Description

Long before the trails, the zoo and the observatory, the namesake of Los Angeles’ most famous park was haunted by a dark past.

In our 11th episode this season, we trace the history of Griffith J. Griffith: the philanthropist, self-proclaimed “colonel” and complicated figure behind LA’s first major celebrity trial.

Griffith’s rise from Welsh immigrant to mining journalist and real estate mogul took a shocking turn when he shot his wife, Christina Mesmer, inside Santa Monica’s Hotel Arcadia, ultimately landing him in San Quentin.

How did LA’s power players, sensationalist press and legendary defense attorney Earl Rogers shape a trial that riveted the city? And how should Angelenos remember a man whose legacy combines shocking violence with one of the country’s great public parks?

This Halloween, revisit one of LA’s wildest historical true crime tales.

Special guests:

• Miguel Llanos, author of “Enlightened Egomanic: Griffith J. Griffith”
• Mike Eberts, author of “Griffith Park: A Centennial History”
• Mark Geragos, criminal defense and civil litigation attorney
• Michele Rotunda, author of “A Drunkard’s Defense: Alcohol, Murder, and Medical Jurisprudence in Nineteenth-Century America”
• Alex Crow, chair of the Griffith Park Advisory Board

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens. 

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.