{"id":13575,"date":"2011-06-17T18:33:46","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T08:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/power-up.space\/?p=13575"},"modified":"2011-06-17T18:33:46","modified_gmt":"2011-06-17T08:33:46","slug":"the-real-crimes-behind-l-a-noire-cases-the-nicholson-electroplating-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/?p=13575","title":{"rendered":"The Real Crimes Behind L.A. Noire Cases: “The Nicholson Electroplating Disaster”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our first L.A. Noire<\/a> DLC case, \u201cThe Nicholson Electroplating Disaster\u201d is coming June 21st to give all the intrepid detectives out there fiending to get back on the job another juicy case to crack \u2013 and this one\u2019s a doozy.
\nThe story is inspired by an incident that is quite unlike the relatively obscure crimes that inspired most of the other cases in the game, and was a major national headline back in 1947 Los Angeles.
\nBeyond just the name of the plant being changed in our fictionalized interactive version (changed from O\u2019Connor to Nicholson, in a direct nod to \u2013 guess who) ours also adds a ton of intrigue, twists and turns far beyond what investigators discovered in the real case \u2013 which was much more straightforward, if shocking and embarrassing to the plant\u2019s executives.<\/p>\n

On the morning of February 20th, 1947 \u2013 the O\u2019Connor Electro-Plating plant at 926 East Pico Boulevard<\/a> in downtown Los Angeles erupted in a terrific explosion that rocked the city for miles around. The mushroom-shaped cloud that formed over the area led many to initially panic with the thought of a nuclear bomb having been dropped on L.A. News reports told of planes ten miles away that were said to have felt the shudder, and of neighboring buildings\u2019 windows that shattered for blocks around. In all, 151 people were injured and 15 were killed \u2013 the casualties ranging from innocent pedestrians (including a twelve-year old boy riding his bicycle two blocks away who was struck by a stray pipe from the blast) to the very person inside who the police concluded was responsible for the disaster\u2026<\/p>\n

The man who would become the primary person of interest in this case was the plant\u2019s chief chemist, Robert Magee.<\/p>\n

Magee had attained his position by impressing plant executive, Robert O\u2019Connor, during an interview with his weighty credentials (a bachelor of science degree from the University of Indiana, a master\u2019s from the University of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D from M.I.T. as well as graduate credit from Caltech) and with his presentation of a remarkable new chemical compound he\u2019d created \u2013 a special blend of perchloric acid<\/a> that could plate aluminum to gleam like silver without the costly expense of a polishing and buffing process.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor was sold \u2013 Magee and his magical new metallurgic formula would be his secret weapon to revitalize the business and give them a clear edge on the competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That fateful February morning, however, Magee was practically evaporated along with his assistants in the blast.
\nAnd O\u2019Connor truly learned that all that gleams is not gold.
\nWho was this Doctor Robert Magee, investigators wondered\u2026
\nAccording to reports, they discovered that M.I.T. had no transcripts or record of him ever having attended the school\u2026
\nChecks with the other schools returned similar results \u2013 the closest to validating his academic history was Caltech who said that he had taken a short night war training course there, but that was it.
\nAccording to the police investigation, it turned out Magee had never even graduated high school \u2013 having dropped out of Steubenville High School back in his native Ohio.<\/p>\n

His knowledge of and knack for chemistry was all purely self-taught, and indeed had impressed even some of his genuinely accredited scientist peers at the plant \u2013 according to testimony gathered in the lengthy inquest that followed the disaster. But nevertheless, it was determined that this was clearly a case of tragic negligence, as the dangerous formula was ultimately mishandled by Magee and his team (a team which included a newly hired young assistant, Miss Alice Iba, who also had dubious academic qualifications according to detectives assigned to the case) \u2013 chalked up to the ineptitude of an unqualified chemist, and a critical lack of due diligence by the plant itself on a human resources level.<\/p>\n

A vilified Robert O\u2019Connor\u00a0was sued by\u00a0blast victims and would plead the fifth amendment during the official inquest on the explosion, responding in the affirmative to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney S. Ernest Rolls question, \u201cDo you mean to tell me that you refuse to testify on the grounds that the testimony might tend to incriminate you?\u201d<\/p>\n

When you play our forthcoming DLC case later this month, you\u2019ll see for yourself how our version, as you can imagine, introduces a whole lot more intrigue, twists and turns to the story. Get that notebook ready\u2026<\/p>\n

In the meantime, check out some historical photos from the disaster<\/a> which appear in the Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society\u2019s Flickr photostream<\/a> slideshow below.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Also read Time Magazine\u2019s original 1947 report \u201cCALIFORNIA: The Amazing Brew\u201d: http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/magazine\/article\/0,9171,854621-1,00.html <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our first L.A. Noire DLC case, \u201cThe Nicholson Electroplating Disaster\u201d is coming June 21st to give all the intrepid detectives out there fiending to get back on the job another juicy case to crack \u2013 and this one\u2019s a doozy. The story is inspired by an incident that is quite unlike the relatively obscure crimes<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13580,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13575\/revisions\/13580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}