In early June, 1934, police officers discovered the bodies of Carrie L. Payne, 45, and Robert Payne, 15, at their Westwood home. They had been brutally murdered by Louis R. Payne, their respective son and brother, in late May. Payne was arrested several days after he committed the crime and after confessing at a Huntington Beach police station. He carried a telegram in his pocket with a letter to his father.