Ruben Panis, a 57-year-old Filipino-American fashion designer, was found dead on September 9, 1989, in his Los Angeles home. Panis was a highly regarded figure in the fashion industry, known for his work with celebrities such as Zsa Zsa Gabor and the wife of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. His death was a result of strangulation, and his body was discovered bound in his residence on South Tremaine Avenue.
The investigation into Panis's death revealed that he had been murdered by Juan
Chavez, a Mexican serial killer who targeted gay men in Los Angeles between 1986 and 1990. Chavez, who was born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and later moved to California, had a history of petty crimes before escalating to murder. He would allow himself to be picked up by his victims, whom he would then rob and strangle using exercise ropes, neckties, and electrical cords.
Chavez's killing spree began in July 1986 with the murder of 46-year-old Alfred Rowswell. In September 1989, Chavez was picked up by Panis, who took him to his home. Once inside, Chavez bound and strangled Panis to death. After the murder, Chavez stole Panis's cars, a 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL and a 1988 Honda Civic. Chavez continued his killing spree, murdering 48-year-old Donald Kleeman later that month and 46-year-old Michael Allen Cates in October 1989.
Chavez was eventually apprehended in 1994 while serving time in Folsom State Prison for an unrelated kidnapping and robbery conviction. His fingerprint was matched to one found on Rowswell's car, leading to his confession and subsequent conviction for the murders of Panis and four other men. In June 1999, Chavez was sentenced to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. He committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell on September 9, 1999, exactly ten years after Panis's murder.
