Kidnapping

Murder in San Marino

Daniel Martinez Arrested In Abduction Of 10-Year-Old Northridge Girl

One of two men alleged to have abducted a 10-year-old girl from her Northridge home was arrested over the weekend, cops announced. The suspect wasn't the man named by police on Saturday, Tobias Dustin Summers, who cops say is still at-large. Rather, the arrestee was ID'd as Daniel Martinez, 29:

Kevion Roy Hunt, Valley's Alleged 'Ear Gauge Stalker,' Charged With Attempted Rape

The man police say is the "Ear Gauge Stalker" because of the distinctive, stretched holes in the suspect's ears, is facing seven felony counts today. The District Attorney's office announced that 20-year-old Kevion Roy Hunt was hit with allegations of "assault with intent to commit a felony, attem ... More >>

Jade Douglas Harris Charged In Craigslist Murder Rampage

Prosecutors announced that Jade Douglas Harris will face multiple capital murder charges for the Downey attack last week that left three people dead and two wounded. It was all over a Camaro that the 30-year-old suspect allegedly wanted to steal after spotting it for sale on Craigslist, prosecutors ... More >>

Ray Vega, Reported BF of Manager in Crazy Bank of America Robbery, Arrested

Police announced an arrest in that crazy Bank of America robbery in which a manager had a fake bomb strapped to her and claimed she had been kidnapped. Huntington Park police said in a statement this afternoon that the suspect they had in custody is Ray Vega, a 33-year-old from the city of Bell. An ... More >>

Bank of America Manager Kidnapped, Strapped to Would-Be Bomb, Told to Rob Workplace in East L.A.

A bank manager was kidnapped by masked men, strapped to a would-be bomb, and sent into her Bank of America branch in unincorporated East L.A. this morning to get cash for her assailants, according to sheriff's officials and reports. The device was detonated by an L.A. County Sheriff's Department bo ... More >>

Anthony Wayne Smith, Former Raider, Serial Killer?

Former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Anthony Wayne Smith has been with charged with three unsolved murders, the LAPD announced today. That makes the number of killings he's accused of committing four: He's currently being retried in the 2008 homicide of Lancaster mechanic Maurilio Ponce. Doe ... More >>

Torture in L.A. Burbs Looks Like La Eme

Jeffrey Minifie Charged With Murder: He Allegedly Kidnapped Girlfriend, Killed Her in High-Speed LAPD Pursuit

ABC7Minifie's deadly weapon.​An insane car crash in Westlake last Thursday was overshadowed by two other big L.A. crime stories that day: The guy who shot up a Hollywood apartment before setting it on fire, and the ICE-officer shooting in Long Beach. But the crimes of alleged kidnapper Jeffre ... More >>

Michael Scott Moore, L.A. Surfer/Journalist Writing a Book About Somali Pirates, Held Hostage by Somali Pirates

Manhattan Beach native Michael Scott Moore, behind awesome surfing novelSweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread From Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World, With Some Unexpected Results, told The New York Times two summers ago that he had begun a full-length sophomore effort on Somali pirate ... More >>

Arrests Made in 2008 Long Beach Homeless Encampment Murders

Updated at the bottom: The suspects have been named by the Long Beach Police Department and are being linked to other crimes too. Originally posted January 18 at 3:45 p.m. By Taylor Freitas Long Beach police just announced that they've made an arrests related to the killing of five people in a ho ... More >>

West Hollywood Marijuana Dispensary The Farmacy Robbed of Weed, Cash: Three Suspects Quickly Nabbed

Correction after the jump: A dispensary worker says the suspects were tracked via a stolen smartphone and that they were previously unknown to the shop. Three men were arrested after a brazen robbery of West Hollywood's well-known marijuana dispensary called The Farmacy over the weekend. The heist ... More >>

Clark Rockefeller, a.k.a. Christian Gerhartsreiter, Coming to L.A. to Face Charge in 1985 Murder

This guy (right).​Yeah, that whole Casey Anthony thing didn't go so well for you fans of 48 Hours Mystery. But now another seen-on-TV case is just starting up its prosecution phase in L.A. as the man who once reportedly paraded around upper-crust social circles under the guise of Clark Rockef ... More >>

Facebook Friend Kidnaps, Rapes 14-Year-Old North Hollywood Girl, LAPD Says

west.m​Police were searching for a young man they say met a girl on Facebook and MySpace, kidnapped her, and raper her over the weekend. KTLA News reports that the man drove to he 14-year-old victim's North Hollywood home Sunday and kidnapped her before raping her. The girl was rescued by a ... More >>

'Superman' Producer Ilya Salkind Went Missing Near Mexico City After Talking to Associates in L.A.

