Police Asking for Help in Solving PV Attorney Murder

Sheriff's homicide detectives asked Monday the public's help in solving the shooting death of a prominent Los Angeles attorney outside his home.
 
Jeffrey Tidus, 53, who worked at the downtown firm of Baute & Tidus, was shot in the head outside his home in the 4600 block of Sugarhill Drive in Rolling Hills Estates about 8:35 p.m. on Dec. 7.
  
Detectives asked for anyone with information to contact sheriff's Detective J. Espino at (323) 890-5639 or Detective R. Kenney at (323) 890-5587.  Information can be submitted anonymously.
  
Coincidentally, three former executives with failed subprime lender New  Century Financial Corp. -- one of Tidus' clients -- were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading investors just hours before the shooting.
  
Tidus' clients included several banking institutions, including  Hawthorne Savings, California Federal Savings, Aames Financial, First Alliance Mortgage Company, First Los Angeles Bank, and Tokai Bank.
  
New Century, based in Orange County, was the nation's second-largest lender to borrowers with spotty credit before its demise in April 2007.
  
Tidus and his wife had just returned home from a social engagement shortly before the shooting, and he was shot in the head when he went out to his car to get a laptop computer, authorities said.