Family Mourns Victim of Mysterious Slaying

Fond memories are all that Margaret Gomez has left of her father Alfonso Vigil. She will never again see him explain the subtleties of saxophone playing to his musical granddaughter. She will no longer hear the sounds of jazz float from his piano keystrokes or his trumpet.

To smile now she must remember often-told family stories, such as the one about when a mischievous Vigil, then in his 20s, stole his brother’s car, drove it around the block and returned it without a scratch. Never mind that he was blind.

“He was quite a character,” said Gomez, smiling. “He was very independent and always did have a wonderful sense of direction.”

But Vigil met a violent demise.

Investigators Monday were still uncertain about a motive for the apparent murder of Vigil, who was found slain on the kitchen floor of his Cudahy apartment Saturday night, after neighbors burst into his apartment to save him from a fire that had been deliberately set.

The 71-year-old man already was dead by the time smoke alarms went off just before 7:45 p.m. and alerted others of the fire inside his apartment at the Clara Park Commons, a 49-unit retirement home, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Residents reportedly didn’t see Vigil’s body until they opened the patio door and the black smoke cleared.

An autopsy performed Monday revealed that Vigil had been attacked, but police did not release details on how he was killed. Officials at the coroner’s office said it did not appear that he had been stabbed or shot.

Detectives said they did not know if he was the victim of a home invasion, or if he unknowingly invited his attacker in. They have no possible suspects or motives for the killing.

“There were no witnesses to the attack and the neighbors didn’t hear anything,” said homicide Det. Joe Purcell. “It’s a puzzle. We have very little to go on.”

He asked that anyone with information about the case call sheriff’s homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500.

Clara Park residents were saddened Monday when they learned that police were investigating Vigil’s death as a homicide. Despite the mysterious murder, many said they feel secure at the gated villa-style complex.

A security pass is required to enter the complex and a key is needed at the main entrance where an intercom system screens visitors. Residents occasionally exit at the back gate, but they must have a key to remove the padded lock on the chain-link fence. Residents say that a neighboring Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department substation and a community center provide an added sense of security.

“I don’t fear for my safety,” said a 10-year resident who would only identify herself as June. “This place is pretty secure.”

Blind since birth, Vigil attended the School for the Blind in Alamogordo, N.M. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, but moved to Los Angeles about 30 years ago. He had three children with his first wife, but that marriage ended 37 years ago. He later remarried but that marriage also ended in divorce. He worked as a musician, therapeutic masseur and a salesman before he retired.

Most remembered the robust Vigil as an outgoing individual who frequented a local Jack-in-the-Box and cherished his privacy and independence. June said she often saw him, his walking cane tapping in front of him, relishing his daily stroll or zipping around town on a community shuttle bus.

“He made me smile every day,” said resident manager Jack Melendy, who shared jokes with Vigil. “That’s what makes this whole thing unbelievable.”

“My father was a man of God,” Gomez said, “so I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do this to him.”