"Leroy Harris Geiger, 24, of 741 Stanford Ave., Los Angeles. He gave his occupation as a news vendor."
At 6:30 a.m.on February 25, 1946, a bus driver made a grim discovery in a parking lot near 7th and Wall Streets, located near the Pacific Electric depot, in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row district. The driver, on his way back from a run to the beach saw the lifeless body of a woman, with brown wavy hair, nude except for her blue bobby socks, sprawled against a building, not far from the bus depot. Her clothes had been torn from her body which had shown clear signs of a brutal and violent attack. She had been stabbed 21 times in the left breast and one time in the one on the right, her jaw had been fractured in two places, and a gag had been placed in her mouth. Police said she apparently had been sexually assaulted.
The victim was soon identified through her fingerprints as Miss May "Chuckie" Dasparro, also known by the aliases May Ola Foote and Mrs. May R. Gasbarro. Her history revealed numerous run-ins with the law, including at least 12 arrests for charges such as intoxication, bunco (a form of swindling or conning people out of money), resorting (likely referring to being in or involved with illegal or disreputable establishments), prostitution, and other minor offenses. Her last known address was listed as 1423 East 75th Street, and her profession was noted as a beauty parlor operator.
Several hours before Miss May Dasparro’s body was discovered, Leroy Harris Geiger was arrested by patrolmen A.V. Worthington and J.M. Doctor. The officers saw him running through downtown Los Angeles with his hands and sweater stained in blood. The situation became even more suspicious when Geiger was observed throwing an object onto the roof of a nearby building. Without knowing the extent of the crime, the patrolmen arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Geiger's behavior, combined with the blood on his hands, made him a person of interest. It wasn’t until later that the significance of his capture became clear when a bus driver found the body of Mrs. Dasparro. Nothing was known of the woman's slaying at the time. Her body was not found until five hours later.
Captain Jack Donahoe, head of the central homicide bureau, called for all overnight stabbings, cuttings and slashings. Geiger was the only person involved in knifing in the vicinity of the murer. "Go and see this Geiger,: Donahoe told Detective Lieutenants Tommy Bryan and bill Cummings.
The primary suspect, Leroy Harris Geiger, who had been found with blood on his hands and carrying a jackknife, initially claimed self-defense. He alleged that the blood and the knife were the result of an altercation with a robber who attempted to hold him up. However, after police thoroughly searched the neighborhood and found no evidence to corroborate his story, Geiger's narrative unraveled. Upon further questioning, Geiger confessed to her murder, admitting that he had been overtaken by a "mad frenzy" after the woman, whom he had met in a Main Street bar, rejected his advances. He stated that her refusal enraged him, and he lost control, stabbing her repeatedly even after she was dead. "When she turned me down. I felt the urge to see blood, it was too overpowering. I continued to stab her even after she was dead," said Geiger. The detectives quickly reported by telephone that Geiger had confessed the killing.
Geiger's confession revealed more horrifying details of the crime. He said that after selling his newspapers, he went to a "Skid Row" bar. After drinking together, at her suggestion, he and Dasparro had walked to a secluded parking lot near the Pacific Electric Company depot. When she resisted his advances, he became furious, striking her with his fist with such force that he broke her jaw in two places. To silence her screams, he gagged her with his handkerchief. In a fit of rage, he stripped her clothes off and stabbed her repeatedly with a pocketknife, an act of excessive violence that investigators later described as "overkill." The nearby discovery of her purse's contents, though missing the purse itself, indicated that there may have been additional motives behind the attack. Police also suspected that she had been raped.
The tragic discovery shocked the local community, and Geiger's eventual confession painted a disturbing picture of an uncontrollable fit of violence, leading to a senseless and brutal murder.
Captain Jack Donahoe remarked that Leroy Geiger's sudden flight upon spotting a patrol car was likely due to his guilty conscience. "If he hadn't had a guilty conscience, he probably wouldn't have started running when he saw the patrol car," Donahoe noted, adding that the officers might have passed him by had he remained calm, as the darkness would have obscured the blood on his hands. Geiger's instinctive decision to flee only drew more attention to him, setting off a chain of events that led to his arrest.
As a result, he was held for trial on a murder charge, he had to answer in superior court by Municipal Judge Edward Jefferson. At this preliminary trial on March 11, 1946, Geiger protested the charges and denied being a murderer, stating that "Aw, I ain't no murderer, I just sort of went wild and lost control," trying to explain why he could not stop himself once the violence had begun. Officers said he admitted stabbing the woman, tearing off her clothes and leaving her in a downtown parking lot when "she displeased me" and he "suddenly felt the urge to see blood."
On trial for the murder on May 14, 1946, he pled guilty to the brutal lust killing. As a result, Superior Judge Thomas L. Ambrose fixed the murder at second degree. Geiger was sentenced to five years to life in San Quentin prison, where he worked as a trusty in the prison's forestry camp, an occupation reserved for inmates who had earned a degree of trust. Despite his violent crime, Geiger's time in the camp suggests a level of rehabilitation or control during his incarceration. You'd think that he would be grateful for the opportunity, but that was not to be. In 1950, he was held in the Oroville county jail for return to the prison. A.O. Hunkins of Magalia, supervisor of the prison forestry camp where Geiger had been working, said the prisoner failed to meet the requirements of a trusty.
Geiger’s personal background provides further details about his life. Born to Sallie Mae Roark and Oscar Geiger on May 8, 1921, in Philadelphia. His siblings were Mattie M. Bishop, Eugene Bishop, Regina Adeline Geiger, Everton Merrell Geiger, Lester Edwin Geiger, Evelyn Bernice Geiger Sticht , Adeline Miriam Geiger, Virginia Marcella Geiger, Dallas Elbert Geiger and Viola Geiger Keller.
He stood 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed approximately 135 pounds, with a light complexion, hazel eyes, and blonde hair. He also had a distinct scar on the palm of his left hand, which may have been a unique identifier for him during his life. He remained in Los Angeles until his death on January 21, 1989, marking the end of a life marred by a notorious crime in his youth.
Crime Facts:
- Offender age - 24
- Victim age - 31
- Victim - high risk
- Met at bar
- Both drunk alcohol
- Secluded Parking Lot
- Refused his advances
- "Mad frenzy" - Could not stop himself
- Broken jaw
- Gag in mouth - His Handkerchief
- Clothes torn from body
- Weapon - Jack knife
- Stabbed 21 times in left breast, once in right breast (piquerism)
- Overkill
- Body left on display in parking lot near bus depot
- Nude except for socks
- Purse missing (probably kept as trophy)
