The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday renewed a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the murder of a 39-year-old victim who was killed while working in a Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary last June.

Ila Ali Packman was last seen alive smoking a cigarette outside the Hollywood Holistic II medical marijuana dispensary. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The money will be coupled with a $5,000 reward from the County of Los Angeles, and officials hope it will generate some new leads in the case. The victim, Ila Ali Packman, was found stabbed to death on June 24 inside the Hollywood Holistic II dispensary at 1607 N. El Centro Ave., just south of Hollywood Boulevard.

“We are thinking robbery was the motive and they killed him for some reason,” said Det. Lisa Sanchez, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division. “Marijuana was taken and they took the surveillance equipment.”

Officials believe marijuana valued at approximately $3,000 was stolen, and Sanchez added that it is not known whether the murder was committed by an individual or multiple suspects. She said Packman was working alone at the dispensary, which is one of the outlets that is seeking a permanent business permit under the city’s medical marijuana ordinance. Packman was last seen smoking a cigarette outside the building around 3:30 p.m. and was found dead inside the dispensary around 9 p.m. by the owner, who immediately called police. The detective said the dispensary is across the street from a busy gym, and is hoping someone there may have some information.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, 13th District, initiated the renewal of the reward.

“LAPD needs the public’s help with finding the perpetrator of this heinous crime, and we’re extending the reward offer to provide an incentive for people to come forward,” Garcetti said. “If anyone knows anything about the Packman case, I urge them to contact the police.”

Sanchez added that investigators learned from acquaintances that Packman was an upstanding person who was not involved in any criminal activity.

“Everybody that we’ve spoke to that knew him said he was a good guy,” Sanchez added. “He had no enemies, he was just a really nice guy. It is really sad.”

Anyone with information about the murder is asked to contact detectives Sanchez or Martinez at (213)486-6890. During weekends and off hours, call the LAPD’s 24-hour hotline at (877)LAPD247.

In addition to the reward in the medical marijuana dispensary murder, the city council also approved an extension to its medical marijuana ordinance on Monday. That approval came the day before voters approved Measure M, an initiative that will clear the way for the city to tax medical marijuana dispensaries. The extension of the ordinance will give the city more time to make revisions to the law to accommodate new provisions.

The extension was a procedural measure that enables the temporary ordinance to remain in effect for an additional 22 months while the city determines how to implement the tax and a lottery that will determine which dispensaries will be allowed to stay open. It will also give the city time to figure out how to react if the medical marijuana dispensaries are successful in legal challenges against the city.

The city adopted the temporary medical marijuana ordinance after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in December that some parts of the city’s permanent ordinance were unconstitutional. The judge had threatened to place an injunction on the city’s permanent ordinance, but gave officials time to make revisions. In January, the city council approved the temporary ordinance with revisions to address the judge’s concerns about client privacy and the criminal provisions. The judge had also required the dispensaries that were suing the city to post a $350,000 bond to cover costs if the injunction went through, which to date has not been posted.

“The court is still considering the issue of whether the bond must be posted in full or can be posted in pro-rated shares by the applicable twenty-one plaintiffs,” said Frank Mateljan, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.  “During this period of court consideration, the court has, on it own motion, stayed the injunction. The injunction, therefore, has never taken effect.”

The city is still in the process of indentifying which dispensaries will be allowed to stay open, and will be holding a lottery on a yet to be determined date to choose from the approximately 230 dispensaries that have applied. Only dispensaries that were open prior to the city’s moratorium in 2007 will be allowed to participate. The lottery will limit the number of dispensaries to 100. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office sent letters earlier this week to 141 dispensaries that are still operating but will not be part of the lottery, ordering them to close immediately. The City Attorney’s Office and the LAPD will monitor the dispensaries that have been notified to close, and if they do not, lawsuits will be filed to force them to close. Penalties could include steep fines for every day they remain open.

The city will now concurrently work on implementing the tax on medical marijuana dispensaries that was passed by voters on Tuesday. The new law will place a five percent business tax on the money generated by he dispensaries. Under state law, the dispensaries are not allowed to sell medical marijuana, but can take in money for operational costs. Official believe the tax will generate $10 million annually for the city.