Revised July 26, 2006
Any amusement resort's police force is
kept busy, especially on weekends, protecting both its tourists and residents
from the criminals. There are always common crimes like pick-pocketing and rowdy
behavior that rarely makes the newspapers. But interesting crimes and murders,
even spectacular accidents sell newspapers and are covered regularly. I covered
amusement-related accidents in another article, so here are the best of the rest
Old Ladies Hold Orphan Children Captive in
House of Horror - 1948
Eleven-year-old, John Joseph Wayne, dressed
in girl's clothing and looking like an eight-year-old from malnutrition, was
found by police wandering along Windward Avenue on March 19, 1948. He had escaped
from a dingy house at 7 Avenue 20 where he and Mary Reichel, a nine-year-old
girl, along with a 26-year-old retarded woman were held captive by their "guardians.
The boy, who was very bright mentally for
a lad with no contact with the outside world, had been given to the two women
by an unwed mother when he was two weeks old. He was fed mush, cornmeal, potato
peelings, bread, and sometimes milk. He never went to school, nor played with
other children, and had been tied to a chair before escaping.
The boy's "guardians" Josephine Vella (58)
and Mary Clavey (60) were arrested. The police found hypodermic kits for sedations.
Since neighbors had reported that the women had been burning things in their
incinerator for hours, the police sifted the ashes behind the women's home for
clues. Police also dug at a former home in Santa Monica at 1344 16th St. where
the women had formerly operated a home for unwanted children. It was believed
that 16-18 mysterious deaths occurred there over a 30 year period
The case was transferred to Santa Monica
Superior Court where the two women were charged with five felony counts of inhuman
treatment of juveniles and false imprisonment. However, Judge Thurlow T. Taft
was lenient. The "Horror House" spinsters were convicted of two felony counts
and one misdemeanor, placed on probation for 5 years, and were barred from caring
for minors forever. The two younger children became wards of the Los Angeles
Juvenile Court.
Lennon Sister's Father Assassinated - 1969
On August 13, 1969 William Lennon (53),
the singing Lennon Sisters' father was murdered at the Venice Golf Course (near Rose Avenue) where
he worked as an instructor. Chet Young (38), a former mental patient, who claimed
that he was the "true" husband of one of the sisters, accosted Lennon in the
parking lot. After the man pulled a rifle from a gunny-sack, the two men scuffled
over the weapon. A moment later Lennon broke free and ran for the Lincoln Blvd.
gate. After shooting him twice in the back, he walked over to where the wounded
man was lying, placed the muzzle against his temple and fired.
The family feared for their lives while
the police sought the killer for two months. On October 15th police found Young's
body along with a letter in a car in the high Sierra. He shot himself after
failing to kill himself with monoxide fumes.
Deadly Fall Thru Hotel Skylight - 1931
A Venice woman, Mrs. Mary Discus (55), died
on February 13, 1931 in fall through a skylight at Venice Hotel (61-1/2 Windward)
into Curley's Cafe below. Cafe patrons and a waitress, who had passed the spot only
moments before, had a narrow escape. The woman was manager of the hotel and
was passing through a roof area when she accidentally slipped and fell.
Run Running, Bootlegging, & Speakeasies
During Prohibition - 1920's
After the selling and consumption of liquor
was banned in the United States by the 18th Ammendment in 1919, Prohibition
took effect one year later at midnight January 16, 1920. Many of the area's
high class restaurants and bars, either closed or changed hands. But that didn't
stop visitors and residents from trying to drink liquor. Speed boats often unloaded
liquor in the dead of night at the Venice and Ocean Park amusement piers, and
in the case of Venice smuggled them into building basements on Windward via
the network of utility tunnels. One known speakeasy was in the basement of Menotti's
Restaurant (now the Townhouse Bar)
G-men were often on the lookout and sometimes
got into running gun battles with the rum-runners. Arrests were made and sometimes
police were paid to be lookouts. Liquor was also manufactured locally in stills
located in the barely populated Strong-Dickerson canals and along the Venice
Peninsula. Raids were frequent.
