The Angel of Death Spurned Lover Gangster
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[MODUS[ [OPERANDI[[OOPERAND HARD BODIES. DEAD BODIES. SUNNY L.A. IS KNOWN FOR BOTH— AND FOR OUR ONGOING FASCINATION WITH WHAT LURKS IN THE SHADOWS. DAVID MILCH CONSIDERS WHY WE CAN’T LOOK AWAY HeArT Of DaRkNeSs HOUGH THE TOURISM department won’t soon be put- motives that separate us from sim- ting it in brochures, crime in Los Angeles has always held a pler beasts—envy, bitterness, regret. certain dark allure. Maybe it’s the long shadow of noir that Most of us have a measure of self- makes our bad guys seem glamorous; maybe it’s that so of- control that reins in that little killer, ten the perp in the mug shot is familiar for his decadent TV stops us from looting RadioShacks smile. Could be that in L.A. we’ll take our mysteries unsolved, and crushing our enemies in a bloody keeping the threat loose, turning crime into legend: the Black spree. But that little killer still de- Dahlia, Nicole Brown Simpson. Crime reminds us that Tin- mands a workout. seltown can be a hard, messy place where dreams get carved Cop and courtroom shows get up and gutter out, providing some satisfying contrast to the us only so far. There’s a puzzler’s di- version in watching the mystery un- paradise promised in ads; under all those gentle palm fronds, this packed. But in stories and in natural life, what often engages us on is a city of devils. a more cathartic level than the gory details of how one person man- Sometimes the devil is us. Beneath that California nice, a little ages to kill another are his reasons why. killer lives in our chests who would knock our neighbor’s teeth in We all know that the laws governing our little killer’s choices are for the noise of his mower. We’re just animals in sunglasses, still only nominally related to laws on the books. The real forces that subject to the jungle’s fear and anger and desire as well as worse control our urges owe far more to our moral code, the individual *** ThE *** 7 6 5 » Crime doesn’t pay, but a visit to GLIMPSES COLD CASES DOWN-AND- FiNaL LAmag.com/crime does. We have a inside the that will DIRTY DAMES new blog, featuring TrueCrimeDiary minds of the make you yearn who have RePoRt .com’s Michelle McNamara, that city’s most for answers killed for the delves into the dastardly. Here’s a deranged thrill * peek at our online-only features: criminals 82 | LOS ANGELES | J U L Y 2 0 1 3 CRIME IN LA More Manson Murders? » Just after mid- 17-year-old Marina night on August 9, Habe, who was 1969, Polish actor abducted from the Voytek Frykowski driveway of a West was asleep on his Hollywood bunga- friend Sharon low on December Tate’s couch in 30, 1968. Habe’s Benedict Canyon mother was awak- when he was awak- ened around 3:30 ened by whisper- a.m. by the sound ing. “What time is of a loud car. When it?” he murmured, she looked out the and felt a kick in window, she saw a the head. A young man standing next man with a vacant to a dark sedan. expression stood “Let’s go,” he shout- LOCK & KEY over him. “I’m the ed, jumping into These American-made devil,” said the the passenger side. handcuffs, circa 1860, are one of many pairs owned by stranger, Charles Marina’s car was Los Feliz collector Joe Fox “Tex” Watson. “And in the driveway, I’m here to do the but she was gone. devil’s business.” Her corpse, which It has long been bore multiple stab thought that this wounds, was found began one of the on New Year’s Day, most infamous 1969, at the bot- disambiguation of right from wrong that In real life, even in real Los Angeles, we crime sprees in tom of a ravine o! we excavate over a lifetime. might cheer to see the criminal wind up in American history. Mulholland Drive. Our favorite criminals are the ones chains—safer that way. But in our imagina- Charles Manson Seven months later and his “family”—a the murders of Tate working not purely from animal urge, but tions we’re untouchable and thereby free to group of disciples, and her friends, operating from that personal code—out- let guilt and innocence grow as thorny and including Wat- along with Leno son—are in prison and Rosemary laws doing bad for their own good reasons: complex as they truly are. Having the dim- for their roles in LaBianca, shared Michael Corleone, Tony Soprano, Omar mest sense of our own capacity for bad be- what are com- a