by Paul R. Spitzzeri
On 17 December 1927, residents of greater Los Angeles learned with horror about the kidnapping and murder of 12-year old Marion Parker and the subsequent arrest of William Edward Hickman, dubbed “The Fox,” with the terrible tragedy riveting the attention of huge numbers of locals. We’ll look to cover some of that history in a later post, sharing artifacts from the Homestead’s collection related to it.
Some six weeks later, another teen was found brutally murdered, though the coverage was emphatically different, for reason that likely include gender and race, if not also geography. This post looks at the unsolved case, which ended up part of a gruesome catalog of a series of pedophilic killings generally known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, to which we will return in September.
The 2 February 1928 issue of the Los Angeles Express, which also reported on the visceral reaction of jurors in the Hickman murder trial when they were shown graphic, gruesome photos of his young victim, informed readers that,
A brutal murder, after which the victim’s head was struck off with a single stroke of a keen-edged blade, was being investigated by deputy sheriffs today following the discovery of the nude, headless body of a Mexican boy, about 16 years of age, partly covered with a gunnysack, on the edge of Hudson road, one-half mile south of Valley boulevard, in Puente. A bullet passed through the right lung.
The location is particularly notable for the Homestead, because Hudson Road, named for the family that long owned the nearby Rowland House, was the former name of today’s Hacienda Boulevard. The reference to the discovery of the remains a half-mile south of Valley Boulevard is also significant because that thoroughfare has moved since 1928, as it now curves to the southeast approaching Hacienda and then curves northeast to cross the Southern Pacific railroad track.
In the late 1920s, as for many years before, Valley closely paralleled the track on it south side coming from the west and then, where Hacienda is now, made an abrupt curve to cross the tracks and move to the north side in the town of Puente (now the city of La Puente.) In fact, Rausch Road, in what is the City of Industry, and Old Valley Boulevard in La Puente are remnants of that old route of Valley.
So, following a half-mile from the old Valley route as it made that curve takes us to about where Don Julian Rd., which today leads west from Hacienda to the Homestead, is today. Hudson (or Hacienda) at this point was the eastern boundary of the 92-acre Homestead, then owned by Walter P. Temple. It is possible, therefore, that the body of the young Latino was left on or right next to that boundary.
The Express continued by noting that an El Monte rancher made the discovery and drove to the Los Angeles County Fire Department station at Puente to report what he found, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department notified. Deputies went to the scene and preliminarily determined that, “the body was thrown from an automobile, which turned into the dirt road from Valley boulevard” and that “the tire marks of the murder car are clearly defined in the soft dirt.”
There was no indication, though, of which side of Hudson Road the body was left, though later in this post we may get a better idea. The paper continued that, “after throwing the body from the car one or more men got out and walked around the body, placing the gunnysack over it, footprints indicate.” It was then clear that “then the car was backed around and returned to Valley boulevard”—again, we’ll see later why this might be an indicator of what side of Hudson was involved.
Strangely, the deputies made a determination, as expressed by the Express that,
The body was that of a well-formed youth, evidently of the higher class of Mexicans . . . The blow that severed the head, which was still missing, was made with great strength and with a meat cleaver or some sharp, strong blade of that nature, it was indicated.
The Pomona Progress Bulletin of the same day issued a brief report, though under a large banner headline reading “Headless Body Of Murder Victim Found Near Puente,” and, with more precision, observed that the young man’s remains were found “in a ravine one-half mile south of Puente, about 300 yards off the Valley boulevard,” which would be north of the location stated in the Express, and that he was shot through the side.
The motorist who discovered the body told firefighters that he noticed it because of “the unclad feet sticking out from under the [burlap] sacks. It was also remarked that the decapitation happened prior to the body being taken to the site, while the driver informed the authorities that “the youth was apparently about 15 years old and of Mexican descent.” In its very concise statement, the Los Angeles Record, blaring “HEADLESS MURDER!”, twice referred to the deceased as a man and said the corpse was found on a deserted road by firefighters.
The next day’s number of the Record updated readers that “Mexican colonies,” these being barrios in segregated areas, “in Los Angeles and Orange counties are being combed today in an effort to identify” the remains. It added that the age was believed to be from 16 to 18 years and, while a trio of Anglo deputies were looking through missing persons reports, two Latino colleagues, identified as (Jose S.) Sepúlveda, a fifth generation Californian from the prominent family whose name is memorialized in one of the Angel City’s best-known streets, and (Abel P.) Mendoza, “started a house-to-house search in Mexican districts near Puente.”
After stating that an autopsy was to be conducted to learn whether death was caused by the gunshot wound or the decapitation, the paper remarked that the teen was 5’6″ in height and weighed some 135 pounds. Moreover, it was offered “that he was of a fastidious nature was indicated by his recently manicured nails,” while the sole identifying mark was a mole on the bottom of the right foot.
Under the headline of “Headless Body Proves Riddle,” the Times, also of the 3rd, added that “preliminary investigation revealed that the youth evidently had been shot to death in a brawl” and that “the theory was supported by the presence of a bullet wound through the right lung,” this determined to be fatal. How, though, the assertion of a fight was determined was not mentioned. It was added that impressions of tire and foot prints were to be taken to assist the investigation.
As for the Progress-Bulletin of that day, it stated that Mendoza and Sepúlveda were not only canvassing Pomona’s Latino residents, but that this was “following exhaustive investigation[s] at Puente and in the Belvedere [East Los Angeles] and Temple [City] districts.” Moreover, the paper informed readers that “several Mexicans who had missed boys of that age in the past few days asked to see the body today, but could make no identification.” The sheriff’s department also discountenanced the idea that the deceased may have been Filipino. Another detail was that the alleged time of death was 5:30 on the previous morning.
