Category Archives: Homicide

Murder-suicide

Posted on November 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 27, 1957 Los Angeles Everybody says the Rawlings family are fine people. They have a big house at 307 Tamarac Drive in San Rafael, one of the finer neighborhoods in Pasadena. Nice house, isn’t it? Four bedrooms, two baths, … Continue reading →

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Caryl Chessman

Posted on November 26, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 26, 1957Los Angeles Here’s an update on two stories we have been following…. After 98 witnesses and eight weeks of testimony, the prosecution is about to rest in the murder trial of L. Ewing Scott. Throughout the trial, the … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Caryl Chessman, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Ed Gein arrested

Posted on November 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

Nov. 18, 1957 Plainfield, Wis. “It appears to be cannibalism.” What more does anyone need to say? (Notice that The Times did not put this on Page 1).  

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Doctor murdered

Posted on November 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 17, 1957 Los Angeles Let’s go back about six months before it happened out on a lonely road half a mile from the cemetery. Monty was 19 and had just gotten out of the Deuel Vocational Institution for … Continue reading →

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

Murder-suicide

Posted on November 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 15, 1957 Los Angeles Your name is Leonard Jackola. You’re 43 and here on a visit from Chicago, staying with your younger sister, Mary, 30, and her family at 3634 E. 177th St., Torrance. Her husband, Arthur E. … Continue reading →

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Random search

Posted on November 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

Someone has been searching the Daily Mirror for information about an unsolved killing in Los Angeles County on May 22, 1963. Send me a little more information and I’ll see what I can turn up…. Email me

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Trick or Treat murder

Posted on November 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 13-14, 1957Los Angeles Just as I suspected. Although The Times was too squeamish to even allude to homosexuality in the Trick or Treat murder of Peter Fabiano, the Mirror was a bit more brave. A bit. It’s fairly … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, 1957, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Body at Point Mugu

Posted on November 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 13, 1957 Point Mugu Let’s suppose you are the Ventura County coroner. The body of a man in his 20s is found washed up on the beach near Point Mugu, below Mugu Rock, according to news accounts. He’s … Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in #courts, Homicide | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

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 →

Posted in 1957, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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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