The Daily Mirror Is Moving

I’m moving to LADailyMirror.com

Henry Fuhrmann, one of the assistant managing editors at The Times, likes to say: “Always take the high road. The view is nicer up there.” Henry is my friend, as well as my supervisor, and he and Mark McGonigle, my boss, have been strong supporters of the Daily Mirror, even when the decision was made at a higher level to shut it down. (And don’t worry; I’m still working as a copy editor on the Metro desk.)

'Hunchback Killer' Arrested, June 8, 1941

June 8, 1941: For some time, I have been coming across stories about Alfred Horace Wells in going through the 1941 clips -- “hunchback killer” is not a nickname that’s easy to forget. But I haven’t done anything on him until now because the story is strange and complicated. Here’s a hint: It was so lurid that during Wells’ trial, the courtroom was cleared of minors because it involved what The Times demurely described as “an unnatural relationship.” It’s not quite in Ma Duncan territory, but what is? Jimmie Fidler says: If you are posted on Hollywood doings, you know that every studio is now staging an intense, high-pressure production drive.... Why all this rush? ... It looks to me as if the studios are concentrating production now with the intention of shutting down for three or four months next fall.

Jimmie Fidler, May 26, 1941

May 26, 1941: PITTSBURGH, May 25 (AP) -- A man's leg was found along the Ohio River at suburban Moon Township tonight and detectives seeking the remainder of the body said it was probably "another murder" by the long-sought "Mad Butcher" of Cleveland, O." We turn out a masterpiece titled "Grapes of Wrath" and convince our Latin neighbors that rural North America has gone to hell in high gear. We produce "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" to prove our political corruption, "Citizen Kane" to demonstrate the vices in our capitalistic system, "The Devil and Miss Jones" to make it plain that we're a bunch of downtrodden wage slaves and "Tobacco Road" to put across our cultural standards,  Jimmie Fidler says.

Yorty Seeks to Limit L.A. Mayors to Two Terms

May 3, 1961: The Times editorial page backs Mayor Norris Poulson, who lost to  challenger Sam Yorty. Although Yorty advocated a two-term limit for mayors, he served three terms and was seeking a fourth when he was defeated by Tom Bradley. And in case you are keeping track, The Times endorsed Yorty against Rep. James Roosevelt in 1965 (I can’t imagine The Times of this era endorsing a Roosevelt, can you?), Bradley against Yorty in 1969 (Bradley was defeated) and again in 1973, when Bradley won.  I have been rummaging around the Daily Mirror HQ for my copy of “Maverick Mayor: A Biography of Sam Yorty” by The Times’ Ed Ainsworth. Must be in the annex, a.k.a. the garage.  On the jump, Deputy Dist. Atty. J. Miller Leavy is awarded damages over his appearance in the film “Justice and Caryl Chessman.” Leavy said he was promised that the film would only be shown on television and not in theaters. “Justice and Caryl Chessman” is being shown with “Cell 2455, Death Row” at the Roxie in San Francisco later this month. And Spade Cooley is hospitalized for heart trouble while being held in the killing of his wife. Some stories refer to Cooley as “the king of western swing,” but the Bob Wills fans would argue with that.

Garden Grove Teenagers Find Severed Head

Lampson Avenue and Knott Street via Google street view.

April 30-May 18, 1961: Three Garden Grove teenagers riding their bikes along Lampson Avenue near Knott Street, an area of tomato fields, find a woman's head wrapped in a plastic bag that had fallen out of a box marked "fragile." In the next few days, other body parts were discovered across Southern California: A leg near Big Pines in Angeles National Forest and a torso in Box Canyon in Ventura County. The victim was initially identified as  Dorothy Hamilton, but she and her husband were found in Las Vegas. Then local newspapers published a sketch of the victim and her family identified her as Hildreth Shaw, 51.  Her husband, Darlington W. Shaw, a cabinetmaker, admitted killing her and dismembering the body in the bathtub of their Santa Monica apartment. He was sentenced to life in prison.

