Texas teenager arrested in death plot, September 25, 1958

Houston girl held in plan to kill family Teenager is in custody on charges of shooting her brother to death. She tells police she was unable to carry out plot to murder her parents.     Coming soon: "The Defiant Ones" with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis.

Above, Diana Day Humphries, 16, breaks into tears as she meets her mother at a Houston jail. Diana was a brilliant teenager, a 16-year-old Houston high school senior with an IQ of 142. One of her teachers said she was "destined for success" and that was true until the day she decided to kill her family. She stayed home from school with an upset stomach that day. Diana watched TV in the den and held a loaded .22 rifle as she waited for everyone to come home: her 14-year-old brother, Robert; her mother, an airlines clerk; and her father, a retired Navy seaman. "I lay in bed and planned how I was going to kill us all. I wanted to kill everyone quickly so that we wouldn't have to suffer anymore... I wasn't mad at anybody. I don't know why I did it," she said. "I wasn't mad at anybody." Diana told police: "It seemed that everyone was always tired; that we were always getting up, going to work and school, coming home, eating, cooking meals, washing dishes and going to bed and getting up again." She shot her brother when he came home from school. "He fell forward into the den and his books dropped," Diana said. "I put another bullet into the gun as quick as I could because I didn't know if he was dead and I didn't want him to suffer. "So I shot him again in the back of his head." Next, Diana planned to kill her mother. "She drove up in her car and came up the walk," Diana said. "I saw then that there was no way that I could shoot Mother without her seeing me.... So I yelled at her not to come in the house, that I didn't want her to see Robert. I started crying and told Mother that I had shot Robert and that I was going to shoot us all but I couldn't shoot her." Diana was given a psychological examination that showed she was "very disturbed" but extremely bright. She was held without charges, according to the Associated Press. Unfortunately, there are no further details about this tragic case. It's hard to understand why there weren't follow-up stories. But apparently there were none.    Update: J.R. Gonzales, my history blog counterpart at the Houston Chronicle, says Diana was committed to a mental hospital in 1959.

Movie revivals -- Glass Wall

Coming soon to a theater near you...

Above, "The Glass Wall" and "Jack McCall, Desperado," 1953.

Sept. 26, 2008, 7:30 p.m. UCLA Hammer Museum Billy Wilder Theater. Tickets $10.

 

Angels hire new GM, September 24, 1968

Walsh named Angel general manager 'I think that the sun will be shining very soon in Anaheim.' -- Bill Rigney, Angel field manager Peggy Fleming at the Fabulous Forum!

By Keith Thursby Times staff writer The first time the Angels looked to the Dodgers for new leadership, it didn't work out too well.   Dick Walsh had a long career with the Dodgers and was a key executive during the team's early years in Los Angeles. He was commissioner of the North American Soccer League when the Angels hired him to replace the team's original general manager, Fred Haney.   "In Dick Walsh we have acquired one of the bright young minds in baseball," team president Robert Reynolds told The Times' Ross Newhan. "We are happy that he is returning to his first love."   Walsh looked like a perfect choice. He was only 43, had run a professional sports league and had baseball experience with a winning franchise.   "I will not trade just for the sake of making a trade," Walsh told Newhan. "As for the future, I think the Angels' basic need is in the area of hitting. Jim Fregosi and Rick Reichardt give us a nucleus and we must build on that."   The Times' story on Walsh's hiring included the news that Manager Bill Rigney signed a new two-year contract. "I think that the sun will be shining very soon in Anaheim," Rigney said.   A few days later, The Times had a small story on the Angels signing another former Dodger employee, Harold (Lefty) Phillips as director of player personnel. He would replace Rigney and become the Angels' second manager early in the 1969 season.   The Walsh/Phillips era in Anaheim was short and not so sweet.   Walsh made several trades, the biggest involving Alex Johnson, Tony Conigliaro, Sandy Alomar and Ken McMullen. Johnson won a batting title with the Angels but seemed to be in constant trouble. Conigliaro, a star with the Red Sox who was severely injured when he was beaned by the Angels' Jack Hamilton, didn't even last a season in Anaheim. Alomar cost the Angels popular second baseman Bobby Knoop, but Alomar was a solid player and younger and faster than Knoop. McMullen had one solid season for the Angels, but was traded to the Dodgers after the 1972 season in a huge deal that involved Frank Robinson, Andy Messersmith and Bobby Valentine among others.   Walsh was fired by the Angels in the fall of 1971. Phillips had already been let go. "There were so many different things," Gene Autry told The Times in a story that ran Oct. 21. "It wasn't the trades he made. Anybody could come up bad on trades. But for the good of the team and the morale of the team and the employees, we had to make a change."   keith.thursby@latimes.com

