Murder suspect Robert S. James sitting on the witness stand with a plan of his house behind him, Los Angeles, 1936

Title: Murder suspect Robert S. James sitting on the witness stand with a plan of his house behind him, Los Angeles, 1936
Date Created: [circa May 1936]
Date: 1936-05
Language: No linguistic content
Collection: Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection

Description: Robert S. James' real name was Major Raymond Lisenba. He was known as Robert S. James during his marriage to Mary Emma Busch James and at the time of her death in 1935, and, after her murder by rattlesnake bite and drowning, as "Rattlesnake James."
Robert S. James sitting in the witness stand with a map of his home behind him. An unidentified man is visible in front of him. He was most likely testifying in his own defense for the murder trial of his wife Mary Emma James. He purportedly had an affair with his niece, which spurred him to tie down his wife and have a rattlesnake bite her, and then later drown her in their fish pond. He was supposedly helped by his friend, ex-sailor Charles H. Hope, who was also charged with murder.
Caption: Text from original nitrate sleeve: James, Robert S.

Genre: news photographs
cellulose nitrate film
Names: James, Robert S., 1895-1942
Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)
Resource type: still image
Subjects: Crime
Judicial proceedings--California--Los Angeles
People
Legal
Criminals--California--Los Angeles

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections
ARK: ark:/21198/zz0027x8rb
Manifest url

Rights statement: copyrighted
Rights contact: UCLA Library Special Collections, A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575. Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu. Phone: (310) 825-2575
Rights Holder: The Regents of the University of California
Rights Country: US
Funding Note: Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .