My Dark Places - James Ellroy [134]
Shortly after intercourse was completed the offender struck the victim with a blunt force object, which was readily accessible, after which he applied the cord and finally the victim’s stocking. Due to an obvious lack of defense wounds, it is unlikely that any struggle occurred initially. From witness reports the victim appeared at ease with the offender and she most likely never perceived the offender as posing a physical threat.
After leaving Stan’s Drive-In the offender most likely drove directly to the location where the victim was found. The offender was familiar with the location and selected it for its isolation from public view and because it had been used as a “lovers lane” and his vehicle would not necessarily stand out.
The sex act would have occurred inside the offender’s vehicle, hence the victim’s underpants remained in the vehicle because the victim never had the opportunity to put them back on. Whatever circumstances triggered the offender’s anger occurred after the victim had reinserted the tampon.
After the victim was strangled, the offender removed her from the vehicle and dumped her body on the ivy. In the process, the victim’s pearl necklace broke and fell in the street. The offender’s last act was to place the victim’s coat over the lower portion of her body.
In respect to the death of victim Bobbie Long, and in the absence of any witness information, the specific chronology of events leading to the death of this victim cannot be recounted with any degree of specificity and/or detail; therefore, no attempt will be made to reconstruct the crime. There are however certain factors that are relative to the crime scene that suggest specific activities.
A return bus ticket found in the victim’s purse supports witnesses’ statements that the victim had planned to attend the horse races at Santa Anita Race Track on January 22, 1959.
Assuming the victim went to the horse races, she may have met the offender at the races that day or even been previously acquainted with him and accepted a ride. Since the victim had accepted rides from men she did not know well in the past, she did not apparently worry about her personal safety.
The victim was secretive about her personal life, but what little was known about her indicates that she was willing to take whatever a man had to offer.
The victim appeared to have consumed a Mexican dinner sometime in the early evening as evidenced by the autopsy report. The victim appeared to have participated in consensual sex with the offender. She was fully dressed, with the exception of her stockings, and her clothing was intact and not torn.
The victim was found lying on the grass shoulder of a dirt access road one-tenth of a mile off of a main road in the city of La Puente. She was lying on her back and the lower portion of her body was covered with her coat (similar to victim Ellroy). It appears she too was dumped on the ground after her death had occurred.
Victim Long’s death occurred in very much the same manner as victim Ellroy’s. After consensual sex, which may have also taken place in the offender’s vehicle, she was unexpectedly struck with a blunt force object to the head numerous times, with an object the offender had readily accessible. After sustaining the blows, the offender applied what may have been one of the victim’s stockings, placed it around her neck, and strangled the victim.
The offender then removed the victim from his vehicle and dumped her on the grass shoulder along with her purse. Again, the offender’s last act was to place the victim’s coat over the lower portion of her body, very similar to what had occurred to victim Ellroy.
The distance between the location of where victim Ellroy’s body was found to that of victim Long’s is approximately four and one-half miles. Victim Ellroy’s body was found approximately one and one-half miles from the area where she was seen dancing and eating prior to her death. This area was less than a mile away from where victim Long’s body was discovered.
In both