Cab Driver Found Slain in Taxi Hanging Over Mulholland Cliff

A cab driver who had apparently been robbed was found shot to death in his taxi by a motorist who spotted the vehicle hanging precariously over a canyon in the Hollywood Hills, police said today.

The 25-year-old driver with the Independent Cab Co. was found about 11:45 p.m. Thursday slumped over in the driver’s seat of his taxi, which was partially hanging over a canyon on Mulholland Drive about one-fourth mile west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Lt. Neil Zachary said.

The man, an Iranian immigrant whose name was being withheld until his relatives could be notified, had been shot once in the head, police said. They said he had purchased the cab earlier this year.

A passing motorist discovered the cab on his way home and phoned police after arriving there.

The victim’s wallet was missing, but it was not known how much money was stolen. There was no money elsewhere in the cab.

Police did not know what the driver was doing on Mulholland Drive and said he may not have been carrying a passenger at the time of the shooting.

Detective Russ Kuster said investigators theorized that the cab driver may have pulled off the road because of car trouble and then been approached by two or more people who offered help but then robbed and killed him.

After the shooting, the suspects apparently tried to push the cab off the road shoulder and into the canyon to delay its discovery.