In reading about the famed Hirohata Merc, Its often mentioned that Bob Hirohata was murdered. I also read somewhere that it was a gangland type hit. Does anyone have any more information of what that was all about? How did he earn a living? Did he ever own any other customs? How old was he? We seem to have lots of info on his car. Anyone got any information about the guy?
The execution-style murder of custom car owner/pioneer Bob Hirohata is unsolved. How would one go about finding the facts of the 1981 coldcase? 1 Answer Kat Sato, Forensic Scientist Answered May 5 2016 This is all from Google, but it appears that Bob Hirohata was a Japanese-American who resided in Los Angeles who was responsible for commissioning one of the most iconic modified cars of the century. He was murdered while changing the oil on a car in his parents driveway in 1981. I'm assuming that the police agency involved with investigating his case would have been the Los Angeles Police Department. I searched for who manages their cold cases and it's under the umbrella of the Robbery Homicide Division, Cold Case Homicide Special Section. You can look that up to get their phone number. At this point, you could try contacting the cold case section directly and seeing if a detective will talk to you about the case, otherwise you can file a public records request with the LAPD. Here's a link describing what you need to do and who to contact: California Public Records Act While I doubt they'll release the whole murder book to you, you can at least get the crime report describing what happened and this might serve as a springboard to contact witnesses, etc. Good luck!
This is the address 9587 La Rosa Dr. Temple city Ca. of Bob's mother's house where he has shot and killed in 1981.