On March 19, 1989, he and a friend were travelling on a Société de transport de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal (STCUM) night bus returning to his home in an HIV/AIDS hospice. Rose, who was slight in build and disabled by AIDS symptoms, and who dyed his hair pink, was set upon along with the friend by a group of four youths shouting homophobic slurs."Pink hair and leather cost Joe Rose his life". Edmonton Journal, March 22, 1989. They beat and stabbed him to death inside the bus. His friend suffered minor injuries; when emergency personnel arrived, they found him trying to resuscitate Rose.
