Category Archives: Homicide

Toddler slain

Posted on November 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 12, 1957 Los Angeles What makes a killer? Do children arrive in the world planning to take someone’s life or is it whatever befalls them as they grow up? Read about John Lawrence Miller and let me know what … Continue reading →

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Church shooting

Posted on November 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 11, 1957 Los AngelesThomas J. Tophia and James Wallace were arguing outside a bar when Tophia drew a gun and hit Wallace over the head with it. The gun fired, sending a bullet through the open door of a … Continue reading →

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Location sleuth

Posted on November 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

Twentieth Century Fox goes to Main Street, Los Angeles. The work of cinematographer Joseph MacDonald: I had an opportunity to tour the Regent, 448 S. Main St. (yes, it’s still standing) during the Los Angeles Conservancy’s recent Mainly Main tour. … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Death trip

Posted on November 4, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 5, 1957 Los Angeles "I just shot a man, but it was self-defense." Bobby Gene Gray was stopped at a light in South Gate when Harris (Harrison) C. Foster, 26, and his ex-wife Carolyn (Caroline) Foster Alcala, 20, forced … Continue reading →

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October 31, 1957: Trick or Treat murder

Posted on October 31, 2007 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Larry Harnisch / Los Angeles Times The “Trick-or-Treat Murder” house, 13236 Community St., October 27, 2007. October 31, 1957 Los Angeles They had planned the murder for months as the vague wish turned into a solid, horrible truth. … Continue reading →

Posted in #gays and lesbians, Homicide, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Beckham update

Posted on October 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

Clinton Erickson, who keeps track of retired and deceased Los Angeles Police Department officers, says that James “J.O.” Worden retired on June 17, 1979, and died Sept. 16, 1999. He has no information on Worden’s partner, K.E. Gourley.

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The Digital Age

Posted on October 26, 2007 by lmharnisch

Clay Haskell sends along an enhanced version of “Lazy Boy” Beckham’s mug shot. Note the hairline mustache. And here’s Officer Christensen.

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Another dose of skepticism

Posted on October 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

Theodore Roosevelt “Lazy Boy” Beckham has been dead for 50 years and is still causing trouble. I was already bothered by the conflicting accounts of his death, but now that I’ve gone into the microfilm at the Los Angeles Public … Continue reading →

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Scott trial update

Posted on October 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 24, 1957Los Angeles So many stories and only one Larry Harnisch. Here’s The Times coverage of the L. Ewing Scott case. Note the testimony of Detective Herman Zander:

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Chinese Massacre, 1871

Posted on October 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

Oct. 27, 1883 Today is the 136th anniversary of the Chinese Massacre. [Note: This article uses names for ethnic minorities that were common in the 19th century–lrh].

Posted in 1871, 1883, Homicide | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A dose of skepticism

Posted on October 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 22, 1957 Los Angeles And here’s where storytelling trumped skepticism. Recall the death of Theodore Roosevelt Beckham, who killed Juvenile Officer Robert R. Christensen at 1524 Ingraham St. during an attempted arrest. The first news accounts said officers … Continue reading →

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Death in Arcadia

Posted on October 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 21, 1957 Arcadia OK, we got another strangled woman. You want to go? Fine, get in. Not much traffic at 2 a.m., is there? We’ll cruise along Sierra Madre Boulevard through the little town of Sierra Madre and … Continue reading →

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Unsolved murder

Posted on October 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

These have been posted all over my neighborhood. His name was Armando Reynaga, 28, of Eagle Rock. Also see the article in the South Pasadena High School Tiger. Email me

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In the teeth of the evidence

Posted on October 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Evelyn and L. Ewing Scott during a cruise on the Queen Mary. Oct. 16-18, 1957 Los Angeles In its opening days, the Leonard Ewing Scott murder trial has focused Evelyn Scott’s eyeglasses and dentures, which were found behind the … Continue reading →

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October 17, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

Oct. 17, 1957 He sat nervously in the chair opposite me. The staccato beat in his speech reflected his anxiety. “Nothing would ever have happened to me,” he said, “except that on her dead body was found my name. “I … Continue reading →

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Karil Rogers Graham and ‘The Badge’

Posted on October 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

“She was such a grand, lovely person. She loved flowers, was crazy about them.” That’s what the landlady, Eleanor Lipson, had to say about murder victim Karil Rogers Graham. Her sister, Mrs. H.L. Manley, called her “a well-settled girl.” According … Continue reading →

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Judith Mae Andersen update

Posted on October 15, 2007 by lmharnisch

Here’s another picture of the steel drum used to dispose of the body of Judith Mae Andersen, which appeared in the September 1957 issue of Police Digest. A sincere thanks to Gabriel A. Fuentes.  

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End of watch

Posted on October 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 14, 1957 Los Angeles Theodore Roosevelt Beckham, a 23-year-old suspected sex offender, killed LAPD juvenile Officer Robert R. Christensen, 38, with his own gun during an attempted arrest, the third slaying in a bloody, tragic week for Southern … Continue reading →

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End of watch

Posted on October 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

    Oct. 13-23, 1957 Los Angeles Woody and Eddy’s should have been an easy job for two old pros just out of the joint: Sit around and have a drink or two until the place closes and nearly everybody … Continue reading →

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Court beat

Posted on October 10, 2007 by lmharnisch

Oct. 10, 1957Los Angeles Oh for the life of a court beat reporter in 1957: Confidential magazine, an appeal by convicted killer Caryl Chessman and the murder trial of L. Ewing Scott, not to mention the daily grind of the … Continue reading →

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