Tag Archives: crime and courts

November 21, 1947: Judge Tells Joel Thorne to Quit ‘Fooling Around’ With Racecars, Nightclubs

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1947: A judge admonishes Joel Thorne, who sneaked out of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital after being injured in a motorcycle crash to avoid paying alimony to his ex-wife. In 1955, Thorne was killed when his Beachcraft Bonanza plunged into an apartment building, killing eight others. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Sports | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, Joel Thorne, motorcycles, Motorsports | Comments Off

November 21, 1907: Mother, 17, Throws Baby From Train to Hide ‘Shame’ From Family

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1907: Louise Williams is arrested on charges of throwing her baby from an inbound train. “She was suddenly overwhelmed with the shame of meeting her mother and sisters at Los Angeles, who had not learned of her ruin,” her attorney said. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged #trains, 1907, 1908, African Americans, crime and courts, infanticide | Comments Off

November 20, 1947: Bobby-Soxer Kills Girl, 5

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 13, 1947: Joyce, 13, forces Myretta Jones, 5, to undress, then smashes her with a rock and a shovel until she’s dead. Why? Joyce said she didn’t know. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged 1947, Bakersfield, crime and courts, George Hodel, homicide | Comments Off

November 20, 1907: Police Capture Streetcar Bandits

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1907: Police arrest two men who staged daring holdups on the Ascot Park and Eastlake streetcars, robbing the motormen and conductors as the cars reached the ends of their routes. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, crime and courts, lapd, Streetcars, transportation | Comments Off

November 19, 1907: Crime Wave Sweeps L.A.

Posted on November 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1907: An influx of crooks, petty hoodlums and vagrants drawn by good weather and horse racing at Santa Anita are blamed for a siege of crime throughout the city. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, African Americans, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Medicine, Transportation | Tagged 1907, African Americans, burglaries, crime and courts, hospitals, lapd | Comments Off

November 17, 1907: A #MeToo Moment in the Monkey House; Opera Tenors in Trouble

Posted on November 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 17, 1907: A detective in Central Park’s monkey house arrests Leon Cazauran, brought to New York to sing in “Thais” at Oscar Hammerstein’s Manhattan Operahouse, and his companion, Claude Modjeska, “a copper-colored young man,” The Times says. The charge was attempting to corrupt small boys Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, Crime and Courts | Tagged #Monkey House, #opera, Animals, crime and courts | Comments Off

November 16, 1907: Husband in Elaborate Disguise Shoots Estranged Wife on Streetcar

Posted on November 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 16,1907: Frederick Cook faces trial for shooting his estranged wife on a streetcar, disguising himself so she wouldn’t recognize him. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged 1907, 1908, crime and courts, domestic violence, homicide, roller skating | Comments Off

November 12, 1907: A Bad Way With Horses

Posted on November 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 12, 1907: John P. Shumway Jr. is badly injured when the carriage he was driving collided with the 11th Street trolley. Shumway was thrown about 20 feet, striking the pavement head-first, and the horse ran for the stable, pulling what was left of the smashed carriage, witnesses said. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1909, Animals, Crime and Courts, Transportation | Tagged 1907, 1909, Animals, crime and courts, cruelty, horses | Comments Off

November 10, 1947: Remains of Kidnapped Girl Found in Orange County Ravine

Posted on November 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1947: The remains of 6-year-old Rochelle Gluskoter, kidnapped February 15, 1946, are found in a small ravine in Orange County. Her case was never solved. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged #Kidnapping, 1947, crime and courts, Orange County, Rochelle Gluskoter | Comments Off

November 8, 1947: Tokyo Rose Seeks to Return to U.S.

