los angeles crime tour

Dearly Departed Tours

scott michaels

Homicide True Crime Tour

Homicide true crime tour.

Dearly Departed Tours’ curator Scott Michaels has personally assembled a collection of True Crime stories around LA that are so very gruesome, so “out-there”, they deserve their own Los Angeles Tour. Decapitation, strangulation, a chainsaw, arson, call-girl/prostitution murders, spree and serial killers and a PLANE CRASH all around the Hollywood and West Hollywood area. Not for the faint of heart or the prissy, this is our grisliest tour yet!

“Our grisliest tour yet ”

*Disclaimer: Tour routes can potentially change from day to day due to any circumstances.

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Los Angeles Historical True Crime and Macabre Tours

As twilight descends upon the city, we'll guide you through the haunting locales that define some of LA's darkest chapters.

Book your place and prepare to be captivated, disturbed, and enlightened.

Our offerings:

The Toolbox Killers

Five months, five victims. Come on a chilling drive-through journey into the harrowing crimes of Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, infamously known as the Toolbox Killers.

The ephebophilic killers’ reign of terror occurred in 1979. Their weapons of choice? An array of torture instruments that one would commonly find inside a household toolbox. Rife with gore and violence, this tour is not for the faint of heart. Join us as we delve into the disturbing minds behind one of the most notorious criminal duos in American history.

Buffy in Sunnydale

Supernatural cult-classic, demon assassin, ‘90s icon.

Embark on an extraordinary adventure as we take you on an immersive tour inspired by the beloved series that redefined the realm of vampire slaying.

Step into the shoes of the Chosen One and visit the iconic filming locations and witness the places where Buffy battled the forces of darkness. Get ready to explore the supernatural side of L.A. and uncover the magic that made Buffy the Vampire Slayer an eternal phenomenon.

The Nightstalker

The hillside strangler.

Step into the footsteps of Richard Ramirez “The Nightstalker’s” victims as we explore the crime scenes that once bore witness to his heinous acts. The certifiably insane, unusually cruel, and prolific predator struck fear into the hearts of an entire community. Uncover the twisted psyche behind the crimes, examining the eerie clues that left investigators perplexed and residents on-edge.

Are you ready to confront the chilling enigma of the Nightstalker, and unlock the secrets of his twisted mind?

Hold your breath for this one… The Hillside Strangler, later the Hillside Stranglers, is the media epithet for one, later discovered to be two, American serial killers who terrorized L.A. in the late 1970s. The nickname originated from the fact that many of the victims’ bodies were discovered in the hills surrounding the city, dead due to asphyxiation.

Dive into the shadows of a notorious crime spree as we unravel the haunting tale, and explore this chilling true crime legacy.

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The Most Out-There True Crime Stories in LA

Nothing can have a hold on us quite like a gripping true crime story. Whether it’s the latest Netflix series or a stunning novel, this nonfiction genre captivates us, probably because it has to do with true stories. 

And if it feels like everyone is obsessed with true crime, you’d be right. Americans are watching more true crime than ever before, and many true crime documentaries sit in the top-ranking spot on Netflix for weeks on end after they’re released.

While watching a TV show can make it feel like most true crime stories happen in far-away places, these dark tales aren’t actually that far away. You can probably find some wild true crime stories which took place not too far from where you are right now, for example.

Certain cities are hotbeds for fascinating and chilling true crime tales. Take Los Angeles, for example. The City of Angels is home to the rich and famous, but it’s also home to some of the most well-known and haunting true crime stories in the United States. 

If you’re as addicted to true crime as we are, then you’ll be fascinated by this list of the most out-there and notorious true crime stories in LA. Trigger warning: the following stories might be disturbing to some readers, and contain graphic depictions (although we don’t get too into the gruesome parts).

Notorious & Infamous True Crime Stories in LA 

The “black dahlia” murder.

Perhaps the most infamous of all of the true crime stories in Los Angeles, this murder remains unsolved to this day, and is one of the oldest unsolved cases in Los Angeles county.

In 1947, a mother and her child discovered a gruesome sight while out for a walk: the mutilated body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short , who was a Hollywood hopeful from New England. The press quickly dubbed this murder the “Black Dahlia,” in relation to a movie that came out at the time (the “Blue Dahlia”), and Elizabeth’s known affinity for black clothing.

There were many interesting facts about this case that captivated the public. Despite the condition of the body, there “wasn’t a drop of blood at the scene,” according to the FBI. There also were indicators that the murderer might have had skills in dissection, leading investigators to check out a group of students at the University of Southern California Medical School. But all leads went cold, and to this day, this murder is unsolved.

Nicole Brown Simpson & Ron Goldman

Maybe tied for first-place in notorious LA true crime cases is this one, also known as the “OJ Simpson murder case. ” Nicole Brown Simpson was the ex-wife of famed football player OJ Simpson. She was found stabbed to death outside of her home in 1994, along with her friend Ron Goldman, in the San Francisco area, but the story includes a Los Angeles chapter. 

There was overwhelming evidence against Simpson, who quickly became the primary suspect. Although he agreed to turn himself in, Simpson grabbed a passport, a disguise, and thousands of dollars in cash, and led police on a highway chase that was broadcast on national television.

Eventually, he was caught, and the evidence against Simpson seemed overwhelming, including blood found at the murder scene. But his team of lawyers convinced the jury that Simpson had been framed by racist police officers. He walked free, and promised to find the “real killers,” but never turned up any new leads.

The Cecil Hotel

Few places have as much of a notoriously dark and macabre history as the Cecil Hotel. The hotel has been the scene of murders, suicides, and suspiscous deaths for almost 100 years . It opened in 1924, and the developers planned for it to be a grand destination. But after the Great Depression, wealthy travelers were slow to show up.

Since then, there have been well over a dozen horrific stories that have come from the rooms of the hotel. In 1991, an Austrian serial killer was captured after staying at the hotel. The “Night Stalker” serial killer (who we talk about in a little bit) likely committed some of his crimes while staying at the Cecil Hotel. In 2013, the hotel rose to national notoriety yet again, when Canadian college student Elisa Lam disappeared, only to be found dead in the hotel’s water tank.

In 2007, the hotel was sold, and the new owners renamed it as “Stay on Main,” before it was sold again. Since 2017, the hotel has been closed for extensive renovations, and it’s expected to reopen a hotel and  apartment complex.

The Menendez Brothers

Joseph Lyle Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez are two brothers who were at the center of a Beverly Hills crime case that captivated the country. The brothers were convicted in 1996 for killing their parents .

The brothers shot their parents, and went to the local movie theater to buy tickets as an alibi. They then called the police, and were not immediately suspected in the killings. But the case took a turn: after Erik confessed to his psychotherapist,  that therapist’s mistress turned in the information to police. 

