Dec. 11, 1964 - Singer Sam Cooke was slain in South Central Los Angeles early this morning by a motel manager after he reportedly crashed through her locked office door.
Cooke, whose record sales exceeded 10 million, was killed at 2:35 a.m., 40 minutes after he left a Hollywood party with Eurasian singer Elisa Boyer.
Mrs. Bertha Franklin, manager of the motel at 9137 S. Figueroa St., told officers
that Cooke, clad only in a topcoat, kicked in her door and accused her of harboring Miss Boyer, shouting “You got my girl in there!” After the singer struck Mrs. Franklin twice with his fist, she fired her .22-caliber revolver three times at Cooke. One of the shots hit him in the chest.
Minutes before, Miss Boyer, 22, of 7110 Hollywood Blvd., called police to report she had been kidnapped by the 33-year-old singer — that she had run from the motel room where he held her prisoner and was calling from a nearby phone booth.
Officers found the frightened vocalist in the phone booth and the body of the singer in the motel office.
Miss Boyer said she met Cooke for the first time at a party a few hours earlier. She said he offered to give her a ride home but took her instead to the motel. She said she broke away from Cooke and ran.
Cooke began singing in his Baptist minister father’s gospel choir when he was old enough to stand. His initial record release, “You Send Me,” sold 2.5 million copies. He was a close friend of boxer Muhammad Ali and had played many well-known nightclubs in this country and abroad.
Cooke’s widow, Barbara, is also a singer, of 2048 Ames St., Los Angeles. They had three children, but a daughter, Tracy, 18 months, drowned in June in the family pool.
Mrs. Franklin was not held. A coroner’s inquest will be held Dec. 16 at 1 p.m.
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