One of the strangest stories was how dominoes led to the arrest of someone for two murders. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“The marriage between Phyllis and John Parks – just nine months of it – was on the rocks. It was May 28, 1959, and Phyllis, twenty-three, had returned to their trailer when another row began. Her friend Armand Garrison arrived soon after, but when Parks insisted that he and Phyllis were leaving, Armand allegedly snapped back, “Over my dead body, I’ll kill her first.” Parks insisted that Armand “suddenly went berserk” and stabbed Phyllis to death with a ten-inch bread knife, then came after him.

“There was a struggle, and Parks managed to break free and bolt out of the trailer. Armand followed but fell, and Parks managed to grab the knife and kill his pursuer.” The LAPD weren’t convinced by Parks’s self-defense plea and survival story, and he refused to take a lie detector test.

“Upon arrival at the [scene,] detectives noticed something very revealing. Parks had said that the trio [were] sitting playing an amicable game of dominoes when the argument began, but if that was the case and Armand had suddenly stabbed Phyllis and then struggled with Parks before stumbling outside, how come the dominoes were still in place on the small table? Some of them were even still upright. Parks was charged with the two murders.”