Tag Archives: crime and courts

January 23, 1947: Four Held for Trial in ‘Red Hibiscus Murder’

Posted on January 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 23, 1947: Four youths are held in the ‘Red Hibuscus Murder” of Naomi Tullis Cook, who was found in a clump of hibiscus bushes next to the men’s restroom in Lincoln Park. Continue reading →

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January 22, 1947: Police Hunt ‘Large Nose Bandit’

Posted on January 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 22, 1947: Police hunt “Large Nose Bandit” in bank holdup. Continue reading →

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January 21, 1947: ‘Model Prisoners’ Slip From Custody at Night to Commit Burglaries

Posted on January 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 21, 1947: Marley Griggs and his sidekick Oliver Gebhart had the perfect alibi for the burglary of a market on Western Avenue—they were already in custody 60 miles away. But then they outsmarted themselves. Continue reading →

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January 20, 1947: ‘Good Night. Sleep Peacefully With Compliments of Jacks’

Posted on January 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 20, 1947: Florabel Muir recounts the murder scene of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. TW: graphic contents. Continue reading →

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January 19, 1947: Watch Out for His Left Jab!

Posted on January 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 19, 1947: Southern Pacific conductor Clinton White, a southpaw, fights off two holdup men by throwing a mean left jab. Continue reading →

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January 17, 1947: Big Bill Tilden Gets Jail for Morals Case Involving Teenage Boy

Posted on January 17, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 17, 1947: William (Big Bill) Tilden, 54-year-old internationally known tennis star, yesterday was sentenced to serve nine months in the County Jail with a road gang recommendation by Juvenile Judge A.A. Scott for contributing to the delinquency of a 14-year-old boy. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on January 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 15, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 15: Today is the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory. Continue reading →

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January 7, 1947: Man Uses Same Coffee Cup for 27 Years

Posted on January 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 7, 1947: Truman B. Carl of Whittier has used the same coffee cup for 27 years. That’s it. That’s the story. Really. Continue reading →

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January 5, 1959: LAPD Suspends Officer for – Uh-Oh

Posted on January 5, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 5, 1959: The LAPD suspends Officer Charles Wolf for 15 days for — no, he didn’t! (Yes, he did). Continue reading →

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January 5, 1947: Two Black 15-Year-Olds Set for Electric Chair After Losing Plea

Posted on January 5, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 5, 1947: In Mississippi, two Black 15-year-olds lose their appeal for clemency despite the efforts of Blanche Meiers of Oakland, who pleaded for their lives. The teens are set to be electrocuted January 17 in the killing of a white man. Continue reading →

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December 31, 1907: Old Watchman, Beaten by Robbers, Revealed as Cocaine Addict

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1907: W.H. Reynolds laid out all night after being beaten up and thrown in the weeds by two robbers. Hospital staff found his arms and legs covered with needle marks from where he had injected himself with cocaine. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1907: Old Soldiers of the Civil War, Held as Drunks, Get Free Run of Jail

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1907: Six Civil War veterans are jailed on charges of being drunk and rowdy in Sawtelle, the settlement outside the gates of the veterans home. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: December 23, 1949 — Jury Finds Dr. George Hodel Not Guilty of Molesting Tamar Hodel

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1949: A jury of eight women and four men finds Dr. George Hodel not guilty of molesting his daughter Tamar. Continue reading →

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December 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1947: The young mother asked the waitress at the cafe in the Subway Terminal Building to hold her baby for just a moment—and then she was gone. Continue reading →

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December 22, 1907: For I Was Homeless and You Ran Me In — L.A. Prepares for ‘Hobo Season’

Posted on December 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 22, 1907: Los Angeles prepares for ‘Hobo Season’ with posters warning that the city sentenced the homeless to the chain gang. Continue reading →

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December 21, 1907: Desperate Girl, Alone and Friendless in L.A., Steals $10

Posted on December 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 21, 1907: Lillian Poelk was new to Los Angeles, with no friends and little more than a job as a waitress that didn’t quite cover the rent of her room at 831 S. Hope. “While other girls were getting pretty things and preparing for a pleasant Christmas, she was shut up in a cheerless room,” The Times said. Continue reading →

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December 20, 1907: Miracle Doctor Fer-Don Cures Man of 90-Foot Tape Worm!

Posted on December 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 20, 1907: Miracle doctor “The Great Fer-Don” comes to Los Angeles, with ads boasting of his amazing cures. Alas, his health tonic was merely colored water and a felony warrant was issued for him and his wife. Continue reading →

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December 19, 1907: No, None of It Was His Fault

Posted on December 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 19, 1907: George White isn’t to blame for robbing the Hot Rivet Saloon. He just fell in with the wrong man. And beating up the Army lieutenant, that wasn’t his fault, either. Continue reading →

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Deccember 17, 1947: Frightening Food From the 1940s — ‘Unusual’ Fruitcake

Posted on December 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 17, 1947: A recipe for an “unusual” fruitcake. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a $2,500 fine against Hollywood book dealer Marcell Rodd for selling the obscene book “Call House Madam.” The book, by Serge G. Wolsey, is now available at the Los Angeles Public Library. Continue reading →

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December 16, 1947: Back Broken and Skull Fractured, Girl, 2 Dies of Abuse; Mother Gets 10 Years in Prison

Posted on December 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 16, 1947: A terrible story of child abuse. A woman sentenced to 10 years for killing her 2-year-old girl gives birth to a son in the jail ward of county hospital. The judge takes the baby boy from the mother, saying: ‘You shall never see this baby again!’ Continue reading →

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