Category Archives: Homicide

Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on July 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 2, 1957 This is a twist story–a reverse mystery. I’ve been presenting, for the past few months, weekly missing persons cases on file with local sheriffs and police. Each started with a living, active person, surrounded by apparent normalcy. … Continue reading →

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Dead end

Posted on June 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 24, 1957 Los Angeles Police Capt. Walter R. Koenig was out walking his dog in the 5500 block of Green Oak Drive, where it dead ends in the Hollywood Hills, when he found Baby Boy Doe.  He was … Continue reading →

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Refugees

Posted on June 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 23, 1957 Pasadena John, 42, runs a health food store on North Lake Street in Pasadena and lives at 861 Elizabeth St., The Times says in a feature story. Born in Holland, he is like many Europeans who came … Continue reading →

Posted in Homicide, LAPD, RFK | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Kill crazy

Posted on June 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

    June 14, 1957 Los Angeles Charles Hilbert Dodd was eager to kill someone. If he couldn’t find his estranged wife, Dolores, then he’d shoot whomever he could get. Armed with a 16-gauge shotgun, Dodd, 47, of 6415 Balcom … Continue reading →

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Sex slaying suspect

Posted on June 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 12, 1957 Los Angeles An illegal U-turn at Sunset Boulevard and Virgil Avenue at 1 a.m. led to the arrest of Charles Lawrence Dahlquist, a 6-foot-5, 211-pound fugitive from Chicago wanted for questioning in the sex slayings of three … Continue reading →

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Strangler attacks

Posted on June 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 11, 1957 Los Angeles We’re parked outside a two-story apartment house at 3737 Los Feliz Blvd. It’s late, after 1 a.m. I’ll warn you before we go in: I hate this case. I can’t say I like any … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Division, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Killing in Alhambra

Posted on May 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Photographs by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times22 Champion Place, Alhambra, Calif.     May 30, 1957Alhambra Yeah, we’re back in Alhambra, parked on the pinched, narrow street outside 22 Champion Place, a quirky, old two-story house built in 1910. … Continue reading →

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Maid held in murder

Posted on May 28, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1957 Los Angeles Former Nazi prisoner 33822 sat at the defense table, her hands clasped tightly.  Her light blue cotton dress was wilted from the heat and her dab of lipstick only accented her jail pallor. Police said … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Child killer

Posted on May 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Photograph by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles TimesAbove, 425 Isabella St., Highland Park, May 19, 2007. May 24, 1957 Los Angeles His mother’s boyfriend can’t hurt him anymore. Little Donald Butler Jr., 3, said: "I love you, Mommy," and died … Continue reading →

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Boyfriend kills waitress

Posted on May 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

  To Whom It May Concern: My name is Linda Pyne and I am writing on behalf of my husband, Richard D. Pyne. As an infant he was abandoned by his parents. He did know that his mother was murdered … Continue reading →

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Tough prosecutor

Posted on May 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

  May 16, 1957 Los Angeles While L. Ewing Scott uses every possible ploy to delay his extradition from Michigan, the district attorney’s office has appointed top prosecutor J. Miller Leavy to handle the case. Leavy has just finished the … Continue reading →

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Voices–the Albert Dyer case

Posted on May 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Note: The murders of three little Inglewood girls was one of Los Angeles’ most notorious case of the 1930s. Madeline Everett, 7,  her sister Melba, 9, and their playmate, Jeanette Stephens, 8, were lured to the Baldwin Hills by … Continue reading →

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Jealousy slaying

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles Meet Henry C. “Clay” Hamby, 42, who lived with his wife, Mildred, and three children in a 944-square-foot home at 14519 Paddock St., in Sylmar. Clay is a drophammer operator at Reylon Precision Products, a … Continue reading →

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A shot in the dark

Posted on April 28, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 28, 1957 Los Angeles Let’s park here and sit in the car for a minute. It’s late, sometime between 11 p.m. on Jan. 3 and dawn on Jan. 4, 1957. The lights are on as if someone’s home. Hear … Continue reading →

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Voices

Posted on April 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

Note: Ulrich K. Quast, an auto salesman who took L. Ewing Scott and his wife, Evelyn, for a test drive along Mulholland in 1955, was probably the last person who saw her alive aside from her killer. As far as … Continue reading →

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The bad dream

Posted on April 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 23, 1957 Los Angeles "It’s like a bad dream," he said. "You keep thinking you’ll awaken and find it’s a bad dream." Edward Simon Wein, given five death sentences under California’s "Little Lindbergh Law" for a series of kidnappings … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Caryl Chessman, Homicide, Long Beach, San Fernando Valley, Venice Division | 3 Comments

A lack of curiosity

Posted on April 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 16, 1957 Los Angeles Everyone seems to be wondering what became of Evelyn–everyone except her husband, Leonard. The way he tells it, on May 8, 1955, they took a car for a test drive along Mulholland, came back to … Continue reading →

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The Wife-Saving House

Posted on April 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 13, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch Step back with me for a moment to that 1950s home the McCauleys built, one of those futuristic places that practically took care of itself and just needed a little soap and … Continue reading →

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Twice Burned

Posted on April 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 5, 1957Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch They were a six-pack of juiceheads, daddy-o. Human-torched by lowlifes that wildfired the imagination of young, L.A. bike-roaming James Ellroy, demon dogging the pulp novel city in type-O scarlet and memory napalm.   … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , | 18 Comments

In-Cred-I-Ble

Posted on February 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

A large (20×30) reproduction of Elizabeth Short’s mug shot has appeared on EBay at a starting price of $250, or $400 under “buy it now” in an auction by mermaidfx. The word “rare” is ridiculously common on EBay, surpassed only … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on In-Cred-I-Ble