During the case, a legal battle ensued over whether that information was admissible in the trial. The brothers also gave compelling testimony that described years of abuse at the hands of their parents. Both brothers were convicted to life in prison, which they’re still serving to this day.

The “Night Stalker” Serial Killer

Few killers terrified Los Angeles like Richard Ramirez, also known as the “Night Stalker.” The focus of Netflix documentaries, Ramirez was a gruesome killer who had at least 13 victims. Ramirez started killing in 1984, but that first incident wasn’t connected to him until 2009, well after Ramirez was in prison. During his crime spree, Ramirez would often break into homes, when he would assault or murder his victims.

Ramirez was connected to the “Night Stalker” killings in 1985, after a woman who survived an attack helped police identify him. After police released his photo, citizens identified him on the street, and held him down until police arrived.

Ramirez was tried, convicted, and was sentenced to death. He sat on California’s death row for more than 23 years, and died of natural causes in 2013.

The “Manson Family” Murders

It’s tough to talk about LA true crime without mentioning Charles Manson, whose infamous legacy is still large to this day. In the late 1960’s. Manson led the Manson Family, a cult of mostly female followers. Ultimately, some of Manson’s followers committed a series of nine murders. This included the high-profile killing of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

There are endless eerie aspects to the case, aside from the murders themselves. During the trial, several Manson Family members camped out outside of the courthouse, holding “vigil” with X’s carved into their foreheads. Manson and several of his followers were eventually found guilty. Manson was originally sentenced to death in 1971, and ultimately to life in prison. Manson died behind bars in 2017 at the age of 83.

The “Wonderland Murders”

While much is known about this 1981 murder case, there’s one big question to this day: who actually committed the crime? The Wonderland Gang was a notorious crime group in Los Angeles, who lived in a townhouse at 8763 Wonderland Avenue. At 3:00am one July morning, an unknown number of men entered the home, and killed four people.

There was plenty of drama with the Wonderland Gang leading up to the murders, involving drugs and crime. During the case, several people related to the group were arrested, tried, and acquitted for their possible roles in the murders. But to this day, no one knows who really committed the killings, and the case remains unsolved.

The Greystone Mansion Murders

The Greystone Mansion is iconic to this day, and while this stunning Beverly Hills home is often used for film and television shows, it has some true crime history of its own. This 1928 Tudor mansion was built by the Doheny family, of oil tycoon fame, and it was the most expensive mansion built at the time ($4 million, equal to over $50 million today).

The mansion was home to Ned Doheny, his wife Lucy, and their five children. In February 1929, Ned was found dead in a guest bedroom, along with his friend and assistant, Hugh Plunkett.  

While there were some theories and ideas as to what happened, the murders were never solved and the case was closed by police. Lucy lived in the house for decades, but eventually, it was sold, and the estate became a city park in the 1970’s.

True Crime Fans, You’ll Love This

Sure, true crime is fascinating to read about, and can leave you going down Wikipedia holes for hours. But true crime tours are a great way to get up-close-and-personal with some of the macabre and haunted history in LA. These tours are perfect for friends or events, but they’re also great team building events for your coworkers.

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Combined Shape .st0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#fff} .st0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#fff} SMS Main navigation Things to Do Attractions & Tours Arts & Culture Outdoors & Wellness Shopping Budget Family Hidden Gems Luxury Pet-Friendly Eat & Drink Bars Clubs Dine LA Restaurant Week Restaurants Business Spotlight Find Events Itineraries Where to Stay Celebrate LA Heritage AAPI Heritage Black LA Latino Heritage LGBTQ+ Tourist Information Meetings About LA Tourism Travel Trade Membership Business Spotlight Media Research Careers Today's must read Hidden Gems of Los Angeles Log in Search Search Things to Do Arts & Culture Discover LA's True Crime Locations Beyond the Black Dahlia by Gustavo Turner   Oct 5, 2023 El Coyote Mexican Cafe in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" | Photo: Sony Pictures Share Been There Login Register My Next Trip Login Register Celebrities Points of Interest Ask anyone about the intersection of Los Angeles and true crime mystery, and chances are they will immediately bring up the unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, the beautiful aspiring actress who was found cut to pieces and arranged like a surrealist sculpture in a vacant lot in Leimert Park. The case, dubbed “The Black Dahlia” murder by the sensationalist press of the time (riffing on the 1946 noir film The Blue Dahlia , scripted by LA detective fiction icon Raymond Chandler), has so captured the imagination of true crime aficionados and scholars for more than seven decades that there is a small library, several detail-oriented websites, and even a few popular bus tours devoted to it.

Manson Family - Spahn Ranch

If you want to combine your true crime sightseeing with some majestic local hiking, the other Manson location to check out are the remains of the Spahn Ranch (1200 Santa Susana Pass Rd, Topanga 90290) the former cowboy movie set that was occupied by the Manson Family during the height of their chaotic local “activities.” The ranch was owned by the elderly George Spahn, who allowed Manson and his followers to take it over in exchange for a variety of household services provided by the leader’s attractive hippie “girlfriends.” After Manson was arrested, the family gradually left the premises and several fires dilapidated the already run-down property. It is now part of the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park and several organizations (like Atlas Obscura) are known to organize guided visits to the Manson settlement, where they point out the few artifacts that remain after five decades of plundering, including part of a vehicle that transported the Manson Family.

Wonderland Murders House - Laurel Canyon

The 1980s might not be as iconic as the 1950s and '60s in terms of imagining an LA true crime era, but one incident that definitely stands out is the 1981 Wonderland Murders . A confusing epic of lowlife Los Angeles that for many epitomizes the "death of the '70s," the gruesome homicides in front of a known drug house (8763 Wonderland Ave, Los Angeles 90046) inspired the 2003 Val Kilmer movie Wonderland . The brazen (and still unsolved) killing by bludgeoning of four people connected to the rampant cocaine trade in the city rocked the former hippy utopia of Laurel Canyon, and to boot, one of the people charged was the biggest male porn star in the world, actor John Holmes. Holmes was acquitted in 1982, though he was certainly known to be an associate of many of the people involved in the incident, including terrifying 1970s nightlife mogul Eddie Nash.

The Notorious B.I.G. - Petersen Automotive Museum

An often overlooked location in tours of Los Angeles true crime mysteries that focus on the 1950s and 1960s is a conspicuous Miracle Mile landmark that has recently been wrapped in an eye-catching stainless-steel ribbon design. The Petersen Automotive Museum  (6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90036)   might not seem an obvious spot to ponder the peculiarly LA combination of power, fame, money, crime, the mysterious links between law enforcement and the underworld, gangland rivalries, the shadiest side of the entertainment industry, drugs and even confusing fights over women that are all landmarks of our local noir. That is, unless you remember that on March 9, 1997, New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G. attended a party at the museum, got in his SUV with his entourage and a few seconds after leaving the building was gunned down by someone who’s still officially unidentified.