similar overkill- from The Wire. We know that a man’s spe- havior, we ought to not be comfortable with monly called the by-knife signature. “Manson murders.” A connection was cific sense of justice is often more complex cartoon notions of white hats and black. But 44 years later suspected but and thoughtful than rules applied to the Secretly we wonder whether guilt is just a do we know the never confirmed. full extent of the A year after Habe masses could ever manage, and watching matter of perspective, that if we knew the business the devil disappeared, the someone live in subtle negotiation with whole story, breaking the law would seem did? The LAPD bodies of two Sci- broad laws excites our understanding that like justice. could be closer to entologists, Doreen finding out now Gaul, 19, and James life is always more complicated than gover- that a Texas judge Sharp, 15, were nance would allow. When the criminal acts David Milch, a TV writer and producer, has given the de- found dumped in partment access downtown L.A. in defense of what he believes, he becomes created Deadwood and Luck and was a to eight hours of Both had been HANDCUFFS: COURTESY JOE COMRADE FOX CRIME TAPE: MANSON: AP PHOTO; ([email protected]); someone we can understand, even root for. co-creator of NYPD Blue. taped conversa- stabbed repeatedly tions between Wat- and beaten. Man- son and his now- son family member deceased attorney. Bruce Davis was Detectives recently an ex-Scientologist began listening to and rumored to 4 3 2 1 the tapes, search- have dated Gaul. HIGH-SPEED EXPERT Q&As CRIME MAPS FACE-TO-FACE ing for clues about If detectives get CHASES with, among that show what ENCOUNTER the Manson fam- lucky, the Watson ily’s involvement tapes could help all caught on others, a lawyer happens where with “Night in several unsolved solve this mystery tape who once de- (plus a guide Stalker” homicides. as well. fended Michael to local gangs) Richard One cold case of > MICHELLE Jackson Ramirez interest is that of MCNAMARA Photograph by JESSE NARDUCCI LAMAG.COM [RIPPED[OFF[ Of tHe ArT StEaLHOME BURGLARIES AND AUTO THEFTS ARE LESS THAN RARE IN THE BIG CITY. HERE’S THE DIRTY LOWDOWN HeAdEd FoR A PlEaSuRe CrUiSe PoInTs oF EnTrY » Burglars slip BrEaKdOwN through an unlocked door ThE BiG HoT ItEmS or window in 40 BuMp Of a bReAk-In: percent of cases. » Purses, wallets, credit cards, and cash are Forcible entry » Used by lock- the first to go, followed by electronics 4 fAcTs through a door is smiths, a “bump” (a laptop worth $1,000 can pawn for $50 to the most common key opens 90 per- $100) and jewelry (which often lands in form of access cent of traditional the JJewelryewelry DDistrict).istrict). YoU ShOuLd when a house has door locks. And been locked tight. with help from KnOw the Web, it’s easy to make. Lock- smiths, though, StOp sIgNs can install locks that are impervi- ous to bump keys. » A security sign in the front yard and stickers on your windows do lower the odds of burglary. But the LAPD can’t attest to whether security WhO GeTs systems themselves make a di!erence. BuRgLeD ThE MoSt? ≥ BURGLARIES ARE DOWN by 20 percent in L.A. County and more than 30 percent in the city.city ButButa attm moreore ththanan 1717,000 000 a yeayear,r thetherere aare still plenty to go around. ≥ RENTERS are burgled at a rate that’s about 50 percent higher than that for home owners. ≥ YOUNG HOUSEHOLDS— those headed by people between 20 and 34—are hit far more often (59 out of 1,000 households) than those headed by someone 66 or older (just 12 per 1,000). ≥ SOLO DADS are targeted far more (59 out of 1,000) than CHILDLESS COUPLES (14 out of 1,000). ≥ THE POOR—those earning less than $7,500 a year— are burgled the most (47 per 1,000). ≥ BETTER-OFF HOUSEHOLDS—with incomes of $75,000-plus a year—are struck at a fraction of the rate (17 per 1,000). [STICKY[FINGERS[A GoOd gIrL’S SeCrEt tHrIlL FOR MANY, SHOPLIFTING IS A CRIME OF WANT, NOT NEED FIRST DID IT with two friends, prob- ed. Like, “I don’t really need this, but it’s know. We’d go to Nordstrom and I’d ably in the eighth grade. I want to say I free!” I just wanted something new. bring a big purse. First you’d take a top. took lip gloss or something small from When I was a junior in high school, I Then a pair of jeans. You’d test the lim- the drugstore. It wasn’t like I couldn’t got another friend to do it with me.