Category Archives: Homicide

November 23, 1938: Nuestro Pueblo — Lincoln Heights

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 23, 1938: Artist Charles Owens and reporter Joe Seewerker visit Sam’s Lunch Room, across from the Lincoln Heights Jail. Continue reading →

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November 23, 1907: Baby Murdered With Ax, Half-Eaten by Pigs in Garbage Heap

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 23, 1907: Trigger Warning — half-eaten body of baby found in ranch’s pig pen. Continue reading →

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November 22, 1958: Estranged wife kills jealous husband

Posted on November 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 22, 1958: Roy Wesley Raines was born in Alabama in 1906 and died on a Burbank street in 1958, killed by his estranged wife, Mary Katherine, with a .22 rifle after he ignored a warning shot. Verdict: Justifiable homicide. Continue reading →

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November 21, 1907: Mother, 17, Throws Baby From Train to Hide ‘Shame’ From Family

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1907: Louise Williams is arrested on charges of throwing her baby from an inbound train. “She was suddenly overwhelmed with the shame of meeting her mother and sisters at Los Angeles, who had not learned of her ruin,” her attorney said. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1958: Valley man killed with hammer

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1958: Ernest Hargis, a city ambulance driver, is found beaten to death with a hammer and shoved under an abandoned car in Pacoima. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1947: Bobby-Soxer Kills Girl, 5

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 13, 1947: Joyce, 13, forces Myretta Jones, 5, to undress, then smashes her with a rock and a shovel until she’s dead. Why? Joyce said she didn’t know. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1941: California Prepares to Execute Juanita ‘The Duchess’ Spinelli

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1941: Juanita ‘The Duchess’ Spinelli is about to become the first woman legally executed in California. She was an ex-wrestler and knife-thrower who could pin a poker chip at 15 paces. Continue reading →

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November 19, 1941: Hollywood Model Dies of Botched Abortion

Posted on November 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1941: Angelka Rose Gogich was 18 when she died at Glendale Emergency Hospital after undergoing an abortion. She had be working as a model, hat check girl and dancer under the name Rose Ann Rae. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Abortion, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Medicine, Obituaries | Tagged | 1 Comment

November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 18, 1959: Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-Ill) responds to taxpayers’ fury over a resolution to take all 100 senators to Hawaii for its statehood ceremonies, Paul Coates writes. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Parks and Recreation, Paul Coates | Comments Off on November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

George Hodel: Ask Me Anything, November 2025

Posted on November 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 18, 2025: This month’s Ask Me Anything on George Hodel and Steve Hodel in the Black Dahlia case. Continue reading →

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November 16, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 16, 1959: A new teacher’s night out to celebrate a career change has an unusual twist, Matt Weinstock writes. Continue reading →

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November 16, 1958: I Want to Live — The Barbara Graham murder case

Posted on November 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 16, 1958: Five years after the execution of Barbara Graham in the Mabel Monahan killing, the story comes to the screen in the Robert Wise film “I Want to Live!” by Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz, starring Susan Hayward in an Oscar-winning performance. Continue reading →

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November 16, 1907: Husband in Elaborate Disguise Shoots Estranged Wife on Streetcar

Posted on November 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 16,1907: Frederick Cook faces trial for shooting his estranged wife on a streetcar, disguising himself so she wouldn’t recognize him. Continue reading →

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November 15, 1909: Finds ‘Husband’ Is Woman

Posted on November 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 15, 1909: Dr. Alice Bush of Oakland sues for divorce, charging that her husband, R.K. Morgan, failed to disclose something rather important. Continue reading →

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Voices — Christine Collins, November 12, 1930

Posted on November 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

“Changeling” letters, November 12, 1930: Mrs. James Borton writes to the prison board, seeking leniency for Walter Collins. Continue reading →

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November 12, 1958: Teenage hitchhiker killed

Posted on November 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 12, 1958: Daryle Kelch, 17, was kidnapped and killed while hitchhiking. His murder was never solved. Continue reading →

Posted in Front Pages, Homicide, LAPD, Obituaries | 2 Comments

November 10, 1947: Remains of Kidnapped Girl Found in Orange County Ravine

Posted on November 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1947: The remains of 6-year-old Rochelle Gluskoter, kidnapped February 15, 1946, are found in a small ravine in Orange County. Her case was never solved. Continue reading →

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Voices — Christine Collins, November 10, 1930

Posted on November 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1930: Aimee Dunne, Christine Collins’ sister, writes to the prison board about parole for Walter Collins. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, November 2025

Posted on November 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

This month’s Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case, including a progress report on Heaven Is HERE! and why the Black Dahlia case shouldn’t be treated as a game of “Clue.” Continue reading →

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October 31, 1957: Trick or Treat murder

Posted on October 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 31, 1957: The Trick-or-Treat Murder. Joan and Goldyne planned for months on killing hairdresser Peter Fabiano on Halloween. Investigation revealed that Fabiano had recently reconciled with his wife, Betty, after separating over her relationship with Joan. Continue reading →

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