Alex Odeh Assassination Probe Demanded by Civil Rights Groups, Rep. Loretta Sanchez

[Jesus Malverde]

1. In Alex Odeh's 1985 slaying, still seeking answers

Twenty-eight years ago, more than 1,000 people gathered at a Catholic church in Orange to mourn the death of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian American civil rights leader who was killed when a pipe bomb ripped apart his Santa Ana offices.

Odeh, who was 41 and the father of three, was remembered as a gentle, peaceful man, "an American in the highest sense of the word," as former U.S. Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.), who spoke at the funeral, put it. The White House condemned the killing as an act of terrorism. The FBI told Congress that solving the murder was one of its highest priorities.

But nearly three decades on, the killing remains unsolved.

Now, civil rights groups and members of Congress, including Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana), are calling on the FBI to do more to solve the case.

"I believe the Odeh family deserves closure," the Orange County congresswoman wrote in a letter to Atty. Gen. Eric Holder earlier this year.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-alex-odeh-20131021,0,5616296.story