As James Ellroy could tell you, the city is still here, but its noir mystique never really left.

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True Crime History Tour Of Los Angeles

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Tour Information

Key Details

• Mobile Voucher Accepted
• Duration: 4 Hrs
• Language: English
• Departure Time : 12:00 PM
• Departure Details : Most tours begin in downtown Los Angeles or nearby communities.
• Cancellation Policy : This activity is non-refundable Tours booked using discount coupon codes will be non refundable.
• Comprehensive tour by bus/coach
• Step back in time on a history tour
• Snacks and Beverages included
• Informative, friendly and professional guide
• Separate driver ensures your guides full attention throughout the day

Know More about this tour

Itinerary This is a typical itinerary for this product Stop At: Esotouric Bus Adventures, Los Angeles, California Cool, brainy, surprising, profound. These are not words ordinarily associated with guided sightseeing tours, but the Esotouric true crime tour experience is anything but ordinary. Locals and visitors alike love these immersive excursions into a noirish Los Angeles populated with b-girls and bad guys, kooks and killers. The tour takes place on an enclosed, air-conditioned bus. There are video monitors to show historic photos and film clips, and a microphone so you will not have trouble hearing the tour guides. Restrooms are available during the tour. Youll enjoy the dark side of local history revealed through wild tales told at the scenes of the crimes. Go off the beaten path with Kim and Richard, the married couple who write and host all the tours, to visit scenic parts of the city where the other companies' tours never go, and hear fascinating tales that you won't find anywhere else. When booking a true crime tour you'll have a choice of one of seven unique tours in the series: The Real Black Dahlia, Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice, Weird West Adams, Eastside Babylon, Echo Park Book of the Dead, Wilshire Boulevard Death Trip or Pasadena Confidential. Duration: 4 hours

Driver/guide

Coffee and cookies

Entry/Admission - Esotouric Bus Adventures

The listed price does not include a $7-10 parking fee, payable at the time of tour check-in

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking

Most travelers can participate

Minimum age is 16 years

A maximum of 6 people per booking

There are no physical tickets; your name will be on a list at the tour's check in table

General coach class bus seating of two people per row; first come, first served

Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately

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True Crime History Tour of Los Angeles

• Driver/guide
• Coffee and cookies
• Entry/Admission - Esotouric Bus Adventures
• The listed price does not include a $7-10 parking fee, payable at the time of tour check-in
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Most travelers can participate
• Minimum age is 16 years
• A maximum of 6 people per booking
• There are no physical tickets; your name will be on a list at the tour's check in table
• General coach class bus seating of two people per row; first come, first served
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately

• Information & Tips

Real experiences of the real Los Angeles

See the real la, tripadvisor.

Did a full day walking tour of LA. Our tour guide Damien was very knowledgeable & passionate about giving us all the information in a clear & concise way. The tour was very well planned & organised & was not tiring.

Lisa Montesanti

We did The Real Hollywood tour & loved it! The tour was at a great pace & the guide (Vicky) was very knowledgeable & made the tour fun. Thank you!

Stuart was so knowledgeable & was worth the day with him. I had been to LA multiple times before but this is the first time I had taken a tour – so thrilled to have this experience with my mom & sister. I would recommend this tour again & again.

Lucrezia Scamarcio

We had an amazing DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour with Damien & Dante… thank you very much from the Italian girls… very interesting & funny… absolutely recommended!

Passport17369220499

This tour was awesome! Stuart is very knowledgeable, likeable & fun. The stops on the tour were very interesting & I learned a lot. I’ve been on quite a few tours of this nature & this was one of my favorites – highly recommend!

Did a walking tour of LA (LA in a Day). Vicky started us off with the Hollywood tour & Damien (who is also the owner) was our guide for the rest of the day. The entire day was awesome, I suggest this tour. There isn’t that much walking, to be honest. It’s very fun!

Michelle B.

My boyfriend & I took the DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour with Stuart as our guide & had the most amazing time! We had experiences we will never forget! We were able to see parts & people of Los Angeles that we never would have without Stuart. I give this 10/10. If we visit again, this will be at the top of our to do list!

Sara Pozueta

Absolutely amazing! Highly recommend taking both The Real Hollywood Tour & the Central Downtown LA tour! Our time in LA wouldn’t have been the same. Great way to learn about the city, see it from a different angle, explore the local life & learn about its history & filming industry. Damien our guide was fantastic!

Sylvie was our host & was fantastic. She had a lot of local knowledge & gave her unique perspective as someone who had moved to the area many years ago, so she had an outsider’s as well as an insider’s perspective. The tour gave us a great overview of Santa Monica & Venice & set us up for a great rest of the day.

Paula Lindgren

We took 2 tours, the Santa Monica & Venice Bike tour (with Sylvie) & the Real Hollywood tour (with Damien). Both were great & highly recommended. Sylvie & Damien were informative, knowledgeable & easy to talk to. They were like you were with friends. We were traveling as a family of 4 with 2 boys (15 & 12). We all enjoyed the tours.

DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour

$50 / pp Free / ghost (any age)

2 miles An easy walking distance

6pm – 9pm (3 hours) Saturday

On our DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour we go on an investigation of the noir underbelly of Los Angeles – and enjoy cocktails in a couple of haunted bars.

First we visit the Biltmore Hotel, the last place the tragic Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, was seen alive. Next we stop at Clifton’s and learn about the anti-corruption drive of its Christian founder (who had a few secrets of his own). After that we move to the dreaded Hotel Cecil, which has a hellish history of murders, suicides and killers (including the Night Stalker). From there our DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour moves to the once grand Alexandria Hotel, where Rudolph Valentino’s ghost still haunts his old penthouse, then the Barclay Hotel, home to two serial killers – and also the scene of some of their most brutal murders. We visit the site of the Chinatown Massacre of 1871 (still the largest mass lynching in US history), before the tour finishes at the Halls of Justice, the site of many dramatic trials, including those of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (twice) and the infamous Charles Manson. Join our DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour and have sleepless nights for weeks!

Our tours can sell out. If you can't make a booking email us at  [email protected] , telling us when you want to do the tour and how many guests are in your party, and if we can squeeze you in we’ll let you know.

Logistics & Details

*Cost: $50 pp.

*Walking distance: 2 miles.

*Tour starts 6 pm, Historic Broadway Metro station , corner of 2nd Street and Broadway ( photo of meeting point ).

*Tour finishes 9 pm, Angels Flight .

*We can go into 2 different bars for cocktails on this tour, each for about 15 minutes. You do have to be over 21 y.o. to order an alcoholic drink – but you don’t have to be over 21 y.o. to do this tour.

*We donate $1 for every guest to Climate Cents, a climate change organization.

