Janitor Jesse Norgaard

The following extract from the work-in-progress is a narrative of the prosecution witness Jesse J. Norgaard third trial testimony. And for the third time, Norgaard told how Roscoe Arbuckle allegedly tried to bribe him for the keys to Virginia Rappe’s dressing room in August 1919. Norgaard was then the night janitor at Henry Lehrman’s studio in Culver City—and a resident of the Old Soldiers’ Home in nearby Sawtelle, between Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Norgaard served an important purpose as a People’s witness. The prosecutors believed him and believed that Arbuckle’s desire for the keys—to play a joke on Rappe—was simply a ruse for his desire to get her alone. The bribe revealed that the comedian had been obsessed with her and that obsession led to the sexual assault in room 1219 of the St. Francis Hotel during the course of a Labor Day party. At the first trial, Arbuckle’s lead counsel, Gavin McNab, elected not to cross-examine Norgaard. This imparted to the jury that Norgaard was…