L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City

by John Buntin

  It was an arrangement: Cohen, In My Own Words, 36.

  Only after the countess: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 74-78, provides a somewhat fanciful account of this episode.

  The evening before Thanksgiving: “Widow of Victim Heard at Murder Trial of Siegel: Heard Shots Killing Mate,” Los Angeles Times, January 27, 1942, A1; “Siegel and Carbo Identified as Murder Aides, Tannenbaum Tells Killing,” Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1942, A1.

  Abe “Kid Twist” Reles: Turkus and Feder, Murder, Inc., 52.

  In January 1940, two: Nash, World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime, 331.

  It took twelve days: Turkus and Feder, Murder, Inc., 67.

  Reles wasn’t prosecutors’ only: “Murder Plot Story Filed: Testimony Transcript in Siegel Case Gives Gang,” Los Angeles Times, August 31, 1940, A1.

  The raiding party—three: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 47-48.

  Bugsy’s bed was still: “Siegel’s Attic Capture Told, Witnesses at Death Trial Describe Hunt in Suspect’s Mansion,” Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1942, A1. See also Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 100-101; Muir, Happy Holidays, 176-77.

  Dockweiler was in a: Dean Jennings argues that O’Dwyer was on the take (We Only Kill Each Other, 121). Jerry Giesler argued that prosecutors in L.A. were on the take (The Jerry Giesler Story, 237-38).

  Back in New York: “Plunge Fatal to Gangster, State Witness Against Buchalter and Others Attempts to Escape,” Los Angeles Times, November 13, 1941, 2.

  What had happened to: “Abe Reles Killed Trying to Escape, Sheet Rope Fails After He Lowers Himself from 6th to 5th Floor, Motive Puzzles Police,” New York Times, November 13, 1941, 29. Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 128-29, makes the case for defenestration.

  Without Reles, the prosecution’s: Giesler, The Jerry Giesler Story, 239-40.

  But Robinson: For an assessment of his gang and an account of the meeting, see Hecht notes, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago.

  “The poor bookmakers”: Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago.

  “Dragna was inactive at: Cohen would later claim that he had been attuned to the danger of a resentful Dragna all along (In My Own Words, 63). This is the wisdom of hindsight.

  Sica did. Then he: Cohen, In My Own Words, 62.

  Utley took it bravely: “Report Hints Cohen Had Part in Slayings,” Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1959; “Mad Gunman Captured, Mickey Cohen Tells Inside Story of L.A.,” Los Angeles Times, November 18, 1950, 1.

  Jack Dragna was less: Cohen, In My Own Words, 63-64.

  Chapter Ten: L.A. Noir

  “If you’re going to …”: Wilkerson III, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, 12.

  Bugsy Siegel wasn’t: For more on Hohmann, see Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 84; and Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 380.

  Hohmann had been: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 381.

  As chief, Hohmann had: “Special Police Groups Press Fight on Crime, Cities Combat Increased Felonies with Crack Units; in Los Angeles It’s ‘Metro,’” Los Angeles Times, February, 23, 1964.

  Bill Parker was demoralized: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 420.

  JAPS OPEN WAR ON: AP headline immediately following Pearl Harbor.

  The situation was actually: The guns at Fort MacArthur, which was supposed to protect the U.S. naval station at San Pedro/Long Beach, would have been useless against a carrier-based aerial attack. Verge, Paradise Transformed, 33-34, 22.

  “Why, the Japanese bombed …”: Verge, Paradise Transformed, 22; author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007. Concerns about Japanese fishing vessels reflected well-founded worries about Japanese espionage. Since at least 1939, the Japanese military had used Mexican-based fishing vessels to monitor the Pacific fleet based at Long Beach. That same year, Japanese agents had recruited a Nisei former sailor as an intelligence agent and managed to steal important code books. Verge, Paradise Transformed, 10.

