Mystery Surrounding Dead Highlands Man Deepens

Jeffrey ‘Skinny Bob’ Lash Also Lived in Second Residence on Coastline Drive in Sunset Mesa

By ALEXANDRIA BORDAS | Reporter

The Palisadian-Post obtained new information last week regarding the bizarre life and death of the Pacific Palisades man whose decomposing body was discovered in a vehicle near a Highlands condo on Palisades Drive where 1,200 guns, about six and a half tons of ammunition and $230,000 in cash were recovered.

Identified as Jeffrey Alan Lash, 60, by criminal defense attorney Harland Braun, the deceased man was known to neighbors as “Skinny Bob.”

In addition to sharing his fiancée Catherine Nebron’s condo on the 1700 block of Palisades Drive, Lash lived in an apartment on the 18000 block of Coastline Drive in Sunset Mesa for 10 years. He was asked to leave the apartment four months ago by his female roommate, according to Paul Aguilar, the apartment property manager.

This new discovery is yet another twist in the mysterious life of Lash, whose identity has yet to be confirmed by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. No official cause of death has been released either.

The ongoing investigation began on Friday, July 17 when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) found Lash’s decomposing body in a sport utility vehicle near his condo in the 1700 block of Palisades Drive.

Police found the body covered in blankets in the passenger seat, which was reclined, so Lash wasn’t readily visible from the street, according to sources close to the investigation.

Lash died in early July after collapsing in a grocery store parking lot in Santa Monica, according to news reports.

Nebron drove her fiancée back to the Palisades and parked near the condo they shared.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, one of Nebron’s longtime close friends said he got a call from Nebron late at night on July 3 saying she needed help.

When the friend arrived in the Highlands, he found Nebron’s fiancé in the passenger seat of the SUV.

“It took me about 90 seconds to assess the situation,” he said. “Catherine wasn’t aware he had already passed away.”

The pair never called 9-1-1.

“She said he had given her very specific instructions about what to do and what not to do if he passed away,” the friend said.

Lash was convinced he was working undercover for a government agency and he had convinced Nebron of it too, according to Braun. Nebron thought people from this government agency would “take care of his body,” Braun told the Post.

According to Nebron’s attorney, Nebron went away for a number of days after Lash died.

Two days after Lash’s death, a woman who worked for Nebron—39-year-old Dawn VadBunker—was reported missing from Oxnard. VadBunker’s mother, Laura VadBunker, told KTLA that Lash had convinced her daughter and Nebron that he was some type of alien or human/alien hybrid “sent to Earth to protect us.”
Dawn VadBunker had apparently been with Lash and Nebron when the man died in Santa Monica, and she fled to Oregon with Nebron after his death, VadBunker’s mother said. She said her daughter is caught in the middle of the investigation and may be having a mental breakdown.

When Nebron returned several days later—without VadBunker—she was shocked to see his body still there.

That’s when she contacted Braun, a nationally renowned criminal defense attorney, about representation. In turn, Braun contacted police about the dead body and subsequently about the guns.

Neighbors described Lash as “odd” and said they knew he was a hoarder but had no idea he was hoarding an arsenal of weapons. Residents in the Highlands condo complex told the Post Nebron often used the community pool bathroom and that she and Skinny Bob also used a neighbor’s bathroom and kitchen rather than their own.

“We thought it was weird,” said Tracy Landau, who would see Nebron at the pool.

Neighbors also said he had been ill for some time.

“People said they had been watching him die slowly for a year,” Braun said.

A SUNSET MESA PAD

In addition to living with Nebron in the Palisades, Lash spent 10 years in a second residence on Coastline Drive in Sunset Mesa.

Paul Aguilar of Coastline Property Management said the lease was under Lash’s roommate’s name, “Jocelyn.” The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the Sunset Mesa hillside near the Getty Villa rents for $3,700 per month and boasts an oceanfront view. (Note: The Sunset Mesa area has a Malibu zip code but is considered by neighbors to be part of Pacific Palisades.)

“He lived with a roommate, Jocelyn, and they seemed to get along well,” Aguilar told the Post. “But in the last few months when his health was disintegrating, he could barely get up and down the stairs. I would help him all the time with his groceries and suggested he find a more accessible place to live.”

Aguilar said Jocelyn had no idea Lash had died until Aguilar called her on Thursday, July 23 to make sure she was okay.

