Theodore Alexander Trube was 74 years old when he died on Monday, January 3, 2000, in North Hollywood, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 10537 Magnolia Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the North Hollywood Division.
He was a white man in his mid-70s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Theodore Alexander Trube 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. Trube is an uncommon surname, yet the few search results that mention a Theodore Trube concern unrelated people elsewhere in the country, including a youth taking part in a scouting competition many years later. None of them could be tied to the older 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.
His age makes the case stand out. Men in their 70s are rarely the victims of homicide, and when they are, the killing sometimes happens in or near the place where they live. The record does not say whether 10537 Magnolia Blvd. was his home, the home of someone he knew or the place where he was found.
North Hollywood is one of the older communities of the San Fernando Valley, a mix of single-family homes, apartment buildings and commercial strips. Magnolia Boulevard is one of the Valley's long east-west streets, lined with small businesses, apartments and houses. In the years after his death the area changed considerably, as the Metro Red Line reached North Hollywood in 2000 and the NoHo Arts District grew into a destination of its own.
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.
Nothing about Theodore Trube's life has been made public, but a man who lived 74 years leaves behind people who knew him. Any one of them may remember what was happening in his life at the turn of the year.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Theodore Alexander Trube could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Theodore Trube, or who saw or heard something unusual around Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood in early January 2000, may hold information that could help investigators. 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.
