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The motel where Sam Cooke was killed

Place of Interest in Los Angeles, California, United States

This is the location where Sam Cooke was shot dead.

It is situated at 9137 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, California.

At the time of the shooting, the lot was home to the Motel Hacienda. These days, it is a parking lot for an adjoining grocery store called Numero Uno Market.

Cooke was killed at this location during the early hours of December 11th, 1964.

The 33-year-old soul singer was shot in the chest by the motel manager, Bertha Franklin, after he allegedly forced his way into her office and started grappling with her.

According to Franklin, Cooke was half-naked and aggressively demanding to know the whereabouts of another woman. It is believed that Cooke was talking about a woman named Elisa Boyer, who had accompanied him to the motel earlier that night.

Following a physical confrontation with the singer, Franklin grabbed a pistol and opened fire.

One of the bullets struck him in the chest and pierced his heart.

Cooke was reportedly shocked and confused when he realized that he had been shot.

Although he allegedly tried to charge at Franklin, he collapsed to the floor and died after she hit him on top of the head with a broom.

Following an investigation, the shooting was ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide. Despite this, there are still a number of questions hanging over the case.

Further information is available in the "Photos" section below.

Sam Cooke death location

Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location.

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the motel are:

33.953296, -118.282860

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps Link

Address

The full address for this location is:

Hacienda Motel
9137 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles
California
CA 90044
United States

Directions

The lot is about 50 yards north of the intersection between South Figueroa Street and West 92nd Street. It lies to the west of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway).

Details about the general area

It is situated in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of South Los Angeles.

Photos

Photos of the motel and other related images.

9137 South Figueroa Street

This is a Google Street View image of 9137 South Figueroa Street, which is situated in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles.

In 1964, this lot was the location of the Motel Hacienda.

The motel's manager, Bertha Franklin, is pictured on the right. Franklin claimed that she opened fire on the singer after he forced his way into her office and became physically aggressive.

1964

Image source: USGS

This aerial image was taken in 1964. We have highlighted the motel in red.

Elisa Boyer

On the night of the shooting, Sam Cooke met 22-year-old Elisa Boyer at Martoni's Restaurant in Hollywood. That evening, several witnesses saw the pair drinking together and "getting close" to one another.

According to Boyer, she asked the singer to drive her home that night. However, he ignored her request and decided to stop at the Hacienda Motel instead.

Boyer claimed that Cooke forced her onto the bed and took off her clothes. Fearing that she was going to be raped, the young woman grabbed her belongings and ran from the room when the singer went to use the bathroom.

Before making her escape, Boyer also grabbed some of Cooke's clothes. However, she claimed that she did this by mistake in the heat of the moment.

That night, the singer was reportedly carrying $5,000 in cash—a sum that is equivalent to roughly $45,000 today. Following the shooting, the police were unable to find any trace of the money.

This has led to speculation that Boyer concocted the rape story and that she grabbed Cooke's clothes because she wanted to steal the $5,000 that he had been flaunting at Martoni's Restaurant.

Upon realizing that his clothes and money were missing, the drunken singer may have panicked and lost his cool. This might explain the bizarre events leading up to the shooting.

Although this theory is plausible, there is no real evidence to back it up.

According to the police, Boyer's purse contained a small amount of money. This means that she would have had to stash the $5,000 somewhere else before the authorities arrived.

Cooke's friends and family have claimed that Boyer and the motel manager were in cahoots with one another and that the 22-year-old lured the singer back to this location so that she could rob him.

Martoni's Restaurant

Martoni's Restaurant was situated at 1523 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood. This was the location where Sam Cooke had his last meal. It is also the place where he met Elisa Boyer.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Martoni's was a popular spot for celebrities, record producers, and Hollywood executives.

Martoni's was roughly 15 miles north of the motel where Cooke was shot. That night, it would have taken Cooke and Boyer 20–30 minutes to drive down Interstate 110.

Coordinates: 34.098826, -118.329738

Google Maps Link