BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is Australian model Lara Bingle. You can check out her blog here.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 28, 1997

On this date in 1997, LAPD officers patrolling North Hollywood saw two heavily armed masked men enter the Bank of America Branch on Laurel Canyon Blvd. Several minutes later the men left the bank with over $300,000 in cash. By that time, several other police units had arrived on the scene to provide backup. The robbers, Larry Phillips (above left) and Emil Matasareanu (above right) were ready for a confrontation with police; they were each carrying multiple weapons, had thousands of rounds of ammunition, and had taken phenobarbital prior to the robbery to calm their nerves. To make matters worse, they were both wearing body armor.

The robbers opened fire on the officers. In the ensuing gun battle, which lasted over 40 minutes, officers fired over 600 rounds, the robbers over 1000. Overmatched by the robbers' superior firepower, officers went to a local gun store to procure better weapons.

The shootout ended with the death of both suspects. Ten officers and seven civilians were injured.

You can see pictures from my 2008 trip to the scene here.

Here's a National Geographic documentary about the shootout:



Further reading:

Wikipedia - North Hollywood shootout

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"They say the fucking smog is the fucking reason you have such beautiful fucking sunsets."

-Ray Bones (Dennis Farina), Get Shorty (1995)

ATTACK OF THE COOKIE MONSTER

"C" is for cookie. "A" is for assault:

Fla. woman charged with assault after roommate nabbed Thin Mints

Police arrested a Florida woman after she allegedly chased her roommate with a pair of scissors, struck her with a board, bit her, and hit her with a sign. The dispute was over Girl Scout cookies.

It is the season for the sale of Girl Scout cookies and Thin Mints are the bestsellers. At least one fan of the tasty treats did not let their nabbing by a roommate go without consequences.

Hersha Howard, of Collier County, was arrested Sunday after being charged "with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," reports msnbc.com.

What preceded the arrest involved a hungry Howard wanting to eat her Thin Mint cookies. Upon finding that they were gone, Howard reportedly barged into her roommate's room and accused Jasmin Wanke of theft. Wanke told Howard that she had given the cookies to Howard's children.

Wanke offered to pay Howard $10 for the cookies, which generally cost $3.50 per box, but that did not satisfy Howard and the fight began.

I don't endorse assault... normally. But we're talking about Thin Mints here. The greatest Girl Scout cookies ever. Throw in an icy cold glass of milk and I'm in heaven. If those had been my Thin Mints, I'd have sent Bullet-Tooth Tony after her ass.

WICKED WEASEL WEDNESDAY

If it's Wednesday, it must be time for another Wicked Weasel.

TIME FOR A LITTLE BLATANT SELF-PROMOTION

E-book publisher Untreed Reads is holding a 25% off sale until the end of February. This means that the anthology Discount Noir, which includes my story "WWGD?" is on sale for $4.49 for the rest of the month at the Untreed Reads store. It's also on sale at Amazon.com for $4.50. Pick yours up today, while supplies last.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 22, 1974

On this date in 1974, unemployed salesman Samuel Byck attempted to hijack a DC-9 at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. His intended destination: Washington DC. His plan: Crash the plane into the White House in order to kill President Richard Nixon. Byck shot and killed an airport security guard before he boarded the plane. Once he was on the plane, he shot the pilot and copilot when they told him they couldn't take off until the wheel blocks were removed. The pilot survived, but the copilot later died from his wounds. Byck was shot and wounded by police. He committed suicide before he could be taken into custody.

IMDB page for the movie The Assassination of Richard Nixon

IMDB page for the movie The Plot to Kill Nixon

Wikipedia article on Samuel Byck

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is South African-born actress Lesly-Ann Brandy. If you're curious about what's on her mind, you can follow her on Twitter.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 21, 1965

On this date in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. The three assassins were all member of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X had previously been a member of the NoI, but had left the organization a year earlier after a falling out with the group's leader, Elijah Muhammad.

All three of the killers were arrested, tried, and convicted. Two of them were paroled in the 1980s. The third was paroled in 2010.

Further reading:

MalcolmX.com

Wikipedia-Malcolm X

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 20, 1892

On this date in 1892, upstate NY outlaw Oliver Curtis Perry robbed a train singlehandedly. A daunting task to be sure, but Perry had reason to believe he could pull it off, he had robbed the same train once before in the summer of 1891.

