Tag Archives: crime and courts

October 2, 1907: Patient Dies After Chiropractor Treats Spine With Mallet and Drill

Posted on October 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 2, 1907: Thomas H. Storey, an unlicensed chiropractor, has a patient lie with his head on one chair and his knees on another. Storey gets on the patient’s back so all his weight is resting on the spine. Next, he puts his knee in the small of the patient’s back. Then he twists the neck. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1909, Crime and Courts, Medicine | Tagged 1907, chiropractors, crime and courts | Comments Off

September 27, 1963: Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

Posted on September 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 27, 1963: I always thought blackmail was something that only occurred in old Perry Mason episodes, but here’s an actual case and it’s quite strange. It involves a married man blackmailing a single woman. No really!

Posted in 1963, Animals, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged 1963, blackmail, comics, crime and courts, mad elephant | Comments Off

September 27, 1907: Child Welfare Officer Cites Ringling Bros. for Underage Performers

Posted on September 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 27, 1907: A child welfare officer cites Ringling Bros. for having underage performers — on the circus’ last day in town. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, LAPD, Theaters | Tagged 1907, circus, crime and courts, Gerry Society, Ringling Bros. | Comments Off

September 22, 1907: No Divorce, Judge Says, You Knew He Was a Bellboy When You Married Him!

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 22, 1907: Judge tells businesswoman she can’t have a divorce from her younger, wastrel husband: “This defendant knew the plaintiff could not support her when she married him….She went into the investment and she must abide by it.” Continue reading →

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

Sept. 21, 1947: Los Angeles Leads U.S. in Burglaries, Ranks 3rd in Killings After New York, Chicago

Posted on September 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 21, 1947: Los Angeles leads American cities in burglaries in the first half of 1947. For the first half of 1947, Los Angeles ranked third in the U.S. in homicide at 63, following Chicago (95) and New York (168). Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Comics, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1947, comics, crime and courts, lapd | Comments Off

September 19, 1907: Deadlier Than Male

Posted on September 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 19, 1907: “Hidden somewhere in Los Angeles is a daredevil Spanish woman who should be standing with the Mexican revolutionaries when they are arraigned here in the United States Court,” The Times says of Maria Talivera. Continue reading →

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

September 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 16, 1947: Colorful Lockheed test pilot Stanley Beltz is in trouble again. Beltz died in 1955 testing a F-94B Starfire and his despondent fiancee killed herself less than two weeks later. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Aviation, Crime and Courts, Suicide | Tagged #Lockheed, 1947, Aviation, crime and courts, Quiet Birdmen, Stanley Beltz, Suicide | Comments Off

September 1, 1947: 1,000 World War II Veterans Now in LAPD Uniforms

Posted on September 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 1, 1947: More than 1,000 new LAPD officers are World War II veterans. “We’re going to have a young and strong Police Department,” Assistant Chief Joe Reed says. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, LAPD, World War II | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, lapd, World War II | Comments Off

August 29, 1947: Headless Skeleton Found in Burlap Sack in Chantry Flats

Posted on August 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 29, 1947: A camper finds the headless skeleton of a woman in a burlap sack in Chantry Flats at the head of Santa Anita Canyon. Examination reveals that she had been embalmed, excluding the possibility of murder. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, Cold Cases, crime and courts, San Gabriel Valley, Sierra Madre | Comments Off

August 28, 1947: Diamond Street Gang Member Takes Murder Rap ‘for the Gang’

Posted on August 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 28, 1947: Earl Bush, 19, member of the Diamond Street gang says he’s taking a killing rap for the gang. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1947, crime and courts, Diamond Street Gang, Gangs, lapd | Comments Off

August 25, 1947: Police Investigate Death of Doctor’s Wife

Posted on August 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 25, 1947: Susanne Castillo is found dead in a bathtub and her husband, Dr. Manuel de J. Castillo, is suspected. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Medicine | Tagged 1947, Black Dahlia, crime and courts, lapd, medicine | Comments Off

August 25, 1907: Death at the Lummis House Over a Garden Hose

Posted on August 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 25, 1907: Death at the Lummis House in a fight that began over a garden hose. Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on August 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 12, 1907: The L.A. Times describes the Bismark Cafe, known to police as the Bucket of Blood, as “drunken debauchery among girls of tender ages, painted women and men.” It is an “immoral pesthole” where “young girls are enticed nightly do drink and listen to a band concert.” 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, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 7, 1907: Kate Conrad had known her husband since she was 13 and had been married to him for 18 years, so it was too late to decide she didn’t want to be married to him, even though he was an abusive drunk and she lived in fear of him, a judge rules. 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, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 6, 1947: Two Asian Americans sue over a restraining order to prevent them from occupying their present homes because of deed restrictions. 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, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 5, 1947: Joseph Hardy and Lois Hunt were hitchhiking and killed a California man who picked them up. They pulled off in a forest in Nevada and Hardy excused himself while Lois began kissing James W. McLain. Hardy came back and shot McLain three times in the head. After burying McLain, they took his car, gambled away his money and flipped his car. Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on July 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1907: A day at the beach ends in a fight over beer. Evelyn Ferguson is accused of shooting newsboy Charles ‘Winnipeg’ Wilson with a policeman’s gun because Wilson was attacking her friend, who ‘was not in a condition to remember much about how it happened.’ Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on July 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 28, 1907: Los Angeles seeks to rid itself of outdated laws like hunting rabbits on Spring Street or conductors abandoning their streetcars to go quail hunting at the end of the line. 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

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

Posted on July 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1947: Jefferson High honor student Vesta Belle is found strangled in her bedroom. Continue reading →

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

July 23, 1907: A Belated Tribute to Heroic Officer

Posted on July 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 23, 1907: Police capture a burglar who entered a jewelry store through a skylight. Continue reading →

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