Edgar Arellano was 31 years old when he died on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005, in Granada Hills, in the northern San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 10905 Whitaker Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Devonshire Division case.
The coroner's record describes him as a Latino man in his early 30s. The day after his death, the LAPD released a short statement that gives most of what is publicly known. It said that Devonshire Area detectives were "investigating the murder of Edgar Arellano, 31 years old, a resident of Granada Hills."
According to that release, "On Wednesday, February 23, 2005, at about 7:05 p.m., Devonshire Area patrol officers responded to a stabbing call in the 10900 block of Whitaker Avenue. The officers found Mr. Arellano on the floor inside of his residence with several stab wounds."
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The department was frank about how little it knew. "The motive is unknown," the release said. "The suspect(s) are unknown and detectives are attempting to locate additional witnesses." It asked anyone with information to contact Devonshire Area homicide detectives at 818-832-0609, the number given at the time.
The fact that he was found inside his own home in the early evening suggests that whoever attacked him may have been let in or may have known him, but that is only an inference; the police statement does not say how the attacker got inside, whether anything was taken, or whether anyone else was home. Beyond that statement, almost nothing about Edgar has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. Searches for his name turned up other men called Edgar Arellano, including one convicted of burglary years later who was alive long after 2005, but none of them is the man who died on Whitaker Avenue.
Granada Hills is a largely suburban neighborhood in the north San Fernando Valley, at the foot of the Santa Susana Mountains. Much of it was built in the 1950s and 1960s as tracts of single-family ranch houses on wide, tree-lined streets, and it is home to Granada Hills Charter High School. It is generally regarded as one of the quieter parts of the city, and a stabbing inside a home there would have stood out to neighbors.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Edgar Arellano could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near the 10900 block of Whitaker Avenue in February 2005, who knew Edgar or who visited him in the days before his death, or who saw someone arriving at or leaving his home that Wednesday evening, may hold information that could help detectives. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