By February 1892, the $5,000 that Perry had made from his heist of a train while it travelled between Albany and Utica, NY had just about run out. Being a practical man, he decided to go with what worked before and rob the same train he had robbed five months earlier.

On the evening of February 20th, Perry stood on the platform at the Syracuse, NY train station as the American Express Special arrived. Conductor Emil Laas noticed Perry standing on the platform and found it odd that someone would be there, considering that the Express carried no passengers. As the train left the station, Perry jumped onto one of the cars and climbed up to the roof. Once Perry had positioned himself accordingly on top of the express car, he donned a mask and affixed a makeshift rope ladder to the roof rail.

Shortly after the train left Syracuse, messenger Daniel McInerney heard glass break in the messenger car. He looked up to see a masked man holding a large revolver crashing through the window. The man ordered him to put up his hands. McInerney drew his own pistol, and both men exchanged shots. McInerney's missed, while the robber's shot hit McInerney in the gun hand. McInerney reached up and pulled the emergency stop cord, but the robber shot him in the thigh, then shot him again, grazing McInerney's head.

As Perry rumaged through the car looking for valuables, the train came to a halt and crew members descended on the messenger car. Perry pointed his pistol at them and ordered them to get the train moving again. The crew complied, and the train continued on to Port Byron, NY. When the train stopped at the Port Byron station, the crew members, who had armed themselves, returned to the messenger car only to find that the robber was gone. Assuming he had jumped off the train, they continued on to Lyons, NY.

Unbeknownst to the train's crew, Perry had not jumped from the train, but had retreated to the roof. When the train arrived in Lyons, it was met by the local constable and a doctor to treat Daniel McInerney. As they took the wounded messenger from the train, Perry jumped down and made his way to another platform. Conductor Laas saw the bespectacled man in a derby hat, and recognized him as the man who was standing on the platform in Syracuse.

When Perry realized he had been spotted, he jumped onto a locomotive, fired it up, and took off. Two rail employees and a local deputy uncoupled another locomotive and gave chase on a parallel track. Now, unlike a car chase, a train chase doesn't leave you with too many options. You can go forward, you can go in reverse, and you can stop. There are no alleyways or sidestreets to duck into, and there's no room for Steve McQueen-style driving. Soon after Perry had exhausted all of his options for evading capture (including exchanging gunfire with his pursuers), his train exhausted its steam outside the village of Newark, NY, leaving the robber to flee on foot.

Perry stopped at a local farm, where he stole a horse. When the horse was exhausted, he went to another farm where he stole another horse. Soon that horse too was unable to go on. Perry continued on foot with a posse hot on his trail. He then made his way into a swamp. Exhausted from hours of running, Perry holed up at an old stone wall where he prepared to make his last stand.

The posse eventually located Perry and surrounded him. After a long standoff, Perry called out requesting to speak with one of the lawmen. Deputy Jerry Collins agreed to lay down his gun and speak with Perry. Collins attempted to convince Perry to surrender, but the outlaw was hesitant to give up and face life in prison. During the negotiations, Perry became momentarily distracted by a noise behind him. Collins saw his opportunity. He overpowered Perry, disarmed him, and wrestled him into a pair of handcuffs.

Messenger Daniel McInerney survived his wounds, so Perry was spared facing a murder charge. He was convicted and sentenced to 49 years in prison for the robbery. After multiple escape attempts, and several long stints in solitary confinement, Perry went mad and was transferred to the state hospital for the criminally insane in Matteawan, NY. He escaped from Matteawan in 1895, but was captured the next week in New Jersey. He was later transferred to the insane asylum in Dannemora, NY, where he gouged out both of his eyes with pieces of metal, permanently blinding himself. Oliver Curtis Perry died in the mental hospital in Dannemora in 1930. He was 64.

Further reading:

Wanted Man, by Tamsin Spargo

Time magazine - Obituary for Oliver Curtis Perry

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 19, 1942

On this date in 1942, Murder, Inc. hitmen Harry "Happy" Maione and Frank "Dasher" Abbandando were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison. The two men were sentenced to die for the murder of police informer George "Whitey" Rudnick after fellow Murder, Inc. button man Abe "Kid Twist" Reles turned state's evidence to save his own hide from a murder charge. Happy's last meal was spaghetti and meatballs. Dasher had lamb chops.

Further reading:

truTV Crime Library - Murder, Inc.

