Paul Allen Richardson was 53 years old when he died on Saturday, August 24, 2002, in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at a location recorded as "Beside N/B 5 Freeway at Glendale Boulevard off ramp." His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, assigned to the Northeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 53-year-old white male" who "died Saturday, Aug. 24, after being stabbed in Silver Lake." Unlike most entries, the location was not a street address but a spot beside the northbound Golden State Freeway at the Glendale Boulevard off-ramp. That detail suggests he may have been found outdoors, near the freeway, rather than in a home, but the record does not say how he came to be there.
No follow-up story about his death appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Paul Allen Richardson has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Paul Richardson is a very common name in the English-speaking world, and searches turn up doctors, a man named in court lists in England and many obituaries. None of them can be connected to this death in Los Angeles.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Freeway shoulders and the land beside off-ramps are not places people usually linger. Nothing in the record says why he was there, or whether the attack happened at that spot or somewhere nearby.
Silver Lake is a hillside neighborhood northwest of downtown Los Angeles, named for the reservoir at its center and known for its mid-century architecture and its music and arts scene. Glendale Boulevard runs through the area toward the Golden State Freeway, one of the main routes north out of central Los Angeles. The neighborhood is patrolled by the LAPD's Northeast Division.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Paul Allen Richardson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 53-year-old man named Paul Richardson, or who was near the Glendale Boulevard ramps of the Golden State Freeway in late August 2002, may hold information that could help. 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).
