City to Offer Reward in Engineer’s Slaying

City Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, introduced a motion Tuesday to establish a $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the beating death of a 33-year-old man in December.

Firefighters found the burned, beaten body of Joseph Marien, an electrical engineer for the Rocketdyne company in Canoga Park, at his cottage on the 12200 block of Califa Street on Dec. 21. Coroner’s officials later determined he had been beaten to death before the fire began.

Investigators theorized the fire was set to cover up the killing.

Marien left work Dec. 20 with several hundred dollars and went Christmas shopping, police said. That evening, after shopping in Northridge he returned home. According to witness accounts, he had been seen with a white male with brown hair and brown eyes standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 220 pounds.

Neighbors described Marien as shy and kind. A 1986 graduate of the UCLA School of Engineering, he worked at Rocketdyne for 12 years.

He had worked as engineer in charge of the company’s De Soto Avenue facility and on the company’s contribution to NASA’s Space Station project.

City Council will consider the motion at at its June 6 meeting. If approved, the reward will remain in effect for 60 days.

Anyone with information about the crime should call (818) 623-4045.