Los Angeles County supervisors divert money for Dodger Stadium roads, September 24, 1958

Chavez Ravine funds go elsewhere County money intended to build roads into Dodger Stadium will be diverted to other projects. Wait a minute! IMDB says this is W.R. Burnett's "Asphalt Jungle" turned into a western.

By Keith Thursby Times staff writer The Board of Supervisors found more than a million reasons not to wait for the Chavez Ravine legal mess to be settled. With plans for a new baseball stadium still delayed in the courts, the supervisors agreed to use $1,350,000 allocated to build roads leading into the ballpark elsewhere in the county. Supervisor Frank G. Bonelli said his proposal "does not indicate lack of faith that the Dodgers will ultimately have a ballpark" but that "they may be in the courts for years and meanwhile we need the roads in other sections of the county." The plan was to split the money equally in the five supervisors' districts. Bonelli asked the road department to provide a list of the most needed projects. A short story in The Times noted that Supervisor John Anson Ford said his district didn't need any new roads. Bonelli and Supervisor Warren Dorn, The Times reported, both said they could make good use of Ford's share. keith.thursby@latimes.com

Films in production -- Wizard of Oz, September 24, 1938

Above, W.C. Fields is out of "The Wizard of Oz" and Frank Morgan is in.

Nearly 500 people are dead from a hurricane that tore through the northeastern United States. Damage is so great that no reliable estimates are available. The death toll is Rhode Island, 240; Massachusetts, 112; Connecticut, 65; New York, 50; New Hampshire, 13; Vermont, 2; New Jersey, 2; Quebec, 2. Czechoslovakia mobilizes its army in preparation for war with Germany. France also warns that it will come to Czechoslovakia's aid if the Nazis attack. Quote of the Day: "I cannot say it is hopeless." Neville Chamberlain.     In sports, UCLA defeats Iowa, 27-3 and USC meets Alabama at the Coliseum. "Bopped around for four years by everybody but the Westlake School for Girls, the Trojans are supposed to be fired for a comeback that will match anything Alabama ever put over in Pasadena," Braven Dyer writes.    Note: Average weight of the Trojan line is 208; the backfield, 188.

Houston takes stock of historic sites after Hurricane Ike

Photograph by J.R. Gonzales, Bayou City History blog The Houston Public Library, where trees were knocked down by Hurricane Ike.

My fellow history blog colleague, J.R. Gonzales at the Houston Chronicle, who is still without electricity after Hurricane Ike, takes an inventory of how historic sites in Houston and Galveston weathered the storm. He says that many buildings suffered flood damage, but remain standing.  According to one post, the 1861 customs house used as the headquarters of the Galveston Historical Society was flooded with 8 feet of water.  The 1877 tall ship Elissa rode out the storm but lost several sails.

 

Fire closes Ventura Freeway; milestone for Rams star, September 23, 1968

Above, a fire closes the Ventura Freeway from Camarillo to Woodland Hills.

