On the evening of June 18, 1928, John Irving Glab, a wealthy retired Chicago druggist, was found fatally wounded next to his car in Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred shortly after 9:00 pm when Glab was shot by a .32 caliber bullet that entered his chest, severing an artery. Despite being rushed to the Van Nuys Emergency Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries, unable to name his assailant.
The crime scene suggested that the shooter was concealed in Glab's automobile and fired the fatal shot as Glab stepped onto the running board and opened the left door. The victim's cries for help were heard, but he collapsed into the street, with his left foot remaining on the running board and the car's ignition key found near his right shoulder.
The investigation into Glab's death involved questioning several individuals, including his wife, Hazel Glab; her niece, Ethyl Kaser; the gardener/chauffeur, M. A. Wilson; the maid, Mrs. Wilson; a neighbor, Mrs. J. Goodrich; and F. A. Krupp, a business owner from across the street. Hazel and Ethyl claimed they were playing pinochle and had not heard anything unusual, while the neighbor and employees provided conflicting statements. The Wilsons reported that the Glabs had been quarreling for several days prior to the murder, and Mrs. Goodrich insisted she saw a woman dash from the murder car into the Glab home at the time of the shooting. Despite these testimonies, detectives could not prove Hazel Glab's involvement in the murder, and she was eventually released from police custody.
Hazel Glab managed to evade arrest for another eight years until her new wealthy fiancé, capitalist Albert L. Cheney, died mysteriously in early 1935 in Nevada while on an intended honeymoon with her. Cheney had bequeathed his estate to Hazel in a will written in purple ink, which was later discovered to be a forgery crafted by Hazel days after Cheney's funeral. This led to her arrest and conviction for forgery and preparing false evidence, resulting in a sentence of 2 to 14 years in Tehachapi Women's Prison. During this trial, authorities reopened the investigation into John Glab's shooting death, but no new charges were brought against Hazel for her husband's murder.