  The efficiency of the operation was no coincidence. One official involved in the raid told the Times, “Although we had our plans set, the Japanese attack caught us a bit early.” “Japanese Aliens’ Roundup Starts: F.B.I. Hunting Down 300 Subversives and Plans to Hold 3000 Today,” Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1941, 1; “Round Up of Japanese Aliens in Southland Now Totals 500: Officers, Working with F.B.I., Continue Hunt; Asiatic, Who Had Pledged Loyalty, Found with Guns,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1941, 4; “Little Tokyo Banks and Concerns Shut, Even Saloons Padlocked; Extra Police on Duty to Prevent Riots,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1941, 4.

  For once, Bill Parker: Verge, Paradise Transformed, 23-24.

  Parker’s thoughts turned to: Captain Robert L. Dennis to HQ, Los Angeles Officer Procurement District, February 23, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  However, Hohmann continued, these: Arthur Hohmman to HQ Los Angeles Officer Procurement District, February 19, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. The conclusion of Hohmann’s letter also suggests that Hohmann may have personally blocked Parker’s earlier attempts to enlist in the military, which if true would be another interesting twist in what was clearly a complex relationship.

  His mood improved considerably: Col. Jesse Miller, Director, Military Government Division, to First Lt. William Parker, May 11, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. For Parker’s impressions of New England, see his June 30, 1943, letter to Helen, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  It was, Mickey thought: Cohen, In My Own Words, 65.

  In Algeria, Parker was: Brig. Gen. J. K. Dunlop, Regional Allied Commissioner, letter of reference, January 15, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  There was, however, one: Letter to Helen Parker, March 12, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  For Mickey Cohen, the: The $500,000 estimates came from Carey McWilliams, Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, and puts his take at $120,000 a year.

  Mickey had his own: Cohen would later estimate that his was one of approximately two hundred major bookmaking commission offices nationwide at the time. Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.

  Things were going so: The de jure owner of the stock farm was actually a former LAPD officer, Jack Dineen. California Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950, 32.

  Meyer and Bugsy had: Lacey, Little Big Man, 79-81.

  In 1931, the state: Russo, The Outfit, 292.

  Wilkerson was the publisher: Weller, Dancing at Ciro’s, 88-89.

  So Wilkerson decided to: Wilkerson III, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, 49. For a judicious account of Bugsy Siegel’s much smaller role in the creation of Las Vegas, see Johnson, “Siegel, Bugsy.” See also Muir, Headline Happy, 193-94.

  The invasion of Normandy: Related in letter to Helen, September 9, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  Lt. Parker Wins Purple: “Lt. Parker Wins Purple Heat,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1944, 2.

  For Parker, one brush: Verge, Paradise Transformed, 113-14.

  I respectfully submit that: “Memorandum for the Adjutant General, Subject: Relief from Active Duty,” undated, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  “So now I come: Bill Parker to Helen, October 8, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  That Helen’s initial response: In her address book, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  Parker’s retreat was swift: Parker letter to Helen, December 10, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  On February 24, 1945: The tiffs, of course, continued. Within a matter of weeks, Bill was writing somewhat carping letters complaining of the quality of Helen’s letters. Almost none of Helen’s letters have survived, making it difficult to evaluate this claim.

  Parker’s first assignment in: Parker letter to Helen, May 26, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  “All my life I…”:
Parker letter to Helen, undated but from Frankfurt, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  In fact, the LAPD: C. B. Horrall to Capt. W H. Parker, June 26, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. Parker’s July 19, 1945, letter to Helen contains details of Parker’s deliberations with Colonel Wilson, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  The Los Angeles business: McDougal, Privileged Son, 2, 176.

  Parker also tended to: “W. H. Parker Heads Fire Police League,” Los Angeles Examiner, January 7, 1949.

  The group mentioned that: Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007.

  In the spring of 1947: “Parker’s the One in ’51, Los Angeles Police Post 381, American Legion, Unanimously Presents William H. ‘Bill’ Parker for the Office of COMMANDER of THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT of CALIFORNIA, for the Year 1951-52,” August 1950 (Number Three), William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. See also “Police Post Gets Membership Drive Trophy,” L.A. Fire and Police Protective League News, 1947, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

  Chapter Eleven: The Sporting Life

  “[T]o be honest with …”: Cohen, In My Own Words, 81.

