Overview of Rewind with Karen & Georgia - 120: Live at the Orpheum in Los Angeles
This episode is a rewind of a live My Favorite Murder show recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, with Karen and Georgia adding new commentary, behind-the-scenes memories, and case updates. The episode is part true-crime deep dive, part hometown comedy chaos, and part love letter to their LA audience and long-running live-show community.
Episode Structure and Live Show Energy
The opening of the live show is mostly playful, self-aware banter about:
- Performing in their hometown of Los Angeles
- Nerves about doing a show in front of family, friends, and industry people
- Jokes about audience babies, therapists, and their longtime producer Steven
- Georgia’s dramatic dress, pockets, and a fitting-room mishap
- Their general love/hate relationship with live show pressure
The tone is loose, funny, and highly improvised, with the crowd very much part of the experience.
Karen’s Story: Agnes “Aggie” Underwood
Karen tells the story of Agnes Underwood, one of Los Angeles’ earliest and most influential crime reporters.
Who She Was
- Born in 1902 in San Francisco as Agnes May Wilson
- Had a difficult childhood: her mother died young, her father was absent for work, and she spent time in abusive foster homes
- Married young and had two children
- Eventually began working in newspapers and rose through the ranks through sheer grit, intelligence, and relentless hustle
Career Highlights
- Started at the Los Angeles Daily Record
- Became known for:
- Fearless reporting
- Speed and hustle
- Sharp, memorable quips
- Covering major crimes, disasters, and trials
- Worked her way up to become:
- The first woman to serve as city editor for a major metropolitan newspaper
- A long-serving executive at Hearst papers
Notable Stories
Karen highlights Underwood’s coverage of:
- The William Edward Hickman child murder case
- The Thelma Todd autopsy
- The Black Dahlia murder
- Major fires, floods, and other Los Angeles disasters
Personality and Legacy
Underwood is portrayed as:
- Brilliant
- Tough
- Extremely hardworking
- Unapologetically ambitious in a male-dominated field
She retired after decades in journalism and was widely recognized for her groundbreaking career.
Georgia’s Story: The Los Feliz Murder Mansion
Georgia covers the famous Los Feliz murder mansion at 2475 Glendower Place, a house surrounded by urban legend and true-crime obsession.
The Legend
The common story says:
- A father murdered his family and himself on Christmas Eve in the 1950s
- The house was left untouched
- A Christmas tree and presents supposedly remained inside for decades
The Real Story
The actual history is more complicated:
- The house was owned by Harold Perelson, a respected surgeon
- His wife Lillian and their three children lived there
- On the night of the crime, Harold attacked his wife and children with a ball-peen hammer
- His eldest daughter Judy survived the initial attack, fled, and got help
- Harold then took his own life after ingesting pills/poison
Why It Happened
The episode explores possible motives, including:
- Serious financial trouble
- A botched medical-patent/business situation
- Legal and family stress
- Possible mental health crises or prior suicide attempts
What Happened to the House
The myth of the house being frozen in time is mostly false.
- It was later used as storage by the family who bought it
- That family left behind lots of junk, which fueled the ghost-story legend
- The house became an abandoned, eerie landmark and a magnet for urban explorers
Modern Status
Georgia notes later developments:
- The house was sold and resold
- It became a subject of real estate and preservation debates
- It remained one of LA’s most infamous “murder houses”
The Hometown Story: A Home Invasion Turned Murder Case
A listener named Mona shares a hometown story from Ventura about a teacher’s family whose home was robbed while they were away.
What Happened
- The family came home to find the house burglarized
- Their teenage son Jake ran into his room and encountered the intruder still hiding inside
- Jake was stabbed and later died in his mother’s arms
- The case remained unsolved for years
Resolution
Years later:
- A man was finally convicted
- DNA evidence linked him to the crime through a palm print and other evidence
- The speaker recounts how shocking and painful the story was for the whole community
Notable Themes and Takeaways
1. Women in the Workforce
Agnes Underwood’s story is framed as a major feminist success story:
- A woman breaking into hard news
- Ruling a male-dominated newsroom
- Building a career on skill, not permission
2. Los Angeles as a True-Crime Landscape
The episode emphasizes how deeply LA history is tied to:
- Newspapers
- Crime reporting
- Urban legends
- Infamous architecture and neighborhoods
3. Urban Legends vs. Reality
The Los Feliz mansion segment shows how a real tragedy can morph into decades of mythmaking.
4. Live Show Community
The episode is also about the audience itself:
- Parents, friends, babies, and longtime listeners
- The emotional pay-off of performing in their home city
- The shared ritual of the show and its fanbase
Updates Mentioned in the Episode
Agnes Underwood
- The Los Angeles Public Library published a photo-driven retrospective in 2019
- Her papers are housed at Cal State Northridge
Los Feliz Murder Mansion
- Later sold, then resold amid renovation and foreclosure issues
- Still a major LA true-crime landmark
- The story continues to attract real estate and ghost-story interest
Hometown Case
- The conviction in Jake Bush’s murder was upheld on appeal
- Later court challenges were rejected, leaving the sentence intact
Final Impression
This is a classic live My Favorite Murder episode: funny, chaotic, and deeply local, but anchored by two strong true-crime stories and one emotional hometown case. Karen’s Agnes Underwood segment celebrates a pioneering woman in journalism, while Georgia’s Los Feliz mansion story untangles myth from fact in one of LA’s most notorious house legends.