Sentencing for shooter in Silent Movie Theatre
BlakeMF
the possibility of parole for killing Larry Austin at the Silent Movie Theatre.
He was also given an additional 27 years for the attempted murder of the girl
behind the counter, lying in wait and murder for profit.
Neither Rodriguez, nor his parents, made any kind of statement. No relatives
from larry Austin's family were present, either. Bob Gelfand (who was at the
theatre the night of the killing) and myself were allowed to make statements
for the record.
James Van Sickel will probably be formally sentenced in late May or early June.
Joe Bevilacqua
remains closed.
BlakeMF <bla...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990421190537...@ng143.aol.com...
Jeremy Bond Shepherd
In message <19990421190537...@ng143.aol.com>, bla...@aol.com
(BlakeMF) wrote:
>
> Bob Gelfand (who was at the theatre the night of the killing) and myself
were allowed to make statements for the record
What was the thrust of your statement?
- Jeremy
BlakeMF
before my time here. But. Have any connections been made to the possible
symbolic meaning of James
Van Sickel having chosen a screening of Sunrise (of all things) for the murder?
Was the murder timed to any specific point in the film whether by
coincidence or by plan? (for example did it happen during the sequence where
they are on the lake and he has decided to kill her?) Are there any
connections/situations regarding the elationships of the actual people
involved to the (love/triangle) plot of Sunrise? >>
In one word...NO.
David P. Hayes
>Pardon if I'm asking a tired already done question, since this murder was
>before my time here. But.
>Have any connections been made to the possible symbolic meaning of James
>Van Sickel having chosen a screening of Sunrise (of all things) for the
>murder?
>Was the murder timed to any specific point in the film whether by
>coincidence or by plan? (for example did it happen during the sequence
>where they are on the lake and he has decided to kill her?)
The shooting occurred during one of the shorts shown before the feature
would have been. "Sunrise" did not run that night.
bcw...@earthlink.net
David P. Hayes wrote:
I believe the short being shown at the time was Larry Semon's SCHOOL DAYS,
which leaves the chilling possibility that the last image Lawrence Austin saw
on the silver screen was Frank Hayes in drag.
Brent Walker
The Avocado Avenger
>David P. Hayes wrote:
That's an image that's going to linger. As if life wasn't already
depressing enough.
Does anyone have the title of the thread(s) where this was discussed
earlier? I'm interested but am sure most of this was already talked about
before I got here, and began reading all the posts.
Stacia * The Avocado Avenger * Life is a tale told by an idiot;
http://www.io.com/~stacia/ * Full of sound and fury,
Remove the guacamole to reply! * Signifying nothing.
David P. Hayes
> Does anyone have the title of the thread(s) where this was discussed
>earlier? I'm interested but am sure most of this was already talked about
>before I got here, and began reading all the posts.
The best way to find earlier posts on the operator of the Silent Movie
Theater is to go to DejaNews (www.dejanews.com), then to the PowerSearch
feature, and select as newsgroup "alt.movies.silent" and as content
"Austin." This should narrow down search matches mostly to this one man.
(His first name is given variously as "Larry," "Laurence" and "Lawrence," so
don't enter these.)
I wrote a lengthy post on the operation of the theater and the murder under
the title "Larry Austin Remembered on the First Anniversary of His Murder."
This was posted January 16, 1998, and if you're interested, you can summon
it quickly from DejaNews by entering my name as author and he date range
from Jan 16 1998 to a few days after this (to allow for delay on DejaNews's
part).
--
David Hayes
To respond privately, excise the first underscore from address. (If your
news reader does not allow you to edit an email address within the send
fields, my address consists of "davidp" then an underscore ("_") then
surname "hayes", followed by: atsign earthlink dot net.)
To search for my oldest and newest posts in DejaNews, enter as author
"davi*p_hayes@*" or "David&P.&Hayes".
David P. Hayes
>> >Pardon if I'm asking a tired already done question, since this murder
was
>> >before my time here. But.
>> >Have any connections been made to the possible symbolic meaning of James
>> >Van Sickel having chosen a screening of Sunrise (of all things) for the
>> >murder?
I responded:
>> The shooting occurred during one of the shorts shown before the feature
>> would have been. "Sunrise" did not run that night.
Spiritus wrote in message ...
