The Leonard Files

We run down some of the unusual crime stories we followed this week, including a home invasion robbery in Woodland Hills, the discoveries of the bodies of 2 people inside cars at LA tow yards, and consider why the California Attorney General has suddenly taken legal action against LA County, after years of complaints about poor living conditions inside jails.   Thanks for listening to The Leonard...

The US Attorney’s Office in Southern California filed a civil lawsuit against Southern California Edison in federal court, seeking to hold the utility liable for the cost of fighting the Eaton Fire and for the damage it caused to the Angeles National Forest. More than 5,000 fire victims have already filed suit in state court for the deaths of loved ones and the loss of homes and businesses. We con...

Erik & Lyle Menendez’s defense lawyer Mark Geragos says he’s going to court to challenge the decision last week to deny parole for the brothers, but it’s a difficult legal path. Criminal justice professor and parole attorney Bruce Zucker talks about the reality of the decisions last week and the prospect of a successful legal challenge.   Thanks for listening to The Leonard Files – Stay with us as...

The last of 6 men accused of taking part in the 2008 murder of LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante was returned to Southern California from Mexico this week, as part of a negotiated agreement between the US Justice Department and Mexican justice officials. Roberto Salazar was charged in 2011 but wasn’t located until March, 2025. Deputy Escalante’s murder led to one of the largest organi...

We update a few stories we’ve been covering: arrests in burglary of actor Brad Pitt’s home in Los Feliz, an information vacuum in the hoax bomb threat made by LA Mayor Karen Bass’ former deputy mayor for public safety, and new allegations against already-accused LA City Councilman Curren Price.   Thanks for listening to The Leonard Files – Stay with us as we uncover the investigations from some of...

The ATF and LA County Sheriff’s Department continue to examine what caused the hand grenade explosion that claimed the lives of Detectives Victor Lemus, William Osborn, and Joshua Kelley-Eklund. The grenade that detonated – had been examined and x-rayed and was believed to be inert. But what if the x-ray was inaccurate? The latest on the ongoing investigation.   Thanks for listening to The Leonard...

More questions have been raised about the LAPD’s response to the home of an American Idol music supervisor and her husband, who were worried about security in the neighborhood, and were murdered when they walked-in on a burglary in progress. Police had been at their doorstep minutes earlier, but newly-public court records suggest the couple was never made aware of the prowler investigation and wer...

Federal agents and homicide detectives are working to find out – how 3 members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Arson and Explosives Detail, also known as the Bomb Squad, were killed July 18 when something they were examining detonated in the parking lot of the unit’s headquarters near East LA. Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn were killed. Now, investigators...

Mid-year crime data suggests LA is safer now – than last year. Like most other major cities in the US the number of violent and property crimes reported to police continue to decline, following major drops in 2023 and 2024. Historically the number of police shootings trend down along with the violent crime rate, but in the City of LA, they’ve increased in the first 6 months of 2025.   Thanks for l...

The cause of the January 7, 2025 Palisades Fire remains a mystery, at least to the public, as fire investigators from the ATF and local agencies have said little about what’s been discovered. We’ve picked up a few clues in recent weeks, that appear to suggest the case is focused on what ignited a much smaller brush fire in the Palisades Highlands that burned a week earlier. Fire experts have told...

New court documents show federal authorities had considered the possibility in early June that the man accused of being an accomplice in the Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing might try to harm himself. Daniel Park was found unresponsive in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown LA Tuesday morning and died at a hospital. The LA County Medical Examiner says he died by suicide.   Thanks fo...

Police and federal agents announced 2 significant arrests this week in high-dollar jewel heists. Detectives in Simi Valley say they caught 4 members of a safecracking crew – a few weeks after a jewelry store was the target of a tunnel-in blowtorch burglary. Separately, federal prosecutors announced an indictment of 7 people accused of pulling-off – what authorities say – was the single-largest jew...

