A Suicide Pact

December 21, 1947
Hollywood

Wiley and Zelda Mills, both 65, took sleeping pills in their apartment at 1753 1/2 N. Berendo St. after preparing their wills and writing apologetic notes. Zelda’s to their son Francis in Berkeley read ” We are sorry to have to do this now. But it is the only thing left. Dad and I talked it out and there would be no use of my trying to go on alone. We love you very much. Mother.”

The couple’s son-in-law Cambern Cottrell, 1025 S. Westmoreland Ave., alerted police when he was unable to get the Mills on the phone or to answer their door. When officers L.T. Napier and J.H. Stein entered the apartment, they found Wiley dead and Zelda unconscious. She is in critical condition in General Hospital.

The couple was apparently despondent over financial problems and the death of Cambern’s wife, their daughter Marjorie, from pneumonia four years ago.

Published by

Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.

3 thoughts on “A Suicide Pact”

  1. CHILDREN’S RECORDS

    1. 33 CHILDREN’S SONGS. Sung by Frank Luther, on two unbreakable 10â€Â records. $2.36

    2. NURSERY RHYMES. Sung by Frank Luther, on two unbreakable 10â€Â records. $2.36

    3. SLEEP, BABY, SLEEP and other songs. Sung by Frank Luther, on two unbreakable 10â€Â records. $2.36

    4. BOZO AT THE CIRCUS. 2 records, and beautifully colored picture book. $2.84

    5. BOZO AND HIS ROCKET SHIP. 2 records in colorful, illustrated story book. $2.84

    6. TUBBY THE TUBA, who wanted to play a solo. Told by Victor Jory. 2 records, album. $2.36

    7. PAN THE PIPER. Narrated by Paul Wing, two 12â€Â unbreakable records in illustrated album. $4.73

    8. OLIVER TWIST AND FAGIN, Narrated by Basil Rathbone. Three 12â€Â records in album. $4.60

    9. WHIZZER, THE TALKING AIRPLANE. Singing and talking sound by Sonovax. Two 10â€Â unbreakable records. $3.13

    10. MIKE, THE TOUGH LITTLE TUGBOAT, narrated by Vernon Crane. Two 10â€Â records. $2.25

    11. UNCLE DON’S PLAYLAND. Nursery rhymes and stories. 3 records in album. $2.68

    12. LADY IN BLUE. Songs, games and dances, on 2 unbreakable records in album. $2.89

    13. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. Told by Paul Wing with sound effects and music. Two 10â€Â unbreakable records, album. $3.15

    14. THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE, Vol. 1. Puss in Boots, etc. 4 records in album. $3.94

    15. CINDERELLA, as told by Edna Best. Three 10â€Â records. $3.15

    PHONE ORDERS ACCEPTED
    Christmas at the May Co., of course

    Bonus factoid: The Jewish “defense armyâ€Â Haganah was reported to have made a major attack—the largest since the U.N. partition decision—against Arabs in Lydda and Bet Nabala, where troops of the Trans-Jordan Arab Legion are camped.

    Quote of the day: “For a redhead who worked her way through law school as a floorwalker in a department store and by washing dishes, that’s not bad!â€Â
    The Times, on Municipal Judge Mildred L. Lillie, whose 1971 nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by Richard Nixon predated Justice Sandra Day O’Connor by 10 years. When a 12-member bar panel rated Lillie, who had 24 years on the bench, “unqualifiedâ€Â because the men feared a woman would be “too emotionalâ€Â for the Supreme Court, Nixon withdrew her name in favor of William Rehnquist.

    https://www.lmharnisch.com

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