Billie Carleton’s Death and the Birth of a Genre

Original article here.

How did the hedonistic death of one minor actress lead to Fu Manchu and the Yellow Menace?


Read the whole story here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Addictions, Crime, Death, Literature, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1910s

Musical Prisoner

In 1949, LIFE told us about Frank Grandstaff, who composed a cantata while jailed, and earned a brief release to hear it performed. But what happened afterwards?

Original story here.



Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Crime, Music, 1940s, 1950s

Makes bomb threat from jail

October 1971: While being booked on charges of malicious mischief at Los Angeles police headquarters, Frank Elby Taylor asked to exercise his right to make a phone call. He was allowed to do this, so he called the airport and made a bomb threat. The call was quickly traced back to the police station. The police got Elby out of his cell and booked him again on felony charges.

Reno Gazette-Journal - Oct 30, 1971

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 21, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1970s, Pranks

The Monopoly Killer

July 1991: While preparing to play a game of Monopoly, Marc Cienkowski and Michael Klucznik got into a fight over who would use the car playing piece. Cienkowski insisted that since they were at his house, he got to be the car -- and not the hat or thimble. But Klucznik insisted that he was going to be the car, and continued to insist this even after Cienkowski hit him in the face. So Cienkowski fetched his bow and arrow and shot Klucznik through the heart. Cienkowski later pleaded guilty to criminal homicide.

Philadelphia Daily News - Feb 7, 1992
Click to enlarge

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 08, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Games, 1990s

Very Long Prison Sentences Served

Original article here.

Try to guess where Honeck's stint places him in the Top Ten "Longest Times in the Stir."

Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 27, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, 1960s

Blackguardiana

You can surely amuse yourself for hours reading this 1793 guide to rogues. And I think we should resurrect these old terms for modern times. For instance, if a woman is inconveniently pregnant, let us say she has "sprained her ankle."

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 18, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Eighteenth Century, Slang

House Call from Faux Dress Fitter

Despite all the contemporary tales of ingenious upskirt photographers and toilet-cam operators, I don't believe anyone has recently utilized the "free dress comes with home fitting service" routine.




Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 23, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Annoying Things, Crime, Domestic, Sexuality, 1950s

The Case of the X-Ray Camera

New Year's Eve, 1946 was the occasion of a classic weird crime.

19-year-old Pearl Lusk thought she had been employed to do some detective work by Allen La Rue, whom she had met on the subway. He told her that he was an insurance investigator. Her mission was to track a suspected jewel thief, Olga Trapani, and collect evidence to build a case against her.

Lusk trailed Trapani for a few days, and then La Rue added a new twist to the assignment. He gave her what he described as an "X-ray camera" camouflaged as a gift-wrapped package and instructed her to take a picture of Trapani with it. The resulting photo, he said, would reveal the jewels that Trapani kept pinned inside her dress, around her waist.

Lusk dutifully followed Trapani into the Times Square subway station, pointed the camera at her, and pulled the trigger wire. A shot rang out and Trapani collapsed to the ground.



It turned out that the "X-ray camera" was really a camouflaged sawed-off shotgun. And Trapani was really La Rue's ex-wife, of whom he had grown insanely jealous. La Rue's real name was Alphonse Rocco. He had been stalking his ex-wife for several months.

Lusk was totally clueless about what she had done. As the subway police rushed up after the shooting, she told them, "I just took this woman’s picture and somebody shot her."

Rocco fled to upstate New York, where he died in a shootout with the police several days later.

Trapani survived, but lost her leg. She and Lusk reportedly became friends after the incident.

You can read more about the case at EinsteinsRefrigerator.com, or the New Yorker.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Jan 1, 1947

Washington Court House Record-Herald - Jan 3, 1947

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 31, 2016 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1940s

Bucket Head

Here's a guy who was caught on caught on camera stealing pigeons while wearing a bucket on his head and a plastic trash bag around his body. Florida, of course.

More details at wsvn.com.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 15, 2016 - Comments (4)
Category: Crime, Disguises, Impersonations, Mimics and Forgeries

Automatic Devil Dog Car Alarm

Contrary to the delightful ad, alarm did not speak phrases, but merely sounded the horn, as with modern car alarms.

See the actual device here, with explanation.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 13, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Technology, 1930s, Cars