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THE MIRROR 20 June 1952 (page 1, 2, 26)
‘Sex Madness’ Cult of Pasadena Scientist Revealed.
MYSTERY BLAST KILLS FAMED L.A. SCIENTIST
‘Sinister Man’ Crowley and High Priest of Cult John W. Parsons (above) Pasadena rocket scientist killed in mysterious blast Tuesday has been uncovered as high priest of a weird love cult. He headed the strange black magic sect founded by British “Sinister Man” Aleister Crowley (left).
Investigators delved today into the mysterious background of a noted Pasadena rocket scientist who lost his life when an explosion shattered his home laboratory.
Fatally injured by the blast was John W. Parsons [Jack Parsons], 37.
Parsons’ violent death late yesterday had a tragic aftermath a few hours later in the suicide of his grief-stricken mother, Mrs. Ruth Virginia Parsons, 58.
Overwhelmed and distraught, she swallowed the entire contents of a bottle of sleeping pills
Parsons, an explosives expert, former Caltech scientist, and one of the founders of the school’s Arroyo Seco jet propulsion laboratory, had been packing for a trip to San Miguel, shortly before the explosion.
While he was working in the laboratory in a onetime carriage house converted into living quarters at 1071 S Orange Grove Ave., an explosion occurred and was followed immediately by a larger one which touched off explosive chemicals stored in the room.
The blasts blew out one wall, shattered and bulged another and ripped part of the ceiling under the upstairs living unit.
A heavy, double laundry tub was knocked over and Parsons was hurled to the floor under it. Still conscious, the scientist was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital where he died within an hour. Officers said he attempted unsuccessfully to tell them how the explosion occurred.
Mother Dazed by News
His wife, Mrs. Majorie Cameron Parsons, 30, an artist, and her brother, Robert E. Cameron, of 1254 N Raymond Ave., were present when Parsons died.
Cameron Parsons
Cameron left immediately and broke the news to the elder Mrs. Parsons, who was staying at the home of friends at 424 Arroyo Terrace during their absence in Europe.
Mrs. Helen Rowan, an elderly companion who is cripples by arthritis, said Mrs. Parsons became hysterical after Cameron left.
“I’m going to kill myself! I can’t stand it!” she said Mrs. Parsons wept.
Mrs. Rowan telephoned a doctor who had a bottle of sleeping tablets sent to the home. Another friend, Mrs. Nadia Kibort, of 320 Waverly Drive, arrived and Mrs. Parsons was given three of the tablets.
A short time later, while Mrs. Kibort was in the kitchen, Mrs. Rowan watched helplessly while Mrs. Parsons emptied the bottle of the 47 remaining tablets and swallowed them.
The two other women summoned a friend and nurse, Mrs. Nellie Smith, of 453 N Hudson Ave., who called Dr. J. R. Huntsman. When he arrived he found Mrs. Parsons dead.
The bodies of both Parsons and his mother were taken to Turner and Stevens Mortuary, Pasadena.
Investigators were mystified by the nature of Parsons’ activity in the laboratory just before the explosion.
He and his wife were to leave at 10 a.m. today, towing a small trailer behind their car, for the trip to Mexico.
There was some speculation that Parsons, who was last employed by the Burmite Powder Co. in Saugers, was going on a secret assignment to conduct explosives experiments.
However, Mrs. Parsons insisted they were just going to Mexico for a rest. The trailer, packed and covered with a tarpaulin, contained only artist’s supplies, archery equipment, fencing foils, a bed and a trunk.
A short time before the explosion Jo Anne Price, blond artist’s model who lives in the converted carriage house next to the laboratory, saw Parsons at work.
Hurried Experiment
She said he told her he was conducting an experiment with some “very expensive” chemicals and was “in a hurry” to finish it.
Miss Price left, went up an outside stairway to the living quarters and then felt the blast rock the whole building.
Also upstairs were Martin Foshag, his mother, Mrs. Alta Foshag, and Sal Ganat, all artists. They were uninjured although . . . the floor, upset a refrigerator and broke a leg of a grand piano.
Police and Army ordnance experts from Ft. MacArthur found shattered bottles labeled “Explosives” on the debris-littered floor of the laboratory.
They were searching the premises and also the Arroyo Terrace home today for any further stored of explosive materials which Parsons may have possessed.
His brother-in-law, Cameron, said he had been very close-mouthed about the nature of what he was going to do in Mexico. Cameron had the impression that it concerned Parsons’ work with explosives.
Grief-Stricken Widow Her face clearly showing the grief of double family tragedy, Mrs. Marjorie Cameron Parsons, wife of blast victim, John W. Parsons, leaves home at 424 Arroyo Terrace, Pasadena, where a short time earlier her mother-in-law, Mrs. Ruth Parsons, took own life. |
