Augustine Luna, a 49-year-old Hispanic male, was one of several victims in a string of brutal stabbings that terrorized the Skid Row area of Los Angeles in late 1978. On November 12, 1978, he was found stabbed to death behind a building on South Main Street. His murder occurred on the same day as that of another victim, 36-year-old Frank Floyd Reed, marking a grim double homicide.
The killings were part of a broader pattern attributed to a serial assailant who targeted vulnerable individuals, many of whom were homeless or transient.
The series of murders began in October 1978 and continued into early 1979, claiming at least 11 lives. Victims were typically male, ranging in age from their mid-20s to mid-60s, and were often found in alleys, parking lots, or sidewalks within a concentrated area of downtown Los Angeles. The killer used a knife in each attack, and the stabbings were often frenzied and fatal. The victims, including 49-year-old Hispanic male Augustine Luna, were left with multiple wounds, and in some cases, messages referencing Satan or a figure named “Luther” were found near the crime scenes.
Authorities eventually arrested 29-year-old Bobby Joe Maxwell in April 1979. Maxwell, a Black male who frequented the Skid Row area, was charged with multiple counts of murder and robbery. He became the prime suspect after police found a palm print on a bench near one of the crime scenes and recovered a knife from him during a separate arrest. Although there was no direct physical evidence linking him to the murders of Augustine Luna or the other victims, prosecutors built a case around circumstantial evidence, including a logbook entry allegedly written by Maxwell that referenced Satanic worship.
Maxwell was convicted in 1984 of two murders and sentenced to life in prison without parole. However, his conviction was later overturned in 2010 due to concerns about the reliability of jailhouse informant testimony and the lack of concrete forensic evidence. 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 49-year-old Hispanic male Augustine Luna remains emblematic of the vulnerability of marginalized individuals during that era.