You can book this as a private tour starting at just $325 for up to 10 guests

Private tours can be booked for any day and any time between 9am-6pm

Disclaimers

This tour is in English. If your English isn’t fluent this may not be the best option for you. Tour available in Spanish and German as private tour ONLY.  Email  [email protected]  to arrange.

Drinks/cocktails are not included.

This is a walking tour and we move at a reasonable pace. If you have mobility issues please book a private tour.

This tour is not recommended for children under 15 y.o.

We never cancel tours in advance due to the weather conditions.

Aim to get to the meeting point 10-15 minutes early. If you’re late you may miss the tour.

Contactless payment for gratuities available, please allow 15-20%.

Full refund or exchange available up to 48 hours before tour start time.

You must book in advance.

Subject to change at our discretion

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Mapped: 26 of LA’s most notorious murders

The city’s history is rife with grisly homicides

Los Angeles’s noir reputation is hard-earned: From the early days of the film industry, it’s seen murder after lurid murder, often made more lurid by the voraciousness of a press that can’t pass up a tragedy. For Halloween, here’s a map of 26 famous murder sites in LA, from Old Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor’s Westlake bungalow court to the scene of a gruesome quintuple murder carried out by the followers of Charles Manson .

William Desmond Taylor

In one of Hollywood's oldest mysteries, Irish director William Desmond Taylor was found shot to death in his Westlake bungalow on February 2, 1922. Suspects included several actresses and a former chauffeur known to fake a British accent, but the murder has never been solved.

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Thomas Ince

Early studio mogul Thomas Ince died at his Dias Dorados estate in Beverly Hills on November 19, 1924, but he was rumored to have been shot a few days earlier by William Randolph Hearst on Hearst's yacht, off the coast of San Diego. There are a million versions of the story, but they mostly assume that Hearst mistook Ince for Charlie Chaplin, who he believed was having an affair with his mistress, Marion Davies. Officially, Ince died of natural causes.

Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett

On February 16, 1929, shortly after oil heir Ned Doheny moved into Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, he and his secretary Hugh Plunkett were both found shot to death in a bedroom. It's unknown who exactly shot whom or why, but money, sex, and the Teapot Dome scandal are obviously the most common theories.

Elizabeth Short (the Black Dahlia)

Maybe LA's most famous murder of all time: Elizabeth Short was found cut in half in a field in Leimert Park on January 15, 1947. The papers turned her into the legend Black Dahlia, but the case has never come close to being solved .

Bugsy Siegel

On June 20, 1947, LA mob king Bugsy Siegel was sprayed with bullets as he sat reading at the home of his mistress, Virginia Hill. The murder was never solved.

Johnny Stompanato

Gangster Mickey Cohen's former bodyguard was stabbed to death on April 4, 1958, by his girlfriend Lana Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane. Stompanato was abusive and Crane said she was acting in defense of her mother .

George Reeves

On June 16, 1959, TV Superman George Reeves was killed in his house by a single gunshot. It was ruled a suicide, but some insist it was a murder .

Los Feliz murder house

In the early morning hours of December 6, 1959, cardiologist Harold Perelson murdered his wife, Lillian, while she slept in their Los Feliz mansion . Using a ball-peen hammer, he then attempted to kill his daughter Judye, who escaped to a neighbor’s house. Perelson then killed himself by taking fatal doses of Nembutal and tranquilizers. The house where the murder-suicide took place sat vacant for most of the next six decades, as rumors spread that Christmas decorations from that December night were still intact. It sold in 2016 .

Brilliant musician Sam Cooke was shot to death at the Hacienda Motel on December 11, 1964, supposedly by the manager (who said he attacked her). There was a lot of strangeness going on that night (Cooke had a woman with him at the motel who left with most of his clothing), and some people dispute the official story. Today a grocery store can be found where the motel once stood.

Robert F. Kennedy assassination

Early on June 5, 1968, Robert Kennedy had just addressed supporters after winning the California Democratic primary and was on his way out of the Ambassador Hotel via the kitchen when he was shot several times by Sirhan Sirhan. Most of the hotel was demolished in 2006 to make way for an LAUSD campus.

Ramon Novarro

Ben-Hur star Ramon Novarro was brutally murdered in his Laurel Canyon home on October 30, 1968. Two brothers, convinced that Novarro had a hidden stash of cash, tortured and beat him; the crime scene allegedly involved a silver lead dildo given to Novarro by Rudolph Valentino.

Cielo Drive Manson murders

On the night of August 8, 1969, members of the Manson Family broke into a house being rented by pregnant actress Sharon Tate. She, several of her friends, and an acquaintance of the caretaker were murdered.

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca

The very next day, the Manson family struck again, murdering husband-and-wife Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their home in Los Feliz. As in the group’s other murders, police investigating the crime scene found ominous messages written on the walls in blood.

Rebel Without a Cause co-star Sal Mineo was stabbed to death near his West Hollywood apartment on February 12, 1976. A pizza deliveryman was convicted of the murder.

Dorothy Stratten

On August 14, 1980, Playboy model Dorothy Stratten was shot to death by her estranged husband Paul Snider at their former shared house in Rancho Park.

Hillside Strangler

Cousins Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi kidnapped, raped, and murdered 10 women in 1977 and 1978. Bianchi said that most of the murders were committed at Buono's home and auto upholstery shop in Glendale.

The Wonderland murders

Four people, part of or associated with a gang of burglars/drug addicts, were beaten to death with pipes at a townhouse in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981. Their friend, porn star John Holmes, was tried and acquitted for the crimes—though police still suspect that Holmes and drug dealer Eddie Nash were behind the slayings.

Marvin Gaye

On April 1, 1984, legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father after an argument between the two escalated into a physical fight. The shooting took place at the West Adams home where Gaye’s parents lived.

Jose and Kitty Menendez

Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their wealthy parents with shotguns on August 20, 1989 at their mansion in Beverly Hills (the motive was allegedly money). They (and all of America) were subjected to a lurid televised trial.

Nicole Brown, Ron Goldman

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were stabbed to death outside of Brown's condo in Brentwood. Brown's ex-husband, OJ Simpson, was eventually tried and acquitted of the murders—but you probably already knew that.

The Notorious BIG

The great Biggie Smalls was shot in his car outside the Petersen Automotive Museum after a party, early on March 9, 1997 (prior to the museum’s swooshy makeover). The murder has never been solved.

Zankou Chicken murders

A dispute over the ownership of beloved Los Angeles chain restaurant Zankou Chicken reached a violent climax on January 14, 2003, when Mardiros Iskenderian shot and killed his mother , Margrit, and his sister, Dzovig Marjik. Iskenderian, who was suffering from cancer, then turned his gun on himself.

Susan Berman

Robert Durst, son of real estate magnate Seymour Durst, will soon stand trial for the December 2000 murder of his longtime friend Susan Berman, who was shot and killed at her home in the Beverly Hills area..

