What Are The Murder Houses In Los Angeles? Why Are Houses Where Murders Took Place For Sale?
Every year, hundreds of thrill-seekers go to the murder houses in Los Angeles, each of which has its dark backstory to add to the intrigue of the experience. The “City of Angels” is no exception in this regard.
The morbid and macabre are popular among people interested in the macabre and the bizarre, and every city has its morbid tourist destinations to satisfy their curiosity.
Known for its Mediterranean climate, the Hollywood entertainment industry, surfing paradise beaches, and some of the most horrific crimes in United States history, Los Angeles is the biggest metropolis in California and the state’s most populous city.
A feeling of exhilaration is generated by dark tourism as if you are indulging in something prohibited.
This article will discuss the houses where murders took place for sale and famous California murders.
Murder Houses Los Angeles
While Los Angeles is well-known as the City of Angels, its reputation as a haunted city boldly rivals that of the world’s scariest locations. As with everything else in our past, Greater Los Angeles’s dark side exists on an epic scale.
Follow this path through 13 of Los Angeles’ most notorious murder homes, serial killer hideouts, spooky cemeteries, a haunted forest, and even a party-loving ghost and a friendly canine spook.
- Murder of “The Wonderland Gang”
On July 1, 1981, one of the most heinous assassinations in Los Angeles history was dubbed “The Wonderland Murders.” Due to his physical peculiarity, John Curtis Holmes was a celebrity in the world of extreme pornography.
Holmes quickly slipped into a terrible spiral of addiction. Ronald “Ron” Launius, a close friend of Holmes, was named head of “The Wonderland Gang.” When a transaction between the gang and drug lord Eddie Nash failed, Holmes and his colleagues robbed Nash of narcotics, jewels, and $1.2 million in cash.
- Murder Mansion in Los Feliz
On the night of December 6, 1959, at 2475 Glendower Place in Los Feliz’s wealthy neighborhood, one of Los Angeles’ most bizarre mysteries occurred. Dr. Harold Perelson, a cardiologist, hit his wife Lillian in the head with a ball-peen hammer as she lay in bed at about 4.30 a.m.
- The assassinations of José and Kitty Menendez
On August 20, 1989, José and Kitty Menendez were relaxing in their Beverly Hills mansion on North Elm Drive when their sons perpetrated the “Crime of the Century.”
Lyle, 21, and Erik, 18, entered the living room during the evening and started a fire with a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. José had a gunshot wound to the back of the head, while Kitty sustained a gunshot wound to the leg while attempting to flee the room.
Bugsy Siegel’s Unsolved Murder
Notorious gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was well-known for being the driving force behind the construction of the Las Vegas Strip, and he was estimated to have a net worth of $100 million at the time of his death.
- Lana Clarkson’s ax murder
Spector first met actress Lana Clarkson, 40, on February 3, 2003, at the Sunset Strip’s House of Blues. He invited her to his home in Alhambra, located at 1700 Grand View Drive.
Clarkson’s corpse was discovered slumped in a chair hours later, with the bottom of her jaw blasted off, her broken teeth sprinkled over the carpet, and a 36 Colt handgun hidden under her left leg.
Spector said to his driver, “I believe I murdered someone.” Spector claimed that Clarkson shot herself. The evidence against Spector was that Clarkson made no indications of suicidal tendencies and that individuals seldom commit themselves at a stranger’s house.
- Willie Desmond Taylor’s assassination
Who killed William Desmond Taylor is one of the greatest mysteries in Hollywood history.
Lieutenant Tom Ziegler was informed that this was a “natural death,” but upon arrival to the home on South Alvarado Street, he discovered Taylor had a gunshot wound in his back. Numerous suspects were named. Taylor’s letters were confiscated at his home by representatives of Paramount Studios, who hired him.
- Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman have both been assassinated.
According to the autopsy, Brown was stabbed multiple times in the neck and suffered a massive cut across her throat, almost decapitating her. Due to Goldman’s defensive wounds, detectives think he died attempting to save Brown from her assailant.
Additionally, the property included a single bloodied glove. O.J. Simpson, Brown’s ex-husband, has been charged with double murder.
At his residence, detectives found blood on a white Ford Bronco. Additionally, they found that four days previous to Brown’s death, a women’s shelter got a distress call from her.
- Susan Berman’s homicide
Susan Berman was a novelist and the daughter of Davie Berman, a gangster who assumed control of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas after Bugsy Siegel’s assassination.
Berman was just 12 years old when her father died after surgery under unexplained circumstances, and her mother committed suicide a year later. She believed both of their deaths were the result of foul play.
Due to her father’s business activities, she gradually earned a total of $4.3 million from the Mafia. She met real estate heir Robert Durst in 1967 when she was a student at UCLA.
Berman was assassinated with a 9mm pistol on December 23, 2000, at her Beverly Hills home on Benedict Canyon Drive.
- Murders Committed by the Hillside Strangler
Between October 1977 and February 1978, serial murderers Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi kidnapped and killed ten victims, including young ladies ranging in age from 12 to 28.
