Subject: Crime - UCLA Library Digital Collections Search Results

Description:: Courtroom scene from the "white flame" murder trial where Paul A. Wright is accused of murdering his wife and best friend after finding them in an embrace. Wright's lawyer, Jerry Giesler, eventually won his client's freedom with a temporary insanity defense
Date Created:: 1938
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Robert S. James sitting in the witness stand with a plan of his home behind 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.
Date Created:: 1936
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Mexican American youths in "zoot suits" are detained for questioning in a Los Angeles jail after a brawl.
Date Created:: 1937
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Mrs. Mary E. Smith of Alhambra, serving as an alternate juror for the "White Flame" double homicide trial of aviation executive Paul A. Wright.Wright's defense team, led by famed Los Angeles defense attorney Jerry Giesler, argued that Wright was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found Wright guilty of two counts of manslaughter, and subsequently ruled that he had been insane at his sanity trial.
Date Created:: 1938
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Robert S. James sitting in the witness stand with a map of his home behind 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.
Date Created:: 1936
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Detective Lieutenant Ray Giese and Los Angeles County District Attorney Buron Fitts examine soiled clothing possibly owned by Thomas Edward Dugger. Dugger, known as "Ape Man", was convicted of eleven felonies related to the robbery, kidnapings, and assault of three women. Dugger was indicted on April 4, 1935 and sentenced to death by the Supreme Court on February 18, 1936.
Date Created:: 1935
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Defense attorney Jerry Giesler photographed in court, during the "white flame" double homicide trial of aviation executive Paul A. Wright. Wright was charged with the shooting deaths of his wife Evelyn and best friend John Kimmel, whom he claimed to have caught in an "inappropriate" embrace in the Wright home.Giesler led Wright's defense team, and argued that Wright was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found Wright guilty of two counts of manslaughter, and subsequently ruled that he had been insane at his sanity trial.
Date Created:: 1938
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Followers of Robert Noble, whom he has promised "$25 every Monday morning" as part of a pension plan. Noble's supporters were very loyal to him, even though he did not follow through on many of his promises. He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft bunko and also several misdemeanor charges including parading without a permit, blocking the road, and refusing to disperse. Noble spent five days in jail and was planning a gubernatorial campaign upon his release.
Date Created:: 1937
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: The jury for the trial of accused murderer Paul A. Wright. Wright, an airline executive, was charged with the shooting deaths of his wife Evelyn and best friend John Kimmel, whom he claimed to have caught in an "inappropriate" embrace in the Wright home.Wright's defense team, led by famed Los Angeles defense attorney Jerry Giesler, argued that Wright was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found Wright guilty of two counts of manslaughter, and subsequently ruled that he had been insane at his sanity trial.
Date Created:: 1938
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

Description:: Accused murderer Paul A. Wright on the stand. Wright, an airport executive, shot his wife and his best friend while they sat together on a piano bench. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Date Created:: 1938
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Los Angeles Daily News Negatives

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