On November 9, 1978, 39-year-old male victim David Martin Jones was fatally stabbed near the Los Angeles Central Library. The victim, whose ethnicity was not explicitly stated in available sources, was one of a string of individuals targeted in a series of brutal knife attacks that plagued the Skid Row area of Los Angeles during the fall of 1978 and early 1979.
These murders were later attributed to a serial killer dubbed the “Skid Row Stabber.”
According to witness accounts, shortly before the murder of 39-year-old male victim David Martin Jones, three of his friends were approached by a man who introduced himself as “Luther.” The man was described as a Black male, approximately 30 years old, who spoke with a Spanish or Caribbean accent. After a brief conversation, the suspect allegedly stabbed the victim and fled the scene. This interaction provided one of the few eyewitness descriptions connected to the series of killings.
The murder of 39-year-old male victim David Martin Jones was part of a broader pattern of violence that claimed the lives of at least 11 individuals, most of whom were homeless or transient men. The killings occurred within a concentrated area of downtown Los Angeles and were marked by their suddenness and apparent randomness. The victims were typically stabbed multiple times, and in some cases, messages referencing Satan or “Luther” were found near the crime scenes.
In April 1979, police arrested 29-year-old Bobby Joe Maxwell in connection with the murders. Maxwell, who had recently moved to Los Angeles from Tennessee, was found in possession of a double-edged knife that authorities claimed was consistent with the wounds inflicted on several victims. A palm print matching Maxwell’s was discovered on a bench near the body of another victim, 45-year-old Frank Garcia. Maxwell was charged with multiple counts of murder, including the killing of 39-year-old male victim David Martin Jones.
Maxwell’s trial began in 1984, and he was ultimately convicted on two counts of murder. However, his conviction was later overturned in 2010 due to concerns about the reliability of the evidence and the use of a jailhouse informant. Despite the reversal, Maxwell remained incarcerated and died in 2019 after suffering a heart attack while in a coma. The case remains a chilling chapter in Los Angeles’ criminal history, and the murder of 39-year-old male victim David Martin Jones stands as one of its most haunting episodes.
