Recently in mystery Category

From the mailbag:

Mr Girardot,

Just wanted to let you know that the fate of Christine Collins has been solved.  Collins is listed in the death index under Christin Collins.  This linked her name to a Kathleen Collins in the social security death index.  Collins indicated that this was an alias she used after the high profile trial.  The time period fits and I'm fairly certain it is her.  Collins died on 12/8/1964.  There is also an interesting back story.  At one point in time, she was staying with James C. Borton in 1930.  Borton took in Collins because he and her father were members of the Knights of Pythias.  She also spent sometime in Oakland Californa in the early 1930's, with friends they met when the family was in Hawaii.  At one point in time she took a telephone number under an assumed name as well. As it turns out, her sister, at  one point in time, was listed on a passenger manifest as visiting Hong Kong in 1930, in the midst of the events involving her son.  She is listed under race as Octoroon.  Even in my work as an Archivist, I have never come acrossed that term.  It's a guess, but I believe that Aimee Dunne was of Chinese Origin, which I also thought was an interesting note. 
 
I'm planning on taking the research further and write a book.  I've spent too much time learning about this family, so I need to justify it somehow!

Best,

Chris Garmire
Archivist
California State Archives

Clark Rockefeller has hired a new lead defense attorney, Jeffrey Denner, of Boston. The move came earlier this week and may have gone unnoticed if Denner hadn't asked for the FBI to return about $280 large in gold coins Rockefeller had in his possession when arrested.

That's not the only Rockefeller news.

Los Angeles County investigators are seeking access to Rockefeller's sealed divorce records in Suffolk County Probate Court. The Suffolk County DA has already taken a look at the papers, so it seems likely LA County will get their own look as well.

What might be in the papers in anyone's guess.  One theory floating around is that Rockefeller confessed to his wife that he wasn't Rockefeller -- and she made note of that in the proceedings.

That could go to a consciousness of guilt in a homicide prosecution. As in, why else would he change his name?

The obvious defense is that Rockefeller had already assumed several identities after coming to the country in the 1970s as German foreign exchange student Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter.

I think the proseution theory is a good one though. And I'm wondering if there may be something even more damaging, like a confession to Sandra Boss that he was Christopher Chichester and he once lived with a couple in San Marino that disappeared.

Whatever is in there, the cops and DAs office are being extremely closed-mouthed.

Here's a link to today's story on the case.

 

 

 

SHeriff's homicide detectives are seeking the divorce records of Clark Rockfeller, officials said Wednesday.

The detectives are hoping the papers will shed some light on their investigation into the disappearance of a San Marino couple from their home 23 years ago.

I'll have more on this later.

 

I've had several emails this weekend asking about the fate of Christine Collins' the real life woman played by Angelina Jolie in Clint Eastwood's "The Changeling."

Perhaps the best answer is on Roxanne Adam's blog, "Dispatch from the Third World of Los Angeles." Adams came across some records that indicate a Christine M. Collins died in 1996 in a tiny East Bay community. Here's a portion of the entry:

One Christine M. Collins, born on April 24th 1900, died in 1996 in Lafeyette, a city located in Contra Costa County, California; this is the only official public record I could find. Since her son was nine years old when he disappeared in 1928, it's entirely reasonable that she was born in 1901.

And the photo caption:

Walter Collins' mother, Mrs. Christine Collins, who confronted Gordon Northcott in jail concerning her son. "I did not kill Walter," he told her. "I believe you," she replied. Later, when Arthur Hutchens claimed to be her son and she did not accept him, she was sent to a psychopathic ward. She later filed suit against the police for this action.

BALDWIN PARK -- Few details were available Sunday afternoon regarding the shooting death of a young man early Saturday.
The victim, described by sheriff's officials only as a Latino man of about 18 to 20 years old, remained officially listed as a John Doe at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, coroner's officials said.
He was found fatally shot about 4:25 a.m. in the 12800 block of Dalewood Street, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Derrick Thompson said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene after police responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting a shooting, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau detectives investigating the death did not return phone calls seeking comment Saturday or Sunday.
The captain at the Los Angeles County Fire Department station that responded to the incident refused to give out any information.
Neighbors said the man died on the street or sidewalk in front of an apartment complex.
A woman who identified herself as Juana Pimetel said the victim was 23 years old and used to rent a room in her apartment.
She said she did not believe the victim was involved in gangs.
Neighbors added they believed the man was employed but were not sure where, and that he was a good man.

Less than a week after what may have been a shooting between rival motorcycle gangs on area freeways, thousands of bikers are descending on Palm Springs this morning as part of the American Heat rally. The shooting resulted in the death of Manuel Martin, of Venice.

