Charles Starkweather, shortly after his arrest, with blood on his ear and shirt from police gunfire.
Los Angeles Times file photo
Charles Starkweather in a Douglas, Wyo., jail cell
Los Angeles Times file photo
Charles Starkweather eats his first meal since being captured in the Wyoming Badlands.
Los Angeles Times file photo
Police Officer Ora Landess, left, and Sheriff Merle Karnopp escort Charles Starkweather to the Lincoln, Neb., courthouse.
Charles Starkweather was executed in Nebraska's electric chair June 25, 1959. In a grim twist of fate, prison physician Dr. B.A. Finkle, who was supposed to confirm Starkweather's death, suffered a fatal heart attack minutes before the execution.
Starkweather's 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, who accompanied him on his rampage, was paroled in 1976 and moved to Michigan. She said she wanted to be "an ordinary little dumpy housewife."
Their deadly exploits inspired the film "Badlands" with Martin Sheen and Cissy Spacek, which opened in Los Angeles on March 29, 1974.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
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