Robert Edward Jameson was 66 years old when he died on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in North Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma on Satsuma Avenue south of Vanowen Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Valley Bureau Homicide case.
The coroner's records describe him as a white man in his mid-60s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Robert Edward Jameson has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Robert Jameson is a fairly common name, and searches for him turn up retired teachers, a juvenile court judge and even a character in a novel, but nothing that can be tied to the man who died in North Hollywood.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. The location given is a stretch of street rather than a house number, which suggests that he may have been found outdoors, but that is only an inference.
North Hollywood sits in the southeastern San Fernando Valley. It is home to the NoHo Arts District, with its small theaters and galleries, and to the northern end of the Metro subway line that runs to downtown Los Angeles. Away from the arts district, much of the neighborhood is made up of apartment buildings, modest single-family homes and busy commercial boulevards. Vanowen Street is one of the long east-west streets that cross the Valley, and Satsuma Avenue is a residential street that meets it. On streets like these, neighbors walk dogs, park cars and sit on porches, and someone may have seen or heard more than they realized on that July day.
Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides a year in 2018 and 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved. His death drew no news coverage that could be found.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Edward Jameson could be found in news archives or public records. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Robert, who lived near Satsuma Avenue and Vanowen Street in North Hollywood, or who remembers an injured older man or a disturbance in that area in late July 2018 may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
