Paul Edward Doherty was 25 years old when he died on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005, in Diamond Bar, a suburban city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at Golden Springs Road and Grand Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The coroner's record describes him as a white man in his mid-20s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Paul Edward Doherty 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.
His name is a common one, and searches turned up only other men named Paul Doherty or Paul Edward Doherty: a college alumnus who died in Massachusetts in the 1960s, the father of a Texas lawman, a well-known British author of historical mysteries, and men whose obituaries were published in other states. None of them is the young man who died in Diamond Bar.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. 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.
The coroner gave an intersection rather than a street address. That suggests he may have been found outdoors, on or near the street, rather than inside a home, although the record does not say so directly.
Diamond Bar sits in the hills where Los Angeles County meets Orange and San Bernardino counties. Much of the city was built on the land of a former cattle ranch, and it grew into a largely residential community of hillside neighborhoods, shopping centers and parks after development began in the 1960s. It became an incorporated city in 1989 and contracts with the Sheriff's Department for its police services. The 57 and 60 freeways meet near the city, and Grand Avenue and Golden Springs are among its main roads, carrying commuters and shoppers through town at most hours.
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 Paul Edward Doherty 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 Golden Springs and Grand Avenue in early October 2005, who knew Paul or where he spent his time, or who heard talk afterward about what happened to a young man there, 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 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 (8477).
