Jorge Carlos Rubalcava was 59 years old when he died on Monday, May 9, 2005, in Venice. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 100 Market St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division case.
City records, which give his full name as Jorge Rubalcava-Levi, describe what happened. According to a motion introduced in the Los Angeles City Council in June 2005, "On April 30, 2005, at approximately 10:05 pm, 59-year old Jorge Rubalcava-Levi was walking with three male friends, when a tall, heavy-set, white male approached him and punched him on the side of the head." The motion said the attack "occurred near the corner of Market Street and Pacific Avenue in Venice," and that he "was hospitalized and died as result of his injuries on May 9, 2005," nine days after he was struck.
The motion, introduced by Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski and seconded by Councilmember Bernard Parks, asked the city to offer a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, apprehension and conviction of the person responsible. It called his killing "an especially disturbing crime" and found that the person responsible represented "an ongoing threat to the safety of the people of Los Angeles." The council adopted the motion in June 2005. When the first offer expired, the council voted in September 2005 to reinstate the reward for another 60 days, and city records show it reaffirmed the reward again in 2006, a sign that the attacker had still not been identified.
A death notice published in the San Antonio Express-News said that Jorge Carlos Rubalcava-Levi was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and "passed away on May 9, 2005 in Los Angeles, California." The saved portion of the notice does not describe the rest of his life or name his relatives.
Venice is a beach neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, famous for its canals, its boardwalk along Ocean Front Walk and its long history as a home for artists and bohemians. Market Street is a short street near the beach, and Pacific Avenue runs parallel to the shore a block or so inland. On a Saturday night at the end of April, the area near the beach would have had people walking to and from restaurants, bars and homes.
The attack as described was sudden and brief: a stranger, a single punch, and a man who never recovered. His three companions saw the man who struck him, and the city's description of a tall, heavy-set white man suggests that detectives had at least a general description. Even so, no name has ever been made public.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jorge Carlos Rubalcava could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Market Street and Pacific Avenue in Venice on the night of April 30, 2005, or who has heard someone talk about punching a man there, 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.
