San Diego Murder Mayhem

Early twentieth-century San Diego was growing fast, and the officers sworn to protect the city encountered more than their fair share of wily lawbreakers. From a shootout with a lone gunman in Mission Hills to gunfights with a gang of bank robbers that involved enthusiastic bystanders hoping to assist, detectives and patrolmen alike tried to maintain the peace. They encountered unexpected bodies, confronted car thieves and pursued criminals through neighboring states and into Mexico. Join author Steve Willard as he unearths stories directly from the case files of the early San Diego Police Department.

Early twentieth-century San Diego was growing fast, and the officers sworn to protect the city encountered more than their fair share of wily lawbreakers. From a shootout with a lone gunman in Mission Hills to gunfights with a gang of bank robbers that involved enthusiastic bystanders hoping to assist, detectives and patrolmen alike tried to maintain the peace. They encountered unexpected bodies, confronted car thieves and pursued criminals through neighboring states and into Mexico. Join author Steve Willard as he unearths stories directly from the case files of the early San Diego Police Department.

This “fast-paced, thoughtful true-crime” examines the cultural shifts of Jazz Age America through a beautiful dancer’s mysterious and scandalous death (Kirkus, starred review). In January 1923, twenty-year-old Fritzie Mann left home for a remote cottage by the sea to meet a man whose identity she had revealed to no one. The next morning, the dancer’s barely clad body washed up on Torrey Pines beach, her party dress and possessions strewn about the sand. The scene baffled investigators, and abotched autopsy created more questions than it answered. However, the investigation revealed a scandalous secret. When a Hollywood A-lister was arrested for Fritzie’s murder, it led to the most sensational trial in San Diego’s history. Set against the backdrop of yellow journalism, Prohibition Era corruption, and a lively culture war, Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage tells the intriguing story of a beautiful dancer, a playboy actor, a debonair doctor, and a tragic mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

Delve into a world of cold cases, serial killers, and false confessions pulled straight from the archives of the San Diego Police Department. From a rash of attacks in Balboa Park to the slayings of two police officers that remain unsolved to this day, detectives have investigated several vexing and violent cases over the years. In 1931, the murder of ten-year-old Virginia Brooks was initially linked to serial slayer Gordon Stewart Northcott, later hung for his crimes, while the mysterious death of young Dalbert Aposhian languished for seventy-two years before modern forensics closed it. Join author Steve Willard as he pulls back the curtain on San Diego's dark side.

A True Crime anthology featuring some of the more mysterious murders of the past twenty years... The Torrey Pines beach killings are two of the most hideous, savage murders in California history, made seemingly worse by the beautiful location at which they took place. But, as time has failed to heal the wounds torn into families by these horrific events, it now seems as though the crimes that took place could have claimed a third, and maybe even a fourth, victim.By day, the beautiful, stunning beach in San Diego, Southern California is a hot spot for sun seekers, surfers and those looking for a walk by the sea. The glittering ocean is contained, it appears, within the magnificent nearby cliffs and the long, wide soft sandy beach sneaks slowly towards an esplanade, complete with inevitable parking lot. The arches of a wide bridge provide a touch of privacy and quiet. Life towers offer safety from the waves.As wonderful as Torrey Pines is during the day, at night it changes. The dark brings out shadows. And those shadows became a lot deeper after the night of August 12th, 1978.

From the author of No Good Deed comes a true-crime shocker. On June 11, 1988, 27-year-old Janet Moore was stabbed to death in her San Diego apartment. After clues and leads went nowhere, her sad and tragic murder became a cold case. But detectives never gave up on her. Eighteen years later, thousands of miles away, a Daytona Beach police officer stopped Mark Elder for driving with an expired license plate. The officer found and confiscated a partially smoked marijuana cigarette. Aware of a rapist on the loose, the butt was examined for DNA and a match was made to a 2004 rape. Incredibly, the same DNA match turned up in San Diego—Moore’s killer and the serial rapist were the same. Through exclusive interviews with detectives on the case and Elder himself, former police officer and reporter Tom Basinski not only exposes the mind and motives of an elusive killer, but explores the fascinating inner workings of the tireless, brilliant two-decade investigation that finally brought about justice.

A collection of True Crime stories: Three decades after a murder that shook the city of San Diego to its core, residents and visitors are still reminded of the tragic slaying each time they drive down Interstate 15. Near Mercy Road, where 20 year old San Diego State junior Cara Knott was killed in 1986, hangs a sign that reads "Knott Memorial Bridge."The killing was difficult enough for the community to swallow - a young, beautiful woman, full of potential, never even lives to see her college graduation. But what made the murder even more horrifying was the arrest that soon followed. California Highway Patrol officer Craig Peyer, who had pulled the student over as she'd been driving home, was charged with killing Cara Knott

The Miami Valley of Ohio has a rich but gruesome and bloody history. In Dayton, Christine Kett murdered her daughter and confessed seventeen years later on her deathbed. William Fogwell of Beavercreek clung to life long enough to name his killer before he died. Joshua Monroe, a Yellow Springs man, killed his lover--also his sister-in-law--in a jealous rage. Reputed serial killer Oliver Crook Haugh was accused of murdering multiple women over several years, but he was ultimately convicted of killing "only" his family. Author and founder of the Dayton Unknown history blog Sara Kaushal uncovers the violent and horrific crimes of the past.

Details the eighteen-year manhunt for a killer who raped and stabbed a young woman in San Diego and disappeared, leaving no clues behind, until a chance encounter with police in Daytona Beach led to his arrest.

On April 8, 1965, violence never seen before in San Diego, California was about to break out inside the Hub Loans & Jewelry Company, a pawnshop that sold guns. A confrontation involving a five-foot-five, 100-pound man quickly escalated into murder, a four-hour standoff with police and death by heart attack of a newspaper editor and the biggest and longest shootout in the history of the city. Until that rainy Thursday morning, the San Diego Police Department had no Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. After the bizarre shootout, that would change. During the siege, police used rifles, machine guns, shot guns, pistols, tear gas, an armored car, a bullhorn and two concussion hand grenades thrown by a Navy gunner's mate pressed into service. Amazingly, the man inside the Hub, nicknamed "Rabbit" for how quick he moved, seemingly could not be stopped by everything the police threw at him including bottles from a commandeered Coke truck. In the gunman's favor, the pawnshop was loaded with rifles, pistols and ammunition. Retired Emmy award-winning San Diego TV news anchor/reporter John Culea shows the police heroes in the firefight and how officers risked their lives during the shootout in the middle of a pouring rainstorm. The battle was in the downtown Gaslamp District, an area with tattoo parlors, peep shows, raunchy bars, Navy sailors, loan sharks and pawnshops. During the firefight, a thousand rounds of ammunition were exchanged between police and the gunman as hundreds watched from nearby street corners. Culea talks with members of the media and police officers who were at the scene and offers insight on how the sensational story was reported and lessons that were learned by law enforcement. The reader will see that after the world's attention was focused on San Diego, the murder case would eventually make California judicial history and keep Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan from the gas chamber.The Hub Shootout: San Diego's Unbelievable Four-Hour Firefight, with hundreds of photos, documents and exhibits, is John Culea's 13th published book and his first nonfiction. His previous twelve have been novels and historical fiction.