Posted on November 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 8, 1947: Iva Toguri of Los Angeles seeks to return to the U.S. after being stranded in Japan during the war, when she was known as Tokyo Rose. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Immigration, Radio, World War II | Tagged 1947, broadcasting, crime and courts, immigration, radio, Tokyo Rose, World War II | Comments Off

October 28, 1907: Former LAPD Chief Calls It ‘Most Detestable Job Ever Created’

Posted on October 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 28, 1907: A former LAPD chief says the job is the worst in the city. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, City Hall, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1907, City Hall, crime and courts, lapd, Police Commission | Comments Off

October 27, 1927: Follies Theater’s ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

On Oct. 27, 1927, a campaign to “sweep Main Street clear of questionable shows” resulted in the arrest of 27 women of the “Hot Mamma” show. Police also arrested “12 chorus men, four tattooed women wearing their working clothes and last, but not least, Ill Ill, an untamed tree-climbing South African pygmy” Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Photography, Stage | Tagged 1927, crime and courts, Follies Burlesque, obscenity, photography | Comments Off

October 24, 1907: Sanitarium Doctor Tells Patients to ‘Live on Love’ and Forget About Food

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1907: Upon the suicide of Dr. H. Russell Burner, advocate of the “radium milk” cure, his sanitarium was taken over by Dr. F.S. Kurpiers, who is now in trouble with the Health Department. Kurpiers didn’t have a medical license, so he obtained the certificate of Dr. C.H. King, a dying physician who wept as he told authorities that the only way he could support a few relatives was to rent out his license. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, Medicine | Tagged 1907, crime and courts, health, medicine, quacks, sanitariums | Comments Off

October 19, 1907: Toku, Abandoned by Man Who Claimed to Be Wealthy, Denied a Divorce

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 19, 1907: Visiting Japan, K. Tsuneda met a young woman named Toku. Claiming that he was a wealthy Stanford student, Tsuneda married Toku and they came to the U.S. so his new wife could get an American education. She learned that Tsuneda wasn’t rich or a Stanford student. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, Education, Immigration | Tagged #Japan, 1907, crime and courts, divorce, immigration | Comments Off

October 16, 1947: LAPD Issues Guns to Policewomen!

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1947: The LAPD changes the uniform for policewomen and issues them guns — to be fashionably carried in a shoulder-slung black purse, also convenient for carrying handcuffs. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged #guns, 1947, badassery, crime and courts, lapd, policewomen | Comments Off

October 16, 1907: Man With Three Wives Believes in Marriage but Not Divorce

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1907: George S. Best is a great believer in marriage and strongly opposes divorce, which is why he has three of one and none of the other. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1907, bigamy, crime and courts | Comments Off

October 12, 1947: Father Charged With Beating Son, 2, for Talking During Movie

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1947: Sheppard W. King III is jailed on charges of child abuse after hitting his 2-year-old son in the lobby of the Pantages because the boy talked during the show. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Film, Theaters | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, film | Comments Off

October 11, 1947: Jury Overturns Dog Lover’s Will Leaving Fortune to 2 Irish Setters

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1947: Pat and Gunner, 6-year-old Irish setters who were left a $30,000 estate by their late master, Carleton R. Bainbridge, retired attorney, yesterday were disinherited by a jury of eight men and four women. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Animals, Comics, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, Animals, comics, crime and courts, Irish Setters | Comments Off

October 9. 1907: Trellis, The Confidence Woman

Posted on October 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 9, 1907: She was known as Trellis C. Harris or Trellis Blessing—or Edna Hall. But her method was always the same. She would commit some theft, then fake an epileptic fit, spitting up blood from a capsule hidden in her mouth. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Pasadena | Tagged #fraud, 1907, crime and courts, Pasadena | Comments Off

October 3, 1947: Full House – Burglar Slips In on Mystery Writer’s Poker Game

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1947: Reddest face in town yesterday belonged to Charles Bennett, writer of screen mysteries in which the brilliant detective always catches the crook. While he had a few friends in for a card game, a burglar crawled through a window and stole his wife’s purse and a pair of earrings. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged 1947, burglaries, comics, crime and courts, film, hollywood, lapd | Comments Off