PUBLISHED/Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin's Press) true crime/history
L.A. '56: A Devil in the City of Angels
Joel Engel
It was front page news in the black papers of Los Angeles, and almost totally ignored by the mainstream “white” press. Now the story that has remained buried for over fifty years can be told—a story as atmospheric and colorful as James Ellroy’s fictional L.A. Confidential. But L.A. ’56 is a true a story that seems as though only Ellroy or perhaps Walter Mosley could have written it.
When a series of rapes and attempted rapes occur in a lover’s lane up in the L.A. hills by a black rapist disguised as a cop, the young women of Los Angeles are terrified. In order to keep the peace, the LAPD brass knows they need to make an arrest right away, so they grab recently-fired black cop Todd Roark and haul him off to jail, even though he looks nothing like the rapist and is half the guy’s size. The institutionally racist LAPD tells Roark he’s facing the death penalty—not for rape, but for kidnapping. The only one who believes his innocence is Latino detective Danny Galindo, one of the three Latinos on the force, and a veteran of the Black Dahlia case back in 1947. Galindo vows he will catch the real rapist and get his friend out of jail.
Galindo starts interviewing the few victims who would come forward (some, like a young Japanese-American girl, refuse to talk to the police). When he meets Margie Smith, who managed to get away, he knows he has a problem on his hands. For the detective is smitten, and LAPD rules forbid any sort of romantic entanglements with material witnesses. Galindo learns the feeling is mutual, so he and Margie come up with ways to continue to meet with while hiding it from LAPD brass, who would like nothing better than to bounce the suave Latino from the force.
Galindo, the handsome, smooth detective, is also the LAPD’s liaison to Jack Webb of “Dragnet” fame. Galindo's plan is to convene a task force and have the costume and makeup departments from Universal Studios help put real life cops in drag as decoys in order to catch the rapist when he strikes again.
After an agonizing night of sitting in their Chevys, Studebakers and Plymouths, the task force hits paydirt—the rapist picks on the lone female cop among the decoys, who happens to be in a car with Galindo. Finally, they had him—or did they? A physically and mentally exhausting three hour car and foot chase and gun battle begins—three times the rapist aims his Luger point-blank at Galindo and pulls the trigger…and each time it misfires. Finally, the rapist is shot and caught by another undercover team, a little boy recovers the discarded Luger, and Galindo makes sure that Roark is cleared of all charges. And the happy ending—the detective and Margie marry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joel Engel is the author or co-author of over fifteen books. He is a former journalist for such publications as The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He lives in Southern California. Engel had extensively interviewed the detective, and has a copy of the case file.
When a series of rapes and attempted rapes occur in a lover’s lane up in the L.A. hills by a black rapist disguised as a cop, the young women of Los Angeles are terrified. In order to keep the peace, the LAPD brass knows they need to make an arrest right away, so they grab recently-fired black cop Todd Roark and haul him off to jail, even though he looks nothing like the rapist and is half the guy’s size. The institutionally racist LAPD tells Roark he’s facing the death penalty—not for rape, but for kidnapping. The only one who believes his innocence is Latino detective Danny Galindo, one of the three Latinos on the force, and a veteran of the Black Dahlia case back in 1947. Galindo vows he will catch the real rapist and get his friend out of jail.
Galindo starts interviewing the few victims who would come forward (some, like a young Japanese-American girl, refuse to talk to the police). When he meets Margie Smith, who managed to get away, he knows he has a problem on his hands. For the detective is smitten, and LAPD rules forbid any sort of romantic entanglements with material witnesses. Galindo learns the feeling is mutual, so he and Margie come up with ways to continue to meet with while hiding it from LAPD brass, who would like nothing better than to bounce the suave Latino from the force.
Galindo, the handsome, smooth detective, is also the LAPD’s liaison to Jack Webb of “Dragnet” fame. Galindo's plan is to convene a task force and have the costume and makeup departments from Universal Studios help put real life cops in drag as decoys in order to catch the rapist when he strikes again.
After an agonizing night of sitting in their Chevys, Studebakers and Plymouths, the task force hits paydirt—the rapist picks on the lone female cop among the decoys, who happens to be in a car with Galindo. Finally, they had him—or did they? A physically and mentally exhausting three hour car and foot chase and gun battle begins—three times the rapist aims his Luger point-blank at Galindo and pulls the trigger…and each time it misfires. Finally, the rapist is shot and caught by another undercover team, a little boy recovers the discarded Luger, and Galindo makes sure that Roark is cleared of all charges. And the happy ending—the detective and Margie marry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joel Engel is the author or co-author of over fifteen books. He is a former journalist for such publications as The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He lives in Southern California. Engel had extensively interviewed the detective, and has a copy of the case file.
