Category Archives: Homicide

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth – Part 1

Posted on April 23, 2013 by lmharnisch

As longtime readers know, the L.A. Daily Mirror is usually a Wikipedia-free zone. I consider it a sinkhole of myth, mistakes, rumors and folklore that is created and maintained by “citizen scholars,” crackpots, coding tweakers, factoid zealots and folks in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, Film, History, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

Berserk Negro Kills Two Men on Ranch With Ax

Posted on April 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

April 18, 1943:  Robert Earl Lee, 61, a worker at ranch in the Malibu Hills, surrenders to authorities after killing his employer, Nelson Ross Wolfe, and another ranch hand, Albert Everett Miller, with an ax. Lee, described by The Times … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Animals, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Smallpox Epidemic – Los Angeles, Feb. 7, 1863

Posted on February 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

Read the entire Feb. 7, 1863, edition of the Los Angeles Star from the Huntington Library, scanned by USC. Feb. 7 1863: The coroner holds an inquest in the killing of Christian Hutt. George Wright, the father of accused killer … Continue reading →

Posted in 1863, Animals, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Medicine | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Can’t Anybody Get This Story Right?

Posted on February 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

Writers who are unfamiliar with the Black Dahlia case have a terrible time keeping the facts straight, as shown in the latest coverage by Christine Pelisek in the Daily Beast. There are the common mistakes and one can almost track … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Millennial Moment: Church Officials Killed

Posted on November 9, 2012 by lmharnisch

Nov. 9, 1982: Patrick James Henneberry and George Peters, leaders of the purported Church of Naturalism, were beaten to death with a blunt instrument and shot at close range on the Laurel Canyon estate on Woodstock Road leased by the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1982, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Millennial Moments, Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Millennial Moment: Church Officials Killed

Found on EBay: The Ma Duncan Trial

Posted on September 28, 2012 by lmharnisch

Rare (or r@re) is terribly overused on EBay, but this time it’s accurate. A LP from clandestine recordings made at the murder trial of Elizabeth “Ma” Duncan, has been listed. Bidding starts at $5. The Duncan case (she was convicted … Continue reading →

Posted in 1958, Found on EBay, Homicide | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined: The Black Dahlia

Posted on September 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: <<Le Dahlia Noir>>  Once again, Elizabeth Short’s bogus middle name appears in a story about the Black Dahlia – proof that mistakes take on a life of their own. In reality, she had no middle name. She was erroneously … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

LAPD Losing Staff to War Effort

Posted on August 1, 2012 by lmharnisch

Aug. 1, 1942: Chief C.B. Horrall announces that the LAPD has lost 22 men and two women to the armed services. By the end of the war, many more officers and staff will have gone into the military, leaving the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on LAPD Losing Staff to War Effort

Doolittle Visits North American Plant, Praises Workers for Bombers Used in Tokyo Raid

Posted on June 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

June 2, 1942: In a visit to the North American aircraft plant, Brig. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle praises workers who built the bombers used in his raid on Tokyo. Otis W. Hall is accused of killing his estranged wife and sending … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Aviation, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Doolittle Visits North American Plant, Praises Workers for Bombers Used in Tokyo Raid

Accused Killer, Shot in Courtroom, Convicted as He Dies

Posted on May 22, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 22, 1942: As the prosecutor finished his closing arguments in the trial of Mazo Shepherd, accused of killing a taxi driver, the victim’s nephew walked up to Shepherd and shot him in the head. Shepherd was taken from the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Homicide | Tagged | 5 Comments

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

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

Molestation Suspect Questioned in Killing of Girl, 9

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 25, 1942: Detectives Harry Fremont and Jack Dwight are questioning Leo M. King, accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl, in the death of Dorothy Lee Gordon. The case of Dorothy Gordon, an African American child who was kidnapped and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Architecture, Art & Artists, Cold Cases, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo, World War II | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Soldier Kills Civilian in Tragedy at Airport Checkpoint

Posted on December 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

Terrific artwork from the incredible Milton Caniff. Dec. 15, 1941: A group of soldiers was stopping motorists on Sepulveda Boulevard near the airport to strip off blue cellophane that had been illegally put over the headlights in the new wartime … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Dying Man Found on Main Street

Posted on November 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 30, 1941:President Roosevelt says the U.S. may be at war in a year – actually, it was a week later. Bartender Eddie Watton was closing up at the Theatre Cafe, 324 S. Main St., and wanted the man at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

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 , | Comments Off on Times on Spinelli Execution: ‘Good Riddance’

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 , | Comments Off on Duchess Spinelli, Doomed to Gas Chamber: ‘No Christian Will Kill!’