>At <http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/> The report on the murder says:
>"Laurence Austin, owner/operator of the Silent Movie Showcase (Theater) in
>Los Angeles, CA, was murdered at approximately 8:30 PM, PST January 17,
>1997, during the screening of a program of shorts before the feature film
>Sunrise (1927) was to be shown."
>I had not noticed particularly the words "before the feature film Sunrise"
>when I read this a year ago. It stuck in my mind since then that the
>"coincidence" of the film Sunrise, showing that night was disturbing. The
>symbolism in choosing the night of that film for the murder would still
>hold true regardles of the fact that the murder itself halted the showing
>of Sunrise. Since there are some intimations as I recall that Mr. Van
>Sickel was in some way "involved" with Mr. Austin. It doesn't seem too far
>a stretch to think that the choice of that night had some symbolic
>significance to Mr. Van Sickel.
Despite the sexual component of the Austin-Van Sickel relationship and Van
Sickel's expressing an interest in silent film when they met, Van Sickel was
not knowledgable about silent film. When Van Sickel was organizing the
memorial for Austin (Van Sickel had to maintain the pretense that he was not
involved in the murder, didn't he?), he spoke with Jeff Vance to learn what
film clips would be appropriate to show. (Vance collaborated with Lita Gray
Chaplin on the latter's recent book on her marriage to Chaplin, "The Wife of
the Life of the Party.") When Vance suggested the end scene of "The Iron
Mask," Van Sickel did not realize that this scene depicted the death of the
Fairbanks character, and when Van Sickel did grasp this, he laughed
approvingly at the idea of including this murder -- a stabbing in the back.
Austin and Van Sickel met when the latter was hired to paint the exterior of
the theater. Van Sickel left Austin several times, but would be lured back
when Austin (who, in his 70s, was twice Van Sickel's age) gave Van Sickel a
sportscar or something similar. (This latter point addresses the money that
Austin amassed from ticket sales and the surreptitious sale of the previous
operator's memorabilia. Austin could sell hundreds of dollars of tickets in
one night, yet was delinquent in paying taxes.)
BlakeMF
hardships of being a single parent.
The night of the murder, I sat in the lobby of the Hollywood police station
with Van Sickle who kept insisting "I'm gonna need a lot of help with this
theatre."
<<When Vance suggested the end scene of "The Iron Mask," Van Sickel did not
realize that this scene depicted the death of the Fairbanks character, and when
Van Sickel did grasp this, he laughed approvingly at the idea of including this
murder -- a stabbing in the back.>>
I wonder if he's laughing now? He will be sentenced shortly to life in prison
without parole.
<< Van Sickel left Austin several times, but would be lured back when Austin
(who, in his 70s, was twice Van Sickel's age) gave Van Sickel a sportscar or
something similar. >>
When Van Sickle was absent, he was in jail primarily, or (as in the case of his
last absence before the murder) was hiding out after trying to arrange a
robbery against Larry. As a matter of fact, it was at this time that Van
Sickle was trying to find someone to kill Larry.
The relationship of the two has been described by many as similar to the
"battered wife" syndrome. Larry couldn't let Van Sickle go, despite the many
problems he had with him. Van Sickle was a predator of this type of
relationship (he had nearly beat an elderly gay man to death in 1984) in the
past. It was a matter of time before this kind of action would catch up with
him.
Michael F. Blake
pre...@my-dejanews.com
bla...@aol.com (BlakeMF) wrote:
>
> When Van Sickle was absent, he was in jail primarily, or (as in the case of
his
> last absence before the murder) was hiding out after trying to arrange a
> robbery against Larry. As a matter of fact, it was at this time that Van
> Sickle was trying to find someone to kill Larry.
>
> The relationship of the two has been described by many as similar to the
> "battered wife" syndrome. Larry couldn't let Van Sickle go, despite the many
> problems he had with him. Van Sickle was a predator of this type of
> relationship (he had nearly beat an elderly gay man to death in 1984) in the
> past. It was a matter of time before this kind of action would catch up with
> him.
>
The depth of Van Sickle's stupidity: Larry was in his mid-70s and in
questionable health. Had he been just a little more patient, Larry probably
would have passed away of natural causes and Van Sickle would have inherited
everything without so much as a raised eyebrow. Now, one person died a
horrible death, another is probably gooing to be traumatized for the rest of
her life, and two men will spend the next 50 or more years in the slammer.
