Nestor Joseph La Bonte was 60 years old when he died on Thursday, August 1, 2002, in Westlake, just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in front of 333 S. Bonnie Brae St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division case.
The coroner's record describes him as a white man of 60. No news story about his death could be found, and the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gives only the basic facts: his name, his age, the date and the address on Bonnie Brae Street where he was found.
One small trace may survive. A German forum for collectors of rock and roll records has a page devoted to Nestor La Bonte, a musician who in the summer of 1962 had a modest success with an organ instrumental called "Twistin' Cricket," backed with "Jeannette," on the Arvee label. The forum lists other singles under his name in the early 1960s, on labels including Capella and Sound-O-Rama, and says he also arranged songs for the Murmaids. A forum member wrote that the musician "seems to be" Nestor Joseph La Bonte, born March 4, 1942, who died on August 1, 2002, and who lived in San Dimas. The death date and the age match the coroner's record exactly, which suggests the musician and the man who died in Westlake may have been the same person. That link could not be confirmed from any other source, and nothing in the record explains why he was in Westlake that day.
Because so little has been released, the basic circumstances of his death remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten, knocked down in a fight, struck by a vehicle or hurt in some other way, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It is centered on MacArthur Park, with its lake and boathouse, and is crowded with older apartment buildings, small shops, street vendors and churches. Wilshire Boulevard cuts through the park, and the neighborhood has long been a first stop for immigrant families arriving in the city. In 2002 the area around the park was also known for street crime and drug dealing, and the Rampart Division that patrolled it was still recovering from a corruption scandal that had shaken the department a few years earlier. Bonnie Brae Street runs north and south through the neighborhood, lined largely with apartment houses.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Nestor Joseph La Bonte could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived or worked near Bonnie Brae Street in Westlake in the summer of 2002, or who knew a musician named Nestor La Bonte in his later years, may remember something 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.
