Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It's Sunday, June 16. I am Christopher Goffard, a Times reporter and sometime podcaster. Here's what you need to know to start your day:
'Crimes of The Times:' The 'Twilight Zone' disaster cast a harsh light on Hollywood
I've been writing a new series called "Crimes of The Times," looking at old criminal cases — the famous, the obscure and everything in between.
One of the most infamous cases from my childhood was the "Twilight Zone" movie-set disaster of 1982. Growing up in Los Angeles, it was hard to escape the terrible footage on the nightly news of the plunging helicopter that killed Vic Morrow and two children. The subsequent trial of director John Landis and four associates went on for 10 months.
All five defendants were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter, but the trial did not put to rest questions of moral culpability. The children — My-Ca Le, 7, and Renee Chen, 6 — should not have been on that movie set at 2 a.m.. Landis had known he was breaking labor laws.
Thomas Budds, the L.A. County sheriff's detective assigned to the case, told me it was originally described as an "industrial accident." Now 78 and long retired, he recalls stepping onto the crash site in Indian Dunes and being struck by the reek of gasoline from pyrotechnic explosives.
Some people associated with the production were hesitant to talk to him, for fear of being blackballed in Hollywood. But Budds conducted hundreds of interviews that shaped his abiding view of Landis as an arrogant, overbearing filmmaker who had demanded a big special-effects spectacle in hopes of outshining his more famous peers, like Steven Spielberg.
"I think he wanted to be the breakout guy," Budds told me.
In other installments of the series, I talk to Marcia Clark about the challenges of prosecuting the obsessed stalker who murdered actress Rebecca Schaeffer, a landmark case that inspired the nation's first anti-stalking laws.
I revisit the case of William Leasure, the LAPD traffic cop with the forgettable face and the bland-as-vanilla manner who happened to moonlight as a contract killer.
And I tell the story of Paul Morantz, the crusading attorney who took on the Synanon rehab cult and reached into his mailbox to find retaliation in the form a rattlesnake.
As older cases fade into the past, it's harder to find key participants who are able to talk about them. One goal of Crimes of The Times is to find these living links to the past, whenever possible, and get their voices on the record.
In coming weeks, I'll be writing about the McMartin preschool case; a little-remembered figure from the Charles Manson saga; the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times; and the bizarre recovered-memory prosecution of George Franklin.
Is there a crime you want us to write about? Send tips my way.
The week's biggest stories
A giant wave crashes over a jetty at Redondo Beach in December. After a year of dominance, El Niño is making an exit. The departing climate pattern helped fuel California's second consecutive winter of heavy storms. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
California weather
Disney
Politics
Crime
More big stories
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Column One
Column One is The Times' home for narrative and longform journalism. Here's a great piece from this week:
(Illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times)
With Hollywood shedding jobs, here is help for coping with the slowdown. As The Times has continued to report on the struggles of crew members, writers and the industry's slow post-strike reboot, what we have heard from readers is that they need help. With that in mind, our staff has compiled a series of stories that focus on finding help for mental health matters, financial tips and how those in need can access funds.
More great reads
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For your weekend
Julien James and son Maison James. (Mark Clennon)
Going out
Staying in
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
(Rebecca Reed / For the Times)
I discovered my dad's secret children. It changed us forever. My dad was almost a little too perfect. He was adept at keeping secrets. So I wasn't expecting an unknown half-sibling to knock on our front door.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
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