Category Archives: Suicide

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

Posted on September 20, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Sept. 20, 1907 Los Angeles 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, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1883, 1907, 1950, Architecture, Downtown, Suicide | 2 Comments

Sept. 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

Posted on September 16, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Low flying charges have been filed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration against Stanley Beltz, Lockheed test pilot, who reportedly took a four-engined Constellation down to 200 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Aviation, Crime and Courts, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. There are some obstacles that even love cannot overcome, or so David Everett has discovered. The 30-year-old mechanic is in critical condition at Torrance General Hospital … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Comics, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted on August 27, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Manhattan Beach Aug. 27, 1907 Retired Episcopal minister the Rev. John Jewett, 83, wanted to die, so while staying with his son-in-law, J.D. Porter, he slit his throat with a razor. The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1911, Black Dahlia, Suicide | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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

Posted on August 12, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Dr. Stanley Dean Johnson sounds like quite a fellow. He’s a specialist in the works of John Donne, having received his bachelor’s and master’s from the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

May 10, 1943: Heartbreaking Story of ‘Punky,’ 14, Who Succeeded in Killing Herself on 7th Try

Posted on May 31, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project. You can’t help but notice in going through old newspapers that suicides and divorces (especially in the days before no-fault divorces) were treated as daily “brites,” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: World War II Veteran Kills Wife, Commits Suicide

Posted on May 15, 2018 by

May 15, 1947: Robert B. Hudson, 30, was “ambitious, quiet and conservative in his activities,” the Sentinel said. He was discharged from the service with the rank of staff sergeant after 27 months in the South Pacific. He and his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jan. 28, 1947: Man Leaps From Top of Empire State Building, Lands on Iowa Woman

Posted on January 28, 2018 by

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project. Yet another of the kind of story that would never see Page 1 of The Times, but was featured on the front of the Examiner, with a picture … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Comics, Suicide | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 29, 2017 by

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

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

Posted on December 30, 2015 by

Note: This is a repost 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 to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on December 30, 2014 by

Note: This is a repost 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 to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Wealthy Carmel Woman, 37, Accused in Love Slaying of Ranch Hand, 19

Posted on October 3, 2014 by

Oct. 3, 1944 The sensational trial of Frances Andrews, 37, in the shooting death of Jay Lovett, 19, prompts a crackpot confession letter (a popular pastime in the 1940s, as found in the Black Dahlia case).  This one included receipts … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Suicide | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on December 24, 2013 by

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 to mix one up, a Bronx Cocktail is … Continue reading →

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

Millennial Moment: Locke High Student Hangs Herself

Posted on November 29, 2013 by

Nov. 29, 1983: Bridget Marie Hicks was a 17-year-old girl with two children and apparently too many problems. A worker at the South-Central Multi-Purpose Child Development Center found her hanging from a tree. Police said Bridget, a student at nearby … Continue reading →

Posted in 1983, Education, Hollywood, Millennial Moments, Suicide | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

‘Love Child’ Abandoned in Movie Theater as Parents Die in Suicide Pact

Posted on November 8, 2013 by

Nov. 8, 1933: Los Angeles history is so rich that all you need to strike gold is to poke a stick in the ground, and today is a perfect example. We have the story of Jack Bodin Sr., 41, who … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, 1936, Art & Artists, Broadway, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Suicide, Theaters | 4 Comments

Woman in Stolen Car Shoots Gun at LAPD Officers

Posted on September 25, 2013 by

Sept. 25, 1933: How did the Los Angeles Public Library fare in the Great Depression? Here are some answers. The library was forced to make painful cutbacks due to a 24% drop in tax revenue, including shorter hours, layoffs, reductions … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, LAPD, Pasadena, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Posted on September 13, 2013 by

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared. Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley … Continue reading →

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

Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2013 by

Sept. 4, 1933: A streetcar broadsides an auto at the crossing on Olympic Boulevard between Broadway and Figueroa, killing two people and leaving two others near death, The Times said. A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Rocket Builder Steals Truckload of Equipment From Caltech

Posted on August 22, 2013 by

Aug. 22, 1953: Fred Frank Wildemuth kills his wife because he didn’t want her to catch carbon monoxide poisoning from him. “I, the Jury” in 3-D at the Paramount theaters in Hollywood and downtown. A brilliant — and unidentified — … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Music, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Posted on August 1, 2013 by

Comics characters of the 1950s got to drive MGs! Edward Irving Foote was born June 29, 1861, in Michigan. Someone by that name attended the University of Michigan at Lansing, class of 1877-78, and was described as a “farmer, miner, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment