Human head found in bag along trail near Hollywood sign
By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times
January 18, 2012
Los Angeles police detectives are investigating the slaying of a man believed to be of Armenian descent whose head was discovered Tuesday afternoon by two dogs off a hiking trail below the Hollywood sign.
Two women were hiking with nine dogs in the rugged hills near the 3200 block of Canyon Drive when two of the dogs found a plastic bag in the brush containing the head, according to law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation, who asked not to be identified because the probe was still unfolding.
The sources said the head was believed to be that of a male in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair. Police also believe that the slaying had occurred recently because of the condition of the remains.
Sources said investigators are trying to determine whether the area contains additional body parts. Neither the circumstances nor the cause of death were immediately known.
The case is being handled by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division.
In addition to combing the area for evidence, investigators will seek help from the Los Angeles County coroner to identify the victim through dental records.
andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
Hollywood Body Parts
SourceMore body parts found near man's head in Hollywood Hills park
By Alan Zarembo and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times
January 19, 2012
As the sun set over the Hollywood Hills park where police spent Wednesday searching for human body parts, they still didn't have a name to go with the man's head discovered there a day earlier.
What they did have were two hands and two feet. Authorities were optimistic that the hands were in good enough condition to obtain fingerprints.
The homicide investigation began Tuesday afternoon after two dog walkers in Bronson Canyon Park noticed their dogs playing with a plastic bag and went to inspect it.
Inside was a man's head. His hair was graying. Police said he appeared to be in his 40s and that he probably had been dead for a day or two.
The discovery launched a massive search. More than 30 Los Angeles Police Department detectives and additional officers on horseback fanned out across seven acres of rugged parkland Wednesday.
A "cadaver dog" from the Los Angeles County coroner's office found one hand, and later the other, in brush not far from where the head was discovered.
Unlike the head, they were not in bags.
Then, as officials were about to leave for the day, the feet were found.
Detectives believe that the killing happened elsewhere and that the body — or at least some of the parts — were dumped in the park.
"We're hoping we can find more remains," said LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith, adding that wild animals may have moved some of the body parts.
Without many answers, local residents were left to speculate. Some said that the body parts must have been deposited in the park after Tuesday morning.
At least 10 people walk their dogs each morning over the same terrain where the head was left, said Liam Lefevour. One of those dogs — maybe Tiger, his own 4-year-old greyhound and pitbull mix — would have found the head, he said.
Lefevour said he the whole situation was "freaky."
Others seemed to relish playing armchair detective. Most of their crime knowledge comes from movies and television.
"It's a real-life 'Sopranos' situation," Ann Marie Spinelli said as she hiked a nearby ridge.
Spinelli, her sister and mother hypothesized that the killer was trying to make it impossible to identify the victim.
"We're assuming the body would be far away," said the sister, Karen Madigan. "There's no other reason to cut off the head."
The search was expected to continue Thursday morning.
alan.zarembo@latimes.com
andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
Hervey Medellin is the Hollywood Head
SourceNeighbors Remember Victim in Hollywood Hills Body Parts Case
8:03 p.m. PST, January 21, 2012
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KTLA) -- Los Angeles coroner's officials have identified a man whose head, hands and feet were found this week in the Hollywood Hills as Hervey Medellin.
The victim is 66-year old Hervey Medellin, a former Mexicana Airlines employee who retired some time ago.
Coroner's officials say they were able to identify Medellin through fingerprints from one of the hands.
But it remains unclear if Medellin was first identified through a crime tip.
LAPD investigators towed a silver Honda from an apartment building in the 6200 block of Delongpre Avenue in Hollywood Thursday night, where Medellin lived with his boyfriend. Neighbors say the couple had been there for several years and were often seen walking their pit bull together.
"I was completely devastated, it was absolutely to watch someone's face [I know] come up on the television screen last night," one neighbor told KTLA.
"It takes time to sever limbs, so you just have to wonder what level of anger, what was really going on," she said.
Those who knew Medellin believe he was targeted.
"I think it's an isolated incident," the neighbor said. "It seems pretty personal."
Police don't believe he was murdered in his apartment nor that he was killed within the park. Officers have questioned at least one person in the case, but no arrests have been made.
Meantime, Bronson Canyon Park has been reopened to the public after authorities concluded their search on Thursday.
They had been combing the area inch-by-inch since the initial discovery of a severed human head by two dog walkers on Tuesday along a trail near the 3200 block of Canyon Drive.
One of the dog walkers told reporters that two dogs started playing with an object they found in a plastic bag.
They took a closer look and realized the object was a human head.
On Wednesday, investigators using cadaver dogs recovered two hands and two feet.
The body parts were all discovered within about 50 yards of where the head was found, and investigators think they all belong to Medellin.
Police officials said the head had probably been dead only a day or two.
Authorities say they do not believe the case is related to the discovery several days ago of a torso in Arizona what was missing its head, feet and hands.
Investigators from the Pima County Sheriff's Department in Tucson have been in touch with local detectives.
Investigators also said there was no indication of a crime scene near where the head was found, and they believe the body parts were dumped there.
"There's no reason to believe that this is part of any kind of a series," LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith stressed.
"There's no other evidence to indicate that this is anything besides just a single, individual isolated occurrence."
In addition to scouring the park, police have questioned people who live in the area.
One of those residents is actor Brad Pitt.
The LAPD confirmed that his body guard was interviewed in their search for leads, along with dozens of other residents.
Neighbors say it's a popular trail, and that the unfolding murder mystery seems unreal.
"They wanted to know whether I'd seen anything or heard anything unusual," neighbor Jeff Young told KTLA, describing questions he was asked by police.
"Absolute, straight TV show questions from a cop," Young said, in disbelief.