Executed Today: February 19, 1942

Utica, NY Daily Press, February 20, 1942

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 18, 1878

On this date in 1878, 24 year old John Henry Tunstall, an English-born rancher, was shot and killed in Lincoln County, NM. Tunstall's men, including a young upstart who came to be known as Billy the Kid, vowed revenge. And thus began New Mexico's Lincoln County War.

Further reading:

Legends of America - New Mexico's Lincoln County War

The Death of John Tunstall

Wikipedia - John Tunstall

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart."

-Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), The Godfather: Part II (1974)

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 17, 1894

On this date in 1894, notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin was released from a Texas prison after serving 15 years, 5 months for murder. Hardin, who had been given time off for good behavior, had earned a law degree while in prison. The following month, he would be issued a pardon by the governor. After receiving his pardon, Hardin, who claimed to have killed over 40 men, passed the bar exam and set up a law practice in El Paso, TX. I'll leave it to you folks to decide whether being a lawyer was actually a step up from Hardin's previous profession. Hardin was killed in 1895, shot in the back of the head by a man he had argued with earlier in the day.

Further reading:

Wikipedia - John Wesley Hardin

Famous Texans - John Wesley Hardin

Texas Archival Resources Online - A Guide to the John Wesley Hardin Collection

WICKED WEASEL WEDNESDAY

Hey kids, do you know what day it is? It's Wicked Weasel Wednesday. The week's just blowing by, isn't it? Time flies when you're looking at smokin' hot babes in skimpy swimwear. Well, it does for me, anyway.

COWBOYS & ALIENS

Yesterday's Babe of the Week post got me wondering about the movie Coyboys & Aliens, which is due to be released in July. I checked out the trailer on Youtube and it looks interesting.


It has a great cast, including Daniel Craig, Keith Carradine, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Sam Rockwell. It was directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and produced by Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, so there's a good chance this movie will rock. Of course, this is still no guarantee it won't suck (anyone remember Ishtar and Hudson Hawk?), but I'm anxious to check it out.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 15, 1933

On this date in 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Zangara had originally planned to kill President Herbert Hoover. He blamed Hoover for his medical problems. Unfortunately, Hoover lost the 1932 election before Zangara could carry out his plan. Figuring that one president was just as good as the next, he switched his target to the newly elected Roosevelt. Ya gotta give him an "A" for felxibility.

On February 15, Roosevelt was in Miami to give a speech at Bayfront Park. Zangara, barely five feet tall, had to stand on a chair to see his target. He drew his .32 pistol and fired six shots. He missed Roosevelt, but hit five other people, including Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Cermak later died of complications from the shooting.

Zangara was tried and convicted of murder. He was sentenced to death and was executed on March 20, 1933, forty-five days after his arrest.

Further reading:

Wikipedia article in Giuseppe Zangara

"Assassinating the US President"

Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, March 11, 1933 - "Zangara Given Death Penalty"

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is actress Ana de la Reguera. Ana will be appearing in the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens


Hat tip to le0pard13 at Lazy Thoughts From a Boomer. It was on his site where I first saw the lovely Ana. For more of Ana, check out her official website.



For a sample of Ana's comedic skills, check out this commercial she did for Kahlua.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 14, 1929

On this day in 1929, five of gangster Bugs Moran's men, along with two men unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, were gunned down by men impersonating police officers. The probable sender of this grisly Valentine: Al Capone. I guess Big Al didn't think flowers and chocolates would do the trick. The killings became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Check out author/crime historian Pat Downey's interview with Mario Gomes, the man who knows more about Al Capone than anyone. Well, anyone alive, anyway.

Further reading:

Mario Gomes's My Al Capone Museum: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Mysterynet: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre With Pictures

Ghosts of the Prairie - Blood, Roses & Valentines: The Haunted History of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Wikipedia - The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"You see, according to Cocteau's plan, I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy who likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, 'Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?' I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've seen the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing 'I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener.'"

-Edgar Friendly (Dennis Leary), Demoltion Man (1993)

WICKED WEASEL WEDNESDAY

This young gal is modeling your basic tropical bikini from Wicked Weasel. I wish I was in the tropics right now. And it's not because of the weather... OK, it's not only because of the weather.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 9, 1960

On this date in 1960, Adolph Coors III, heir to the beer company, was kidnapped after leaving for work. Evidence eventually pointed to a Fulbright scholar-turned-crook named Joseph Corbett, Jr. (pictured above). A nationwide manhunt was launched, with the FBI releasing over 1.5 million wanted posters.

