How Did Sam Cooke Die?
Guests at the three-dollar-a-night Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles didn’t hear the shots that were fired just after 3 a.m. on the morning of December 11th, 1964. The sad fact of the matter is that gun violence was all too common in this part of South-Central L.A. Even the cops of the area were pretty blasé about homicides. Still, LAPD officers responded to the call of a reported shooting at the motel.
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They weren’t surprised to find a man lifeless, bloody and naked (except for a sports coat and one shoe) propped up against the door of the motel manager’s office. But this wasn’t some homeless man or wanderer. This was the well-known blues singer named Sam Cooke.