NOTE: For rest of story, see Venice California
- Coney Island of the Pacific book
Senator Ribicoff's Niece Murdered in Venice
- 1980
Sarai Ribicoff (24), Senator Ribicoff's
niece and a Herald Examiner newspaper reporter, was shot and killed Wednesday
November 12, 1980 during a robbery outside Chez Helene Restaurant in Venice.
She and her date John Shoven, A Stanford economics professor had just left the
restaurant on Washington Blvd (aka Abbott Kinney Boulevard) 1000 block across
from Westminster School, when walking east towards their car at 10 P.M., were
accosted by two armed black Crips gang members, who had evidently been hiding
in the doorway of a nearby dress shop. "This is for real!" Frederick Thomas
told them as they demanded their valuables. Shoven had just given up his wallet
containing $200, when Ribicoff, who wasn't carrying a purse, was pushed to the
ground after she pleaded that she didn't have a purse that the robbers wanted.
Witnesses at the trial differ in their testimony whether she had resisted when
he tried to take her gold necklace. Thomas took the gun to her head and pulled
the trigger, but it didn't go off. He lowered the gun and shot her in the back
at point-blank. He then tried to shot Shoven, but missed. Somehow in the confusion
Thomas shot himself in the wrist, perhaps by waving his other hand in front
of the gun as he shot.
Thomas and his accomplice Anthony LaQuin
McAdoo fled after being chased by two knife-wielding cooks (from another restaurant)
to an Oakwood apartment in a drug 26-unit building at 919 5th Street, perhaps
the most crime-ridden building in Venice. The woman, who lived there, was McAdoo's
sister's cousin, and they told her that he was shot in a drive-by shooting by
a rival gang. She drove them to Marina Mercy Hospital, but McAdoo didn't accompany
his friend inside. The police were on the trail after the two cooks reported
their location to the police. When the hospital also reported that they had
a patient with a bullet wound, the police arrived to arrest Thomas.
The police finally located McAdoo in January
1918, and he agreed to testify against Thomas, but then reneged when he feared
his safety in prison. But he did eventually testify. After a long trial, Thomas
was found guilty of murder, but the jury voted 7-5 for the death penalty, a
mistrial on the penalty phase, which meant life imprisonment. McAdoo got 25
years as an accomplice.
Boy Sitting on Beach Drowns - 1931
A seven-year-old
boy, who fell asleep behind his sandcastle fort, drowned on May 2 1931. Henry
McNeil drowned after the waters rose from an incoming tide. He was found in
a sitting position.
Sadistic Mother Tires to Kill Son - 1940
A mother deliberately pushed her son off
the Venice Pier into the cold ocean on April 20, 1940. The boy, who couldn't
swim, saved himself by clinging to a boat's anchor rope.
Woman Slain in Jealous Frenzy at Venice Hotel
- 1946
Joseph Swartz (58), walked into a west-side
police station on April 15, 1946 and announced, "I have just killed a woman.
I want to be arrested." He and the victim Miss Helen Marie Gardner (45) had
taken a room on Saturday night at the Ocean View Hotel at 5 Rose Avenue in Venice.
They had been quarreling for a week because she had been running around with
other men and couldn't stand it any longer.
Then in a jealous rage, Swartz slashed
her throat twice with a fishing knife. Then he walked to the Venice Pier and
threw the knife in the ocean. He had obtained two bricks, wrapped them in newspaper,
and had intended to drown himself, but there were too many people on the end
of the pier. The police found the woman lying in a pool of blood on the bed.
G-Men Search for Pirate Loot in Venice - 1935
On
Nov 2 1935, G-Men began to search Venice for pirate loot thought to be stashed
in a Venice home. Several weeks earlier a 20th century pirate crew sacked the
Monte Carlo gambling ship off coast and robbed its passengers of all their money
and valuables.
One of the pirates had turned State's evidence
in the trial and told of stashing money at a friend's home, who didn't know
the money was there. But he wouldn't give a name or an address.
Teen Rescues Kids From Drowning in Canals - 1928
A 14-year-old boy rescued little kids from
drowning on August 7, 1928. They fell off raft at Ave #35 on the Venice Peninsula
into the canals. He gave one boy artificial respiration to revive him.
