Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes. On June 27, 1937, Jeanette Stephens, 8, and her friends, Melba Everett, 9, and Madeline Everett, 7, were lured from Centinela Park in Inglewood. An extensive search ensued, with the police enlisting the aid of 500 Boy Scouts. Two days after their disappearance, a Boy Scout found the three bodies in a ravine in Baldwin Hills; the shoes of each girl were removed and placed in a pile near their bodies. From the moment news of the case broke, Albert Dyer, Inglewood resident and traffic guard at Centinela Elementary School where the girls were students, followed the story closely. He began keeping a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and offered the police theories about the case. As soon as the bodies were found, Dyer arrived on the scene in Baldwin Hills and began demonstrating strange behavior. Authories began to suspect Dyer and took him into custody. He was questioned at a jail in Los Angeles, as threats upon his life were being made in Inglewood. Dyer explained how he abducted the girls from the park and enticed them with the prospect of rabbit hunting in Baldwin Hills. Dyer confessed, "I had no other reason than sex" and he went on to describe how he strangled each girl. Despite that he later recanted his confession, Dyer was tried and convicted on August 26, 1937. On September 16, 1938, he was hanged at San Quentin. First photograph caption dated July 2, 1937 reads, "Ferdinand North. left, and Haskell Wright, attendants at Centinela Park where the girls were playing before being lured away by a killer, are shown at the inquest. District attorney Buron Fitts cut the inquest short before they could take the stand. It is believed that Fitts either has data concerning the killer or he wished to save testimony of key witnesses until the killer is caught."; Second photograph caption dated July 13, 1937 reads, "Giving the Inglewood babe slaying case a surprising turn, Haskell Wright, above, Centinela Park recreation supervisor, today was called before the grand jury to explain his statement that 'Albert Dyer is not the murderer of the three children.' Wright previously has said he saw a man talking with the three children on the day they were slain."
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Everett, Madeline--Death and burial Everett, Melba--Death and burial Stephens, Jeanette--Death and burial Witnesses--California--Los Angeles Criminal investigation--California--Los Angeles Grand jury--United States Murder--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Group portraits Portrait photographs Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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