In this section, we examine the autopsy continuation sheet. This addendum to the autopsy provides valuable details about the circumstances leading up to Marina Habe’s death and the discovery of her body. The handwritten notes from the continuation sheet have been transcribed below.
The Autopsy Continuation Sheet
Marina Habe, Jan 1st, 1969, Case No. 69-45
The decedent went out for the evening Sunday Dec. 29, 1968, in her car. Sometime after midnight the decedents mother heard decedents car come in the drive way, seconds later another car was heard in the front. Poss an older car with loud pipes. This car was heard driving off.
Decedents mother checked and found keys in daughters car but daughter was gone. At 3.45 a.m. Dec. 30th, the mother of decedent filed a missing person report with Sheriff.
Today, Jan 1st, 1969, Mrs Klute of 7534 Trask Ave Playa Del Rey went to Venice Div Station LAPD with decedents purse that she found in area where body was found. Mrs Klute was in area looking at view of city when purse was found.
Body was in the brush area down the side of a hill approx. 20′ from aux. road. Decedent was lying in supine position clothed with the exception of 1 shoe being off but near her.
Decedents throat had been cut and she had been stabbed numerous times in the chest. An old motorcycle frame was found at decedents feet and will be impounded by Sheriffs Dept. S.I.D Lab (Scientific Investigation Division).
Sheriffs Homicide requests body not be disturbed until S.I.D Lab has chance to take evidence. Also wish to have rubber sheet body is wrapped in. Sgt. Fitzgerald Sheriff Homicide Investigating and is to be called at autopsy time. No suspect or weapon in custody at this time.
The Mysterious Motorcycle Frame
The continuation sheet noted that an old motorcycle frame was discovered near Marina Habe’s feet. Some online investigators have speculated that the frame might have been left by the killer. However, consider this: what are the odds that the killer would dispose of a motorcycle frame alongside the body—or place the body near a frame they had discarded prior to the murder?
Ravines and canyons in Los Angeles were known dumping grounds during that time, often used for discarded items such as car parts, tires, and scrap metal. While illegal dumping is less common today, these remote areas, particularly along Mulholland Drive, can still attract the occasional discarded item.
Given its proximity to Marina Habe’s body, the frame was deemed significant enough to be impounded by the Sheriff’s Department S.I.D. Lab. Investigators would have traced the frame number, examined it for fingerprints, conducted chemical tests for blood, and checked for hairs and fibers. However, no further reports were made regarding the frame, suggesting it was not connected to the murder.
Case No. 69-45
In the Los Angeles County filing system, case numbers were assigned chronologically. The prefix “69” denotes the year, while “45” indicates the sequence. Because Marina Habe’s body was discovered on the afternoon of January 1, 1969, her designation as Case No. 69-45 serves as a somber indicator of the city’s activity; within the first few hours of the New Year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had already opened forty-four other investigations. Marina’s file was the 45th record of a year that would eventually become one of the most infamous in Los Angeles history.