Suicide or Murder at Venice Plunge ? - 1927
A man, who died in deep water at the Venice
Plunge on August 28, 1927 was thought to be a suicide. But after the coroner
determined that he had poison in his stomach, the police questioned if he was
murdered.
Ruth Galanter's Throat Slashed in an Attempted Robbery - 1987
When Los Angeles Councilwoman Pat Russell
was seeking a fourth four-year term for her 6th District Council seat, five
challengers ran against her in the April 14, 1987 city primary. In the runoff,
Ruth Galanter, an environmentalist and former Coastal Commissioner, who opposed
high density along the coast, was behind in the polls. However, after an intruder,
Mark Olds, entered her Venice home through an open window on May 6th, then stabbed
her five times and nearly slit her throat, damaging her vocal chords in the
process, her popularity soared while she recuperated in the hospital. Whether
it was the sympathy vote or not, she trounced Russell with more than 70% of
the vote on June 2nd.
Venice Treasurer Steals $24,000 in City Funds - 1922
After James T. Peasgood Jr., City Treasurer
since 1914 was late returning from a fishing vacation, it was discovered that
$24,000 in city funds were missing.
NOTE: For rest of story, see Venice California - Coney Island of the Pacific book.
Dead Body Found in Grand Canal - 1925
On January 28, 1925 Venice police found
a corpse with a sack of weights around his neck in the Grand Canal. While at
first police thought it was a murder, later they came to the conclusion that
it was likely a suicide.
Plane Crash Kills Girls on Venice Beach - 1926
Venice had always been lucky that when
aviators crashed their planes
in the area, they usually landed in the ocean
or in a vacant lot. But luck ran out on the afternoon of July 21 1926 when aviator
Carol Crossan (30) ran out of gas and attempted to ditch his plane in an unoccupied
section of the shallow surf. Unfortunately he miscalculated the effect of the
wind and the disabled plane was driven into a group of people lying on the beach.
Two 13-year-old girls were killed when the plane's wings broke their necks.
Two others were injured, the boy seriously. The aviator was charged with manslaughter,
and it took three trials to acquit him.
Marathon Dancer Murdered Beneath Ocean Park Pier - 1920's or early 1930's
A woman in one of dance marathons that
took place at the dance halls on the Ocean Park Pier was found murdered beneath
the pier. This famous murder was the basis of the book 'They Shoot Horses Don't
They.'
Unfortunately, without an exhaustive search
in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook newspaper microfilm, I couldn't find the
article in either the Venice Vanguard or Los Angeles Times. I've been assured
by a researcher, who took notes more than 20 years ago, that the incident did
occur, but he couldn't remember if the incident took place in the late 1920's
or early 1930's. Perhaps a reader knows the details.
Girl Burns Down School for Retarded Children - 1924
The Hope Development School for Retarded
Children (girls only) was located in an old hotel building on the Del Rey Lagoon
in Playa del Rey. On the night of June 2, 1924, a fire destroyed the building,
which was a fire-trap with no fire prevention measures. Worse, the children
aged 5-26 were locked in their rooms, although Lola May Rademaker managed to
rescue 19 children, some badly burned, by leading them out of the building.
Twenty-three retarded girls and the owner's adopted son died in the fire.
The fire was alleged to have started from
a smoldering fire in the fireplace. But two weeks later 14-year-old Josephine
Bertholme, a high-grade moron and former inmate of the school, confessed to
setting the fire that killed 24 people.
NOTE: Playa del Rey had been annexed to Venice
in 1911.
Venice Canal Claims First Victim - 1905
Only three weeks after Venice's grand opening,
Louis Schmidt, a 13-year-old boy, drowned in the Venice lagoon (present day
Venice Traffic Circle). A search was instituted when his mother reported him
missing at 4 P.M. on July 23, 1905, but his body at the bottom of the lagoon
wasn't found until near midnight. No one witnessed his struggles, since he couldn't swim.
