Category Archives: LAPD

Black Dahlia: Donald Wolfe, ‘The Black Dahlia Files’ and a Faked Document (Revisited)

Posted on June 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

Page 198 of Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files.” Someone asked about the fake a document in Donald Wolfe’s “The Black Dalia Files.” Here’s a post I wrote about it on April 14, 2006. Eight years later, I’m still … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: Gloria Swanson Photo Inscribed to Mark Hansen on EBay

Posted on June 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Here’s another item that is tangentially related to the Black Dahlia case: A photograph of Gloria Swanson inscribed to Florentine Gardens business manager Mark Hansen. Hansen was a small-time operator of movie theaters and news accounts of the Black Dahlia … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Joseph G. Fickling Memorabilia on EBay

Posted on June 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

An EBay vendor has listed the pilot wings that belonged to Joseph G. Fickling, Elizabeth Short’s onetime boyfriend. Apparently these items were in a storage unit. The vendor has posted a photo of Fickling’s dog tags (not included in the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Found on EBay, LAPD, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: Joseph G. Fickling Memorabilia on EBay

Black Dahlia: Dr. George Hodel and Soil Test Results … ‘Definitely Not Elizabeth Short’

Posted on June 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

KNBC-TV Channel 4 has finally updated its story on Buster the Wonder Dog finding … something … at the purported Murder HQ of Dr. George Hodel. Let’s review the timeline: On Nov. 9, 2012, the makers of the TV show … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Out of the Past: An LAPD Cold Case From 1948

Posted on May 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

The northwest corner of Central and Manchester avenues, as shown on Google Earth. Notice the alley behind the stores. In nine years of blogging about Los Angeles, I have learned that families often launder the past and, understandably, murder is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1948, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Old Daily Mirror Is Back Online

Posted on May 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Some of the collateral damage from the redesign of latimes.com was the disappearance of the old Daily Mirror. It’s back online at the same old place. Google hates broken links, so I’m not sure what the outage did to its … Continue reading →

Posted in History, LAPD, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Black Dahlia: Photos and Newspaper Clippings on EBay

Posted on May 9, 2014 by lmharnisch

A large lot of Black Dahlia material, including newspaper clippings, several magazines, newspaper photos, etc., has been listed on EBay. Bidding is currently 99 cents but I’m sure it will go much higher before the auction concludes. An unattached front … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Woman’s Body Found in Trunk at Union Station, May 6, 1944

Posted on May 9, 2014 by lmharnisch

  May 6, 1944 An old trunk wrapped with wire and tied with rope arrives at Union Station, where people noticed that it was leaking — and smelled. Sent to the repair department for inspection, the trunk was opened by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Black Dahlia: RIP Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Posted on May 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who died yesterday at the age of 95, is better remembered for “77 Sunset Strip” and “The F.B.I.”  He’s probably even better remembered for “The Chapman Report.” But yes, he did portray LAPD Det. Harry Hansen in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Black Dahlia: 1947 L.A. Examiner Front Page Sells for $500+

Posted on May 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Someone bought this front page of the Jan. 17, 1947, Los Angeles Examiner, with the story about the identification of Elizabeth Short, for $511.01. Not the entire paper. Just the front page. The seller was Timothy Hughes: Early and Rare … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files: The Freeway Rapist

Posted on April 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches and other … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Parker Center Cop Shop Files | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Imagining the Future

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006. The subject came up today when I was having lunch with Ed Fuentes, so I thought I would repost it. Notice that in this plan, Union Station was to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Downtown, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Imagining the Future

Black Dahlia: Fixing a Small Error Before It Becomes a Big One

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

KPCC recently did a story about the LAPD’s archive of crime photos. And whoever wrote the caption took a logical – but incorrect – guess about the people in this photo of the Black Dahlia crime scene. Let’s do a … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files

Posted on April 22, 2014 by lmharnisch

I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches and other … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: A New ‘Suspect’ (Who Isn’t Dr. George Hodel) and a New Dimension in Lunacy

Posted on April 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Nobody does “true” crime stories quite like the Brits. And the Daily Mail is all over this one. Suppose I told you that Suzanne Degnan (1946), the Black Dahlia (1947), Jimmy Hoffa (disappeared 1975), the Zodiac victims (late 1960s) AND … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files: Sandra Bowers

Posted on April 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches and other … Continue reading →

Posted in 1982, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Parker Center Cop Shop Files | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

LAPD Scrapbook: Rodger Young Village

Posted on April 9, 2014 by lmharnisch

I stumbled across this photo in going through the LAPD scrapbooks at the city archives. This is Rodger Young Village, built for returning veterans due to the acute housing shortage in Los Angeles. This site is now occupied by the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, LAPD, Parks | Tagged , , , | 42 Comments

LAPD Scrapbook: L.A. Crime Wave, March 8, 1946

Posted on April 9, 2014 by lmharnisch

I recently visited the city archives and thanks to archivist Michael Holland, I learned that the LAPD kept scrapbooks in the 1940s. This is an editorial from the California Grocers Journal, which says: At one time police brutality was common … Continue reading →

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LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files

Posted on April 8, 2014 by lmharnisch

In 2013, I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Parker Center Cop Shop Files | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: Not for Young Readers

Posted on April 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

Imagine my surprise to find this little gem floating around on the Internet, and I see that I’m a couple of years late. According to Amazon, it’s a 2011 account of the Black Dahlia case for middle school students, although … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment