Posted by Jason at September 14, 2006 07:19 AMOn January 21, 1959 Switzer arrived at Stilz's home in Mission Hills to get his money back. Once Switzer arrived he banged on Stilz's front door demanding that he let him in. Once Switzer got inside he and Stilz got into an argument. Switzer informed Stilz that he wanted the money he owed him. But when Stilz refused to hand over the money the two engaged in a physical fight when Switzer bashed Stilz in the head with a lamp which caused Stilz to bleed from his left eye. Stilz retreated to his bedroom and returned holding a gun, but Switzer immediately grabbed the gun away from Stilz which resulted a shot being fired but neither man was hit. Then Switzer forced Stilz into a closet, despite that Stilz had got his hands back on the gun. Switzer pulled out a knife and was attempting to stab Stilz with it. But just as Switzer was about to charge Stilz, Stilz raised the gun and shot Switzer in the chest. Switzer died of intense blood loss while on his way to the hospital. He was 31 years old.
The killing was held to be a justifiable homicide. Switzer had allegedly pulled a knife; therefore, the shooting was judged to be self-defense. During the trial regarding Switzer's death, it was revealed that what was originally reported as a 'hunting knife' was in fact a jack knife. It had been found by crime scene investigators under his body, but with no blade exposed. Switzer's death was largely ignored in the media, mainly because director Cecil B. DeMille had died on the same day.