Murder By the Bay: Historic Homicide in and About the City of San Francisco

Documenting the murders in San Francisco that captivated both the city and the country, this dynamic history shows how the Bay Area can compete with Paris, London, and New York in the splendor of its suspenseful, horrifying, and audacious misdeeds. From the Montgomery Street killing of James King of William, editor of the Daily Evening Bulletin, in 1856 and the sensational trial of the early-movie comedian Fatty Arbuckle who was accused of killing a showgirl at a party in the St. Francis Hotel to the shocking “City Hall Murders” in which former city supervisor Dan White killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the homicides chronicled have been selected because a convergence of personality, circumstance, character, and geography makes them peculiarly San Franciscan. In addition to the facts, the historical importance of each of these crimes—whether they changed a law or revealed a shortcoming in society—is analyzed.