The Murderess in the La Crescenta Hotel

Last week I wrote about the Silver Tree Inn, also known as the La Crescenta Hotel, once located where Foster’s Donuts is at Rosemont Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. I wrote about the famous folks who stayed there, but there was one that was more infamous than famous – serial killer Louise Peete.

As I mentioned last week, the Los Angeles District Attorney kept a suite at the La Crescenta Hotel. So when a location was needed for a “house arrest” of Louise Peete, the La Crescenta Hotel was chosen.

In 1920, Peete was accused of murdering a rich Los Angeles man, Jacob Denton. Peete proclaimed her innocence. With her husband and 4-year-old daughter, she boarded a train from Denver to face her accusers. The LAPD stopped the train at El Cajon, grabbed the family and hustled them off to the La Crescenta Hotel. She was kept under guard as she and her lawyer accused the LAPD of kidnapping her. This escapade was national news as Peete was beautiful and her life had been a lurid one. Several photos of her at the hotel can be found on the Internet.

She managed one escape from the La Crescenta Hotel while she was kept there under house arrest. Apparently the guards on duty just then weren’t familiar with Peete’s appearance, mistook her for a comely guest of the hotel and let her simply walk away. A witness described the scene:

“Descending the steps was Miss Peete, parasol perched daintily over a shoulder and the full skirt of a filmy summer frock held discretely at ankle height while the lovely lady began to walk down the drive of the hotel toward Foothill Boulevard.

“Sturdy policemen ran fingers under their collars, gulped at the luck that brought them to this spot and had placed this vision of ‘loveliness personified’ on the hotel steps. And then secretly cursed the ugly duty that kept them rooted to either side of the flower-lined drive. They were hunting a murderess.

“They murmured embarrassed good mornings as Miss Peete spoke to them and even offered her hand. Step-by-step, policeman-by-policeman, Miss Peete, poised and cool, the only one cool on that summer morning, smiled her way out of the hotel grounds … and boarded the morning stage for Los Angeles.”

Peete had charisma that allowed her to pass by the policemen and a seeming sexual magnetism that allowed her to rack up an impressive toll of death surrounding her suitors.

She was caught and brought back to the hotel. She also cooperated with the murder investigation like any self-respecting sociopath, and was sentenced to prison.

Let’s do a quick run-through of the crime career of Louise Peete. Born to a wealthy family, she was precociously promiscuous and a natural thief. She first married a hotel clerk in 1903, which gave her access to the hotel’s vault. Her first husband committed suicide. She worked for a while as a high-end prostitute and thief. She married a rich oilman next and murdered him, but managed to plead self-defense successfully. Her charisma carried her. After that she married another hotel worker, more thefts, and he committed suicide as well. She married another rich guy in Denver and had a child with him, but quickly moved on to Los Angeles.

There she shacked up with Denton, a millionaire, quietly murdered him and buried him in the basement. Then she used his house and money for some awesome parties. When things got suspicious, back she went to her last husband and her daughter in Denver. It was from there she was brought to the La Crescenta Hotel and her conviction.

While in prison her last husband and her cellmate committed suicide. She used her charm to get out early. Her first stop was at a house where three more people died mysteriously. Another job as a rich man’s caretaker resulted in another murder, another marriage and another suicide. This time she was sentenced to death in the gas chamber.

Quite a rap-sheet for the La Crescenta Hotel’s most infamous guest. Remember her next time you get a donut at Foster’s!