Justice prevails--but at a terrible cost.
Mike S.
> Michael F. Blake
>
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BlakeMF
<<Justice prevails--but at a terrible cost.>>
Amen, Mike!
Michael F. Blake
David P. Hayes
>Sickel's name is also striking (Van Sickel = of/from the Reaper). I guess
>synchronism is the element which calls my attention here rather than
>conscious design by those involved.
James Van Sickle's real name is James Leslie Scott. This is according to an
article in the Los Angeles "Daily News" of Wednesday, March 12, 1997. (This
fact was never reported by the "Los Angeles Times," to my knowledge.) The
"Daily News" article also reported that Austin had $80,000 in a bank account
which Van Sickle attempted to withdraw after Austin's death. Police had
already frozen the assets. The account listed Van Sickle as sole
beneficiary.
The "Los Angeles Times" of the same March 12, 1997, date reported:
"James Van Sickle, 34, a paunchy ex-bodybuilder who
showed up several years ago to help paint the Fairfax district
theater and remained intertwined in Austin's life, was being held
without bail on five felony charges, including one count of
murder with special circumstances that could carry the death
penalty.
"Police said Van Sickle, who was arrested Saturday
morning in Paramount, had put a contract out on the
74-year-old Austin to get control of the theater and its valuable
old films. Austin's estate has been valued at more than $1
million. Police say Van Sickle is listed as the sole beneficiary.
* * *
"The two met in 1990 and for most of the ensuing years Van
Sickle was Austin's efficient projectionist, business partner and
roommate, sharing the apartment above the theater, police
said. One of Austin's friends, Michael Yakaitis, said Van
Sickle told him he had been running the projection booth the
night of the murder.
"But in April 1996, Austin filed a police report accusing Van
Sickle of assault and robbery. Later, he opted not to pursue
the charges.
" ' They had an off-and-on relationship that was sometimes
stormy,' said Det. John Miller, one of two LAPD Hollywood
Division detectives who investigated the case. 'They argued,
fought and left one another.'
"Some of Austin's friends and fellow film buffs knew of his
turbulent relationship, but were confounded by Austin's actions
toward Van Sickle. For instance, even after he told friends
Van Sickle had robbed him, he allowed Van Sickle to hang
around the theater.
* * *
"Van Sickle's past is checkered with criminal activity. In
1988, he was charged with attempted murder in Compton but
the case was dismissed after the victim failed to appear for the
trial. In 1989, Van Sickle was sentenced to four years in
Orange County for transporting and selling narcotics. He
served about half that time in state prison in Chino. Pending
against him is a Torrance case in which he is accused of
attempting to pass a fictitious check."
The "Daily News" story added that the 34-years old had been a contract
paramedic, accountant, and Marine.
An odd footnote about what might have happened to the theater even had Larry
Austin continued to live was provided by his friend Michael Yakaitis, who
told the "Los Angeles Times," "His main goal was to build a house in
Hesperia. He eventually wanted to sell the theater and the films and build
this home." (Hesperia is mid-way between Los Angeles and the Nevada border,
a desert-like environment where at the time new homes were being advertised
for $69,000.)
--
David Hayes
To respond privately, excise the first underscore from address. (If your
news reader does not allow you to edit an email address within the send
fields, my address consists of "davidp" then an underscore ("_") then
surname "hayes", followed by: atsign earthlink dot net.)
To search for my oldest and newest posts in DejaNews, enter as author
"davi*p_hayes@*" or "David&P.&Hayes".
BlakeMF
<<James Van Sickle's real name is James Leslie Scott. This is according to an
article in the Los Angeles "Daily News" of Wednesday, March 12, 1997. (This
fact was never reported by the "Los Angeles Times," to my knowledge.) The
Sickle attempted to withdraw after Austin's death. Police had already frozen
the assets. The account listed Van Sickle as sole beneficiary.>>
Van Sickle's last name is just that...Van Sickle. When his mother divorced Van
Sickle she remarried a man by the name of Scott.
There were a few trust accounts that Larry had named Van Sickle as sole
beneficiary. The cops knew about Van Sickle trying to take money out
(primarily to pay off the shooter, who only got $1,000).
I am not at liberty to give specifics....Let's put it this way: By Jan. 18th,
5 am Saturday morning the cops had a good idea who a possible suspect was.
Michael F. Blake