Joe N. Marquez was 71 years old when he died on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000, in Mar Vista. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 12634 Matteson Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 71-year-old Latino male" who "died Thursday, Nov. 16, after being stabbed in Mar Vista." The entry gave an address on Matteson Avenue, but it did not say whether that was his home. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Joe N. Marquez 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. Joe Marquez is a common name, and searches turn up obituaries of men with that name in Texas, New Mexico and elsewhere in Southern California, along with a decorated World War II Navy corpsman, none of whom can be connected to this death.
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.
His age sets this case apart. A man of 71 is far older than most homicide victims, and the stabbing of an older man in a quiet residential neighborhood is the kind of crime that neighbors tend to remember.
Mar Vista is a largely residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, between Venice and Culver City. Much of it is made up of modest single-family homes built in the years after World War II, mixed with apartment buildings closer to its main boulevards. In 2000 it was a mostly quiet, middle-class area where homicides were rare, and many residents had lived on the same blocks 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 Joe N. Marquez 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 Joe, who lived near the 12600 block of Matteson Avenue in November 2000, or who heard talk afterward of what happened to an older man on that street, 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).
