Arthur Taaloloma Kuaea was 46 years old when he died on Friday, Dec. 29, 2000, in San Pedro, at the southern tip of the city of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1017 S. Centre St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 46-year-old male" who "died Friday, Dec. 29, after being stabbed in San Pedro." Unlike most entries in the record, his did not list a race or ethnicity. The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether that was his home or only the place where he was found.
No follow-up story appears to have been written, and his name appears online only in short real estate listings that repeat the coroner's entry.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Arthur Taaloloma Kuaea 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 full name is unusual.
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.
San Pedro is a harbor community that became part of the city of Los Angeles in 1909, when the city annexed it to gain a seaport. It is home to much of the Port of Los Angeles, one of the busiest container ports in the country, as well as the fishing fleet, the cruise ship terminal, Cabrillo Beach and the Point Fermin Lighthouse. Generations of longshoremen, fishermen, cannery workers and sailors settled there, and many residents still describe San Pedro as a small town inside a big city, where neighbors know one another and families stay for decades.
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 Arthur Taaloloma Kuaea 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 Arthur, who lived near the 1000 block of South Centre Street in December 2000, or who heard talk in San Pedro about a stabbing during the last week of that year, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
