Category Archives: Suicide

December 12, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

December 12, 1959: With all the talk of payola, the first Christmas DJ Johnny Grant received was … a wallet. From a record company, Paul Coates says. Continue reading

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Paul Coates, Suicide | Leave a comment

December 11, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

December 11, 1959: George Bergeman Jr., 24, commits suicide because he lost so much money gambling on pinball and Paul Coates has the story. Continue reading

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Paul Coates, Suicide | Leave a comment

November 30, 1958: Former deputy strangles wife, kills himself as police close in

November 30, 1958: A former deputy strangles his wife and kills himself. A pitch-perfect story from 1958. Continue reading

Posted in 1958, Front Pages, Homicide, Suicide | Comments Off on November 30, 1958: Former deputy strangles wife, kills himself as police close in

October 16, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

October 16, 1957: Paul Coates has a moving tribute to a dead man and a son who loved to play the piano. Continue reading

Posted in Columnists, Paul Coates, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 16, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

October 4, 1957: Madness

October 4, 1957: Allene Durston, dying of bone cancer, kidnaps her grandson, Ronald White, 9, kills him and commits suicide. Continue reading

Posted in Homicide, LAPD, San Fernando Valley, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on October 4, 1957: Madness

September 20, 1907: Suicide Note — ‘Everything Is Boiling’

September 20, 1907: For weeks, Colorado mining investor John Geisel, 57, had confided in his diary as he felt his mind and his life coming unraveled “Good God,” he wrote, “for the first time today I began to fear that I could not control my thoughts.” Continue reading

Posted in 1883, 1907, 1950, Architecture, Downtown, Suicide | Comments Off on September 20, 1907: Suicide Note — ‘Everything Is Boiling’

September 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

September 16, 1947: Colorful Lockheed test pilot Stanley Beltz is in trouble again. Beltz died in 1955 testing a F-94B Starfire and his despondent fiancee killed herself less than two weeks later. Continue reading

Posted in 1947, Aviation, Crime and Courts, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on September 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

September 13, 1963: Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

September 13, 1963: Joseph Lewis of Highland Park wasn’t terribly concerned when his wife, Anna, disappeared. It was only when her daughter returned from vacation that police were notified. Continue reading

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

September 10, 1947: In Love but Unable to Marry First Cousin, 17, Man Shoots Himself

September 10, 1947: David Everett, a 30-year-old mechanic, is in critical condition at Torrance General Hospital after shooting himself in the head and neck in despondency over his frustrated love for his 17-year-old first cousin Janet. And yes, she lives in a trailer park. Continue reading

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Comics, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on September 10, 1947: In Love but Unable to Marry First Cousin, 17, Man Shoots Himself

September 4, 1933: Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

September 4, 1933: A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then slits his throat after an argument because his wife had the bedroom painted pink. Continue reading

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on September 4, 1933: Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

August 27, 1907: Undertaker Sent Home as Minister Survives Suicide Attempt

August 27, 1907: An undertaker makes two trips to pick up a retired Episcopal minister — but he wasn’t dead. Continue reading

Posted in 1907, 1911, Black Dahlia, Suicide | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Couple found dead in pool, August 23, 1958

August 23, 1958: The puzzling deaths of a man and a woman who drowned in a home’s swimming pool. Continue reading

Posted in @news, Suicide | 1 Comment

August 12, 1947: Distinguished UCLA English Instructor Dies in Plunge from S.F. Building; ‘He Was Not Married’

August 12, 1947: Dr. Stanley Dean Johnson, a specialist in the works of John Donne at UCLA, has been spending the summer at the Huntington Library. He is a brilliant scholar and popular with faculty and staff. But in August 1947 he plunged from the 15th floor of San Francisco’s Russ Building. He was 39 and “not married.” Continue reading

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on August 12, 1947: Distinguished UCLA English Instructor Dies in Plunge from S.F. Building; ‘He Was Not Married’

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1934 Warner Bros. / First National picture “Gentlemen Are Born,” with Franchot Tone, Jean Muir, Margaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, Ross Alexander, Charles Starrett, Russell Hicks, Robert Light, Addison Richards, Henry O’Neill, Arthur Aylesworth, Marjorie … Continue reading

Posted in 1934, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, San Fernando Valley, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Did George Hodel Kill His Secretary? Another Steve Hodel Lie

Steve Hodel claims repeatedly in his “Black Dahlia Avenger” franchise that his father, George Hodel, killed his secretary, Ruth Spaulding. It’s even in Wikipedia.

Posted in 1945, 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 10, 1959: Nixon Was Born … in a Hospital?

Jan. 10, 1959: This was a fun, strange story. Art Ryon claimed that Richard Nixon’s mother said he was born in a hospital, not at home. Later this was strongly denied and Bela Kornitzer, in “The Real Nixon,”  went out … Continue reading

Posted in 1959, Richard Nixon, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 10, 1959: Nixon Was Born … in a Hospital?