Dennis RomeroIt was a grizzly scene: Carlos Ivan Rodas, a 32-year-old dishwasher at Guido's restaurant in Malibu, was bloodied as he took his last steps to the front of the eatery on a cool March night.
A TV news helicopter crew was quickly above the scene and declared that it was a rare shooting in the gilded, beach-side community. The next day an L.A. County sheriff's official told us that Rodas might have been beaten in an assault near the restaurant's trash bins before stumbling toward the establishment and dying.
Turns out none of that was true:
The L.A. County coroner's office yesterday declared that Rodas died of natural causes:
No trauma was noted and foul play is not suspected.
He succumbed, officials said, to “hemorrhage from invasive pulmonary aspergillosis” and “sequelae of cavitary tuberculosis (treated).” Say what now?
We googled that shit. The first thing? Infection of the lungs. It often affects people with HIV.
The second thing? The effects of having tuberculosis, essentially.
Murder in Malibu? Not this year.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.