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Laurel Crawford
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Laurel Crawford
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Description
Order Number
00127977
Title
Laurel
Crawford
Collection ID
Herald Examiner Collection
Location/Accession
HE
box
8765
Date
1939
Physical Description
1
photographic
print
:b&w
;26
x
21
cm
.
Notes
Photograph
was
edited
for
publication
purposes
.
Historical Data
It
was
barely
dawn
on
December
12
,
1939
when
Aggie
Underwood
and
photographer
Paul
Pangburn
rolled
up
to the
scene
of a
tragic
auto
accident
on the
road
from
Mt
.
Wilson
.
Five
people
had
perished
when
the
light
sedan
in
which
they were
riding
careened
down
the
mountainside
. The
dead
were:
Elva
Ruth
Crawford
and her
three
children
ranging
in
age
from
eight
to
fifteen
, and a
boarder
in the
Crawford
home
,
Ralph
Barnett
. The
only
survivor
was the
driver
of the
car
,
Laurel
Crawford
.
Laurel
rested
on a
cot
surrounded
by
Sheriff's
deputies
who
refused
to
allow
Underwood
to
interview
him.
Understandably
, the
deputies
felt
that the
man
had been
through
an
ordeal
which
could
only
be
exacerbated
by
questions
from the
press
.
Still
,
Underwood
managed
to
make
a
deal
with a
deputy
who
talked
with
Laurel
as
Underwood
listened
in from an
adjoining
room
. She had
used
this
ploy
before
. There were a
few
things
about
Laurel
and his
story
that
felt
wrong
to
Underwood
.
Laurel
claimed
that he had
lost
control
of the
car
and
even
though
he
exhorted
his
passengers
to
jump
he was the
only
one
who
had
managed
to
escape
. He
said
he had
climbed
down
the
1000
foot
embankment
a
couple
of
times
. He
held
his
daughter
,
Helen
, in his
arms
as she
died
. But
Underwood
doubted
his
veracity
.
Helen's
body
had been
crushed
and
bloody
,
yet
Laurel's
clothing
was
clean
.
When
Lieutenants
Garner
Brown
and
Paul
Mahoney
of the
Sheriff's
Bureau
of
Investigation
arrived
,
Brown
asked
Underwood
for her
take
on the
situation
. She
answered
bluntly
: "
I
think
it
smells
.
He's
guilty
as
hell.
" A
few
of the
deputies
appeared
shocked
, but
Brown
listened
to her
reasoning
. She
told
him that
Laurel's
leather
jacket
,
khaki
pants
and
shirt
were
far
too
clean
if he had been
up
and
down
the
mountain
as he had
said
. His
grief
rang
false
to
Underwood
too
. He
made
the
tragedy
revolve
around
him,
repeating
: "
Why
did
this have to
happen
to
me?
"
rather
than
questioning
why
it
had
happened
to his
family
.
Lieutenant
Brown
agreed
with
Underwood's
assessment
and
pursued
an
investigation
.
It
was
discovered
that
Laurel
had
purchased
insurance
policies
on his
wife
and
children
, a
few
with
double
indemnity
clauses
. He
stood
to
receive
a
large
pay
out
which
he then
intended
to
use
to
purchase
a
car
dealership
.
Laurel
Crawford
was
sentenced
to
four
consecutive
life
sentences
, but he
wasn't
indicted
for
Barnett's
death
.
Thirty-one
years
later
, in
May
1971
at
age
73
,
Laurel
died
of
injuries
he
sustained
during
a
beating
meted
out
by
other
prisoners
at
Folsom
.
Description
First
photograph
caption
dated
December
13
,
1939
reads
, "
Laurel
H
.
Crawford
is
to be
taken
to
Mt
.
Wilson
to the
scene
where
his
auto
plunged
over
a
1000-foot
cliff
,
killing
his
wife
and
three
children
and a
friend
.
Crawford
is
held
on
suspicion
of
murder
. He
maintains
that the
car
had
bad
brakes
and
slipped
off
the
cliff
and that he
jumped.
";
Second
photograph
caption
dated
March
22
,
1940
reads
, "
Laurel
H
.
Crawford
will be
kept
behind
prison
walls
until
he
dies
. He was
sentenced
today
to
four
life
terms
for
plunging
his
family
off
the
Mt
.
Wilson
highway
to
collect
$30,000
insurance
, and his
terms
will
run
consecutively.
"
Subject
Men--California--Los Angeles.
Murderers--California--Los Angeles.
Criminals--California--Los Angeles.
Uxoricide--California--Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs.
Herald-Examiner Collection photographs.
Format
Photographic prints
Reproduction Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at
http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html
for additional information.
Sub-Collection Name
Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection
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