In its edition of the 4th, the Pomona sheet ran another major headline, “New Clues Revealed in Puente Mystery Murder Case” and it was reported that efforts were underway “in the Mexican settlement of Puente where the two men alleged to have slain the youth are believed to be hiding.” This was asserted because “descriptions of two men, seen by a woman when they stopped on Hudson road where the body was found, were furnished the officers.”
The “Mexican settlement of Puente” was in the southeast corner of the town as it then existed, this being east of Stimson Avenue, south of Central Avenue, north of Old Valley Boulevard and east of the current Valley Boulevard. As to the woman who saw the two men, she was not identified, but the Higuera family, employed by Walter Temple at the Homestead, resided on the west side of the road, so it is possible she was a member of that family.
The Times, also of the 4th, reported that this new clue led to deputies being confident enough that they “expressed the belief that they are nearing the solution of the crime.” The unnamed woman not only saw a pair of men “drag some heavy object into the ditch and depart,” but “she also gave a complete description of the car.”
Mendoza and Sepúlveda, as also reported in the Pomona paper, found that the burlap sacks were “used exclusively in one particular area of the Puente walnut district” because of stamping of the firm name of “A.H.N. Co.” Lastly, the Times remarked that the autopsy revealed the cause of death to be the gunshot, which went in through the right breast and followed an upward trajectory through the throat, with the decapitation to prevent identification.
On the 5th, the Los Angeles paper informed readers that an anonymous tip received by the sheriff’s department’s acting cabin of the homicide investigation detail concerned a woman who “told of hearing shots” that came from “a lonely cabin, hidden in a secluded arroyo in the Puente Hills,” this almost certainly being in the community of North Whittier Heights, now Hacienda Heights, where an area north and west of Turnbull Canyon Road is especially rugged with steep hills and deep canyons. The account continued that,
She also said the cabin had been used frequently by a group of youths from Puente for week-end parties and that on the night of the murder there was much drinking at the cabin, followed by a fight, in which shots were fired.
With this new clue, Mendoza and Sepúlveda were “leaving for a search of the rain-soaked Puente Hills last night” and they indicated confidence that “the identity of the slayers will be revealed.” The Pomona paper of the 6th amplified this with yet another banner headline of “Predict Arrests Today in Puente Mystery Slaying,” as it shared the same basic information as that published in the Times.
The next news came a couple of days later, with the Times, in both English and Spanish, the latter obviously an effort to get the information to Latinos in hopes that it would at last yield an identification, remarking that “traces of Tapioca pudding discovered in the stomach of the unidentified youth . . . may assist in establishing the victim’s identity.”
The account continued that “officers were ordered to check all restaurants in the vicinity of Puente in an effort to ascertain whether any customer was known to them who had a taste for this form of dessert.” Though it might seem strange to us, living in this crowded metropolitan area now, the homicide investigation captain told the paper that “when a list of such customers in obtained,” it being understood, apparently, that restaurateurs and their employees would not their patrons by name, “the officers hope to learn the identity of the youth by a process of elimination.”
From this point, the Angel City press stopped reporting on the matter, but the Pomona paper followed up at last three more times. On the 14th, it reported that “a bill fold found near El Monte and [a] motorcycle” might help break the case open, as Mendoza and Sepúlveda continued their work. The wallet, however, was found in the San Gabriel River bed and was owned by a Filipino of 16 years of age residing both in Puente and El Monte.
The deputies also followed a lead concerning “the report that a Mexican boy had sold a motorcycle for $30 in Puente the day of the murder and has not been heard from since that day.” The Progress-Bulletin remarked that
The case is one of the most puzzling the homicide bureau has handled for some time, but officers have declared their confidence that the investigation will lead to some tangible evidence soon.
The principal aim of the detail at present is to identify the headless torso, and this accomplished, they say, it will be less difficult to trace his associates, among whom it is expected the murderer will be found.
Two days later, the paper informed readers that the investigation headed out to Brea Canyon, between Puente and Pomona, with the deputies “expected to interview John Sexton, old time resident and a blacksmith living on Brea canyon road [now Fairway Drive] opposite the Silver Peak ranch road.” Silver Peak Guest Ranch was southeast of today’s Fairway Drive/Colima Road intersection and near the now-closed Royal Vista Golf Club.
It was added that “recently a boy who had been raised by Sexton was rumored to have disappeared” and that it was he who sold the motorcycle at Puente. This was the only remaining viable clue, however, as it was remarked that the owner of the wallet found in the San Gabriel River bed was located very much alive.
With that, the last located report of the incident came on the 17th, a little more than two weeks after the body was found and the headline claimed “Puente Mystery Murder Victim Reported Identified.” The account stated that it was rumored that Mendoza and Sepúlveda “found the head of the Mexican youth . . . and had identified the victim as a worker on the Bellario [likely, Pilario] ranch near Otterbein [in modern Rowland Heights].”
It was noted that the rumor would not be confirmed, while the Puente constable, Gratian Bidart (who served in that position from 1910 until his death in 1933), told the paper that he’d heard this was the story. Beyond this, the aforementioned motorcycle was located, while another claim was denied by the Diamond Bar Ranch, which three decades later was developed for the creation of the city of that name, that two Latinos working there were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder.
Whether the pun was intentional, the Progress-Bulletin commented that “the arrests also were branded as improbable” by the sheriff’s department, though nothing could be confirmed definitively until Mendoza and Sepúlveda were able to comment. Here, however, the reporting ceased and nothing would come to light for another seven months, which takes us to September and our look at the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. We hope you will check back with us then!