MayhemInTheDesert
Member
Jack and Xenia Rabinowitsh were found dead in their upscale Las Vegas home on the morning of June 25, 1981 by a maid and security guard. The elderly couple were found clothed on their bed in the master bedroom, each killed by a single shot from a .22 handgun to the back of the head. A nearby pillow had powder burns on it, indicating it had been used to muffle the gunshots. No neighbors reported hearing any gunshots from the Rabinowitsh household.
Jack and Xenia had handcuff marks on their wrists and both had their mouths covered in duct tape when the bodies were discovered. The 6,000 square foot home had been ransacked, but over $250,000 in cash and jewelry were left behind in the home. The killer or killers had forced Jack and Xenia to open four safes located in the home. The only thing taken by the intruders was a single file - but the information contained in the file remains unknown to anyone except the Rabinowitshs and their murderers.
About two hours after the bodies were found, police located the Rabinowitshs' 1969 Lincoln in a general parking lot at McCarran Airport. The car contained a ticket timestamped with 1:00 a.m. on June 24, 1981.
Detectives were later able to determine that the Rabinowitshs received a phone call about 8:00 p.m. on June 23, 1981, from "friends" informing the couple that they were driving to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. Not long after that call, a second call was placed to the Rabinowitsh household. It was the same friends - this time they were calling to explain their car had broken down and they were at McCarran Airport in need of a ride.
Jack left in his 1969 Lincoln not long after receiving the second phone call. Police were never able to determine whether Jack drove his acquaintances back in the Lincoln or if he rode back to his house in a different vehicle.
The Rabinowitshs had met as kids in their native Latvia. The two emigrated from the Soviet Union to the US where they wed. Jack was a professional violinist, but the couple made their fortune in real estate. They owned several properties around Las Vegas, including apartment complexes. The Rabinowitshs were active in advocating against the treatment by the Soviet Union of its Jewish citizens, including the USSR policy of preventing its citizens from emigrating to Israel. The Rabinowitshs were believed to be involved in an "underground railroad" that helped smuggle Soviet Jews out of the USSR to Israel or the US. The couple maintained close ties to the USSR, and even made trips back to the Soviet Union - the most recent one being two years before the murders. The couple's activities were reported to have gained the notice of Soviet authorities.
LVMPD detectives conducted multiple interviews with two Russian nationals that were acquainted with the Rabinowitshs and were suspected of having ties to the KGB. The FBI believed the two Russian nationals were working as spies. The head of the Vegas homicide bureau said, "It appears obvious they knew their attackers. They were obviously killed because the murderers felt they could not leave witnesses behind."
In an interesting development, 1 1/2 years after the Rabinowitsh murders Russian author Yuri Brokhin was murdered in his New York City apartment by a single gunshot to his head. Several documents were stolen from Brokhin by his attacker, though $15,000 in an attache case was left at the scene. Brokhin was also active in advocating against the Soviet Union. One of the two Russian nationals interviewed by Vegas police failed a polygraph administered by the NYPD in relation to the Brokhin murder. Detectives believed the KGB could have used links to the growing Russian Mafia to eliminate perceived threats to the USSR in the Soviet emigrant community.
Link to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's cold case site. Rabinowitsh case is mentioned closer to the bottom of the page:
1980 - 1989
Jack and Xenia had handcuff marks on their wrists and both had their mouths covered in duct tape when the bodies were discovered. The 6,000 square foot home had been ransacked, but over $250,000 in cash and jewelry were left behind in the home. The killer or killers had forced Jack and Xenia to open four safes located in the home. The only thing taken by the intruders was a single file - but the information contained in the file remains unknown to anyone except the Rabinowitshs and their murderers.
About two hours after the bodies were found, police located the Rabinowitshs' 1969 Lincoln in a general parking lot at McCarran Airport. The car contained a ticket timestamped with 1:00 a.m. on June 24, 1981.
Detectives were later able to determine that the Rabinowitshs received a phone call about 8:00 p.m. on June 23, 1981, from "friends" informing the couple that they were driving to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. Not long after that call, a second call was placed to the Rabinowitsh household. It was the same friends - this time they were calling to explain their car had broken down and they were at McCarran Airport in need of a ride.
Jack left in his 1969 Lincoln not long after receiving the second phone call. Police were never able to determine whether Jack drove his acquaintances back in the Lincoln or if he rode back to his house in a different vehicle.
The Rabinowitshs had met as kids in their native Latvia. The two emigrated from the Soviet Union to the US where they wed. Jack was a professional violinist, but the couple made their fortune in real estate. They owned several properties around Las Vegas, including apartment complexes. The Rabinowitshs were active in advocating against the treatment by the Soviet Union of its Jewish citizens, including the USSR policy of preventing its citizens from emigrating to Israel. The Rabinowitshs were believed to be involved in an "underground railroad" that helped smuggle Soviet Jews out of the USSR to Israel or the US. The couple maintained close ties to the USSR, and even made trips back to the Soviet Union - the most recent one being two years before the murders. The couple's activities were reported to have gained the notice of Soviet authorities.
LVMPD detectives conducted multiple interviews with two Russian nationals that were acquainted with the Rabinowitshs and were suspected of having ties to the KGB. The FBI believed the two Russian nationals were working as spies. The head of the Vegas homicide bureau said, "It appears obvious they knew their attackers. They were obviously killed because the murderers felt they could not leave witnesses behind."
In an interesting development, 1 1/2 years after the Rabinowitsh murders Russian author Yuri Brokhin was murdered in his New York City apartment by a single gunshot to his head. Several documents were stolen from Brokhin by his attacker, though $15,000 in an attache case was left at the scene. Brokhin was also active in advocating against the Soviet Union. One of the two Russian nationals interviewed by Vegas police failed a polygraph administered by the NYPD in relation to the Brokhin murder. Detectives believed the KGB could have used links to the growing Russian Mafia to eliminate perceived threats to the USSR in the Soviet emigrant community.
Link to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's cold case site. Rabinowitsh case is mentioned closer to the bottom of the page:
1980 - 1989