Ilya Salkind went missing Sunday or Monday.​Update: He was found and he's mostly okay (no kidnapping was involved). A family statement: We have learned that Ilya was taking an stroll and had an accident. He was taken to a hospital and unfortunately he didn't have his cell phone with him and c ... More >>

WONDERFULLY BAD

Sex, Thugs and Catholic Rage

Oscar winner excavates lost, hilariously offensive labor of love

Asylum Denied

Unlike refugees from other troubled countries, only a fraction of Mexicans seeking U.S. asylum are accepted – no matter how horrible their wounds or their stories

Seized

Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

East Los Angeles Hit Man Trained by Mexican Cartels

A cunning American boy grows up to execute his friends and family

Lily Burk's Killer Pleads Guilty, Avoids Death Sentence

An ex-con pleaded guilty this afternoon to the murder of Lily Burk, a 17-year-old Los Feliz girl who was kidnapped and later killed inside her car near downtown Los Angeles. Lily Burk​Charlie Samuel, 50, avoided the death penalty by pleading to the July 24, 2009 slaying. He faces life in pris ... More >>

JOURNAL TO THE CENTER OF THE QUARTERLY LITERARY ORGAN

Parole Denied For Ailing 'Onion Field' Killer

CDCRGregory Powell.​Onion Field killer Gregory Powell was denied parole this week after nearly 47 years behind bars, despite his plea for more freedom before he dies from terminal prostate cancer. The 76-year-old reportedly told a parole board in San Luis Obispo, "I've done enough time. I'm a ... More >>

Coroner: Los Feliz Teen Lily Burk Died from Fatal Wound to Neck

A Los Angeles County Coroner testified today in the brutal murder of Lily Burk, the 17-year-old Los Feliz teen who was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a parolee. Dr. Jeffrey P. Gutstadt testified at a preliminary hearing that the Oakwood School student had injuries from head to toe, including a ... More >>

'Onion Field' Killer Gets Parole Hearing

​A man serving a life sentence for the kidnapping and execution murder of a Los Angeles police officer in a case made famous by Joseph Wambaugh's book The Onion Field (and an eponymous movie) is up for parole Wednesday. The union representing rank-and-file Los Angeles police is opposing parol ... More >>

Lily Burk's Alleged Killer Charged with New Felony Counts at Preliminary Hearing

A parolee who is accused of kidnapping and killing a 17-year-old Los Feliz teen was charged today with two new felony counts at a preliminary hearing in downtown Los Angeles. ​ Los Angeles County prosecutors charged 50-year-old Charlie Samuel with one felony count each of carjacking and kid ... More >>

HOLLYWOOD NOIR AND CELTIC VISIONS

The interactive Accomplice: Hollywood and Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney

Accomplice: Hollywood

Lily Burk Murder Suspect Arrested

Associated Press has just announced that Los Angeles police have arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the brutal murder of 17-year-old Lily Burk, whose body was discovered in her car Saturday. She had been abducted and reported missing Friday after running an errand for her mother. The susp ... More >>

A Pasadena Author Researching Jogging Trails Cracks an Old Serial-Killer Case

Weston Dewalt's amazing year

Grotesque: Natsuo Kirino’s Dark World

Femme fatalistic

Last Call in Gaza

A burned-out bar as an election symbol

Freeways to Perdition

The Summer of Stolen Children

The Hunt for Daniel Pearl

A letter from Pakistan

Portrait of the Activist as a Young Man

The passionate life and tragic death of Terence Freitas