By September 1960, the remains of Adolph Coors were found near Pike's Peak. Apparently, he had been shot during the abduction. In October 1960, Corbett was arrested by Canadian police in Vancouver, BC. He was convicted in 1961 and sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in 1978 and died at age 80 in an apparent suicide in 2009.

Further reading:

This Day In History - Coors brewery heir is kidnapped

Wikipedia - Adolph Coors III

Wikipedia - Joseph Corbett, Jr.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 8, 1932

On this date in 1932, bootlegger, kidnapper, and hitman Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll was gunned down (this would constitute "death by natural causes" in Coll's line of work) in a drug store phone booth. Legend has it that he was on the phone with Hell's Kitchen mob boss Owney Madden, and that Madden kept Coll on the phone until the shooter--possibly working with Dutch Schultz--could get in place. The shooter put enough lead into Coll to kill a whole pack of mad dogs. Fifteen bullets were recovered from Coll's body. A bunch more went right through him. "Can you here me now?"

Wikipedia article on Coll

Vincent Mad Dog Coll's grave

Gangster City website - Photo of the phone booth where Coll was gunned down

Gangster City, by Patrick Downey

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is actress Lauren German. Lauren appeared in a recent episode of the Fox series Human Target.



Here's a clip of Lauren in action in the aforementioned Human Target episode, "Kill Bob."

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 4, 1974

On this date in 1974, 19 year old heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkley, CA apartment by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The following April, she was photographed holding a weapon during a San Francisco bank robbery. She was eventually arrested in September of 1975. She would later claim she was brainwashed by the SLA. The jury at her trial didn't buy it, and she was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Her sentence was eventually commuted to 7 years, and she was granted a pardon in 2001.

Further reading:

HEARST, SOLIAH AND THE S.L.A.

Wikipedia - Patty Hearst

PBS - The Taking of Patty Hearst

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"A lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes. But you gotta do it right. I mean, you gotta have the hole already dug before you show up with a package in the trunk. Otherwise, you're talking about a half-hour to forty-five minutes worth of digging. And who knows who's gonna come along in that time? Pretty soon, you gotta dig a few more holes. You could be there all fuckin' night."

-Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), Casino (1995)

WEEKLY WICKED WEASEL

I was supposed to post this on Wednesday, wasn't I? What can I say? Too much shoveling snow, I guess. This gal ought to warm things up some. And to make up for my oversight, here's a bonus bikini.


Added bonus: For some laughs, check out this post over at Hookers and Booze.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: FEBRUARY 2, 1922

On this date in 1922, film director William Desmond Taylor was found dead in his bungalow in Los Angeles. He was originally thought to have died of natural causes, but when the body was rolled over, a single bullet wound was found in his back.

Cash and valuables were found on Taylor's person, ruling out robbery as a motive. More than a dozen suspects emerged, including Taylor's valet, his former valet, a studio executive, and several actresses. Police were never able to make a case against any of the suspects. Poor case management led to the loss of much of the physical evidence.

Newspapers of the day featured sensationalized stories and rampant speculation about the identity of the killer and the motive for Taylor's murder. The murder occurred less than six months after the Fatty Arbuckle scandal and helped shape the public's view of Hollywood as a hotbed of decadence.

In 1999, it was revealed that Margaret Gibson, an actress who had worked with Taylor, had confessed on her deathbed in 1964 to having killed Taylor. The confession has never been confirmed.

Further reading:

Taylorology - An archive of information about the case

The Unsolved Murder of William Desmond Taylor

William Desmond Taylor: The Unsolved Murder

truTV - Drugs, Sex, and Murder in 1920s Tinseltown

Wikipedia - William Desmond Taylor

IT'S GROUNDHOG DAY... AGAIN

And here we are in the middle of another storm. Actually, it's two storms in rapid succession. We're currently on the second one. I worked yesterday and suffered with the crappy road conditions (and even crappier drivers). It took me an hour to make what should have been a fifteen minute trip. With sleet added to the mix, I decided I might as well take today off.

The only good news on the radar is that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. That's supposed to mean an early spring. But Phil's track record isn't great, so I'm not holding my breath.

And speaking of Groundhog Day, here's the trailer for the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. Great movie.