Henry Karl Showe was 54 years old when he died on Sunday, April 27, 2003, in Lancaster. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 2729 W. Avenue L. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It gave his age, listed him as a white man, named the address on Avenue L and noted the cause of death. It did not say how he was hurt, whether the address was his home, or whether investigators had any idea who was responsible. No follow-up news story appears to have been published.
A genealogy index adds one more detail. It lists a Henry Showe who "was born on December 12, 1948" and who "died at age 54 years old on April 27, 2003," which matches the coroner's record. It means he had turned 54 only a few months before he died.
Beyond those dates, almost nothing about Henry Karl Showe 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. Showe is an unusual surname, and the few other people found under it lived in other parts of the country or in other centuries. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
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.
Lancaster is the largest city of the Antelope Valley, in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County, on the far side of the San Gabriel Mountains from the Los Angeles basin. Its streets are laid out in a large grid, with east-west avenues named by letter and north-south streets numbered east and west of a central line, so Avenue L is one of the main roads across the southern part of the city. The area grew quickly in the late 20th century as families looking for cheaper housing moved north. Lancaster contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, and the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau investigates killings there.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Henry Karl Showe could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near West Avenue L in Lancaster in April 2003, or who knew a 54-year-old man named Henry Showe, 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
