The popular Fox TV show “America’s Most Wanted” features a segment on the murder of transgender Paulina Ibarra in an effort to locate a suspect – Jesus Catalan. The episode airs at 9:00pm.
LGBT reported on Catalan last month, after LAPD Lt. Wes Buhrmester said Catalan’s DNA was found at the scene.  At the time we posted this information:
Jesus Catalan (AKA: Brian Nanes or Luis Santiago), 24, is described as a homeless male Hispanic, 5’9â€, 140 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, with a tattoo on his right arm. He should be considered armed and dangerous. The LAPD believe that he has been harbored by well-intentioned transgender women – who should now be concerned about their own safety.
This is how “America’s Most Wanted” is profiling the case on their website:
Strange Twist In Hollywood Murder
Paulina Ibarra, 24, was a transgender woman living in Hollywood, Calif.
For many, California dreaming begins — and often ends — in Los Angeles. It’s sandy shores and bright lights were a place where 24-year-old Paulina Ibarra felt she was free to be herself and start life fresh when she moved there a few years ago.
On August 28, 2009, Paulina’s happiness ended in a scene right out of a horror movie.
LAPD detectives say neighbors heard a woman’s gut-wrenching screams coming out of Paulina’s apartment. When they went inside, nearly every wall and piece of furniture was drenched in blood.
Paulina Ibarra had been stabbed more than a dozen times which begged the question to cops: Who would kill Paulina Ibarra, and why?
Police were stumped by the mystery, so they were quick to turn to her past and her inner circle of friends for clues.
On the night of the murder, cops believed Paulina could’ve been the victim of a hate crime.
Actually, the night of the murder some of Ibarra’s friends already mentioned Catalan, who befriended a number of transgender women – making it less likely the murder was a hate crime as classically defined.
If anyone has any information about Jesus Catalan, please contact Detective Mike Arteaga, who is bilingual, at the LAPD Homicide Bureau. His desk phone is (213) 484-3639. Also, the homicide unit phone, which is staffed during business hours and answered by whoever is in the office, is (213) 484-3650.
Here is a TV news report on her murder:
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