'Hot Toddy' Still a Cold Case?

Easily the most famous and infamous death to happen within the boundaries of Pacific Palisades occurred on a cold December night in 1935. 

Movie star Thelma Todd, who spent the night partying with friends at the Trocadero Night Club on Sunset Boulevard, hired a limo service to chauffeur her to her home at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway around 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Assuming it was an hourlong drive, Todd must have arrived at her apartment above her roadside cafe around 3 a.m.

She exited the vehicle, bid the driver goodnight and started climbing the stairs adjacent to the building. That was the last time she was ever seen alive.

The famous blond actress was found Monday morning in the garage of her business partner's hillside home, which was a street farther up the same series of stairways.

Todd was still wearing the dress and fur coat that she was seen wearing at the club. She had a purse full of money. She was found sitting in the driver's seat of her car, which she stored in the friend's garage. Her key was in the ignition and the car had no fuel. Blood was found at the scene and she had a cut lip. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.  

The elements of the case, such as the chauffer's perspective, were released by the police at the time. It was covered by all the local papers in 1935.

The death was determined to be accidental after a long police investigation. Investigators believed that she locked herself out of her apartment and climbed into her car to keep herself warm.

Todd must have started the engine and possibly fallen asleep with the fumes accumulating in the enclosed space. The investigators also determined that based on the size of the engine and the size of the room, she was most likely dead within minutes.  

Although the police were satisfied with this scenario, many of her friends were not. Despite her public persona as a carefree party girl nicknamed "Hot Toddy," her tremendous wealth and her success in the movie industry, those close to her suspected there was a very different side of Todd.

Despite her best efforts, many rumors about her possible secret life spread across the then-small community of Hollywood.

It was said that her ex-husband, Pat Decicco, physically abused her. They were seen fighting the night before she died. 

Director Roland West was obsessed with her and insanely jealous. She had made enemies in the organized crime world when she refused to let them use her restaurant for illegal activities. A lunatic fan was sending death threats. She also had trouble with the Internal Revenue Service and was about to lose everything.

The chauffeur who saw her last told the police that normally when he drove Todd home, she was chatty, in good spirits and would ask him to walk her to her door for safety.

On the night she died, the chauffer said she sat in the back silent and when they arrived at her home, she wanted to walk up the stairs alone.  

Did she have a premonition of what awaited her 270 steps later? Was there a dark secret that caused her to take her own life? Or worse, a dark secret that made her a victim? Just as back then, we can only speculate on what was really going on inside her head. 

Patch contributor Richard Carradine is an avid collector of local legends and regional folklore. He is the author of The Park After Dark: An Unauthorized Guide to the Happiest (Haunted) Place on Earth, and he hosts monthly outings to local historic and/or haunted sites. Visit ghoula.org.