When a man is found stabbed to death inside his San Francisco apartment, the evidence located at the scene of the crime seems to contradict itself. A controversial, international investigation unfolds in this episode of Last Seen Alive.
Pictured is Hugues’ apartment’s front door, alongside his neighbors’. One of Hugues’ neighbors discovered blood dripping from the doorknob to Hugues’ apartment just hours after his murder. Photo from hoodline.comPictured is the front stoop and stairs that Hugues shared with his neighbors who occupied the two other apartments adjacent to his. The front stoop is where Hugues is believed to have sustained his fatal stab injuries. Photo from hoodline.comHugues is pictured in an undated photo with his close friend Melissa Nix. Melissa is a journalist who has advocated for justice in regards to Hugues’ murder. Photo by Melissa Nix.After being stabbed 3 times, Hugues died of blood loss. This photo of the inside of his apartment graphically illustrates the severity of the bleeding. His left subclavian vessels were severed during a stabbing attack–an injury survivable for 1 to 2 minutes at longest. Photo by Melissa Nix.Hugues de la Plaza was 36 years old whenever he was fatally stabbed just outside the front door of his San Francisco apartment. A sound engineer by trade, Hugues was also a son, a friend, a poet and a good listener. His family and friends have campaigned for justice in regards to his death, but his killer has yet to be identified.Pictured is the kitchen inside Hugues’ apartment, where the dinner he cooked immediately prior to his death was found barely touched on the counter. A clean steak knife was found in the sink pictured, spurring a bizarre theory detailed in our episode on this case. Photo by Melissa Nix.
4 thoughts on “UNSOLVED HOMICIDE: HUGUES DE LA PLAZA”
My apartment has paper thin walls. I’m not sure I hear water running in the kitchen sink next door but I hear the toilet flushing easily on all levels around me.
I think about this case a lot. My freshman year of college I got very very drunk, cut my foot, was bleeding profusely, and continued to walk around unaware, until I started slipping on a linoleum floor. I think Hugues was attacked and did not realize he had been stabbed because he was drunk and/or in shock, and continued about his routine until he died. He may have noticed the blood eventually but by then it was too late. I believe when Christopher Porco struck his parents with an axe in their sleep, his father got up and went about his morning routine while dying from a fatal head wound. There is a term for this behavior but I can’t recall what it is. If I had been the cops, I’d have looked for similar crimes (late night stabbings) in the area maybe.
I actually did the same thing, once, years ago: cut the top of my foot while drinking and didn’t realize until I noticed the floor felt wet. So I could totally see this being the case!
Nix told 48 Hours that calling Hugues parents with the news of his death was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. The truth is: When she called them, she already knew that they had been informed.
LAST SEEN ALIVE 
My apartment has paper thin walls. I’m not sure I hear water running in the kitchen sink next door but I hear the toilet flushing easily on all levels around me.
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I think about this case a lot. My freshman year of college I got very very drunk, cut my foot, was bleeding profusely, and continued to walk around unaware, until I started slipping on a linoleum floor. I think Hugues was attacked and did not realize he had been stabbed because he was drunk and/or in shock, and continued about his routine until he died. He may have noticed the blood eventually but by then it was too late. I believe when Christopher Porco struck his parents with an axe in their sleep, his father got up and went about his morning routine while dying from a fatal head wound. There is a term for this behavior but I can’t recall what it is. If I had been the cops, I’d have looked for similar crimes (late night stabbings) in the area maybe.
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I actually did the same thing, once, years ago: cut the top of my foot while drinking and didn’t realize until I noticed the floor felt wet. So I could totally see this being the case!
Leah
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Nix told 48 Hours that calling Hugues parents with the news of his death was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. The truth is: When she called them, she already knew that they had been informed.
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