Tag Archives: 1957

Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on September 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 18, 1957 There are times when justice gets in its own way. By trying to hustle along a little too fast, it trips over its own ethical skirts. And a living example of what can happen when it does … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Caryl Chessman, Columnists, Homicide, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Strangler strikes

Posted on September 18, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 18-26, 1957 Los Angeles Let’s go talk about the Ginger Mitchell case. We’re in Wilshire Division so how about Canter’s Deli, up on Fairfax? While we’re driving, I’ll tell you the rest of the story. Officially, this killing … Continue reading →

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Strangler strikes

Posted on September 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 17, 1957 Los Angeles We’re parked outside 3477 S. La Brea Ave., a two-story apartment house with about 18 units in the Wilshire Division. It’s one in a row of apartment buildings along the west side of the … Continue reading →

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Dodgers!

Posted on September 17, 2007 by lmharnisch

Footnotes to history: The three council members voting against the resolution to offer a deal to the Dodgers were Earle Baker, Patrick McGee and Edward R. Roybal. Councilman John Holland originally opposed the resolution but changed his vote in hopes … Continue reading →

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Requiem

Posted on September 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 16, 1957 Los Angeles Franklyn West Storer, 50, woke up on a Saturday morning to discover that his beloved 16-year-old daughter, Mary Alice, had taken a fatal overdose of sleeping pills. In despair, he also took a fatal … Continue reading →

Posted in classical music, Hollywood, Hollywood Division, LAPD, Music, Suicide | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Political prayers

Posted on September 15, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 10-30, 1957 Los Angeles I have only touched in passing on Arkansas Gov. Orville Faubus’ fight to prevent the integration of Central High School in Little Rock. (Faubus called out the Arkansas National Guard to block federally ordered integration. … Continue reading →

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Hat squad III

Posted on September 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 14, 1957 Los Angeles Motorcycle Officer W.W. Wilhelm decided to put some teeth in fashion law and cited motorist Louise Squire for wearing a plastic mesh basket on her head. When stopped at Argyle and Franklin Avenues, Squire, … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on September 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 13, 1957 The night was made for love, according to such perpetual sentimentalists as Lanny Ross. But not according to me. At my advanced age, the night was made for such prosaic chores as getting to the column you … Continue reading →

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Hat squad

Posted on September 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 13, 1957Los Angeles Remember the straw hat you bought back in May? Get rid of it, gentlemen, straw hat season is over! It’s time to get back to felt in wide array of colors, from gray to blue-gray. … Continue reading →

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On the menu: domestic strife

Posted on September 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 13, 1957 Los Angeles Information on Gene Leonard Cornforth is a bit sketchy, but he certainly had interesting taste in women. Take the first Mrs. Cornforth, Maureen. After she and Gene divorced, her boss at Hughes Aircraft, David … Continue reading →

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Runaway

Posted on September 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 12, 1957 Los Angeles There’s no telling what spooked Ben, but the horse was frightened and galloped toward Nordhoff Street and Tobias Avenue in what was then the rural San Fernando Valley. The rider, Carol Goetzinger, 13, tried … Continue reading →

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‘Mommie told me to get the gun’

Posted on September 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 11, 1957 Los Angeles Everett Robert Ayala’s last words on earth were: "Go ahead, shoot me," spoken to his 8-year-old foster daughter as he resumed beating his wife, Pauline. So Linda Louise Narez, who was holding a .30-caliber … Continue reading →

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Stag film raid

Posted on September 10, 2007 by lmharnisch

Feb. 10, 1957Los Angeles I stumbled across this story while researching yesterday’s post on South-Central vice raids and it was too wonderful to ignore. It sounds almost like one of the “Honeymooners” episodes involving Ralph Cramden, Ed Norton and the … Continue reading →

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Architectural ramblings

Posted on September 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

Here’s the home at 457 S. Serrano Ave., where mystery writer Craig Rice died. Photograph by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times

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Police and the courts

Posted on September 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

I missed this op/ed piece when it came out July 19, 1957. It was certainly a different era for the police.

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 7, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 7, 1957 The week’s cordon bleu for eccentric behavior goes to a sharply dressed young man who came into a hill Street bat cave around midnight and ordered a beer. Before sipping any, he unlatched a luggage case, extracted … Continue reading →

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Ask Jane

Posted on September 7, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1957Los Angeles This is almost beyond belief. "I spit fire with every word and could smack my wife’s head off with my fist–but, hey, I take a bath every day. What’s her problem?"

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

Sept. 6, 1957 Last week while driving between Cortez and Durango, Colo., Paul Weeks turned on the radio to relieve the monotony. After a while it came through his consciousness that the station, KWIK in Farmington, N.M., was playing the … Continue reading →

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The pride of South Bend

Posted on September 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

In case you have never seen one, this car was called a Studebaker. This model was the Silver Hawk. Studebaker’s West Coast assembly plant was at 4530 Loma Vista Ave. in Vernon. The factory resumed postwar auto manufacturing Oct. 18, … Continue reading →

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A rambling man

Posted on September 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 6, 1957 Los Angeles Kindly, mild-mannered and quiet, The Traveler, 51, was the last person anyone would suspect of a crime. He seemed more like a Sunday school teacher, which he had been, or perhaps an itinerant newsman. … Continue reading →

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