New Images Released After Doctor Is Killed at Office

A $50,000 reward for information about the slaying was posted last summer

More than a year after a patient found a Southern California doctor bludgeoned to death outside his office, detectives are still working a case that seems to be growing colder each day.

“For me personally, this is a tough case. You have a doctor who is a true victim. He just shows up to go to work one day and somebody just comes in and attacks him out of the clear blue,” LAPD Detective Tom Small said.

On May 31, 2012, detectives were called to Robert Rainey’s chiropractic office in the 9200 block of Venice Boulevard. When they arrived, they found Rainey so badly beaten while opening his office for the day that he died at the hospital.

“At the moment we’re trying to pin down the absolute motive. Somebody should have seen something,” Small said.

Police released this week the first images, pictured below, of the parking lot in front of Rainey’s practice the morning he was found bludgeoned. The images are poor quality, but in the top left, Rainey can be seen next to his car.

Those are the last images of Rainey before he died.

“It looked like he was surprised,” Small said. “It looks like it could have been a sudden onslaught.”

Police are now hoping someone will see those pictures and think about what they may have seen in the area of Venice Boulevard and Durango Avenue the morning of May 31, 2012.

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Described by many as a good man, Rainey was a husband and the brother of LA Times media writer James Rainey.

“He was a good man, a husband of 20 years. Had his practice here for 20 years," Small said. "I have to speak for him. He can’t. We’re going to our best to try to resolve this and help the family get through this.”

NBC4 is delving deeper into this case, along with NBC News' Dateline.

A $50,000 reward for information about the slaying was posted last summer.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD West Bureau Homicide Unit at 213-382-9470.

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