Two found dead in Corral Canyon

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Mystery still surrounds the deaths of two men found fatally shot on north Corral Canyon Road last week.

The bodies were discovered in a parking lot by a group of Pepperdine astronomy students on the night of May 5. One of the men was slumped down in the seat of a van, the other was lying in a beach chair. The sheriff’s report indicates two revolvers were recovered at the location.

Sheriffs homicide investigators apparently have not been able to locate the next of kin of one of the men and therefore are not yet officially releasing the identities of the men. But locals who knew the two say they were well-liked local surfers and day laborers, and the Malibu Labor Exchange is running a classified ad in an effort to locate the relatives.

The two are reported to be Simon Kennedy, 50, and Ian Hickman, 36.

Kennedy is said to have been an artist from the San Fernando Valley; Hickman was from England. The two were said to be trying to recover from broken marriages.

Authorities indicated if they cannot locate the mother or sister of Kennedy, possibly residents of Brentwood, they will bury Kennedy in a common grave.

Sources say when there were problems on the beach, the two acted as peacemakers. They were often hired out from the Malibu Labor Exchange and had found work in Corral Canyon last week.

Mona Loo, president of the Labor Exchange, recalled, “They were very pleasant, and we’ve always gotten good reports on them.”

Other sources say the two were never seen around drugs or guns. “I know for a fact they were anti-gun,” said one source. “They were trying to surf for a year, and enjoy themselves, and heal.”

Sheriff’s detectives say they cannot yet confirm whether the matter is a double suicide, a murder or a murder suicide.

Oscar Mondragon, the exchange’s director, said, “They expressed to me that they wanted to get lost here, and maybe die here. I thought they had changed their minds.”