Covering death began with Brian and Adam
It was 1985 and I was the managing editor of the Daily Sundial at Cal State Northridge.
One night late in the fall semester, Korach, 22, jumped to his death from the eighth floor of Sierra Tower. He was a troubled former student.
We tore up the front page and hurried downstairs to the scene with just a few hours to go before deadline. I found myself standing within feet of the body. It was a bloody sight I’d never seen before.
In the days before cell phones, I stayed downstairs, gathered some info and passed it to fellow students who ran upstairs to the computers in the Sundial office.
I went home that night, got into bed and felt the chill go through me: “My God. What did I see tonight?”
Korach wasn’t the first death that semester. A couple months earlier, CSUN student Brian Harris, 21, and his UCLA girlfriend were found murdered on Mulholland Drive. We had reporters cover some of the story, including the arrests of four carjackers and their court hearings.
Part of my job was making assignments, but I couldn’t find a reporter willing to cover Harris’ funeral. So I sent myself.
Little did I know that the service would be the first of many funerals I would cover in my career. My most recent was the service for LAPD Officer Randal Simmons.
In my 21 years, I’ve covered hundreds and hundreds of killings and deaths, and seen my share of dead bodies.
I bring all of this up because on Saturday night, I will attend a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the CSUN Journalism Department. I’m looking forward to seeing a few old friends and professors.
The college years were the best. CSUN was a great place to go to school. They trained me well for what I do today.
And I will always remember Brian Harris and Adam Korach.
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About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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About the Blogger
Denise Nix knew as young as grade school, when she spent every summer working on the camp newspaper, that she wanted to be a journalist. Denise has spent most of the last 12 years of her career in the courtroom. She joined the Daily Breeze in 2001, where she tracks and reports on hundreds of cases at every level of the justice system. And she's never, ever, seen a judge use a gavel.
E-mail Denise at denise.nix@dailybreeze.com.
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Larry is the Dean of South Bay crime reporting. Show him some respect!