J.P. Henderson, 65, was found stabbed to death in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles on November 4, 1978. His killing was one of a series of brutal stabbings that targeted vulnerable people living on the streets during the fall of 1978 and into early 1979, a pattern authorities later described as serial killings.

Police arrested 29-year-old Bobby Joe Maxwell in April 1979 and charged him with multiple murders, including Henderson’s. Investigators linked Maxwell to the Skid Row area, noted a December 1978 police encounter during which he was found with a concealed knife and served a short jail term, and cited circumstantial items such as a palm print on a bench near a crime scene and a logbook entry referencing Satanic worship. Prosecutors alleged a double-edged stainless steel knife caused wounds consistent with several victims and argued an occult motive.

Maxwell was convicted but years later was exonerated after questions arose about the evidence and investigation. The murder of J.P. Henderson remains part of a troubling episode in the city’s history. Does anyone have information about Henderson’s life or the Skid Row cases from 1978–79?