  First, there were: Cohen, In My Own Words, 51-52.

  So much for “the: See Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, 57, for an account of the killing. The January 1950 study of the state of California’s Special Crime Study Commission report said that the LAPD suspected “Hooky” Rothman and Joseph “Scotty” Ellenberg of being the gunmen, although they never found evidence to arrest and prosecute them (13). Mob figure Jimmy Fratianno identified Rothman as the triggerman (Demaris, The Last Mafioso, 25). The excrement anecdote comes from Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 137.

  When Mickey swung by: The shooting occurred on May 15, 1945. See Cohen, In My Own Words, 71-73. Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, offers very different accounts (53-54).

  Still, it was a: The date of these dice games is uncertain. Later news accounts suggest they may have occurred in the late forties. See “Cohen Admits Big Gambling Take in Hotel Dice Games,” Chicago Tribune, 3. Intriguingly, this article also notes that from 1947 onward, the Ambassador was owned by J. Myer Schine, whose son, David Schine, emerged in the 1950s as an intimate of Senator McCarthy’s chief investigator, Roy Cohn. Cohn, a bitter opponent of Robert Kennedy, would later become a prominent organized crime defense lawyer.

  “I’d like to see …”: Hecht, A Child of the Century, 610-11.

  Tell “em they’re a…”: Hecht, A Child of the Century, 612.

  Wilkerson was right.: Muir, Headline Happy, 190-91; Russo, The Outfit, 295.

  At issue was the: May, “The History of the Race Wire Service.”

  Bugsy knew the boys: Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 144-45; Cohen, In My Own Words, 79; Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 198-210.

  After talking to Cohen: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 208-9.

  “The people in the …”: Cohen, In My Own Words, 81.

  “The LAPD had already: “Capt. Jack Donahoe of Police Retires, Handled Many Famous Cases,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 8, 1962, B1.

  “One of the finest…”: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8.

  In the fall of: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8-9; Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, 38.

  What they heard was: For more on Howser’s checkered career, see Warren Olney, “Law Enforcement and Judicial Administration in the Earl Warren Era,” Earl Warren Oral History Project, University of California, 1981; “Hidden Microphones Hear Cohen Secrets, Police Device Records Intimate Talks in Home,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1949, 1.

  Chapter Twelve: The Double Agent

  “The heart is deceitful”: Jeremiah 17:9, King James Bible.

  Vaus first started: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 18-21.

  “Come back tomorrow night…”: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 18-20. See also Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 82-86.

  Prostitution in Hollywood has: Rasmussen, “History of Hollywood Madams Is Long, Lurid,” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1997, B3.

  Charles Stoker had first: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 23; Stoker, Thicker ’n Thieves, 81.

  When Stoker got back: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 85-87.

  Allen unleashed a stream: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 91.

  Stoker had no: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 94-95.

  Two facts: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 30-34, 36-46, 52.

  Vaus had never been: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 37.

  “No cop had a”: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 39.

  Vaus had told Cohen: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 94.

  In August 1947, Parker: Stoker provides the sole account of this meeting (142-43). Given the questions that would later emerge about his motivations and veracity, it should be treated with caution.

  Stoker felt uneasy about: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 222-23.

  Soon after Stoker’s: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 181-85, 187-90.

  So Stoker agreed to: Stoker’s account of this meeting (186-88) and indeed this period is intensely controversial. Parker himself would later completely disavow Stoker’s account of events, even claiming by late 1949 that Sgt. Elmer Jackson’s involvement with Brenda Allen was in fact a frame-up. Yet certain parts of Stoker’s account ring true. First, the evidence against Sergeant Jackson (though not the chief himself) seems strong. Second, the picture of Parker Stoker presents has notable similarities to that presented by Fred Otash, another maverick LAPD officer, in his book, Investigation Hollywood!. Other figures who knew Parker well likewise believe that he was prepared to use the kinds of extreme tactics described by Stoker to become chief.

  On May 31, 1949: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 407.