Bonnie Lee Bakley

Bonnie Lee Bakley was shot to death outside of Vitello's restaurant on May 4, 2001. Her husband, actor Robert Blake, was acquitted on criminal charges but found civilly liable. He said he wasn't at the scene of the crime because he'd gone back to the restaurant to get a gun he'd left there.

Lana Clarkson

On February 3, 2003, legendary music producer Phil Spector shot actress Lana Clarkson to death in his house in Alhambra. He was sentenced to 19 years to life for the murder.

Terry Carter

Hip hop mogul Suge Knight was sentenced last month to 28 years in prison for fatally running over his friend and business associate Terry Carter on January 29, 2015 during promotional filming for the movie Straight Outta Compton .

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The Best Spots in Los Angeles for True Crime Lovers

Crime and mystery have always been fascinating topics, and people seem to really take an interest, which is why traveling to sites where horrid murders were committed opened the door for a new type of tourism. Morbid tourism if you will. Although the name may not look appealing, learning new and interesting facts about murder mysteries from more than 50 years ago is trending. You may have heard about the ‘Black Dahlia’, right? It was a horrible murder in 1947, which became quite famous because of its graphic nature. Leimert Park, the Los Angeles neighborhood in which the crime took place, is on several bus tours , but if you want to find out about other spots in LA where horrendous murders took place, you should stick around.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

7312 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles

El Coyote is one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles, but did you know what happened there? If you have seen Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, then that name might ring a bell. It was the location where the actress Sharon Tate had her last meal with Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger, before all of them being brutally murdered in Tate’s home by the members of the Manson family. Sharon Tate was stabbed 16 times, 5 of those wounds being fatal, according to the coroner. When the movie was made, Tarantino used the same Mexican restaurant to recreate the scene, and a lot of fans took that as an invitation to see the location.

Wonderland Murders

8763 Wonderland Ave, Los Angeles

The 80s are not considered as eventful as the 70s, according to crime aficionados. However, there is one crime that stands out. It was the crime that inspired Val Kilmer’s Wonderland back in 2003. The Wonderland Murders are still a mystery because nobody knows who actually committed the crime. You may have heard about the Four on the Floor Murders or the Laurel Canyon Murders.

It was 1981. Location? The Wonderland Gang drug house in LA. Apparently, there were 5 targets, but only 4 people died. Three of them were gang members. Ron Launius, Billy Deverell, and Joy Miller were brutally killed along with their accomplice Barbara Richardson. They all died from blunt-force trauma injuries. There were several suspects, and according to Launius’s wife, Susan, the nightclub owner Eddie Nash might have been involved. And to top it off, the notorious porn star John Holmes was even arrested for the crime but acquitted in 1982. To this day, nobody knows who committed the gruesome murders, which makes this location even more fascinating for true crime lovers.

Spahn Ranch

1200 Santa Susana Pass Rd, Topanga

You cannot bring up true crime without mentioning the Manson family. So, if you are interested in stepping in their world for a little bit, we suggest you try the Spahn Ranch. Well, what is left of it. The location was a movie set for a cowboy movie, and it was owned by George Spahn. He allowed the Manson family to occupy the ranch, although many people have tried to convince him that he was conned into doing it. Apparently, he did not feel that way and let the Manson family live there until they all started to leave after Manson was arrested.

The Manson family occupied the ranch at the peak of their activities. They did some work in exchange for a roof over their heads, but the work was mostly done by Manson’s girlfriends. After his arrest, the family members started to leave, one by one, and in the end, the ranch was just a ruin. Several fires and the fact that nobody managed it turned the place into a sad, abandoned location. Today, the Spahn Ranch is a part of the Santa Susana Park State Historic Park. You can take a tour if you want but mind you that not much is left.

Los Feliz Murder House

2475 Glendower Pl, Los Angeles

The beautiful Mediterranean-style house on Glendower Palace is one of the most famous true crime sites in LA, but the story is weird not only because of the gruesome murder that happened inside but because of what followed. The murder story itself is not unusual. Dr. Harold Perelson, who was a cardiologist, was having money problems. While he was a doctor, he was tricked out of the rights of a medical device he created, and while Perelson fought for that in court, he only made a little over 20 thousand dollars. There are several rumors that he tried to commit suicide multiple times in the 50s, but everyone thought that he had heart attacks.

So, early morning on the 6 th of December 1959, Harold takes a ball-peen hammer and strikes his wife’s head with it while she was asleep. She did not have a chance. Then, with the same hammer, Harold went into his eldest daughter’s room and tried to kill her as well. He did not succeed, however, but he did manage to hurt her. Debbie, the name of his eldest daughter, started screaming, waking up half the neighborhood and her 2 younger siblings. Apparently, Harold tried to calm them, saying that it was all a nightmare and to go back to sleep. He committed suicide by swallowing a handful of pills. He was dead before the paramedics arrived.

A lot of sources on the internet said that he managed to kill his entire family, and only Debbie survived. Harold’s eldest daughter. But that is not true. All his kids were alive. He only murdered his wife.

But here is where it gets weirder. The Los Feliz Murder House stayed almost intact for half a century. If you could have taken a peek a few years back, you could notice the magazines from the 50s and several items from the start of the 60s. Basically, it was a portal to the past.

The house was sold to Emily and Julian Enriquez, and it is rumored to have been rented to another family because there were a Christmas tree up and unopened presents. The Perelson’s were Jewish, so it couldn’t have been theirs. Rudy, Emily Enriquez’s son, inherited the house, but he never moved in. He used it as a storage space instead.

Today, the Los Feliz Murder House is renovated, and it is worth a few million, but you can still pass by if you really want to feel ‘uneasy,’ as many people say. You cannot take a peek inside, though, because trespassing is not that easy today. Even if you could, the renovations washed the ‘creepy’ away.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Lana Turner’s House

730 N Bedford Dr, Beverly Hills

Lana Turner was a movie star back in the 50s, and she had a teenage daughter, Cheryl Crane. Lana has just moved into the beautiful mansion and had no idea the horror she was just about to witness.

Lana Turner had a rocky relationship with Johnny Stompanato. He was a small-time mobster, but he was Mickey Cohen’s bodyguard, a notorious and dangerous gangster at the time. On April 4 th , 1958, Turner decided once again to end things with Stompanato, and as you can imagine, he did not care for it. In fact, he threatened to hurt and disfigure her. Lana was, of course, terrified when Stompanato arrived at her house. Not to mention that her daughter Cheryl was home from boarding school.

Cheryl heard how Stompanato and her mother were fighting in her bedroom, and she was genuinely scared because of all the threats she kept hearing. She went downstairs and got a knife from the kitchen. After returning back upstairs, in front of Lana’s bedroom door, she understood that Stompanato was telling Lana that he will disfigure her. At one point after that, Lana opened the bedroom doors and stormed out, and Stompanato was after her. Cheryl noticed that he was getting ready to strike her, which is why she put herself in front of him, knife first. Needless to say, Stompanato went directly into it. His last words were, ‘My God, Cheryl, what have you done?’ He died minutes later. The police found him in a pool of his own blood.