By Keith Thursby Times staff writer Dick Bass, a three-time Pro Bowl running back who played for the Rams from 1960-69, scored three touchdowns and became the 12th man in NFL history to gain 5,000 or more yards as the Rams coasted to a 45-10 victory over Pittsburgh. Bass was presented with the game ball after a four-yard gain that put him over 5,000 for his career. "I accepted it but I wasn't in the right frame of mind for an award," Bass told The Times' Mal Florence. "I was mentally ready for the game--nothing else." Florence described Bass as "the mod fullback with the stylish wardrobe." This would be the last full season for Bass, who was the second overall pick in the 1959 draft. He spent 13 more years with the Rams in the broadcast booth as an analyst. He was only 67 when he died in 2006. keith.thursby@latimes.com

           

Movie star mystery photos

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: Our mystery guest was identified almost immediately yesterday by Steven Bibb. Because he guessed so quickly that this is Ariane Borg, I deferred his answer for a day to see if anyone else would get it. At left, news of Ariane Borg's arrival in Los Angles, Oct. 17, 1935. This is a third photo of our mystery guest, who was misfiled as Veda Ann Borg. The Times published a fair number of articles about her in the mid-1930s, noting that she had been brought over from Europe for a movie as the next Garbo or the next Dietrich and had done very little work since, although she was kept on contract. The Times credits her with at least one and possibly two films at MGM, although she's not listed in the imdb credits for either one. I don't have access to either of the films to check. According to her entry in the French version of Wikipedia, she went back to Europe to celebrate her birthday with her family and was stuck there during World War II. Plans for an American comeback after the war never materialized and she abandoned any hope of a show business career.

So sorry, only one guess was even vaguely warm. Not Lucille Ball and not Vera Hruba Ralston. This is going to be a toughie. And the original photo of the mystery woman who is not Veda Ann Borg.

O.J. Simpson leads USC to 29-20 win over Minnesota, September 22, 1968

"My solution for the world's ills is for everybody to take off their clothes and jump in a big pile..." -- David Carradine

By Keith Thursby Times Staff Writer O.J. Simpson started his Heisman Trophy-winning season with four touchdowns in USC's 29-20 victory over Minnesota. Simpson scored twice in the fourth quarter. "I thought that now is the time to decide whether we're really good, to find out just what kind of football team we have," Simpson told The Times' Dwight Chapin. Defensive tackle Tony Terry said the victory was just a matter of time. "You know why?  Because we have O.J. All you have to do is give him the ball." keith.thursby@latimes.com

Black civil rights leader stabbed; Dodgers win, September 22, 1958

Martin Luther King Jr. hospitalized Woman judged insane after plunging a letter opener into the civil rights leader's chest. Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 29, is in critical condition at Harlem Hospital in New York after being stabbed in the chest with a 7-inch steel letter opener while signing copies of his book "Stride Toward Freedom" at Blumstein's department store. Police say Izola Ware Curry, 42, an African American woman, not only stabbed King but was carrying a pistol in her dress. According to a witness, Curry said: "I've been after him for six years. I'm glad I done it." Authorities suspected Curry was mentally ill and placed her under observation at Bellevue Hospital. However, she insisted "I'm not ill," and when a reporter asked "When did you first decide to kill Mr. King?" she snapped: "Who said I wanted to kill him?"    King remained in critical condition after the attack, and a few days later, he developed pneumonia. He was released from the hospital Oct. 3, 1958. Curry was charged with attempted murder and committed to Matteawan State Hospital after being judged insane. While in the hospital, King expressed no bitterness toward Curry. Upon his release, he said, according to the New York Times: "Our society needs to be more concerned about mental health and social problems which contribute to this matter. We should go out with determination to solve many of the social problems which contributed to conditions that lead up to incidents like this." A signed copy of "Stride Toward Freedom" sells for thousands of dollars today. Bonus factoid: According to the New York Sun, Blumstein's department store was boycotted in the 1930s because it only hired whites. Afterward, it began hiring African Americans, including the nation's first black Santa Claus.

Holocaust remembered. Braves win pennant.