Darrow, #EBay, #McNamara Brothers, #Times bombing | Comments Off

Man Says He Shot Wife With ‘Unloaded’ Rifle

Posted on November 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: The 600 block of West 87th Street via Google’s Street View. Nov. 10, 1941: A week after Kenneth and Betty met at a malt shop, the 20-year-olds drove to Yuma, Ariz., to get married. They moved in with his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Religion | Tagged #Civil War, #Confederate veterans, #rebel yell, #unloaded guns | 3 Comments

Roosevelt Declares Early Thanksgiving

Posted on November 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 9, 1941: Amid the gathering clouds of World War II, President Roosevelt declares what will be the last peacetime Thanksgiving. Noting American aid to nations fighting the Axis, Roosevelt says: “Let us ask the divine blessing of our decision … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Religion, World War II | Tagged #Holocaust, #Unwed mothers, Abandoned babies, Bernhard Lichtenberg | 3 Comments

A Look at Paul Revere Williams

Posted on November 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: “Paul Revere Williams: A Legend in Architecture.” Credit: Dave Kelly My Times colleague Scott Harrison digs up some archival photos from the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Chris Carola of the Associated Press takes a look at the … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Architecture, Crime and Courts, Museums | Tagged #Paul Revere Williams | 1 Comment

Wingy Manone Puts the Swing in Swing Shift — Nov. 3, 1941

Posted on November 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 3, 1941: Tom Treanor goes to a dance at the Glendale Civic Auditorium for swing shift workers, about 5,000 of them, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Most of the couples are married, he says, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Dance, Film, Hollywood, Music, Obituaries, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged #Lockheed, #Swing Shift, #Tom Treanor, #Wingy Manone | Comments Off

Paul McCartney Rescues Motown Museum’s Steinway

Posted on October 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Stone chopping tool from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Credit: “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” Last year, BBC4 aired a program that tried to compress the history of the world into the stories of 100 artifacts from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Museums, Music | Tagged #Cowgirls, #History of the World in 100 Objects, #Motown, #Piano, #Rosetta Stone, #Sandra Day O'Connor | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 4

Posted on October 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

The New York Daily Tribune of Nov. 11, 1871, also carried an account of the massacre. Chinese Massacre Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3 Wong Chin, a merchant, was the first victim of the hanging. He was led … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | 1 Comment

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 3

Posted on October 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

The San Francisco Bulletin’s Oct. 26, 1871, account of the lynching was published in the New York Times. Los Angeles, although boasting of being the City of the Queen of the Angels, is cursed with such another hotbed of crime … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts | Tagged #871, #Chinese Massacre | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 – Part 2

Posted on October 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

Here’s the San Francisco Bulletin’s Oct. 25, 1871, coverage of the massacre, as republished in the Carroll (Iowa) Herald on Nov. 22, 1871. [This link works now but it may be broken eventually as Google tinkers with its newspaper archives]. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | Comments Off

The Chinese Massacre: Oct. 24, 1871 — Part 1

Posted on October 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

I hadn’t planned to get into the Chinese Massacre until I wrapped up the Zoot Suit Riots, but Google’s recent changes in its news archives pressed me to get the material online before the newspapers disappear. For decades, the average … Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #1871, #Chinese Massacre | 3 Comments

Suspect in After-Hours Sex at Museum: ‘I Get Around’

Posted on October 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: The Charleston Museum, where Michael L. Miller was arrested on charge of having sex at 3 a.m. Neale Gulley of Reuters reports that the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, N.Y., is building Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1927 design … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Museums, Music, Native Americans, Preservation | Tagged #Frank Lloyd Wright, #Native Americans, Bruce Springsteen, Museums | Comments Off

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 11

Posted on October 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Image: Harry Arnheim of the Hollywood Tropics, 1525 N. Vine St., protests being placed off-limits by the Navy. Credit: National Archives at Riverside. To recap briefly, I have been digging into the historical basis of the movie “Zoot Suit,” which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Film, Food and Drink, History, Hollywood, Stage, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged #1942, #film, #la, #Navy, #Stage, #World War II, #zoot suits | 3 Comments

Boston Policeman Killed Trying to Disarm Former Officer, 1921

Posted on October 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington is closed after antiwar demonstrators try to enter to protest an exhibit on drones. The crowd dispersed after being pepper-sprayed by a security guard coming to the rescue of another guard. Washington … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Museums, Washington | Tagged #1921, #Protests, Boston | Comments Off

Restoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Posted on October 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Wilshire Boulevard Temple, interior. Credit: Jim Winstead On the 140th anniversary of the Chicago fire, it’s a time to celebrate the city’s libraries. Rick Kogan explains in the Tribune’s Sidewalks blog. Jay Jones, writing for the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Downtown, History, Interior Design, Libraries, Mary Mallory, Museums, Preservation, Religion | Tagged #Judiasm, #preservation, #Wilshire Boulevard | Comments Off