Cheryl Crane was prosecuted for the murder of Johnny Stompanato, but she was found innocent of ‘justifiable homicide.’ Even so, nobody will ever know what exactly happened in Lana Turner’s house, which makes crime aficionados even more intrigued.

The Greystone Mansion

905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills

The death of Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett in the Greystone Mansion on top of the hill is, to this day, a mystery. The fact that it happened more than 90 years ago makes us believe that true crime lovers are still very interested in finding out what really happened there on February 16 th , 1929. We will probably never know but speculating can be fun. Even so, we do know a few facts.

On February 16 th , 1929, Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett were both found dead in the Tudor-style mansion in Beverly Hills. Plunkett was Ned’s friend, but we know that he was also his assistant. In case you did not know, Ned Doheny was the heir of a massive oil empire, and his family was rumored to be involved in some scandals involving corruption at the time. So what really happened on that horrible day? Were both men killed? Was it a murder-suicide kind of situation?

The investigation was shaky from the start. However, the police ruled that it was, indeed, a murder-suicide. It seems that Hugh Plunkett was known to be a bit disturbed, and he killed Ned. To this day, we have no idea whether it was deliberate or accidental. After the murder, Plunkett decided to kill himself. If you were to believe the rumors that the two men were lovers, then this would be a very tragic story. But of course, the rumors were never confirmed, so we are left wondering.

Today, the gorgeous Greystone Mansion that sits oh so proudly on top of the hill is owned but he city of Beverly Hills. It is often rented as a film location, and you may recognize it in the classic The Big Lebowski.

Petersen Automotive Museum

6060 Wilshire Blvd

Last but not least, we will fast forward a little bit and talk about a more recent murder that shook the entire city of Los Angeles. The death of Notorious B.I.G. You do not have to be a rap fan to have heard about Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher George Latore Wallace), and his death in 1997 should definitely be on our list. However, it is not the exact location of his murder that spikes interest in true crime lovers, but the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The Petersen Automotive Museum was the place where Notorious B.I.G was attending a party on March 8 th , 1997. It was hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records. The party was shut down half an hour after midnight because the place was overcrowded. Wallace left together with his entourage, in two GMC Suburbans, and headed for the hotel he was staying at. However, around 12:45 AM, Wallace’s truck stopped at a red light just 50 yards from the museum. A black Chevy Impala pulled up, and an unidentified African American, who was driving the car, rolled his window and shot Wallace. Four bullets hit Wallace, and while his crew rushed him to the hospital, the famous rapper did not survive. Weirdly enough, according to the coroner, it was the last shot that killed him.

To this day, we have no idea who killed the young and famous Christopher George Latore Wallace. And we probably never will.

So? What do you think? Are these locations worthy of a true-crime tour of Los Angeles ? We definitely think so, which is why if you deem yourself a true crime aficionado, you should hop on a plane and check these places out. Traveling is effortless these days . Besides, you may discover some new ones. But if you do, do not forget to share.

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by Madalina Dumbrava

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The O.J. Tour

Go inside the trial of the century in a real ford bronco., the o.j. tour is the only tour that takes you inside the o.j. simpson murder trial. you'll see the crime scene, rockingham, the infamous mezzaluna restaurant, and much more. to add an extra layer of realness, the tour is conducted in an actual 1994 ford bronco, identical to the one used on the night of the murders. hear the story firsthand from adam papagan, a brentwood native who grew up in the middle of the trial of the century. adam is an expert on the case and the media circus that followed. he is co-host of the podcast juicing the people v. o.j. simpson and has been interviewed about the o.j. phenomenon by 48 hours, voice of america, curbed, and the new york times., we are not accepting new bookings at this time. self guided tours can be purchased for $25. for more information please email [email protected], praise for the o.j. tour, "i never get tired of it.".

-The New York Times

"A macabre and homegrown operation in which you too can recreate the brutal events that transpired that fateful night."

"i read about it and immediately bought a ticket.".

-Brendan Lynch, Bill Simmons Podcast

Where We'll Be

The affluent enclave where the brutal crimes took place.

The alley adjacent to the crime scene where crucial evidence was overlooked.

The condo where Nicole’s pleas to 911 went ignored.

The apartment where the young waiter, Ronald Goldman, dreamed of a better life.

The Mezzaluna Restaurant, where the victims spent their final evening.

Adam Papagan grew up in Brentwood and went to school just blocks from the crime scene.

Follow along as Adam weaves the story of O.J., Nicole, and Ron with his personal recollections of the case.

Or view the live calendar to reserve your spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the tour, how much does it cost, how many people can go on the tour, what time is the tour, where does the tour meet, how do we get there, what will we see on the tour, is there someone narrating the tour, how do i pay.

Movie lovers, a new TCM Classic Films Tour is rolling at the Warner Bros. Studio backlot

Call it a fresh way to time travel: the lot look-around will include deep peeks at the golden age of hollywood., by alysia gray painter • published april 19, 2024 • updated on april 19, 2024 at 5:13 pm, what to know.

• TCM Classic Films Tour at Warner Bros. Studio
• The new tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of Turner Classic Movies with lot stops spotlighting treasures of Hollywood's Golden Age
• Tickets start at $95; find yours on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood site

Time travel machines, at least in the movies, often boast blinking knobs and glowing wheels and the truth is this: You're never sure where they'll take you, once they're off and flying.

But what if you could board an open-air vehicle that also services as a time-traveling device, the sort of airy auto that takes you to stops and spots where some of Tinseltown's titans once worked, created, dreamed, and occasionally lived?

Such a wondrous mode of transportation exists, and you won't need to pass through a silver screen to reach it: It's located at Warner Bros. Studio, where the brand-new TCM Classic Films Tour is now on the movie-loving move.

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The tour was unveiled just ahead of the TCM Classic Film Festival , which is shimmering in Hollywood through April 21.

Launched to honor the 30th anniversary of Turner Classic Movies, the tour is putting "a focus on the studio's early days, delving into the timeless allure of classic cinema and feeling the magic of Hollywood’s rich history firsthand."

Television will also receive its due, as well as the many films that famously found their first footing at the Burbank studio.

The Eastwood Scoring Stage, which will celebrate its centennial in just five years, is on the tour, as is a look at the exterior of an apartment that James Dean once lived in, a nearby abode he could retreat to while putting in the hours on a film shoot.

‘Crime and Justice' is the theme for TCM's Classic Film Festival; get passes now

Street Food Cinema's new season is in the pink with a colorful ‘Barbie' kick-off

And a rose garden isn't just about the flowers but also love, in the tennis sense: A court once stood there, and none other than Jack Warner, one of the studio's founders, enjoyed some time at the net.