The case was dubbed “The Hillside Strangler” in the media because detectives’ original belief was that a single assailant committed these murders. Numerous victims were escorted to Buono’s filthy hideout at 703 E. Colorado St. in Glendale.
- Murders Committed by the Manson Family
On August 8, 1969, cult leader Charles Manson sent four members of the “Manson Family” to actress Sharon Tate, who was two weeks pregnant.
“Leave something witchy behind,” he instructed. Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel scaled the gates of 10050 Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills and severed the telephone lines.
Where Is Murder House located?
- The Sal Mineo murder scene is located at 8569 Holloway Drive in West Hollywood.
- Villain’s Tavern is located at 1356 Palmetto Street in Los Angeles, California.
- American Horror Story: Murder House takes place in Boston.
- 6603 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 6603 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 6603 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 6603 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 6603 W Sunset Blvd,
- 2230 W. MacArthur Park
Cobb estate murders
The Cobb Estate – located in Altadena, California, the magnificent Cobb Estate (locally referred to as the Haunted Forest) was constructed in 1918 by Charles Cobb. He resided there with his wife and two sons for many years.
Cobb murdered his wife and sons in the 1920s, and the estate home and grounds sat vacant for many years until they were acquired and demolished by the Marx Brothers in 1959, only a few years after they purchased the 107-acre property.
The decrepit entry gates remain, appearing like something out of a horror film. Those who pass through its gates at night describe hearing footsteps, strange lights, distant cries, and the aftermath of gangland killings and Satanic/cult rituals that continue to occur daily.
Deep inside the property is a network of caverns known as the ritual tunnels, where satanic and ritualistic artifacts and animal bones, and personal human things continue to be discovered.
In the 1970s, the location was utilized as a spiritual retreat, order of nuns until one of their sisters raped, hung from a tree. Locals avoid entering the estate after dark because of fear of paranormal and cult activities, and dogs regularly go missing inside the estate.
Famous California murders
Consider the following list of other infamous murderers who have terrified California:
- The Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo
In the 1970s, a serial rapist terrorized a large area of Northern California, breaking into dozens of women’s homes over three years and instilling dread across the Sacramento and Contra Costa county suburbs.
Following that, the crimes spread south through Oakland, Santa Barbara, and Orange counties.
In August, prosecutors in Santa Ana revealed that they had charged a man with those heinous murders more than 40 years later.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., who is already facing 13 murder charges as the alleged Golden State Killer, is now charged with 13 counts of abduction to conduct a robbery.
In Sacramento County, he will face trial. Between 1976 and 1986, the murderer has committed 45 rapes and over 120 home burglaries.
- Lonnie Franklin Jr., affectionately known as the ‘Grim Sleeper,’
The series of murders started in the summer of 1985 in South Los Angeles and lasted intermittently until 1988 when a lady was raped and shot.
She survived to describe her assailant as a black guy in his twenties, standing between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10, weighing about 160 pounds, soft-spoken and eloquent, with neatly cut hair and a pockmarked face.
For more than 13 years, the murderer remained unknown until the corpse of a young girl was found in Inglewood in March 2002, precipitating a pause in assaults that earned him the moniker “The Grim Sleeper.”
Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was arrested in connection with the murders on July 7, 2010, in South Los Angeles. On May 5, 2016.
Jurors convicted Franklin guilty of ten counts of murder in the deaths of nine women and a 15-year-old girl after a day and a half of deliberations. Later, jurors determined that Franklin should be executed.
- McGhee, Timothy Joseph
Cops characterized a northeast Los Angeles gang boss as a “monster” who bragged rap songs about his hate of police and his desire to murder.
McGhee, a Toonerville gang member, was condemned to death in January 2009 for the murders of two rival gang members and a third gang member’s girlfriend.
McGhee was convicted of murder in 2007 in connection with three gang-related killings between 1997 and 2001.
McGhee was also convicted guilty of attempted murder in connection with the attempted murder of four other individuals, including two Los Angeles police officers who were ambushed in Atwater Village while pursuing three other Toonerville gang members.
- Manson, Charles
Manson and his teenage followers killed five people in a Benedict Canyon home on an unforgettable July night in 1969.
A maid arrived at the rented home of director Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate. She found Tate and four others dead, “their bodies scattered around a Benedict Canyon estate in what police said resembled a ritualistic mass murder,” The Times reported.
Which Murder Case Is The Most Heinous?
Scariest murder cases you’ve almost certainly never heard about
- The Papin sisters brutally killed their employers.
- John George Haigh, the acid bath killer.
- Robert Berdella, Kansas’s Butcher.
- Dennis Nilsen, a serial killer who kept the corpses of young men.
Black Star Canyon Murders
Black Star Canyon is known by many in Orange County and across Southern California; however, it should be known for more than just its wide-open spaces and family-friendly trails.
Unlike other Southern California canyons, Black Star has been the site of multiple adverse events in history. It reportedly has been the site of various cult activities, cryptid sightings, and paranormal events.