Zoot Suit Riot - 1943
During World War II, the Venice and Ocean
Park Piers were havens for both servicemen and young Mexican-Americans who adopted
a style of dress distinctly their own. The boys wore duck-tail haircuts, flat
pancake hats, peg-top trousers, reet pleets, long glittering watch chains and
long drape coats. The girls dubbed "cholitas" wore tight fitting sweaters and
black hobble skirts that stopped above the knee line. Going out in your best
attire was called "zooting."
It was inevitable that tension would develop
between the two groups. On the night of May 8, 1943 rumors circulated along
the beach that one of the 'zoot-suiters' had knifed a sailor and the clash began.
Several hundred soldiers, sailors and local teenagers ran the Mexican-Americans
out of the Aragon Ballroom on the Lick Pier. They clashed again after midnight
along Ocean Front Walk at Navy Street in front of a crowd of 2500 spectators.
Arrests were made.
Shortly afterwards the Merchants Building
on the Ocean Front Walk at Windward mysteriously caught fire. The Kinney Company
offices along with nine other businesses and 18 automobiles in the garage were
destroyed. Police suspected arson since witnesses reported two male "zoot-suiters"
were seen hanging around the building before the fire. Their motive was revenge
for the arrests of their friends.
Venice High School Students Riot - 1969
On March 12, 1969 black militant students
at a number of Los Angeles high schools rioted and closed many. At interracial
Venice High School, a melee occurred as students marched through the corridors,
and 30-50 invaded the school office. Then they roamed the campus causing wide
spread damage including 34 smashed windows. One teacher and four students were
injured before police invaded the campus to restore order. Thirty-nine students
were suspended. Six students were jailed on a riot charge, and an 30 students
were suspended during the two days of unrest.
Arsonist Burns Down Venice Polytechnic School But Fails at Venice Plunge - 1914
A mysterious fire occurred on September
10, 1914 at Venice's high school located in the old plunge building on the Venice
Lagoon. The fire occurred on the top floor and within a few minutes the building
a mass of flames. Fireman, while unable to save the building, saved the nearby
buildings along Windward Avenue. The school was a total loss.
Any chance that the school fire and the
origin of two mysterious house fires were accidents was quickly dispelled three
weeks later when a attempt was made to burn down the Venice Plunge.
NOTE: For more of story, see Venice California
- Coney Island of the Pacific book.
Woman Found Strangled to Death on Venice Beach - 1951
A woman's nearly nude body, with her clothes
ripped off, was found by police on February 19, 1951 at the foot of a lifeguard
tower 200 feet south of the Lick Pier. She had been strangled to death with
her slip, and there were signs in the sand of a terrible struggle. At first
police couldn't identify her, but she was later identified as Mrs. Loraine Mullen
(28) by cleaners' marks on her clothing. A divorcee, she lived at 1515 Trolleyway
(Pacific) with her finance Odie E Rambo (48), a machine shop janitor.
Although a mystery witness saw her walking
alone on the beach at 1:30 A.M., 30 minutes before she was believed strangled,
Odie was a suspect and given a lie detector test. The murder apparently was
not solved as there weren't any additional newspaper articles.
Three-year-old Boy Drowns in Howland Canal
- 1941
A three-year-old boy drowned on Septmeber
10, 1941 in Howland Canal after escaping from his yard at 422 Howland. Since
the previous December, two other three-year-olds had slipped from broken walls
into canals and narrowly escaped death. City officials, unwilling to spend funds
for Venice improvement, suggested action to compel property owners to repair
canals and sidewalks in front of their homes.
Trolley Car Accident on Train Heading to Los
Angeles Kills 15 - 1914
On July 13th a three-car train packed to
the limit with passengers outbound from Venice towards Los Angeles stopped at
9:40 PM at the Vineyard Station because of a break in the wire 200 yards ahead.
Realizing that a Venice non-stop special racing towards the city was behind
them, the conductor walked down the track and around the turn with a lantern
to signal the train to stop. Unfortunately a bunch of hoodlums on the rear car
began to play with the train's whistle and signaled the approaching train to
proceed. Moments later its front car rammed the stationary train, telescoping
its rear car as it plowed through its load of 300 passengers. Fifteen died and
over 100 were injured.
NOTE: For rest of story, see Venice California
- Coney Island of the Pacific book.