Crime & Safety
$100K Reward Offered For Info On Rolling Hills Estates Lawyer's Killer
Jeffrey Tidus, 53, was fatally shot on Dec. 7, 2009, after he returned home from a fundraiser in Redondo Beach, authorities said.
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA -- Authorities are hoping that a $100,000 reward announced Wednesday will help detectives solve the 2009 killing of a prominent attorney who was gunned down outside his Rolling Hills Estates residence.
Jeffrey A. Tidus, 53, was shot on Dec. 7, 2009, after he returned home from a fundraiser in Redondo Beach.
When he went back outside to retrieve his work laptop computer from his car, which was parked in his driveway, the killer came up from behind and shot him once in the head, according to the sheriff's department. Tidus died at a hospital the following day.
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Sheriff's detectives said they recently developed new leads in the cold case.
"Our focus has now been on the professional side of his business, of his life, and we feel that his murder is related," sheriff's Lt. Victor Lewandowski said at a news conference Wednesday morning at the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
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"And it's our belief that there are people out there who know about this murder and who know the identity of the suspect or suspects," Lewandowski said. "Seemingly insignificant information could be the tip or lead that breaks this case open."
Tidus' wife, Cheryl, called her late husband "a true believer in justice."
"And we're here today to ask for justice for this case. ... We deserve answers. We all deserve to know what went on (and) why," she said. "Jeffrey was a husband, he was a dad, a son, brother, uncle, a really good friend."
Next Saturday would have been the couple's 33rd wedding anniversary.
"My brother Jeff was brutally murdered," Michael Tidus said. "We're hoping that the $100,000 reward will assist the sheriff's department in bringing the dirtbag who murdered my brother to justice."
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $10,000 in reward money and Tidus' family offered $90,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
-- City News Service, courtesy photo