  There was also the: “CONVICT DESCRIBES KILLING BY L.A. COP: Slaying of ‘Peewee’ Lewis Described at San Quentin,” Los Angeles Daily News, June 7, 1949.

  The revelations streamed forth: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 407.

  Just when a narrative: Audre Davis’s later arrest certainly doesn’t bolster her credibility. Nonetheless, historian Gerald Woods insists that prosecutors had developed “a strong circumstantial case against [Stoker].” The county grand jury thought otherwise; it declined to convict Stoker. See also, “Policewoman Implicates Sgt. Stoker in Burglary Love for Vice Squad Man Admitted by Audrey [sic] Davis,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1949.

  At first, Mayor Bowron: “Police Commission Commends Horrall: Full Confidence in Chief and Staff Expressed in Written Statement,” Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1947. One month later, on July 27, Chief Horrall, Asst. Chief Joe Reed, and Capt. Cecil Wisdom were indicted for perjury. Sergeant Jackson and Lieutenant Wellpott were also indicted on perjury and for accepting bribes. However, none of the men were ultimately convicted. In retrospect, the case against Chief Horrall, who was known for his strikingly hands-off management style, seems weakest. He was almost surely innocent. As for Sergeant Jackson and his associates, the most accurate verdict would be “not proven.” Woods, “The Progressive and the Police,” 408.

  Faced with a public: See Benis Frank, interviewer, “Oral History Transcript: General William Worton,” 307.

  Chapter Thirteen: Internal Affairs

  “I’ll be damned if…”: See Benis Frank, interviewer, “Oral History Transcript: General William Worton,” 310.

  Like other departments, the: Chief Davis eventually handed over a list of 7,800 people who’d received badges. It included such luminaries as Shirley Temple (a Davis favorite), King Vidor, Louis B. Mayer, and Bela Lugosi. Larry Harnisch, “Mayor Investigates Honorary L.A.P.D. Badges,” October 28, 1938, Daily Mirror blog, accessed October 28, 2008.

  The primary purpose of: See Benis Frank, interviewer, “Oral History Transcript: General William Worton,” 309.

  To Sgt. Charles Stoker: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 222; “New
Police Chief on Job, to tell Program in Week,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 1949, 1; Daryl Gates, Chief, 15.

  It was, thought Gates: Author interview with Daryl Gates, December 10, 2004.

  That Bill Parker was: “Chief Names Staff Inspector in Top Level Police Changes: Parker Given Number Two Post,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1949, 1.

  For decades, vice and: “Police Shift Offices Due to City Hall Jam,” Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1949, 2.

  General Worton and his: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 40910; “Ex-Marine Tightened Up Los Angeles Police,” Chicago Sun-Times, March 12, 1952.

  General Worton was also: “Novice Chief Brings New Confidence …,” San Francisco Call-Bulletin, May 10, 1995.

  “He would be”: Author interview with Bob Rock, December 10, 2004, Los Angeles, CA.

  Parker moved decisively too: “Police Officer Keyes Resigns Under Attack,” Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1942.

  “Well then go fuck …”: “‘Innocent’ in Cussing, Says Mickey Cohen,” Los Angeles Mirror, August 31, 1949.

  Within weeks, his name: Server, Baby, I Don’t Care, 166, 203-204. See also “Americana,” Time, January 31, 1949. Mitchum’s conviction on drug possession charges was overturned in 1951, which suggests that the accusations against Mickey may well have been true.

  With Mickey on the: Warren was backed up by five high-powered commissioners: former U.S. ambassador to Russia Adm. William H. Standley; former Union Pacific president William M. Jeffers; mining magnate Harvey Mudd; Gen. Kenyon Joyce, onetime deputy president of the Allied Control Commission for Italy; and Gerald H. Hagar, Oakland, past president of the Star Bar. “Warren Picks First of Crime Commissions: Jeffers and Mudd Among Those Named Under New State Law,” Los Angeles Times, October 22, 1947.

  “Bookmaking has nothing to …”: Fox, Blood and Power, 288.

  This system was: California Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950.

  Olney realized that there: Special Crime Study Commission report, March 17, 1949, 72, 79-80.