Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Fanning the Flames of Suspicion

Posted on July 17, 2006 by lmharnisch

July 17, 1907Los AngelesA serial arsonist has been at work in Hollywood, setting six fires in the last three weeks. The community’s small volunteer fire department has been overwhelmed by the crimes.“The entire neighborhood rushed to the scene,” The Times … Continue reading →

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Soothing Music

Posted on June 19, 2006 by lmharnisch

June 19, 1907Los AngelesWhat shall we do with the insane? Don’t give them drugs… give them music! (Well, some music).Dr. E.C. Dent of the hospital for women on Ward’s Island in New York says: “I firmly believe in the curative … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, LAPD, Music, Streetcars | Comments Off

Who Is This Man?

Posted on June 13, 2006 by lmharnisch

I recently obtained an original copy of The Times’ March 28, 1971, story “Farewell, My Black Dahlia,” which includes the account of the “Boy on the Bicycle.” Here’s a color picture of the purported “Bobby Jones.” Here’s a better … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, homicide, lapd | Comments Off

A Dying Girls Last Words

Posted on June 12, 2006 by lmharnisch

June 12, 1907Los AngelesAt 19, Florence Grover was old enough to be in love and living with a man, and at 19, she was old enough to become a mother. Her boyfriend, L.C. Lutzen of the National Messenger Service, with … Continue reading →

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Shout Out

Posted on June 7, 2006 by lmharnisch

General Motors (198.208.251.24) Windows 2000? Upgrade! The Netherlands (212.127.246.72) E! Entertainment (12.46.6.69) “E! Mysteries and Scandals,” my first TV interview, by the guy who did “Real Chases of the Highway Patrol.” Department of Veterans Affairs (152.130.6.194) My pal in Kerkira, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged black dahlia, donald wolfe | Comments Off

Fleenor Talks

Posted on May 21, 2006 by lmharnisch

In a jailhouse interview before he was taken to San Quentin, James G. Fleenor, the barefoot burglar, set the record straight on his escapes, his relationship with a white woman and how he began a life of crime.It had been … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Real Estate, Streetcars | Comments Off

Paul Schrader’s 1971 Notes on Film Noir

Posted on May 11, 2006 by lmharnisch

Paul Schrader’s 1971 essay “Notes on Film Noir” in all its sappy, naive glory, with typos by me. In 1946, French critics, seeing the American films they had missed during the war, noticed the new mood of cynicism, pessimism and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Music, Native Americans, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off

Blogging the Wolfe Book, The Two-Minute Executive Summary

Posted on May 1, 2006 by lmharnisch

From Feb. 3, 2006, to April 28, 2006, I devoted a daily blog to Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” In dealing with the 1947 murder of Elizabeth … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, Books and Authors, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | 1 Comment

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XXII

Posted on April 28, 2006 by lmharnisch

I have ceased blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, in which the anonymous, butchered body is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, homicide, lapd | 4 Comments

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XXI

Posted on April 27, 2006 by lmharnisch

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged #LAPD, black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | Comments Off

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XX

Posted on April 26, 2006 by lmharnisch

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | 8 Comments

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XIX

Posted on April 25, 2006 by lmharnisch

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XVIII

Posted on April 24, 2006 by lmharnisch

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Notes on L.A. Abortions in the 1940s

Posted on April 23, 2006 by lmharnisch

Let’s have some fun, shall we? Since we’re talking about abortion and abortion rings, protection, etc., here are all the news stories involving arrests or patients’ deaths in Los Angeles between 1940 and 1949 for abortions listed in the Los … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Abortion, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged abortions, black dahlia, Books and Authors, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | 1 Comment

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, Harry Carr, lapd | 1 Comment

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XIII

Posted on April 19, 2006 by lmharnisch

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XII

Posted on April 18, 2006 by lmharnisch