On the morning of October 23, 1978, Jesse Martinez, a 50-year-old Hispanic man who was reportedly homeless, was found stabbed to death in a skid row parking lot in Los Angeles. His killing is described as the first in a series of brutal stabbings that targeted vulnerable individuals in a concentrated area of downtown Los Angeles, where victims were left in alleys, sidewalks or parking lots.

Investigators connected the murders by proximity and similarities in the wounds; at least one scene reportedly included ritualistic elements, with references to Satan scrawled in blood. In April 1979 police arrested 29-year-old Bobby Joe Maxwell after a palm print matched one found near a later victim and after links to an alias, Luther, tied to graffiti and witness statements.

Maxwell was convicted in 1984 on two counts of murder and given life without parole. The full extent of his involvement in Jesse Martinez’s death and the other skid row killings remains a subject of debate. Did anyone in Los Angeles in 1978-79 recognize Jesse or have information about that parking lot that could help clarify what happened?