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John P. St. John (detective)
Encyclopedia
John P. St. John better known as “Jigsaw John”, was an American
police officer
and Los Angeles Police Department
Homicide
detective
, renowned for his investigations of many of Los Angeles’s highest-profile murder cases. Upon his retirement in 1993, St. John held the highest seniority on the LAPD
with 51 years of service, a distinction that earned him the privilege of carrying LAPD Detective badge No. 1.
murder, a case he worked on-and-off until his retirement in 1993. http://www.bethshort.com/int-carr.php
His nickname, Jigsaw John, originated in his early career with a dismemberment
murder he solved in Griffith Park
in which the victim had been cut up jigsaw
-style. The moniker caught on because of his ability to piece clues together in difficult cases, resulting in many arrests and convictions. He became an authority on serial murders and worked 12 of them, including the 1950s serial killer
Harvey Glatman, Night Stalker Richard Ramirez
, the Hillside Stranglers, the Southside Slayer, and the William Bonin
Freeway Killer
case. In the latter, acting on a tip, St. John tracked down the Downey, CA truck driver and, on June 11, 1980, his team captured Bonin in the act of sodomizing
a victim. The killer had his murder kit in the vehicle. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/bonin/confess_7.html
, forensic techniques and the benefits of a new computerized age.
Still, at times he simply fell back on that “dogged determination”. In the Bonin case, although the killer was in custody, the DA
’s office was having trouble building a case, until one day Bonin received a letter from the mother of one of his victims begging him to tell her what happened to her son. He confessed to that and all of the other murders. As the trial date neared, St. John approached the deputy DA on the case and said, "I've got to tell you something. It wasn't the mother who wrote that letter."
writer Al Martinez to write the book Jigsaw John which became a 1976 NBC
television series by the same name, starring veteran character actor Jack Warden
. Over the course of his career, he solved at least two-thirds of the more than 1,000 homicides he worked including cop killings such as the famed Onion Fields
murder, cop-turned-contract murderer William Leasure and myriad other cop killings, murders for money, gangland killings and drive-by shootings.
In 1982, St. John became the second recipient of the LAPD’s Distinguished Service Medal for his eight-year investigation resulting in the conviction of William Bonin
. Bonin was executed by lethal injection
in 1996.
for the movie industry. It was not to be. “Jigsaw John” died of complications due to pneumonia
and pancreatic cancer
only two years later.
His funeral was a veritable “Who's Who” of LAPD’s powerful and famous, including O. J. Simpson
detectives Tom Lange and Philip Vanatter, as well as Judge Lance Ito
, who presided over the Simpson criminal trial. LAPD’s then Chief Willie L. Williams
and his predecessor, Chief Darryl F. Gates (who worked with him as a young detective), eulogized him, Williams reinstating the detective to active duty as of May 2, 1995 “That he make his final journey as a detective of the Los Angeles Police Department."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
and Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
Homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
, renowned for his investigations of many of Los Angeles’s highest-profile murder cases. Upon his retirement in 1993, St. John held the highest seniority on the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
with 51 years of service, a distinction that earned him the privilege of carrying LAPD Detective badge No. 1.
LAPD career
St. John served 43 years as a homicide detective, beginning in 1949, when he was assigned to the Department’s Homicide Division (merged to Robbery-Homicide in 1969). One of his first assignments was the notorious Black DahliaBlack Dahlia
"The Black Dahlia" was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short is an American woman and the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. She acquired the moniker posthumously by newspapers in the habit of nicknaming crimes they found particularly colorful...
murder, a case he worked on-and-off until his retirement in 1993. http://www.bethshort.com/int-carr.php
His nickname, Jigsaw John, originated in his early career with a dismemberment
Dismemberment
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
murder he solved in Griffith Park
Griffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...
in which the victim had been cut up jigsaw
Jigsaw
Jigsaw may refer to:* Jigsaw , a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves* Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces- Film and television :* Jigsaw , a 1949 film noir...
-style. The moniker caught on because of his ability to piece clues together in difficult cases, resulting in many arrests and convictions. He became an authority on serial murders and worked 12 of them, including the 1950s serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Harvey Glatman, Night Stalker Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez
Ricardo "Richard" Muñoz Ramírez is a convicted serial killer awaiting execution on California's death row at San Quentin State Prison...
, the Hillside Stranglers, the Southside Slayer, and the William Bonin
William Bonin
William George Bonin was an American serial killer and a twice-paroled sex offender, also known as the Freeway Killer, a nickname he shares with two other serial killers. Between 1979 and 1980, Bonin tortured, raped and killed a minimum of 21 boys and young men, and is suspected of committing a...
Freeway Killer
Freeway Killer
The Freeway Killer was a nickname given by the media—and later police forces—to what they believed was a single serial killer claiming victims in California, USA, during the 1970s and often dumping the victims along the freeways...
case. In the latter, acting on a tip, St. John tracked down the Downey, CA truck driver and, on June 11, 1980, his team captured Bonin in the act of sodomizing
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
a victim. The killer had his murder kit in the vehicle. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/bonin/confess_7.html
Investigative technique
St. John was renowned within the Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) for his amazing memory, and dogged determination in working the minutiae that led to solving murders and getting convictions. However, as criminal science became more sophisticated he kept up with the times taking advantage of modern scientific crime analysisCrime analysis
Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and trends in [crime] and disorder. Information on patterns can help law enforcement agencies deploy resources in a more effective manner, and assist detectives in identifying and...
, forensic techniques and the benefits of a new computerized age.
Still, at times he simply fell back on that “dogged determination”. In the Bonin case, although the killer was in custody, the DA
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
’s office was having trouble building a case, until one day Bonin received a letter from the mother of one of his victims begging him to tell her what happened to her son. He confessed to that and all of the other murders. As the trial date neared, St. John approached the deputy DA on the case and said, "I've got to tell you something. It wasn't the mother who wrote that letter."
Fame
St. John’s cases led Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Al Martinez to write the book Jigsaw John which became a 1976 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series by the same name, starring veteran character actor Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
. Over the course of his career, he solved at least two-thirds of the more than 1,000 homicides he worked including cop killings such as the famed Onion Fields
The Onion Field
The Onion Field is a 1973 nonfiction book by Joseph Wambaugh, a sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department, chronicling the kidnapping of two plainclothes LAPD officers by a pair of criminals during an evening traffic stop and the subsequent murder of Officer Ian James Campbell.- Crime :On the...
murder, cop-turned-contract murderer William Leasure and myriad other cop killings, murders for money, gangland killings and drive-by shootings.
In 1982, St. John became the second recipient of the LAPD’s Distinguished Service Medal for his eight-year investigation resulting in the conviction of William Bonin
William Bonin
William George Bonin was an American serial killer and a twice-paroled sex offender, also known as the Freeway Killer, a nickname he shares with two other serial killers. Between 1979 and 1980, Bonin tortured, raped and killed a minimum of 21 boys and young men, and is suspected of committing a...
. Bonin was executed by lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
in 1996.
Death
St. John retired from the LAPD in May 1993, with the intention of becoming a technical advisorTechnical advisor
A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
for the movie industry. It was not to be. “Jigsaw John” died of complications due to pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
only two years later.
His funeral was a veritable “Who's Who” of LAPD’s powerful and famous, including O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
detectives Tom Lange and Philip Vanatter, as well as Judge Lance Ito
Lance Ito
Lance Allan Ito is an American Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, best known for his presiding decision during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He currently hears felony criminal cases at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.-Early life and career:Ito was born to Jim and Toshi Ito...
, who presided over the Simpson criminal trial. LAPD’s then Chief Willie L. Williams
Willie L. Williams
Willie L. Williams was chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1992 to 1997, taking over after chief Daryl Gates' resignation following the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Williams was the first African-American police commissioner of both the Philadelphia Police Department and the LAPD...
and his predecessor, Chief Darryl F. Gates (who worked with him as a young detective), eulogized him, Williams reinstating the detective to active duty as of May 2, 1995 “That he make his final journey as a detective of the Los Angeles Police Department."
External links
- http://www.tv.com/jigsaw-john/show/5421/episode_guide.html
- http://www.prairieghosts.com/beth.html
- http://www.laphs.com/ Official website of the Los Angeles Police Historical Society
- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/09/48hours/main2169834.shtml 48 Hours Mystery "Exposed"