Tag Archives: Suicide

Millennial Moment: Locke High Student Hangs Herself

Posted on November 29, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 29, 1983: Bridget Marie Hicks was a 17-year-old girl with two children and apparently too many problems. A worker at the South-Central Multi-Purpose Child Development Center found her hanging from a tree. Police said Bridget, a student at nearby … Continue reading →

Posted in 1983, Education, Hollywood, Millennial Moments, Suicide | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Woman in Stolen Car Shoots Gun at LAPD Officers

Posted on September 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 25, 1933: How did the Los Angeles Public Library fare in the Great Depression? Here are some answers. The library was forced to make painful cutbacks due to a 24% drop in tax revenue, including shorter hours, layoffs, reductions … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, LAPD, Pasadena, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1933: A streetcar broadsides an auto at the crossing on Olympic Boulevard between Broadway and Figueroa, killing two people and leaving two others near death, The Times said. A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Rocket Builder Steals Truckload of Equipment From Caltech

Posted on August 22, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 22, 1953: Fred Frank Wildemuth kills his wife because he didn’t want her to catch carbon monoxide poisoning from him. “I, the Jury” in 3-D at the Paramount theaters in Hollywood and downtown. A brilliant — and unidentified — … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Music, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Posted on August 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Comics characters of the 1950s got to drive MGs! Edward Irving Foote was born June 29, 1861, in Michigan. Someone by that name attended the University of Michigan at Lansing, class of 1877-78, and was described as a “farmer, miner, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Tomahawk Murder: ‘It Must Have Been the Heat’

Posted on July 31, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1943: Los Angeles — and that is Los Angeles before air conditioning — bakes in a heat wave, temperatures so hot that it’s the reason for murder. “I had a sudden impulse; it must have been the heat,” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, San Fernando Valley, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Arabella Huntington Marries Nephew in Paris

Posted on July 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Times takes a dim view of Mexican revolutionaries.   July 17, 1913: Arabella D. Huntington, widow of the late Collis P. Huntington, marries his nephew, Henry E. Huntington, in Paris at the American Church in the Rue de Berri.  … Continue reading →

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Japanese Man’s Suicide Note: ‘My Country Goes Greatly Wrong’

Posted on May 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 23, 1942: Iyamma Satos uses three neckties to hang himself in Elysian Park. His suicide note reads: “My country goes greatly wrong. I cannot face my good friend America anymore, so I had to die. Please bury me quietly.”

Posted in 1942, Parks, Suicide, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Caltech Students Hold Drag Beauty Contest

Posted on May 15, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 15, 1942: In a typical publicity stunt, someone from showman Earl Carroll’s operation offered to select Caltech’s beauty queen. Nobody told them that the campus was all-male (oooh girls can’t be engineers!). So the young men decided to have … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Education, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Suicide, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Caltech Students Hold Drag Beauty Contest

Lovers’ death pact at downtown hotel

Posted on July 29, 2008 by lmharnisch

  The Hotel Ramona on Spring Street.   I stumbled across this story while researching something else and it’s too good not to post. From The Times, Dec, 28, 1891. Email me

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Carole Landis–RIP

Posted on July 5, 2008 by lmharnisch

I discovered something interesting in trying to enhance this photo.   I was fiddling around with the contrast and brightness when the labels suddenly became readable — at least the larger type. Imagine my surprise. (No, I didn’t salvage this … Continue reading →

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Carole Landis–RIP

Posted on July 5, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, the photo of Carole Landis published in The Times. omeone was kind enough to send me a scan of this photo. Here are the items on the bathroom counter: a book of matches, a comb and several bottles. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

May 14, 1909

Posted on May 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, the drama of daily life in early 20th century Los Angeles. Please point out this story to anyone who thinks the past was a "kinder, simpler time." Below, the attempted rape of 13-year-old Neruda Nielson after she got off … Continue reading →

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Body found

Posted on April 8, 2008 by lmharnisch

April 8, 1908 Santa Monica Wouldn’t Sherlock Holmes have fun with this case? I can even imagine him complaining about how anyone could get the name "John Maloney" when the victim’s address book indicates the man’s first name began with … Continue reading →

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March 13, 1908

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, furnishings for the smartly decorated office in 1908 (shoutout to my pals at Allsteel!) Below, the postmaster receives a letter from a 60-year-old widow asking his help in finding a man … A modest appearance conceals the heart of … Continue reading →

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Jan. 27, 1908

Posted on January 26, 2008 by lmharnisch

Women prove themselves to be good shots during a target match in the Cahuenga Pass … A.C. Freeman scores 22 out of a possible 25 at 50 yards with his rifle upside-down and the stock resting against his forehead … … Continue reading →

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Man kills himself

Posted on January 25, 2008 by lmharnisch

Jan. 22-Feb. 22, 1958 Los Angeles Bonnie saw him standing on the sidewalk in a crowd of people across the street from the theater. He was holding a gun. His name was Delmer.  Delmer Dean Dobbs, 23. A month before, … Continue reading →

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Jan. 23, 1958

Posted on January 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

A crowd at 5th Street and Main yells "Jump, Jump, Jump! Jump, you coward–jump!" as an unemployed railroad engineer stands at the edge of a hotel roof (the building isn’t identified, but I’m guessing it’s the Hotel Rosslyn) … And … Continue reading →

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Man kills son

Posted on January 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 7, 1958 Los Angeles "Dear mother," the note from 9-year-old Jimmy began. They weren’t his words, of course. They were dictated by his father, David James Darr, a 34-year-old machinist who was apparently holding a .45 to his … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Deadly triangle

Posted on December 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Dec. 1, 1957 Los Angeles George and Bill had known each other for five years and were best friends. They worked together in an East Los Angeles metal shop and lived next to one another in Rosemead. Bill, 30, … Continue reading →

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