From the Stacks – 'Portraits of Crime' (1977)

Two years after writing about  LAPD Det. Ector Garcia, I finally located a copy of his book, “Portraits of Crime,” which arrived in the mail from the U.K. while I was on vacation. No one will ever mistake this book for great literature. The editing is weak (as in “Leo” LaBianca) but the rough, raw writing gives “Portraits” a freshness and immediacy that might be missing in a more polished work. Written by LAPD artist Garcia (d. 1987) and Charles E. Pike, “Portraits” consists of composite sketches and brief summaries of  29 cases from the 1950s to the 1970s. Aside from the Tate-LaBianca and Son of Sam murders, most of the subjects are obscure killings, kidnappings and rapes that could easily be the raw material for several seasons of TV crime shows.

'The Chinese Murder,' April 29, 1891

April 29, 1891: The Times reports the death of a Chinese woman named Ah Gue/Goot Gue, who was shot in the abdomen by her husband, Wong Ark/Gam Duck, outside a brothel on Apablasa Street. Ark allegedly killed Gue because she didn't give him all the money he wanted for gambling. The Times covered this case extensively, and said that because the Chinese witnesses were “heathens,” they were unconcerned about telling the truth under oath. The first jury deadlocked. In his second trial, Ark was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, but the conviction was overturned on appeal because the dying woman’s statements were inadmissible. (The Times reported that she said "him killee me.") Ark was convicted of manslaughter at his third trial and served six years at San Quentin. Bonus factoid: Apablasa Street vanished during construction of Union Station, which was built on the old Chinatown.

Paul Coates, April 13, 1961

April 13, 1961: An Anaheim man found some gold-colored flecks in the backyard and tested them for gold by putting them in a half-teaspoon of mercury that he heated over the stove, poisoning his family, Paul Coates says.   “Spade Cooley Daughter Tells Night of Terror” pretty much sums it up.

Paul Coates, April 10, 1961

 

April 10, 1961: Notice the Spade Cooley story. It vanished from later editions, and I couldn’t find the jump, just the Page 1 portion. Paul Coates writes about two Beverly Hills police officers' problems with Police Chief Clinton Anderson. You might put Anderson’s “Beverly Hills Is My Beat” (1960) on your Zombie Reading List.  Anderson has chapters on the Johnny Stompanato and Bugsy Siegel cases.

Paul Coates, April 7, 1961

April 7, 1961: I came across a letter to the editor (on the jump) about Gov. Pat Brown’s grant of clemency for William Erwin “Machine Gun” Walker, which I overlooked (so many stories, only one Larry Harnisch). Walker was given the death sentence in the 1946 killing of California Highway Patrol Officer Loren Roosevelt. The incident was the basis for the film “He Walked by Night,” which was the genesis of “Dragnet.”  Paul Coates has an item about two local gangs named the Rebels, one in North Hollywood that causes trouble and another in East L.A. that takes part in sports and organizes community projects. And an Air National Guard F-100 shoots down a B-52 during practice maneuvers. "Something happened," an Air Force spokesman says.

Daily Mirror Readers -- 'The Brain Trust'

Photo courtesy of Howard Decker

Most Daily Mirror readers know him as Fibber. His real name is Howard Decker, and here’s a picture of him covering the Spade Cooley trial. He’s the fellow in the background on the right. Howard also covered the 1957 story of an intoxicated Gail Russell driving her convertible through a window of Jan's Restaurant, 8424 Beverly Blvd. [Note to crime tour buffs: The restaurant is still there and it’s a nice breakfast place.]

Spade Cooley: 'I'm not sure, but I think Ella Mae is dead'

Los Angeles Times file photo   Oct. 15, 1949: Spade Cooley and his daughter Melody pose for a publicity photo aboard his yacht.

April 5, 1961: In a switch from its usual policy of keeping lurid killings off the front page, The Times puts the Spade Cooley story on Page 1 (below the fold).     John, his son from a previous marriage, said: "Dad and mother had not been getting along for weeks. I don't think there was, but Dad had a fixation there was someone else. Dad has a violent temper. But he never beat me. He wouldn't try to take me on. And, as far as I know, he never harmed Melody or Donny. "He can't be sane to have done a thing like this, can he? Do you know how she died? It was terrible, wasn't it? He just doesn't stand a ghost of a chance."