On June 25, 1981, Xenia Rabinowitsch, 72, and her husband Jack were found executed in their Las Vegas home, each shot once in the back of the head. Their mouths were covered with duct tape and their wrists showed marks consistent with handcuffs. The 6,000-square-foot house had been thoroughly ransacked and four safes forced open, yet more than $250,000 in cash, art, and other valuables were left behind.

Investigators say the couple may have known their attackers. On June 23 Jack reported calls from friends who said they were driving from Los Angeles and then that their car had broken down at McCarran Airport; Jack’s 1969 Lincoln was later found abandoned in the airport lot. The Rabinowitschs had been vocal critics of the Soviet Union and helped Jews escape the USSR, and detectives pursued a political motive, including suspected links to the KGB. The FBI interviewed two Russian nationals acquainted with the couple; one later failed a polygraph in connection with a similar New York murder.

Despite those leads, insufficient evidence was developed to make an arrest and the case remains unsolved. If anyone knew the Rabinowitschs, their visitors around June 23–25, or the missing file from the home, please come forward with information.