Break Made In Rolling Hills Estates Murder Mystery: Police

LOS ANGELES, CA — Authorities Friday identified a man wanted as a second person of interest in two homicides, one of them the 2009 killing of prominent civil litigation attorney Jeffrey Tidus.

"After many years of a lengthy investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives are getting closer to discovering the circumstances surrounding the execution-style murder of 53-year-old Jeffrey Tidus," a sheriff's statement said. Tidus was killed on Dec. 7, 2009, outside his home in Rolling Hills Estates.

On May 31 of this year, detectives released a composite sketch of a person of interest in the killing, who was described as a black man in his 30s. Friday, detectives released a photo of 64-year-old Richard Wall, whom they described as a second person of interest in the killing of Tidus.

Wall, owner of a Whittier business called Welded Fixtures, also was named as a person of interest in the killing of Juan Mendez, who was gunned down at his Whittier home on Feb. 26, 2011.

Mendez was an employee at Wall's business, the sheriff's department reported. Wall is described as white, 6 feet tall, weighing about 175 pounds.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved and announced a reward of $10,000 for information on the Tidus killing, and an additional $90,000 was added by the Tidus' family.

The rewards were offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the killing of Tidus, and the reward also was in effect for information on the killing of Mendez, the sheriff's department reported.

Anyone with information about 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