Category Archives: Crime and Courts

Aug. 12-13, 1907: Bucket of Blood Is a Den of Drunken Debauchery

Posted on August 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 12, 1907: The L.A. Times describes the Bismark Cafe, known to police as the Bucket of Blood, as “drunken debauchery among girls of tender ages, painted women and men.” It is an “immoral pesthole” where “young girls are enticed nightly do drink and listen to a band concert.” Continue reading →

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Aug. 7, 1907: Too Late for Wife to Repent Marriage to Abusive Husband, Judge Rules

Posted on August 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 7, 1907: Kate Conrad had known her husband since she was 13 and had been married to him for 18 years, so it was too late to decide she didn’t want to be married to him, even though he was an abusive drunk and she lived in fear of him, a judge rules. Continue reading →

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Aug. 6, 1947: Asian Americans Sue Over Deed Restrictions Forcing Them Out of White Neighborhoods

Posted on August 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 6, 1947: Two Asian Americans sue over a restraining order to prevent them from occupying their present homes because of deed restrictions. Continue reading →

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Aug. 5, 1947: Hitchhiking Couple Confess to ‘Kiss of Death’ Murder

Posted on August 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 5, 1947: Joseph Hardy and Lois Hunt were hitchhiking and killed a California man who picked them up. They pulled off in a forest in Nevada and Hardy excused himself while Lois began kissing James W. McLain. Hardy came back and shot McLain three times in the head. After burying McLain, they took his car, gambled away his money and flipped his car. Continue reading →

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Aug. 2, 1947: Los Angeles County Clerk Refuses Marriage License for Interracial Couple

Posted on August 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Her name was Andrea and she was 24. His name was Sylvester and he was 26, a World War II veteran working at Lockheed. And … Continue reading →

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July 31, 1907: After a Day at the Beach, Beer, a Fight and Gunshots

Posted on July 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1907: A day at the beach ends in a fight over beer. Evelyn Ferguson is accused of shooting newsboy Charles ‘Winnipeg’ Wilson with a policeman’s gun because Wilson was attacking her friend, who ‘was not in a condition to remember much about how it happened.’ Continue reading →

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July 28, 1907: L.A. Seeks to Clear Books of Old Laws on Bear Baiting, Quail Hunting by Streetcar Conductors

Posted on July 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 28, 1907: Los Angeles seeks to rid itself of outdated laws like hunting rabbits on Spring Street or conductors abandoning their streetcars to go quail hunting at the end of the line. Continue reading →

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July 24, 1947: Honor Student Vesta Belle Sapenter, 17, Strangled

Posted on July 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1947: Jefferson High honor student Vesta Belle is found strangled in her bedroom. Continue reading →

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November 1947: Women Charged Under 1872 Law for Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on June 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

Thelma and Marieta met in college as roommates and fell in love, living as Mr. and Mrs. David Warren — then FBI agents came calling about possible draft evasion. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: M.E. Firman, Lady Detective

Posted on March 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

In an encore post, Mary Mallory looks at the career of Marie E. “M.E.” Firman, early “lady detective” of Los Angeles Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2024 by lmharnisch

The Retro Holiday Shopping Guide: Melba Levick’s “The Big Picture: Murals of Los Angeles.” Wonderful paintings, most of them lost. One of my favorite’s is Kent Twitchell’s “Old Woman of the Freeway” featuring actress Lillian Bronson. 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 , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 15, 2024 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

George Hodel: Ask Me Anything, October 2023 / The Trial of George Hodel

Posted on October 10, 2023 by lmharnisch

Boxy and I did an Ask Me Anything on the trial of George Hodel. If all you know is what Steve Hodel claims, this will sound quite a bit different.

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Brian De Palma’s ‘The Black Dahlia’

Posted on September 17, 2023 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.  I’m running it again because I’m seeing a fair number of comments on social media about De Palma’s Black Dahlia being “Well, OK, not *that* bad.” Yes, yes it was *that* bad. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jerry Giesler, Miracle Man

Posted on June 12, 2023 by lmharnisch

Photo: Walter Wanger, left, and Jerry Giesler. Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Long before Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, or F. Lee Bailey hit the scene, soft-spoken, circumspect Jerry Giesler iced … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — ‘Spirit of ’76’ as Propaganda

Posted on August 15, 2022 by lmharnisch

A still from the lost film “Spirit of ‘76” from Moving Picture World.   Note: This is an encore post from 2013. The United States’ Espionage Act was ratified in 1917 to punish those abetting the enemy, promoting military insubordination, … Continue reading →

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William Desmond Taylor Shot!

Posted on February 1, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1922, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo – William Desmond Taylor Crime Scene Edition

Posted on February 1, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2010. Well, this should be fun – for me, anyway. What’s the mystery? That’s for you to figure out. A typical room of a certain era, eh?

Posted in 1922, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 15, 2022 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment