Harvey's Halfway House

 

The Serial Killer:  Harvey Murray Glatman (December 10, 1927–September 18, 1959) was an American serial killer that posed as a professional photographer to lure his victims to the desert where he would rape and murder them.  Once referred to as a "complex nightmare of emotions and sexual frustration on two feet," Glatman was born in The Bronx, New York City.  He and his family moved to Denver, Colorado when he was a small boy in 1930.  As a teenager, Glatman began breaking into women's apartments, where he would burglarize and sexually assault them.  He was convicted of kidnapping in 1945 but was released eight months later.  He then moved to Albany, New York, where he stayed with family.  While there, he was convicted in 1947 for a series of muggings.  After being diagnosed as having sexually perverted impulses leading to his crimes, he was release from prison in 1951.  This release was granted to him on the condition that he be under the care of a psychiatrist.  He moved back to Denver where he lived with his parents.  His father passed away in 1952, but Glatman continued living with his mother until he decided to move to Los Angeles in 1957.  In California, Glatman worked as a television repairman, although he told people he was a freelance photographer for popular pulp fiction magazines.  On October 31, 1958, he was arrested for the murders of three women, and he was sentenced to death for those murders two months later.  Dubbed the "Glamour Girl Slayer," Glatman was executed at San Quentin Prison on September 18, 1959.  His cremated remains are buried in Napa Valley Memorial Park.

The House:  Built in 1942, and nestled within the Montclair neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, the home of Albert and Ophelia Glatman is a mid-century modern  ranch-style house surrounded by homes of the same style, as well as bungalows and cottages.  The house boasts two bedrooms, one bathroom, a one-car garage, and 910 square feet of living space.  While there is no proof of this, I assume that the room facing east served as sleeping quarters for Albert and Ophelia, while the smaller bedroom facing west served as Harvey's room.  If Glatman committed any crimes while living with his parents between the years 1951 and 1957, he was not caught.

The Floor Plan:  While I was unable to find any pictures of the Glatman's house while they resided in the Montclair neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, I was able to find updated pictures of when the house most recently was put up for sale.  While the residence has been updated cosmetically, the floor plan seems to be the same as when it was built.  While not a very large home, I'm sure it served well for the three-person Glatman family.

Sources:

Birnes, William; Keppel, Robert.  Serial Violence:  Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers.  CRC Press, 2009.

Ellroy, James.  My Dark Places:  An L.A. Crime Memoir.  Vintage Books, 1997.

Geringer, Joseph.  "Harvey Murray Glatman:  First of the Signature Killers."  Crime Library.

Hazelwood, Roy; Michaud, Stephen.  The Evil That Men Do.  St. Martins Press, 1999.

Los Angeles Time, The.  "Man Admits Slaying of Three L.A. Models."  Murderpedia.  31 October 1958.  https://murderpedia.org.  Accessed 02 July 2024.

Los Angeles Times, The.  "Sex Killer Dies in Gas Chamber."  Internet Archives.  18 September 1959.  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com.  Accessed 02 July 2024.

Newton, Michael.  Rope.  Pocketbooks Publishing, 1998.

Pettem, Silvia.  Someone's Daughter:  In Search of Justice for Jane Doe.  Taylor Trade Publishing, 2009.

Radford University.  "Harvey Glatman:  Glamour Girl Slayer."  Internet Archives.  06 October 2018. http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu.  Accessed 02 July 2024.

Warren, Gerald, "Death Trail Retraced by Slayer."  San Diego Union-Tribune, 01 November 1958.