The Property House — the name reveals the structure's purpose — will also be visited, and prop mavens will get to check out artifacts seen in some of the cinema and television's best-known works.

"For 100 years, Warner Bros. has stood for the very best in moviemaking and TCM has continued to spotlight the legacy of the studio with incredible program offerings throughout its 30 years," shared Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. 

"We are thrilled movie lovers from around the world can visit the iconic Burbank lot to experience the TCM Classic Films Tour and celebrate the rich history of the studio's contributions to cinema."

The tour begins with a welcome video from the TCM hosts; look also for historical snapshots, iconic costumes — including outfits seen in "The Music Man," a beloved musical that is synonymous with the lot's charming Midwest Street — and other treats for those who regularly revisit some of the starriest cinematic offerings of the past.

Tickets start at $95 and are available on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour site.

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Universal Studios tram crashes, injuring 15 riders

R ebecca Miller was prepared for a killer shark, King Kong and other make-believe frights when she joined the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tour Saturday evening with her family — what she wasn't expecting was the intrusion of some real-life drama.

Miller, her husband and two children got on one of the park's last trams of the night and were behind a four-car tram that crashed and injured 15 people, who were taken to hospitals with non life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Her family's tram, which they boarded close to 8:30 p.m., had passed the King Kong and T. rex attraction and had just made it to a display of famous movie vehicles when it suddenly stopped.

"We're like, 'Ok, maybe they are having technical difficulties,'" recalled Miller, 39, of Victorville, who was in the first car of her tram train along with park employees. "And then as it went on, it was like, this is a little odd. Then their radios started getting messages and we noticed a whole change in their demeanor."

The Los Angeles County Fire Department received an emergency call from the park shortly after 9 p.m. and responded to the scene.

The last car on the tram ahead of Miller's struck a rail when it was traveling down a hill near a parking structure, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Maria Abal said Saturday evening. "There was some type of issue with the brakes. We don't exactly know what yet," he said.

The park's tram can hold more than 100 people, Abal said, but it was unclear how many were onboard at the time of the incident. The collision caused several passengers to fall out of the car, according to the Sheriff's Department, which provides security at the park.

Universal Studios said Sunday that it understood from authorities that the injuries were minor and it was working with the California Highway Patrol and other agencies to review the accident. It said "safety remains a top priority" and it has resumed the tour with a "modified route" and the reinforcement of "operational and safety protocols."

The Highway Patrol did not provide an update on Sunday.

Miller said her family was at the park for an event that drew thousands of Girl Scouts from around the region who were top sellers of cookies in the Scouts' fundraiser, including her 8-year-old daughter Alanna.

She said her family was stuck on the tram until about 10:15 p.m. and stayed at the park, which remained open for the Girls Scouts event.

A passenger on an earlier tram that evening said their vehicle was stopped about 8 p.m. because of smoke and a noxious odor apparently emanating from brake pads. The passengers were transferred to another tram, according to an email sent to The Times.

The Universal Studios tram tour, called the World-Famous Studio Tour, is a signature attraction at the theme park. The park is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the ride beginning next week.

The tour goes behind the scenes of movie sets, including those of "Jaws" and Jordan Peele's "Nope," and offers a look into the last 50 years of Universal films.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

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Speeding driver leads CHP on brief pursuit downtown Los Angeles

By Amy Maetzold

Updated on: April 23, 2024 / 9:35 AM PDT / KCAL News

A driver was arrested in Pasadena after a brief pursuit through downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning.

The chase started just before 6 a.m. after officers attempted to pull over a silver Mercedes-Benz sedan for speeding on the northbound Arroyo Seco (SR110) Parkway near Via Marisol, according to the California Highway Patrol. 

A CHP motorcycle unit was following the driver on surface streets until the suspect pulled over in a residential area near San Gabriel and Del Mar boulevards. 

The driver was taken into custody around 6:11 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Amy Maetzold is a digital producer at KCAL News. She started her journalism career in Wisconsin where she was a producer at NBC15 and Spectrum News 1. Before coming to KCAL, Amy covered news in Santa Barbara at KEYT, winning a group Emmy Award for team coverage on the Alisal Fire.

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Editorial: Don’t believe the nonsense. The criminal justice system worked properly in Venice assaults

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On Saturday, April 6, at about 10:30 p.m., a woman was brutally assaulted as she walked near the Venice canals. Another woman was attacked nearby about an hour later. Both were hospitalized.

Los Angeles police responded quickly, working with members of the Venice community to identify the suspect. Anthony Jones , 29, of Las Vegas was arrested in San Diego on April 12 and charged by L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón with rape, sodomy, mayhem, torture and attempted murder. The D.A.’s office insisted that no bail be allowed and is pursuing a life sentence.

Editorial: Time to defend California’s hard-won criminal justice reforms from lawmakers. Again

Public safety challenges are being improperly used to roll back criminal justice reforms. The next generation of leaders must show wisdom and backbone.

Dec. 11, 2023

City Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Venice, placed the blame on a decade of criminal justice reforms.

“I am sick and tired of living in the middle of a failed social experiment,” Park said, adding:

“Enough with the ridiculous soft-on-crime, defund-the-police, catch-and-release, harm-reduction, criminals-are-the-victims policies that got us into this mess. Enough.”

Editorial: L.A. County cities should stop fighting the end of cash bail. It’s working

It could work better, though. New data show eliminating money bail for most defendants in Los Angeles County did not increase repeat arrests. But not as many people are being released as expected.

March 1, 2024

Park lives in Venice, and she noted that she or any of her friends could have been the victims of the attacks, so it might be tempting to cut her a bit of slack for her comment.

Furthermore, her words capture frustrations and anxieties many residents of Los Angeles feel about public safety.

But the statement is widely off-base and egregiously misleading, and falls short of the standard that should be expected of elected officials. None of Park’s “failed social experiment” allegations fits the horrible Venice attacks or the aftermath.

Editorial: What L.A. County voters need to hear from D.A. George Gascón before November

Gascón has to articulate his progress in building a more just and equitable criminal justice system, as voters wanted when they first elected him.

March 6, 2024

Jones had no arrest record in L.A. and was not the beneficiary of any supposedly “soft-on-crime” policy that abetted his alleged actions in Venice. He was quickly arrested and charged to the fullest possible extent.

L.A. police have seen a reduction in the number of sworn officers, requiring a large amount of overtime pay to get the job done. But the department has not been “defunded” in any sense, and the city budget is in fact under strain from the substantial pay increase Mayor Karen Bass offered in order to improve officer recruitment and retention. In any case, police had the investigative expertise and personnel to swiftly identify Jones and make the arrest.

