Robert Rainey was 54 years old when he died on Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Palms, on the Westside of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 9225 W. Venice Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire case.
Rainey was a chiropractor who lived in Culver City and had run his practice from a small strip mall on Venice Boulevard for 15 years. Shortly after 8 a.m. that Thursday, a patient arrived for a scheduled appointment, walked into the office and found him lying on the floor. The patient called 911. Rainey had suffered severe head trauma and was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. Investigators told ABC7 the attack was "especially vicious." His jaw was broken and his teeth had been kicked in.
Detectives said Rainey may have been followed into work that morning. He was about 6 feet 2, physically fit and an avid long-distance runner, and police examined the possibility that his attacker caught him by surprise. His wallet was missing, and investigators said robbery may have been the motive. They told ABC7 they had only a vague description of a man with a pipe or bat seen in the area. Many of the surveillance cameras around the office were not recording at the time. LAPD Lt. John Radtke said there was no obvious motive and that the chiropractor was well liked by his employees and the community.
Rainey was the son of the character actor Ford Rainey and the brother of James Rainey, then a media writer for the Los Angeles Times. He was raised in Malibu, one of three children, and belonged to several running clubs. He was an ultra-marathoner who had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and he had planned a 33-mile canyon run with friends for the weekend after his death. Patients knew him for slipping money to homeless people or hiring them for odd jobs.
On June 21, 2012, Councilman Paul Koretz and LAPD officials announced a $50,000 reward outside the office. "He was full of life," James Rainey said. "He was big, he was strong, but he was also very gentle. He was a very kind person." In November 2013 police released new images in the case. In February 2014, about a dozen family members and friends gathered near the strip mall, shared a moment of silence and handed out fliers. "It's just been kind of a baffling case," James Rainey said.
Palms is a dense neighborhood of apartment buildings and small businesses between Culver City and West Los Angeles. Venice Boulevard is one of its main commercial streets, and it is busy with traffic and shoppers through much of the day.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Rainey could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on Venice Boulevard in Palms early on the morning of May 31, 2012, or who later heard someone speak about the attack, may hold information that could help detectives. 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.
