Palisades Murder a Haunting History

Families in Pacific Palisades readied themselves for another week of work on Monday, May 22, 1944. This was a simpler time when children lunched outdoors in the 69-degree weather and then walked hand-in-hand with loved ones to their sleepy seaside neighborhoods.

No one suspected that on Hampden Place in the Via Bluffs that day, live-in housekeeper Louise Peete, 63, had brutally killed her employer Margaret Logan, 60, and then buried her body discretely in the backyard.

Neighbors who last saw Logan on June 1 asked Peete about Logan’s whereabouts and she responded by saying Logan had been abused by her husband and was away for treatment of facial injuries.

The seasons changed. Logan’s murderer went free and her body undiscovered.

But on Dec. 18, the District Attorney’s office discovered parole reports on Peete looked to have been signed with forged signatures bearing the name “Margaret Logan.”

An investigation ensued and led to the Dec. 20 discovery of Logan’s body.

Peete was convicted on May 28, 1945 of killing her employer a year earlier following a dispute over a $200 forged check.

Peete is the second woman in California history to die in the gas chamber. At the age of 66, she was executed at San Quentin State Prison on April 11, 1947.

An article covering the story ran in the Post on Dec. 22, 1944 “Mrs. Louise Peete, 1920 Denton Killer, Held In Death of Mrs. Margaret Logan.”

Logan’s death was one of many trailing Peete’s travels throughout the country from 1903 to 1944.

Peete was also accused of murdering Joe Appel but pleaded self-defense and was not charged.

In 1903, Peete married Henry Bosley, who caught her with another man and subsequently committed suicide.

The trend repeated in 1913 with man, Harry Faurote.

Peete eluded police until 1921, when she was convicted of murdering Jacob C. Denton and served 18 years before getting parole in 1939. That’s when she gained employment with Logan.

“They didn’t talk much about it,” said Donald Roof, 97, who was living in the Alphabet Streets at the time.

“It happened, and we were aware of it after it happened. She buried her in the backyard,” Roof said. Although Palisadians may have tried move on from the past, some say the ghost of Margaret Logan may not have been as easily shaken.

From 2001 to 2005, Sarah Brown lived at the Hampden Place home where Logan was murdered. When she and her husband moved in they were unaware of the home’s history. But it didn’t take long for the couple to begin questioning if they were truly alone in the house.

Brown said glasses would shatter, doors and windows would close and open on their own, misplaced objects would turn up in strange places and cold drafts of air could be felt when there were no vents nearby.

The couple’s dogs would track things together that neither she nor her husband could see.

“I thought it was my imagination,” Brown said. “I didn’t believe in it.”

She eventually called the FBI to inquire about the home’s history and learned about the murder. At that point, she “appealed to Margaret,” telling the deceased Logan that she would allow her to continue living there if she was peaceful and stopped scaring her.

The Browns moved out of the home in 2005 and Laura Tompkins bought it in 2008.

“We have not experienced any paranormal activity,” Tompkins said.

“I think [the ghosts] all left during the construction. Too messy and noisy,” added Tompkins, who completely renovated the home while maintaining its original structure.

“I am not afraid of ghosts. I wish they would communicate with me,” she added.