Then Captain, now Inspector Edmund Exley, credited with solving the Nite Owl reopening case, said that it has finally been resolved, despite rumors that a fourth conspirator died abruptly, just as he was about to be arrested. “That’s nonsense,” Exley said. “I gave the county grand jury a detailed brief on the case and testified extensively myself They accepted my findings. It’s over.”
At some great cost. LAPD Chief of Detectives Thad Green, soon to retire and assume command of the U.S. Border Patrol, said, “For sheer expense and the number of accumulated investigatory man-hours, the Nite Owl case has no equal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime case and the price for clearing it was very, very high.”
EXTRACT: L.A. _Mirror-News_, April 15:
LOEW RESIGNATION A SHOCKER;
LEGAL CROWD BUZZES
Speculation in Southland legal circles rages: why did Los Angeles District Attorney Ellis Loew resign from office yesterday and scotch a brilliant political career? Loew, 49, announced his resignation at his regular weekly press conference, citing nervous exhaustion and a desire to return to private practice. Aides close to the man described the abrupt retirement as stupefyingly atypical. The D.A.’s Office is stunned: Ellis Loew appeared happy, fit and in perfect health.
Chief Criminal Prosecutor Robert Gallaudet told this reporter: “Look, I’m stunned, and I don’t stun easily. What’s Ellis’ underlying motive? I don’t know, ask him. And when the City Council appoints an interim D.A., I hope it’s me.”
After the shock waves subsided, plaudits rolled in. LAPD Chief William H. Parker described Loew as a “vigorous and fair-minded foe of criminals,” and Parker’s aide, Captain Dudley Smith, said, “We’ll miss Ellis. He was a grand friend of justice.” Governor Knight and Mayor Norris Poulson sent Loew telegrams asking him to reconsider his decision. Loew himself could not be reached for comment.
EXTRACT: L.A. _Herald-Express_, April 19:
DREAM-A-DREAMLAND SUICIDES: GRIEF,
BEWILDERMENT CONTINUE
They were found together at Dream-a-Dreamland, temporarily closed to mourn the death of a great man’s son. Preston Exley, 64, former Los Angeles policeman, master builder and neophyte politician; Inez Soto, 28, publicity director at the world’s most celebrated amusement complex and a key witness in the awful Nite Owl murder case. And Raymond Dieterling, 66, the father of modern animation, the genius who virtually created the cartoon art form, the man who built Dreama-Dreamland as a tribute to a child tragically lost. The world at large and Los Angeles in particular have expressed great grief and bewilderment.
They were found last week, together, on Dreama-Dreamland’s Grand Promenade. There were no notes, but County Coroner Frederic Newbarr quickly ruled out foul play and established the deaths as suicides. The means: all three had ingested fatal quantities of a rare antipsychotic drug. Expressions of grief greeted the news–President Eisenhower, Governor Knight and Senator William Knowland were among those who offered condolences to the loved ones of the three. Exley and Dieterling left fortunes: the building magnate willed his construction kingdom to his longtime aide Arthur De Spain and his $1 7-million financial estate to his son Edmund, a Los Angeles police officer. Dieterling left his more than vast holdings to a legal trust, with instructions to disperse the funds and future Dream-a-Dreamland profits among various children’s charities. With the legalities taken care of and public shock and bereavement hardly abating, speculation into the motives for the suicides began to rage.
Miss Soto was romantically linked to Preston Exley’s son Edmund and had been despondent over recent publicity pertaining to her involvement in the Nite Owl case. Raymond Dieterling was distraught over the recent murder of his son William. Preston Exley, however, had recently celebrated his greatest triumph, the completion of the Southern California mass freeway system, and had just announced his candidacy in the governor’s race. A poll conducted shortly before his death showed him gaining and favored to win the Republican nomination. There seems to be no logical motive for the man to take his own life. Those closest to Preston Exley–Arthur De Spain and son Edmund– have refused comment.
Letters of sympathy and floral tributes flood Dream-a-Dreamland and Preston Exley’s Hancock Park home. Flags fly at half mast throughout the State of California. Hollywood grieves the loss of a moviemaking colossus. The single word “Why?” rests on millions of lips.