The remarkable photographs from real-life crime scenes are taken by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the early to mid 20th century.
Pictures show two men lie gunned down at their restaurant table after an alleged mob hit, a lifeless body lies mysteriously under the Los Angeles River whilst a glamorous film star poses in a jail cell.
These images all sound like fictional scenes from a classic Hollywood film noir.
Since 1925, the LAPD captured scores of forensic crime images which form part of their archives – some of which are macabre whilst other shots are more darkly amusing in tone.
One chilling image shows a murder victim who had his throat slashed in his car in 1929 and two men slain over their spaghetti at an Italian restaurant in a mafia hit.
There are also sombre crime scene photographs from the Hollywood Hills home of legendary comedian Lenny Bruce following his overdose in 1966.
Meanwhile a 1955 photo shows Hollywood actress, Maila Nurmi comically posing in a jail cell – after surviving a murder attempt when a man broke into her apartment.
Whilst another humorous photo shows an LAPD officer administrating a field sobriety test to a woman in 1958 – which clearly didn’t end well.
The fascinating series also includes a later photograph from 1970 – which shows a member of the Manson family arriving for their arraignment.
There are an estimated one million photographs within the LAPD archives.
Many of these images come from Special Investigations Division – America’s oldest crime lab, which was established in the 1920s.
The collection includes everything from forensic shots of bank robbery notes through to morgue portraits, crime scene images and crime re-enactment stills.
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