Tag Archives: crime and courts

Aug. 12-13, 1907: Bucket of Blood Is a Den of Drunken Debauchery

Posted on August 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Aug. 12-13, 1907 Los Angeles Despite the name Bismarck Cafe, police call the saloon at Main and Winston Streets the Bucket of Blood because it’s a continual source of crime and violence. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, LAPD, Main Street, Music, Streetcars | Tagged #Main Street, 1907, crime and courts, drunken debauchery, food and drink, labor, lapd | Comments Off

Aug. 7, 1907: Too Late for Wife to Repent Marriage to Abusive Husband, Judge Rules

Posted on August 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Aug. 7, 1907 Los Angeles He swore at her and told her to go to hell. He rarely worked and only helped her run their boarding house when he felt like … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Streetcars | Tagged 1907, crime and courts, divorce, domestic violence | Comments Off

Aug. 6, 1947: Asian Americans Sue Over Deed Restrictions Forcing Them Out of White Neighborhoods

Posted on August 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court of California here yesterday seeking to restrain the Superior Court from hearing injunction suits against two American-Orientals to restrain … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, Asian Americans, crime and courts, deed covenants, housing | Comments Off

Aug. 5, 1947: Hitchhiking Couple Confess to ‘Kiss of Death’ Murder

Posted on August 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. “Last Wednesday, I killed a man.” Joseph stood tall for the news photographers, with his wife, Lois, by his side, a shock of hair swept down … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, homicide, Kiss of Death Murder | Comments Off

Black L.A. 1947: Elizabeth Ingalls to Pay Dora Jones $6,000 in Slavery Case; Sentenced to Fine and Probation

Posted on August 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1947: The Sentinel’s front page is full of news: Elizabeth Ingalls is sentenced in the San Diego slavery case to a fine of $2,500, three years probation and a $6,000 payment to Dora Jones. The Sentinel also reports … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, San Diego | Tagged #slavery, 1947, African Americans, crime and courts, Dora L. Jones, Elizabeth Ingalls, homicide, lapd, Los Angeles Sentinel, San Diego | 3 Comments

July 31, 1907: After a Day at the Beach, Beer, a Fight and Gunshots

Posted on July 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 31, 1907 Los Angeles After a delay due to illness, newsboy Charles “Winnipeg” Wilson took the stand to testify against Evelyn Ferguson, who is accused of shooting him because he was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged 1907, beer, crime and courts | Comments Off

June 16, 1964: 2 Dead in Bizarre Drowning, Overdose; ‘All Three Had Been Drinking Heavily’

Posted on July 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. It was a follow-up to a post by Kim Cooper. Let’s suppose you and your sister came home from a hard day and found your husband … Continue reading →

Posted in 1964, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1947, 1964, all three had been drinking heavily, crime and courts | 2 Comments

July 28, 1907: L.A. Seeks to Clear Books of Old Laws on Bear Baiting, Quail Hunting by Streetcar Conductors

Posted on July 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 28, 1907 Los Angeles City officials, hampered by a bramble bush of old and unenforced laws, have appointed deputy prosecutor Eddie to prune back outdated and unnecessary regulations from the early … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, City Hall, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, City Hall, crime and courts, hunting, lapd | Comments Off

Black L.A. 1947: Honor Student Vesta Belle Sapenter Strangled; Suspect Released

Posted on July 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

5320 Holmes Ave., in the Pueblo Del Rio housing project, via Google Street View. July 24, 1947: The Sentinel reports that Benjamin Allen, 16, of 5217 McGarry St., is being held in the death of Vesta Belle Sapenter. Benjamin … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, African Americans, crime and courts, homicide, lapd, Los Angeles Sentinel | 3 Comments

July 26, 1947: Son Cleared of Killing Father During Attack on Mother

Posted on July 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. One night in July, Bernard Robert Monday Jr. finally had enough. The violence had been going on at least a decade, maybe longer. In 1937, when … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, domestic violence, homicide, lapd | 1 Comment

July 24, 1947: Honor Student Vesta Belle Sapenter, 17, Strangled

Posted on July 24, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Her name was Vesta Belle and she was 17, an honor student at Jefferson High, a mile and a half from her home at 5320 Holmes … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, African Americans, crime and courts, homicide, lapd | 5 Comments

July 23, 1907: A Belated Tribute to Heroic Officer

Posted on July 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 23, 1907 Los Angeles John Conroy, a career criminal, planned his work carefully: He would wait until 10 p.m., pry open the skylight of J.C. Fleming’s jewelry store at 531 S. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Books and Authors, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, Broadway, crime and courts, lapd | Comments Off

July 21, 1947: Julie London Marries Jack Webb

Posted on July 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the courthouse corridor, just after she received one of the biggest divorce settlements in Los Angeles history, someone asked her: “If you had your choice … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Music, Television | Tagged #Jack Webb, 1947, crime and courts, film, hollywood, Julie London, Music, Television | 2 Comments

July 20, 1907: Court Calls Hundreds in Struggle to Seat Jury in Dr. Chan Case

Posted on July 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 20, 1907 Los Angeles The court summoned 80 prospective jurors to decide the case of Dr. Chan, who was accused of practicing medicine without a license, but more than half asked … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged 1907, crime and courts, jury duty | Comments Off

Black L.A. 1947: NAACP to Sue Inglewood for Barring Blacks From Swimming Pool

Posted on July 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

The 1938 exploitation film “The Wages of Sin” is being shown at the Flo-Mills Theater. July 17, 1947: The NAACP charges that the city of Inglewood bars African Americans from the pool at Centinela Park. At an employee picnic sponsored … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Parks | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, discrimination, Inglewood, Los Angeles Sentinel, NAACP, swimming pools | Comments Off

Black L.A. 1947: Postal Worker Finds Body of Rosenda Mondragon

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: The Sentinel publishes a picture of Newton Joshua, who discovered the body of Rosenda Mondragon. I don’t recall ever seeing his name in coverage of the killing.

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, homicide, lapd, Rosenda Mondragon | Comments Off

1947: Bookstore Owners Fined for Selling Obscene ‘Memoirs of Hecate County’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the days when I lived in Hecate County, I had an uncomfortable neighbor, a man named Asa M. Stryker. He had at one time, he … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, Books and Authors, crime and courts, Memoirs of Hecate County, obscenity | Comments Off

July 9, 1947: Rosenda Mondragon Strangled With Stocking

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Here’s a perfect illustration of the difference between The Times and the Examiner, which has a completely different version of Antonio Mondragon’s actions on the night … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, homicide, lapd, Rosenda Mondragon | Comments Off

July 9, 1907: L.A. Converts Abandoned Church to House Inmates From Crowded Jail

Posted on July 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 9, 1907 Los Angeles Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on Hewitt Street was barren; the pastor had gone away and the congregation had moved on. And so the City Council, in struggling … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged #prisons, 1907, crime and courts, jails | Comments Off

July 7, 1947: 4,000 Bikers in ‘Gypsy Tour’ Wreak Havoc in Hollister

Posted on July 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against?” “What’ve you got?”

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Transportation | Tagged 'The Wild One', 1947, crime and courts, transportation | Comments Off