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The homeless man who was found deceased in a downtown Palo Alto garage on July 25 appeared to have been sleeping when another man hit him in the head with an 18-inch pipe wrench, killing him, according to Palo Alto police.
The victim, 60-year-old James Rudolph, died from blunt force injuries that officers believe were caused by another homeless man, Alvaro Javier Lopez. Police arrested Lopez on Aug. 1 after they found the bloody wrench and other belongings of Lopez at another downtown garage the day after the homicide, according to a report from Detective Chris Correia.
Palo Alto police were led to the High Street garage through a string of tips from homeless individuals, some of whom knew both men. One source told the police that they had seen Rudolph the night before his death. That person also said she had seen someone who matched Rudolph’s description sleeping in the Bryant Street garage at 3 a.m. on July 15, about nine hours before a passerby spotted him on the ground floor of the garage and called the police.
The unhoused individual also reportedly told the police that she heard from a friend, known as Ali, who reportedly heard from another person named Omar about the assault. Omar had reportedly spoken to Lopez, known as AJ, who told him that he knew someone who had been hit in the head with a pipe or a stick.
According to the police, the unhoused individual relayed this information to Correia and told him that Lopez is known to stay at garage on the 400 block of Bryant Street, the same structure where Rudolph was found dead. She also said that Lopez may have moved to the garage at 528 High Street. When detectives arrived there the day after the homicide, they found on the fourth floor a collection of items, including a wheelchair, clothing, a duffel bag, bike parts, food and a wooden box. Inside the wooden box, they found a large pipe wrench with a dry red substance in several locations, according to Correia’s report.
Police seized the property, which they had identified as Lopez’s, and transported it to the Police Department headquarters. Officers also located Lopez in the High Street garage and he confirmed to them that he had just moved to the High Street garage and that he had been living at the Bryant Street parking structure on the night of the homicide.
Lopez, 34, also reportedly told a detective that he had been hallucinating on his final night on Bryant Street, which caused him to move to High Street, according to Correia’s report. He had also reported that someone had stolen his wooden box and pipe wrench.
Palo Alto police delivered the seized objects to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab, which subsequently determined that Rudolph’s DNA was associated with “two areas of red-brown staining on the head of the wrench.” A statistical analysis provided “very strong support” for the DNA connection.
The lab also found on the handle of the wrench DNA from four individuals, including Rudolph and Lopez. Palo Alto officers had surveilled Lopez on the night of July 26 and detectives were able to procure a glass bottle that Lopez had discarded to obtain his DNA.
The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office concluded that Rudolph died as a result of blunt force injuries, confirming the suspicions of detectives that he had died as a result of a homicide, according to the police.
“The victim in this case was brutally attacked and murdered,” Correia wrote in his report.
Lopez was set to make his first appearance in court on Aug. 1 but his arraignment was postponed after attorneys deemed him “unstable.” He attended a hearing on Aug. 6, where he waived his rights to a formal arraignment, according to court documents.
Lopez remains in jail with no bail and is scheduled to appear in court for his plea hearing on Sept. 12.
