On the night of December 6, 1959 in the wealthy Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, a doctor named Dr. Harold Perelson killed his sleeping wife, Lillian, with a ball-peen hammer to the back of her head. With one strong blow, he left a gaping hole in her skull killing her instantly. Dr. Perelson then attempted to kill his eldest daughter the same way, missing a fatal blow and luckily only grazing her head with the hammer. She fled the house screaming and was found by neighbors, bloody and terrified. Dr. Perelson’s two youngest children woke up, but he told them that they were only having a nightmare and that they should go back to sleep. Dr. Perelson ended his rampage by ingesting a death cocktail of medicines which killed him in minutes.

The crime left the three children without their parents, and not much is known about their lives since the crime. Though details are scarce, the house was sold after the murders and apparently rented by another family who wasn’t made aware of the violent crimes that occured within the walls. Legend has it that they fled on the anniversary of the crimes, and their Christmas tree complete with wrapped presents remained in the house until 2016.

Many urban explorers who’ve jumped the fences to peak into the house said that the home was left exactly as it was 50 years ago when the family fled. Vintage Spaghetti-O's were seen on the kitchen counter and a Time magazine from May 9, 1960 was in the living room. We’ll likely never know what exactly happened to make the family leave in such a hurry they didn’t gather any of their belongings. The home sold in 2016 after the death of its owner (who never lived in the home), and the interior was ripped down to the studs. The house was listed for sale again in 2019 but did not sell, and was re-listed and sold in 2020.