Editorial: Criminal justice reform is alive. Thank conservatives

While some Democrats and Republicans are backing away from efforts to shrink the prison population and reduce excessive sentences, conservatives are again a crucial force for criminal justice reform.

April 3, 2024

“Catch-and-release?” Hardly. Jones was not a released inmate or suspect, and it’s now unlikely he will ever again be free from custody, assuming police arrested the right person.

And, importantly, he is not an outlier. Contrary to anti-reform folklore, no one charged with a dangerous felony is simply let go unless they can raise a lot of money for bail. In the Venice case, as with many other cases of attempted murder and sexual assault, the district attorney said he’d ask that Jones be held without bail at all.

“Harm-reduction,” or providing help and overdose prevention to drug users, does not apply to Jones. There was no reported evidence of substance use.

Editorial: California’s retail theft hearings scapegoat Proposition 47

Lawmakers aren’t letting the lack of useful data on the causes of retail theft stop them from pushing solutions to a problem they can’t define.

Dec. 21, 2023

And as for the “criminals-are-the-victims” claim, that substance-free broadside against criminal justice reform does not describe any actual policy of the police, prosecutors or courts in L.A.

Crime in Los Angeles is real, it hurts people and the community, and it is a problem that requires constant vigilance. Just as critics of needed justice reforms are often off-target , so are those who argue that there is no crime, we don’t need police and everything’s fine.

The last several weeks have seen reports of astonishing crimes, including a woman apparently disturbed by the impending solar eclipse who police say stabbed her boyfriend and threw her children from her car onto the freeway; a $30-million Easter Sunday cash heist ; and freeway jewelry robberies linked to South American criminals here on tourist visas . A sheriff’s deputy was charged with stealing from drivers and pedestrians . On Sunday, an intruder was arrested inside Bass’ home. April alone provides enough fodder for several seasons’ worth of TV dramas.

Editorial: The legacy of California’s ‘three strikes’ law is 30 years of wasted spending and ruined lives

The ‘three strikes’ law led to an overcrowded prison system, exacerbated the justice system’s racial disparities and brought California to the brink of insolvency.

March 7, 2024

None of these, though, nor the Venice assaults besides, appear to be linked to any supposedly soft-on-crime policy. Or to what Park called a “failed social experiment.”

Nearly four years ago, following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, philosophy professor (and now presidential candidate) Cornel West called the United States itself a failed social experiment, in large part because he said its justice system could not adequately protect rights and liberties, especially for people without privilege.

Editorial: Blame it on Prop 47: The latest chapter in an endless work of fiction about crime

Three bills to roll back or repeal Proposition 47 are grounded in fear and falsehoods and should be rejected.

March 8, 2022

He was right that the justice system needs improvement. He was wrong to call the American experiment a failure, and Park is similarly wrong about attempts to improve it. Criminal justice reform is not a departure from the long tradition of American justice, but a continuation of the necessary work to constantly redeem, refine and perfect it. Impediments to that work have always included racism, politics and self-interest.

They also include sloppy thinking, misleading assertions about crime and policy based on anxieties rather than facts. Los Angeles is not well-served by attempts to falsely link reform policies to crimes they have nothing to do with.

More to Read

Abcarian: A disconcerting crime wave in L.A.’s Venice, caught on camera

April 16, 2024

Suspect in brutal Venice attacks charged with rape and attempted murder

Suspect in clubbing of two women near Venice canals arrested in San Diego

April 12, 2024

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The Los Angeles Times’ editorial board determines the positions of The Times as an institution. It operates separately from the newsroom. You can read more about the board’s mission and its members at About The Times Editorial Board .

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Tours Into The Secret Heart of Los Angeles

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THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA CRIME BUS TOUR

October 28, 2023 @ 11:00 am - 3:00 pm.

“This tour… has established itself as an L.A. classic.” — The Los Angeles Times

The Black Dahlia murder in 1947 is the most compelling unsolved crime Los Angeles has ever known. What Jack the Ripper is to London, the Torso Killer to Cleveland, the Black Dahlia is to L.A. And yet unlike those other cases, the name Black Dahlia refers not to the killer, but to the victim. What was it about Elizabeth Short that keeps her the object of obsessive fascination by writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, cops and readers, more than sixty years after she was slain?

The Real Black Dahlia Crime Tour seeks to answer this question by intimately exploring the last weeks of Elizabeth Short’s life, asking not “who killed her?” but “who was she?”

The tour takes us from the human hustle of Main Street to the serene lobby of the Biltmore (the second-to-last place she was seen alive), to the newspaper offices and the Greyhound station where she checked her bags, and concludes at the site where her bisected body was found in Leimert Park and with a little known suspect who lived nearby.

From the few personal possessions she left behind to the friends who scarcely knew her, from the mass hysteria of the investigation with its fruitless leads, wacko suspects and false confessions, the tour reveals all that’s known about this enigmatic black-haired girl who reinvented herself at whim, and shows how she came to be the unfortunate symbol of her time and place.

MEETING INSTRUCTIONS:

Tour begins at 11am sharp, with check-in time 10.30am at the patio outside Grand Central Market at 324 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Please arrive on time and proceed to the check-in table to get signed in, logged in to the smartphone slideshow, and select a seat on the bus. Scroll down for tour rules and recommendations.

TOUR RULES & RECOMMENDATIONS:

BE PREPARED: This is a bus tour lasting approximately 4 hours, which will be split fairly evenly between time on and off a 56-seat coach class bus. The bus has A/C, video monitors (the tour has a slideshow), and a restroom. There will be a complimentary coffee and snack break during the tour, and you’re welcome to bring a packed lunch to enjoy at this time, as well as any non-alcoholic beverages.

COVID SAFETY : Guests are required to wear a mask while boarding and traveling on the bus. Please bring your own mask, or ask for one on check in. The charter company that we work with cleans the bus cabin before each trip, and also requires passengers to wear a mask when on board. Thank you for working with us to help keep each other healthy so we can enjoy exploring today and in the future.

If you need more information about what to expect, please email us.

Parking & Public Transit:

There are numerous paid public parking lots around Grand Central Market, including GCM’s multi-level lot at 308 South Hill Street Los Angeles, California 90013 .  The nearest Metro stations are Civic Center/Grand Park and Pershing Square. If using public transit, this link can help you plan your trip:

CONTACTING US ON OR BEFORE TOUR DAY:

Emailing is the best way to communicate with us, but after 8am on tour day you can call or text Richard on his mobile phone, 213-915-8687.

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY:

If you feel like you’re getting sick, if you test positive for Covid-19, or if you have knowingly been in contact with a positive case of Covid-19 in the last 7 days, please do not attend the tour. Let us know not to expect you. If notified at least 72 hours before tour departure, we can refund or reschedule your booking. If notified at least 24 hours before departure, we can honor the booking on a future date. You may also gift your ticket to someone else—we will need their name, email address and phone number to make this switch.

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