Tony de los Reyes, a businessman and part-time jazz musician, was shot in the head and killed by a shotgun blast on September 10, 1981, in a parking lot at 14646 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. He was taken to Sherman Oaks Hospital, where he died. At the time he lived at 1527 Palm, San Gabriel.

Investigators later characterized the killing as a contract murder. Testimony from the admitted triggerman, Dennis France, said LAPD Officer William Leasure waited in a car while France confronted Tony and, after a dispute over a wallet, shot him on Leasure’s instruction. The probe uncovered additional alarming allegations: Tony had reportedly hired Leasure years earlier to arrange the murder of his stepfather, Gilberto Cervantes, and had attempted to solicit the murder of his wife, Paulette. Paulette de los Reyes was charged with hiring Leasure to arrange Tony’s killing; Leasure faced charges tied to this and at least one other contract slaying.

Anyone who knew Tony, his movements in Sherman Oaks on September 10, 1981, or who has information about the people named is asked to come forward.