> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Police post new reward for old crime
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/police-post-new-reward-for-old-crime/
- Published: 2007-06-30T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:12:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

CITYWIDE Federal investigators are hoping to breathe new life into a cold case, offering a reward for information leading to the capture of a fugitive wanted in connection with a murder that rattled Santa Monica nearly a decade ago.

The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for assistance in nabbing Paul Edmond Carpenter, an accomplice in the murder of a German tourist who was enjoying his last day of vacation in the United States in 1998.

Carpenter has been wanted for attempted robbery and murder since February 1999, when he was charged on both counts by local and federal authorities for the murder of Horst Fietze. Investigators believe Carpenter fled to San Diego, and then South Carolina following the murder. Today, he could be overseas.

Fietze and three friends were in Santa Monica on Oct. 12, 1998 when they were believed to have been accosted by Carpenter and three accomplices, attempting to rob the German tourists as they were walking on Appian Way near the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

When Fietze resisted, one of the four accomplices — all believed to be associated with the Rolling 30s Street Crips gang — shot and killed Fietze, said Lt. Ray Cooper, who oversees the Office of Criminal Investigations for the Santa Monica Police Department.

The four suspects were identified a few months later and three were convicted in 2000, including Lamont Santos, who is currently serving 57 years to life in prison. Santos, apprehended in South Carolina, is believed to be the gunman. The other two accomplices were arrested in Oklahoma and in Los Angeles, near the Coliseum, respectively.

Carpenter has managed to elude police since the shooting, leading authorities in 2000 to South Carolina, where he was wanted for arson and carjacking.

“We went down there and believed he was there at the time, chased him around there... but were not able to apprehend him,” Cooper said.

Carpenter is described as a black male, 5 foot 9 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He has gone by several aliases, including Lamar Johnson, Paul Jason Edmond Carpenter and John Talar Anderson. Carpenter has used several birth dates as well, including April 14, 1977; April 14, 1978; July 13, 1977 and June 14, 1977\. “There is nothing that led to his arrest over the years,” said Laura Eimiller, the public information officer for the FBI. “We’ve had multiple leads that investigators had worked and continue to work.

“Obviously it’s a cold case, and we’re hoping the rewards generate some leads.”

Anyone with information on Carpenter’s whereabouts are encouraged to call a hotline at 1-888-CANT HIDE.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/063007-08_02.jpg)

ON THE LAM: Fugitive Paul Edward Carpenter, pictured here in 1998, is wanted in connection with a murder by the beach. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 30, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/063007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)