Member-only story
The Labor Day Weekend Shooting of Paul Bern
Was The Hollywood’s Producer’s Death Really a Suicide?
Monday, September 5, 1932 in Los Angeles was the 38th official Labor Day for the country. Los Angeles had been enjoying relatively comfortable temperatures in the week previous and that Monday promised to be a lovely sunny day. For the city’s residents, as well as those around the country, picnics and parades were planned. In Benedict Canyon, high above the city, a mystery was beginning to unfold.
Gardener Clifton Davis had a regular workday planned. He lived above a three-car garage in servant’s quarters at 8620 Easton Drive, along with a married couple called John and Winifred Carmichael. While walking the lawn that was his responsibility, Davis found a broken champagne glass by the pool. Assuming the delicate crystal was expensive and could be repaired, he took the pieces into the home and washed them in the sink near the dining area. Noticing that the pieces of crystal had blood on them, he assumed his employer had cut himself. It was only after washing the crystal that Davis looked down the hallway toward the bedroom and saw two bodies. One, that of John Carmichael, the household butler, moved. Carmichael had arrived for his workday just before Davis had and upon seeing a dead body, had fainted.