{"id":10552,"date":"2019-05-04T13:43:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552"},"modified":"2019-05-04T14:31:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T21:31:09","slug":"death-of-a-latin-lover-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552","title":{"rendered":"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Ramon Novarro’s funeral. [Photo courtesy Los Angeles Public Library]<\/p><\/div>\n

LAPD Detective Lauritzen played it cagey with the press when they asked for details regarding the arrests of Paul and Thomas Ferguson. He said only that they had \u201cphysical evidence\u201d of the brothers\u2019 involvement in Ramon\u2019s murder. The reporters interpreted Lauritzen\u2019s comments to mean they found fingerprints at the crime scene. The County Grand Jury indicted the Fergusons and they arraigned the brothers in a Van Nuys courtroom.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Attorney Cletus Hanifin (second from left) confers with murder suspect Paul Ferguson (left) while another attorney talks with Ferguson’s brother and fellow suspect Thomas (second from right). [Photo courtesy Los Angeles Public Library]<\/p><\/div>\n

Busted in early November, the brothers awaited trail in county lockup. Early in December new drama in the case erupted with a report that Paul attempted to gouge out his own eyes. \u00a0At first he told jailers other inmates attacked him, but they proved he injured himself. If he hoped to eradicate the vision Ramon\u2019s murder from his memory, he should have plunged a knife into his heart. The general feeling was that Paul\u2019s self-inflicted injuries were an attempt to garner sympathy.\"\"<\/p>\n

The police found more than fingerprints at Ramon\u2019s home. While Paul beat Ramon in another room, Thomas was on the telephone with his girlfriend of six months, Brenda Lee Metcalf. Brenda flew out to Los Angeles on the county\u2019s dime to testify before the Grand Jury. She was a wealth of information about the night of the murder.<\/p>\n

She testified that Thomas told her he and Paul were at Ramon\u2019s house because the actor was going to get him into the movies\u2014then he said no, it was Paul who Ramon was going to get into pictures. While he chain-smoked cigarettes and drank beer, Thomas told Brenda, \u201c\u2026 he knew there was $5,000 somewhere in the house behind a picture.\u201d Thomas and Paul had plans for Ramon\u2019s money. Brenda said, \u201cThey would tie him up to find out where the money was.\u201d\u00a0 Brenda told Thomas not to get into trouble. \u00a0Brenda said, \u201cHe said no matter what happened, he wasn\u2019t going to have nothing to do with it because he didn\u2019t want to get in any trouble.\u201d\u00a0 The screams she heard in the background sound like trouble to her.\u00a0 \u201cHe (Thomas) said he (Paul) was just probably trying to scare him or hit him with something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"As the phone called neared an end, Thomas said, \u201cWell, I better go now because I\u2019m going to see what\u2019s happening. . . I don\u2019t want Paul to hurt Ramon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another woman surfaced in the case, Paul\u2019s estranged wife, Mary.\u00a0 Mary identified the mysterious \u201cLarry\u201d \u2013 the name scrawled several places at the murder scene.\u00a0 Larry was Paul\u2019s brother-in-law, the person Paul blamed for his problems with Mary. Paul\u2019s attempt to frame his brother-in-law was amateur hour, but then nothing about the crime was a stroke of genius.<\/p>\n

Brenda received one last telephone call from Tom during his stay in Los Angeles. He telephoned her on November 2.\u00a0 He said, \u201cWell you know about Novarro.\u00a0 He is dead.\u00a0 When I bent down over him I saw he was dead and that if we have enough money, we\u2019ll fly back.\u00a0 Otherwise, we will have to hitchhike back.\u00a0 Before they could leave Los Angeles County, they were in police custody.<\/p>\n

On August 5, 1969, four days before the murders of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski and Steven Parent at Tate\u2019s rented home on Cielo Drive, Paul and Thomas were on trial for Ramon\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

The jury of seven men and five women heard Deputy District Attorney James Ideman outline the State\u2019s case in his opening statement. He said he would prove that the brothers tortured Ramon to death on October 30 while trying to discover a hidden cache of money.<\/p>\n

Paul and Thomas did not differ from any of the other idiot criminals who murdered people they believed kept large amounts of cash at home.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Defendants Jack Santo (left), Emmett Perkins (center) and Barbara Graham (right) in court for the murder of Mabel Monohan.\u00a0 [Photo courtesy Los Angeles Public Library]<\/p><\/div>\n

On March 9, 1953, in Burbank, California, Barbara Graham, Emmett Perkins, Jack Santo, John True and Baxter Shorter invaded the home of Mabel Monohan, a widow. The gang believed she kept a large amount of cash in a safe for her former son-in-law, a professional gambler and local mob affiliate, \u00a0Tutor Scherer. The gang walked away with nothing but a ticket to the \u201cgreen room\u201d (San Quentin\u2019s gas chamber).<\/p>\n

Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, two ex-cons, made the same mistake in 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas.\u00a0 They believed a cellmate when he told them one of his former employers, a farmer named Herb Clutter, was rich and kept his money in a home safe. \u00a0It was a tall tale, told by an idiot, to two other morons who believed it. Hickock and Smith executed Herb, his wife Bonnie Mae, and the couple\u2019s two teenage children, Kenyon and Nancy. The killers walked away with fifty dollars in cash, a pair of binoculars and a transistor radio.\u00a0 Hickock and Smith went to the gallows on April 14, 1965 on the grounds of Leavenworth prison.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Truman Capote with his bestseller, In Cold Blood. [Photo courtesy Los Angeles Public Library]<\/p><\/div>\n

Truman Capote turned the sordid murders into a brilliant narrative in the mostly true account of the case, In Cold Blood.<\/p>\n

Paul and Thomas made the same mistake as their predecessors, but would they pay the same price?<\/p>\n

NEXT TIME<\/strong>: Paul and Thomas Ferguson pay for Ramon’s murder.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAPD Detective Lauritzen played it cagey with the press when they asked for details regarding the arrests of Paul and Thomas Ferguson. He said only that they had \u201cphysical evidence\u201d of the brothers\u2019 involvement in Ramon\u2019s murder. The reporters interpreted … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,259],"tags":[178,333,475,464,171,180,2494,2487,2497,173,2493,172,2489,2491,182,2495,2479,177,2488,2496,2484,2492,2480,463,482,2483,2490],"class_list":["post-10552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1960s","category-homicide-2","tag-178","tag-333","tag-475","tag-abigail-folger","tag-barbara-graham","tag-baxter-shorter","tag-bonnie-mae-clutter","tag-brenda-lee-metcalf","tag-cletus-hanifin","tag-emmett-perkins","tag-herb-clutter","tag-jack-santo","tag-james-ideman","tag-jay-sebrin","tag-john-true","tag-kenyon-clutter","tag-lt-lauritzen","tag-mabel-monohan","tag-mary-ferguson","tag-nancy-clutter","tag-paul-ferguson","tag-perry-smith","tag-ramon-novarro","tag-sharon-tate","tag-steven-parent","tag-thomas-ferguson","tag-voytek-frykowski"],"yoast_head":"\nDeath of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LAPD Detective Lauritzen played it cagey with the press when they asked for details regarding the arrests of Paul and Thomas Ferguson. He said only that they had \u201cphysical evidence\u201d of the brothers\u2019 involvement in Ramon\u2019s murder. The reporters interpreted … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-04T20:43:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-04T21:31:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Ramon_Novarros_funeral_lapl.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deranged\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deranged\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552\",\"name\":\"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-04T20:43:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-04T21:31:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c18256d5a584c7608f013fad6028886b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/\",\"name\":\"Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae\",\"description\":\"True 20th Century tales of murder, mayhem, political corruption, and celebrity scandal\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c18256d5a584c7608f013fad6028886b\",\"name\":\"Deranged\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/048764fa0b0bc6ce442bdec9a2093f84bef0c1ab801114e87e1d40ef7c46ccd6?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/048764fa0b0bc6ce442bdec9a2093f84bef0c1ab801114e87e1d40ef7c46ccd6?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Deranged\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae","og_description":"LAPD Detective Lauritzen played it cagey with the press when they asked for details regarding the arrests of Paul and Thomas Ferguson. He said only that they had \u201cphysical evidence\u201d of the brothers\u2019 involvement in Ramon\u2019s murder. The reporters interpreted … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552","og_site_name":"Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae","article_published_time":"2019-05-04T20:43:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-04T21:31:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Ramon_Novarros_funeral_lapl.jpg"}],"author":"Deranged","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deranged","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552","url":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552","name":"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3 - Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-04T20:43:46+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-04T21:31:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c18256d5a584c7608f013fad6028886b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10552#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Death of a Latin Lover, Part 3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/","name":"Deranged LA Crimes \u00ae","description":"True 20th Century tales of murder, mayhem, political corruption, and celebrity scandal","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c18256d5a584c7608f013fad6028886b","name":"Deranged","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/048764fa0b0bc6ce442bdec9a2093f84bef0c1ab801114e87e1d40ef7c46ccd6?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/048764fa0b0bc6ce442bdec9a2093f84bef0c1ab801114e87e1d40ef7c46ccd6?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Deranged"},"url":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?author=1"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10552"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10560,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10552\/revisions\/10560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}