Tag Archives: homicide

End of watch

Posted on October 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

    Oct. 13-23, 1957 Los Angeles Woody and Eddy’s should have been an easy job for two old pros just out of the joint: Sit around and have a drink or two until the place closes and nearly everybody … Continue reading →

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Fatal rage

Posted on October 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

Oct. 6, 1957 Los Angeles Joe and Ruby had four young children, but were treating them so badly that a warrant was issued on charges of neglect. Juvenile Officers Roy Keene and Connie Kennedy went to the home at 1328 … Continue reading →

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Madness

Posted on October 4, 2007 by lmharnisch

The Mirror published a copy of the Christmas note Ronald White wrote to his grandmother.

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Architectural ramblings

Posted on October 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

Every day, I visit a friend who is recovering from cancer surgery at Glendale Memorial Hospital, so I took a short detour and visited the boyhood home of Caryl Chessman, the "Red Light Bandit."   Photograph by Larry Harnisch / … Continue reading →

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The Money Man

Posted on October 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 2-3, 1957 Los Angeles OK, let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk about our friend "The Money Man." We can just drive up Central Avenue until we find some all-night place. I’m not really hungry. I … Continue reading →

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Strangled

Posted on October 1, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 1957 Los Angeles It’s almost 3 a.m. and we’re parked on 134th Street between Water Way and Central Avenue in Compton. In two years, there will be houses all along the north side of the street. … Continue reading →

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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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‘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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Mystery guest revealed

Posted on September 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

Anthony Brancato, killed Aug. 6, 1951, 1648 N. Ogden Drive, Hollywood, along with Anthony Trombino in the “Two Tonys Murder.” Jimmy “The Weasel” Fratianno eventually confessed to the killings.

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Cold case

Posted on August 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Aug. 25, 1957 Chicago Chicago police recovered the torso from a battered, cut-down 55-gallon drum floating in Lake Michigan. A 5-gallon metal bucket containing the head, hands and one arm were found in the lake two days later. The … Continue reading →

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Roadium revisited

Posted on August 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 17, 1957Los Angeles The "five swaggering gang members" who were arrested in the killing of John Edwards were released after being cleared by two witnesses. The slaying was never solved.

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Prisoner’s dream

Posted on August 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Aug. 16, 1957 Santa Monica We will never know what really happened on the night ad executive Guy F. Roberts was shot to death in a Santa Monica motel room because everyone involved was lying to cover up the … Continue reading →

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Movie murder

Posted on August 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 15, 1957Los Angeles Here’s your case: John Emmett Edwards,* 17, 243 E. 137th St., is on a double date at the Roadium, a drive-in theater at 2500 Redondo Beach Blvd., Torrance, with his girlfriend, Frances Clemens**, 16; her brother, … Continue reading →

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Photo shoot

Posted on August 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 3, 1957Los Angeles In June 1957, about the time she turned 19, Judy, at right, met Betty at a Hollywood photographer’s studio. They were both young and hoping for modeling careers, so Betty, 19, asked Judy to move into … Continue reading →

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Cold case solved

Posted on July 29, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25-31, 1957Los Angeles Nine minutes after the cyanide pellets were dropped in the gas chamber at San Quentin, James Lewis Feldkamp,  25, who had once tried to become an LAPD officer, was dead. If he hadn’t been turned down … Continue reading →

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He’s here!

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957Los Angeles Minda Lee Birnbaum, 15, and her mother, Blanche Lewie, 46, had spent most of the day with the divorce lawyer, Murray Chotiner. In the late afternoon, as Blanche made some phone calls from the law offices’ … Continue reading →

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You, the jury, Part II

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957 Los Angeles The jury convicted Wallace LeRoy Schiers of second-degree murder on July 18, 1957. But Schiers continued to insist that he did not kill his wife. He said: “I have nothing on my conscience. Somewhere along … Continue reading →

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You, the jury, Part I

Posted on July 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

  July 16, 1957 Los Angeles Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the witnesses and seen the evidence. Now you must decide whether to find Wallace LeRoy Schiers, 34, guilty of second-degree murder in the killing his … Continue reading →

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Sea bag murder

Posted on July 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

  July 12-13, 1957 Los Angeles Two men from the Harbor Department were picking trash out of the main channel at Terminal Island when they saw the big canvas bag–twice the size of a Navy sea bag–drifting against the pier … Continue reading →

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