“She had no idea, which I found strange because it’s been all over the local news,” Aguilar said, adding that she was very upset to learn of Lash’s death.

When Lash first moved into the apartment 10 years ago, he introduced himself simply as ‘Bob,’ Aguilar said.

Aguilar said that Lash told neighbors ‘Bob’ was a cover name since he worked in the CIA and could not reveal his true identity.

“We added the ‘skinny’ onto his name when he started losing tons of weight due to his illness,” Aguilar added.

Aguilar described Lash as friendly but added that he primarily kept to himself. He also mentioned that every time he saw his tenant, Lash was always dressed in black. Lash seemed a bit paranoid, always darting his eyes left and right before walking into his apartment, Aguilar said.

Like many others who knew Lash, Aguilar heard stories about Lash’s time in the CIA.

“He told everyone that during his time in the CIA, he had been shot in the head and was in a coma for a very long time,” Aguilar recalled. “He said that after he came out of the coma, he was paid by the CIA and laid off but still needed to remain anonymous in the public’s eyes.”

It took over nine years for Aguilar to finally learn Skinny Bob’s real name.

“I remember one evening around six months ago, right when his health was getting really bad, he took off in one of his trucks and smashed into four cars parked on our street,” Aguilar explained. “He must’ve been on something, meds or alcohol, because when I called him on his cell phone minutes after the accident he wasn’t making any sense.”

Aguilar said neighbors who witnessed the accident were planning on calling the police and their insurance companies.

“Lash panicked and begged for no one to call the police. I demanded to see his ID,” Aguilar recalled.

Aguilar said Lash begrudgingly handed over his ID and after Aguilar took note that his name was Jeffrey Alan Lash, he handed it back.

“The next morning Lash came back and desperately didn’t want the insurance companies called so he took care of all of the damages without outside involvement,” Aguilar said. “I think he paid them all off in cash.”

Over the years Aguilar noticed that nearly every month Lash was driving a new vehicle, trucks specifically, of all different colors and they never had license plates.

“This story is definitely strange, especially when I heard about the guns, but for me the strangest thing of all is where did he get all of this money?” Aguilar asked.

Before Lash officially moved out four months ago and cleaned everything out of Jocelyn’s apartment, Aguilar said he left one truck in the garage and refused to move it.

“He was always driving these monster trucks and he tried leaving one on the property after he wasn’t a resident anymore. It was this big black Toyota with a tire in the back,” Aguilar described. “I told him he had to move it or I would tow it and he refused until I just about threatened him.”

Aguilar said that Lash moved the truck and started parking it full-time on Coastline Drive, moving it each week to a new location so he would not get a ticket.

Over the 10 years Lash was a resident, Aguilar said there was always one prominent blond woman at Lash’s side. Now, Aguilar suspects the woman was Catherine Nebron.

“A woman who was apparently his girlfriend or fiancée was always with him and especially these past four months when they would come over and move the car to a new spot, I always saw her with him. But we never spoke and I never actually met her,” Aguilar said.

After watching the news and hearing the name Jeffrey Alan Lash, Aguilar called detectives from LAPD to investigate the seemingly abandoned truck on Coastline Drive.

“It dawned on me that the man from the Highlands in the Palisades was Skinny Bob and that he had finally passed away from cancer or whatever he had. I immediately called the detectives since his car was still sitting out on the street,” Aguilar said.

Detectives from LAPD were seen taking photos of the black Toyota on Thursday, July 23 and the truck has since been towed.

Despite Lash’s odd behavior, Aguilar said he too was inclined to believe that Lash was in the CIA.

“The CIA story sounds really stupid but you just never know,” Aguilar said. “With all of his money and the mystery surrounding who he was, I have to admit I slightly believed him.”

Attorney Robert Rentzer, who represented Lash in the late 1990s, told the Post he never noticed anything strange or unusual about his client.

“He was private, sure, but all of the bizarre comments being made lately about him (Lash) are ridiculous,” Rentzer said.

Rentzer firmly believes Lash was just another avid gun collector and can’t remember anything peculiar about him.

The attorney added, “I can’t remember how he paid me, in cash or check, but honestly whether he owned a thousand guns or a million, he was just another gun collector.”

Frances Sharpe, Matt Ursin-Smith and City News Service contributed to this story.