A key clue collected near the scene of the 2022 murder of 81-year-old Ok Ja Kim in Woodland Hills – may have helped investigators connect that case with the recent arrest of a man charged with murdering 53-year-old Menashe “Manny” Hidra in Valley Village in April. Newly amended criminal charges also accuse the man of a stabbing during a home burglary in San Fernando in 2022 – where the victim surv...

Here’s what we know about the murder of a man in Baldwin Park, California on Saturday, May 31, 2025 – that led to the ambush-killing of Baldwin Park Police Officer Samuel Riveros and a gunfight between officers and the suspected killer. A second officer was wounded and survived. The accused killer was publicly identified by authorities, and detectives are still trying to piece together all that ha...

Here’s what we know about the murder of a man in Baldwin Park, California on Saturday, May 31, 2025 – that led to the ambush-killing of Baldwin Park Police Officer Samuel Riveros and a gunfight between officers and the suspected killer. A second officer was wounded and survived. The accused killer was publicly identified by authorities, and detectives are still trying to piece together all that ha...

Thieves hit at least 2 Southern California jewelry stores this week, possibly taking advantage of the holiday weekend when more businesses would be closed. Both stores are small, family-owned businesses that say they lost more than $1-million each in jewelry, valuables, and cash. Are the break-ins connected? And what about a number of other massive jewel and cash heists that are still unsolved?  ...

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have announced that former deputy mayor Brian Williams has agreed to plead guilty to a charge related to a hoax bomb threat made at LA City Hall last Fall. Williams, who was Mayor Karen Bass' manager of public safety issues — and her liaison with outside law enforcement agencies, will admit he staged the call and reported a false threat to police, according to a...

The tragic death of a 21-year-old LA County Sheriff’s deputy in a car crash this week raised renewed questions about how mandatory overtime shifts have exhausted some of the Department’s workforce. Dep. Daniel Chavira died at a hospital after he was airlifted from the scene of the crash. He was driving home after working a double shift at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, and with...

Federal agents scouring online profiles that appear tied to the man who blew up a fertility clinic in Palm Springs — include some videos of explosive experiments in the desert! Some of the videos, which have since been taken-down from YouTube and other sites, show specific chemicals used in some of the tests.   Thanks for listening to The Leonard Files – Stay with us as we uncover the investigatio...

We have a full account of the statements Lyle and Erik Menendez made in court this week just before a judge reduced their prison terms and opened the door to possible release on parole. Parole hearings are often scheduled months in advance, and it wasn’t clear when a hearing would happen. Then, late this week California prison officials announced a previously scheduled June 13, 2025 clemency suita...

Erik & Lyle Menendez will argue this week that they deserve to have their life-without-parole prison terms reduced after spending decades behind bars. A resentencing hearing, delayed repeatedly for a variety of reasons, is finally scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 13. The LA County District Attorney's Office says it will oppose it, after unsuccessfully trying to intervene to stop the proceeding enti...

Journalist Dexter Thomas joins the pod to explain who made those (obviously) fake videos of the Hollywood sign on fire – that spread rapidly across social media on the day the Palisades and Eaton Fires burned through Southern California. It turns out those fake videos earned the creator quite a bit of real money! And now – the person behind some of the imagery is selling an online course to teach...

In the latest development in the Menendez brothers’ saga — California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office says there’s no reason their resentencing can’t go ahead with prosecutors from the LA County District Attorney's Office. Erik and Lyle Menendez have asked the court to boot the DA, alleging the elected DA and the entire office are biased against their bid to receive reduced sentences for the 1...

The judge considering whether or not Erik and Lyle Menendez deserve to have their life-without-parole prison terms reduced is expected to decide this week - whether the LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman should be removed from the case. Menendez defense lawyer Mark Geragos says the DA himself is too biased to be fair, and that means all of the office’s employees should be booted as well. W...

Nearly a month after LAPD officers shot and wounded Jillian Shriner in Eagle Rock — prosecutors still haven’t decided whether or not to file criminal charges. The LAPD says Shriner, who’s married to Weezer bassist Scott Schriner, fired a shot at officers while they were searching backyards for three people who fled from a freeway crash. Shriner was wounded when two officers returned fire, but reco...