Family, friends seek justice in death of Chandler man

CHANDLER, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Family and friends of an 84-year-old man found murdered in a Chandler parking lot outside an LA Fitness last week are desperate for answers and asking people to come forward and help solve the crime.

Today, they made an emotional plea, hoping for justice in this violent crime.

"This loss has devastated all of us, especially his wife of 50 years and we still have not come to grips with what really happened," Ananth Krishnan said.

Ananth Krishnan talked about his friend of more than 20 years, Shivaswamy Hosakote, the 84-year-old recently-retired engineer who was stabbed to death in an LA Fitness parking lot in Chandler last Thursday morning.

"Shivaswami was very kind and gentle soul who touched many lives in our community," he said.

Chandler police still have no leads in the case and are asking for anyone who may have seen anything the morning of August 18th to come forward.

"We pride ourselves for being a safe city in Chandler, so when something like this happens, it impacts everybody; our department, our community," Sgt. Daniel Mejia said. "People are worried, we understand that. That's why we reach out today to ask for their help."

Chandler police and Silent Witness are also offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. Meantime, Shivaswamy's family and friends are left to deal with his sudden and unexplained death.

"We think of him every morning and we wonder what his last minutes were like and that's, it's extremely hard to explain my emotion on that," Krishnan said. "Please, if anyone has seen anything, anywhere or heard anything, please help us so we can get to the bottom of it and find justice."

If you have any information, please call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.