John F. Starnes Sr. and his son, John F. Starnes Jr., with Detective Lieutenant C. A. Gillan, Los Angeles, 1936

Item Overview

Title

John F. Starnes Sr. and his son, John F. Starnes Jr., with Detective Lieutenant C. A. Gillan, Los Angeles, 1936

Date Created

March 22, 1936

Date

1936-03-22

Publisher

Los Angeles Times

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Notes

Description

On December 23, 1935, John Starnes Jr. and David Searcy robbed a liquor store and killed the owner by forcing him to drink a pint of brandy. On March 22, 1936, the two were arrested and confessed to the crime. Searcy was eventually found guilty of second degree murder, kidnapping, and second degree robbery. Starnes Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Names are occasionally spelled John F. Starns, David Searcey.
A different photograph taken during the same day appears in "Strange Killing During Hold-up Admitted," Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar 1936: A2.
John Starnes Sr. is on the left, gesturing at his son, John Starnes Jr. Starnes Jr. seems relaxed, hands in his pants pockets, smiling at his father. Detective Lt. C. A. Gillan's left arm is around Starnes Jr.'s shoulders. Gillan is looking away from the camera. Two unidentified men are in the background. Starnes Sr. and Gillan wear suits. Starnes Jr. wears an unzipped leather jacket and a button down shirt.

Caption

Handwritten on negative sleeve: 4824. John F. Starns Jr. John F. Starns Sr. [circled:] Carlotta Starns. missing neg? Liquor Killing "Brandy murder" [stamped:] Apr 15 193[illegible]
Handwritten on negative: John F. Starns Jr. John F. Starns Sr.
Text accompanying photograph in newspaper: A bizarre murder by brandy during a liquor store hold-up was confessed yesterday by these two youths, John Starnes, left, and David Searcy. Behind them are Detective Lieutenants R. N. Davis, left, and C. A. Gillan, who traced them for three months.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

cellulose nitrate film
news photographs

Names

Starnes, John F., Jr. (John Fillmore), 1913-1946
Starnes, John F. (John Fillmore), 1858-1944
Los Angeles (Calif.). Police Department
Gillan, C. A. (Clifford Arthur), 1900-

Location

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Fathers and sons
Police--California--Los Angeles
Murder--Investigation--California--Los Angeles
Robberies--California--Los Angeles
Suspects (Criminal investigation)--California--Los Angeles
Detectives--California--Los Angeles