Feb. 24, 1961, Paul Coates

 

Feb. 24, 1961: Notice the different headlines between the two editions: "I JUST HAD TO KILL," L.A. SLAYER ADMITS and SUICIDE BARES THIRD IOWA BANK SCANDAL. All of this will change when the Mirror staff is either laid off or absorbed by The Times in January. Irving Waldorf, 22, a disc jockey who prowled the streets with an "uncontrollable urge to kill," according to the Mirror, told police he shot Max Lisecki, 54, in the back on skid row after spending the day searching for a victim. A reader asks Paul Coates: Would you please send me all the information you have on "ant hunting?"

Comments

[Diane Ely]

That boy on the front page of the Mirror had to be Art Linkletter!

[Carol Gwenn]

Re: the article on the murderous Mr. Waldorf and his confession.

Sgt. Pierce Brooks went on to become an almost legendary figure in the LAPD, right up there with John St. John. Brooks was one of the detectives (if memory serves) on the infamous "Onion Field" case in the spring of 1963, and eventually moved to the northwest & worked in Washington until his retirement.

Reading these pieces brings back SO many memories of L.A. a half-century ago.