Who Killed Joe Cole?
A man and his best friend, Henry Rollins, were held up at gunpoint, but only one of them survived the night.
Thirty-year-old Joe Cole grew up around celebrities. His father was former actor Dennis Cole who starred in multiple shows in the 1970s and 1980s. Joe was a roadie with the band Black Flag and was best friends with its lead singer, Henry Rollins.
After Black Flag broke up, Joe started to follow in his father’s footsteps and began acting himself. He also began filming a documentary with Henry on the struggles homeless Southern Californian Vietnam veterans faced while living on the streets. Joe wanted to spread awareness of their plight.
In 1991, Joe and Henry moved into a home together at 809 Brooks Avenue in the Oakwood neighborhood of Venice Beach, California. It was a small, unassuming house that one would not expect to find a rockstar quietly living in with his best friend.
Oakwood was a high-crime area and was notorious for being unsafe, but it allowed the men to be close to the homeless veterans they were documenting and get to know them better. However, it would be a place that would result in tragedy for the two men.
