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The case of the Public Offender - Ingleside District 1934
Murder on the 19th Hole
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Oceanview District: The Little Frog Catcher

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The case of the Public Offender - Ingleside District 1934

 In 1913 the “world’s largest sun dial” was built on Entrata Court, in  the middle of what had been the Ingleside race track, off Ocean Avenue.   It was perhaps not the ideal location for a device that depends on sunshine to be built in one of the foggiest parts of San Francisco.  It does have one unusual feature.  If you climb to the top of this sundial you will be able to see the houses of the victim and of the perpetrator of the most famous murder in Ingleside history.

Murder on the 19th Hole

The Richmond – Murder on the 19 hole
 
 
Most murders don’t make the headlines. Without the requisite attractions of celebrity, sex, money, politics, revenge, carnage, blood, espionage, perversity or Nancy Grace, most homicides are relegated to the back pages or completely ignored by thefourth estate. Occasionally a killing has a quirky charm making it worthy of notice.
The circumstances of this case can be best understood by liberally quoting from the October 2, 1951 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Oceanview District: The Little Frog Catcher

This murder case had everything- frontier lesbians, French prostitutes, jealous Italians, enraged pimps, reform school babes, even a transvestite frog catcher.
 
On Thursday, September 15, 1876, the evening quiet at San Miguel Railway Station, located at what is now San Jose Avenue and Sickles Street in the Oceanview District was shattered by the report of a heavy shotgun blast. Pellets from the shot broke the window of a front bedroom of John McNamara's saloon/hotel, and struck 27-year-old Jeanne Bonnet, killing her instantly.

Glen Park - The Death of the Boss from Hell

 
Crime Stories from San Francisco Neighborhoods:
Each week we will be presenting notorious crimes that occurred in your San Francisco neighborhood.   Isn’t it nice to know that even the most peaceful neighborhood has a few skeletons in the closet.
 
Episode #2 Glen Park- The Death of the Boss from Hell  1914
 
George and Harry Gray gave even unbridled capitalism a bad name.  The brothers made millions running a strip quarry business in upper Noe Valley.  The damage they created by dynamiting on Telegraph Hill causes landslides in the winter, even today.

The Sunset - The Murder of "The Animal"

Crime Stories from San Francisco Neighborhoods:
Each week we will be presenting notorious crimes that occurred in your San Francisco neighborhood.   Isn’t it nice to know that even the most peaceful neighborhood has a few skeletons in the closet.
 
Episode #1 The Sunset - The Murder of Joe Barboza
 
On February 11, 1976, when Joe Barboza was shot to death on Moraga and 25
th Ave there was little speculation about who did it or why.  It was more “why did it take so long.”