Venice Crimes & Deaths

The material is copyrighted © 2006 by Jeffrey Stanton.

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.



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