In tandem with documented evidence, some (if not all) members of the OC Ghosts and Legends team believe this to be one of the most haunted locations in all of Orange County – and possibly – all of Southern California.
The canyon would see a second murder. In 1899, long after both Anglo-American and Mexican homesteaders had inhabited the canyon, a shooting happened at Hidden Ranch that permanently altered the early political landscape of Orange County.
Perhaps no other act of violence had such an impact on the public career in the county as the assassination of James Gregg on June 9, 1899, had on the late J. W. Ballard, the county’s superior court judge.
The Hidden Ranch was owned by Henry Hungerford of Norwalk and George M. Howard of Anaheim.
Hungerford’s brother, Thomas L. Hungerford, was also on the ranch. On June 8, James M. Gregg of Centralia, his brother-in-law, Decatur Harris, and a 13-year-old kid, Clinton Hunt, came to drive away Gregg’s cattle.
Gregg and Henry Hungerford disagreed. Howard owed Gregg $10 for a horse transaction, and Gregg demanded that Hungerford and Howard take $7.50 as payment for their $17.50 pasturage charge.
Gregg, Harris, and the kid spent that night sleeping on the ground in front of the home. The following day, while Gregg was folding up his blankets, Henry Hungerford emerged, and the argument continued. It culminated in a gunshot.
The Hungerfords battled it out, each armed with a shotgun and Gregg with a pistol. Gregg was on the ground when the firing stopped, with charges of birdshot and buckshot through him.
The Hungerfords mounted a horse and drove down Black Star, eventually arriving at Santa Ana, where they surrendered to Sheriff Theo Lacy.
Meanwhile, Harris and the kid had placed Gregg in a spring wagon. They transported him to a doctor when the wagon was intercepted by Sheriff Lacy and District Attorney R. Y.
Williams at Irvine Park in Santiago canyon. Gregg died in a home near El Modena, where a doctor was discovered. Henry Hungerford was convicted after his trial before Judge Ballard.
At the time, assassinations were uncommon, and a trial of this kind sparked broad and passionate attention.
The public opinion was firmly against the defendants. Following conviction, a request for a new problem was filed, which was surprisingly granted by Judge Ballard because insufficient evidence had been presented to support the judgment.
After giving all available evidence, the district attorney had no choice but to seek dismissal of the case.
Soon after that, Judge Ballard faced re-election against Z. B. West. The main topic of the campaign was Judge Ballard’s judgment in the Hungerford case, which was aggressive and ended in Judge Ballard’s loss.
Numerous individuals claim the spirits of these events, however owing to the canyon’s culture, many of these ghost tales are dismissed as hallucinations.
Cathouse Murders
Two men convicted of murdering a prostitute featured on HBO’s ‘Cathouse’ and three more individuals have received their sentences.
Denny Phillips and Russell Hogshooter were sentenced to numerous life terms without parole in Oklahoma County court on August 12. Phillips and Hogshooter were found guilty of the assassinations on June 17.
The two men were convicted on six murder charges in the 2009 murders of television personality Brooke Phillips, Milagros Barrera, Jennifer Lynn Ermey, and Casey Mark Barrientos.
Brooke Phillips and Barrera were both pregnant when they died. All of the deceased were discovered, shot, and set on fire inside an Oklahoma City house in the southwest.
What is the Los Feliz murders House?
The home was situated at 2475 Glendower Place, one of the region’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The house, which was finished in a Spanish style, offered enough room for the family, allowing Dr. Perelson, his wife, and their three children to leave their imprint.
The Los Feliz Murder home in Griffith Park seems to have been sold. Variety reports that escrow has been opened on the infamous Spanish-style house on Glendower Place, but the selling price has not been disclosed. It was listed for $3.5 million more than a year ago.
Does anyone live in the Los Feliz Murder House?
The Los Feliz murder house would stay abandoned and unoccupied for the next 50 years.
A year after the heinous murder-suicide, the home was sold to Emily and Julian Enriquez, who utilized the 5,050-square-foot structure primarily for storage.
Who bought Los Feliz Murder House?
Julian and Emily Enriquez bought the house at an auction shortly after the murder, keeping it vacant, and transferred it to their son Rudy, who saved it empty until he died in 2015.
Who Died In Laurel Canyon?
A man was fatally shot in Sun Valley on Thursday, police said, and his assailant remained large. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the incident occurred about 11 p.m. Wednesday near the 7900 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
Paramedics rushed the 43-year-old Los Angeles man to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. His identity has been concealed, awaiting notification from his family.
“A preliminary investigation showed that the victim was engaged in an altercation… that culminated in his shooting,” police said in a statement. “The victim fled the scene and crashed with parked cars.” There was no description of the suspect provided.
Conclusion
The Los Feliz murder house has remained unchanged since a double murder-suicide in the 1960s. Numerous criminal houses where murders took place for the sale and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994 listed twice.
The house where the murders occurred is now known as the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast. I hope you are now well aware of the murder houses in Los Angeles after reading the article.
Also Read: How To Die In Your Sleep