I don't know if this is true or not, but a source says there's word that human remains have been found at the excavation site where cops are digging for the body of the Roger Madison. Here's some recent coverage of the case and a related case in Pasadena.

Two missing Azusa children are also linked to the killer.

Todd Ruiz -- Under the Dome

LADN -- Dig for remains

Los Angeles police will dig near two freeway ramps in Ventura County today in a search for the remains of a San Fernando Valley boy killed by a serial murderer 40 years ago.

LAPD officers, aided by dozens of FBI agents and police from other agencies, will excavate where four police dogs have indicated that human bones have been buried, the Ventura County Star reported Sunday.

A ground-penetrating radar unit from Caltrans has indicated a likely burial location, and a particle detector that sniffs out decaying human bones "went off like a Geiger counter in the same place," said Los Angeles Police Detective Vivian Flores.

The interchange of the 23 Freeway at Tierra Rejada Road in Moorpark is about 25 miles west of the Arleta home where Roger Dale Madison was last seen alive on Dec. 14, 1968. A construction crew chief who was building the freeway, Mack Ray Edwards, confessed to kidnapping and murdering the boy, throwing him into a hole and covering him up with rocks and fill dirt as the 23 was being built.

Edwards, known as the most-notorious serial killer of children in California history, confessed to as many as 18 kidnappings and murders dating back to at least 1953. Although he was never charged with killing Roger Madison, he confessed to the crime shortly before he hanged himself with a television cord while on death row at San Quentin.

Flores said Edwards' confession in the Madison case was not followed up in 1970, but the reasons

We sort of missed this one during vacation, but it's relevant to note that Michael Gargiulo, 32, arrested in connection with the death of Ashton Kutcher's former girlfriend is also charged in a 2005 El Monte cold case involving the death of Maria Bruno at her apartment, according to the Chicago Tribune. Here's a portion of their Sept. 5 story:

On Thursday Michael T. Gargiulo, 32, was charged with capital murder in the 2001 death of Ashley Ellerin, Kutcher's former girlfriend, whose body was found in her Hollywood Hills home.

Gargiulo also was charged Thursday with the 2005 stabbing death of Maria Bruno in her El Monte, Calif., apartment.

This year, Gargiulo, an air conditioner repairman living in Santa Monica, Calif., was arrested at home in June on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly broke into a woman's home in April and stabbed her. She fought him off and DNA from blood at the scene was linked to Gargiulo, officials said.

A set of human remains found near the Pomona Freeway in Montebello may have been there for eight years, officials told reporter Ruby Gonzales.

The remains of a human male skeleton also show signs of having been struck by a car, coroner's officials said. Here's Ruby's update from this morning:

MONTEBELLO - The man whose bones were discovered alongside the Pomona (60) Freeway could have been hit by a car, coroner's officials said.

The left femur shows a fracture consistent with being struck by a vehicle, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Coroner's Office.

Corral said an ID card was found among the clothing which belonged to a man who was reported missing eight years ago. However, he said they are still trying to identify the remains.

Caltrans workers clearing heavy brush in the 200 block of Pomona Boulevard discovered the skeletal remains on Sunday morning.

Serene Branson at KCBS/KCAL reported today on the story of a family who went to Nevada for the weekend and disappeared. I didn't catch the family's name. Apparently the mom and dad haven't shown up for work ... but their credit cards have been used on the Las Vgeas Strip.

Reportedly there are security camera images of the Mom and Dad, but their two kids have apparently vanished.

I'll find the whole story on Google news and post it here later.

Don't know if this is a Caylee Anthony case or a Runaway Bride, but interesting nonetheless.

 

 

 

EL MONTE -- Coroner's officials said Tuesday that a man found dead outside an office building Sunday committed suicide.
Jerry Huang, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene from "multiple traumatic injuries," Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. John Kades said.
Huang's city of residency was not known, he said.
Homicide detectives responded to investigate the death after a security guard discovered the body about 1:15 p.m. in the 9600 block of Flair Drive.

EL MONTE -- The mysterious death of a man whose body was found outside an office building in the 9600 block of Flair Drive is looking more like a suicide.

The death was listed with the coroner's office as a "possible suicide."

Coroner's officials said the death was due to blunt force truama.

The afternoon of the discovery, detectives took measurements of a large mechanical lift being used for construction at the site, and spent a good deal of time with their eyes trained upwards toward the lift and the nearby multi-story building.

The dead man is being described only as an Asian man in his 30s pending notification of family members.

*Lt. Gil Carrillo of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau said Monday that until an autopsy has been performed that determines the incident was a suicide, detectives will continue investigating.