GOP activist, lecturer wife were dead for days before being found

[Kadie]

GOP activist, lecturer wife were dead for days before being found
Jaxon Van Derbeken,Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers

Monday, March 17, 2008

(03-17) 14:17 PDT PLEASANTON --

A Republican activist and professional poker player and his university lecturer wife found slain inside their country club home in Pleasanton had been dead for several days before their bodies were discovered Friday, authorities said today.

Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, 57, were discovered at 12:30 p.m. Friday after their daughter could not reach them and summoned officials with the Castlewood Country Club association to the home at 18 Castlewood Drive. The couple had owned the home for about 18 months, a neighbor said.

No arrests have been made, and authorities have not said how the couple died. They have said they do not believe it was a murder-suicide.

Ernest Scherer was a former San Ramon Valley school board member, an investor and a professional poker player, who was also a reliable Republican Party volunteer, acquaintances said. Abendroth lectured in accounting at Cal State East Bay, but was on sabbatical this semester. She was also active in the local Mormon Church, friends said.

Among Scherer's friends was Dean Andal of Stockton, a Republican who is challenging freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. Scherer was to have gone on a precinct walk on Andal's behalf Saturday, the candidate said today.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/17/BAUTVLBB9.DTL

[malaise]

1. Talking about REthug deaths

How come we haven't heard anything else about that Georgia plane crash last month which killed three well known Rethug leaders in the state.
http://www.600wrec.com/pages/news/national/top.html?feed=104668&article=3224939
<snip>
Victims John W. Rakestraw and Darrell L. Galloway were prominent members of the Georgia Republican Party and friends of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, cable news said. Rakestraw was CEO of Blue Sky Airways in Dallas, Ga., which owned the plane.

[Hannah Bell]

2. all those activities, + family, & 18 months to find the bodies.

weird or sad?

[EmilyAnne]

3. Both. So bizarre.

[Lex]

4. No. There were only dead a few DAYS before the bodies were found.

According to the article linked.

[Hannah Bell]

8. oops, you're right.

guess it's my reading skills that are weird & sad. :>)

[DemocratDammit]

5. Would it be just hideously mean spirited of me to say...

...that we just gained two votes in November?

[tanyev]

6. The Florida GOP murder-suicide faded away, too.

At least from national news.

GOP Strategist Among 3 Found Dead

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Republican political strategist was identified as one of three people found dead inside a home in east Orange County on Thursday.

The mother of Ralph Gonzalez traveled from Miami to identify the body of her son, who was a popular GOP strategist and former executive director of the Georgia Republican Party.

http://www.wesh.com/news/13957787/detail.html

[LiberalEsto]

7. Good

Another one bites the dust.

[scorpiogirl]

9. I live in Pleasanton

There is very little of this type of crime here so this is interesting. I haven't really heard anyone even talking about it around town. In fact, this is the first I've heard of the GOP tie. It wasn't even mentioned in our local paper that way.

[Occulus]

10. As I bite my tongue.

Wasn't Dr. Laura's mom not found for something like weeks?

[pitohui]

11. where did he play poker?

because i've heard of a LOT of people being targeted at some very well-known los angeles area card rooms, i'm just saying -- most pros would play at one of them where i've heard lots of stories of people being followed home and mugged, some of the players seem to take it as a badge of pride that they've experienced and survived this kind of violence

[Kadie]

12. Update>>>> GOP activist, lecturer wife were beaten to death in country club home

GOP activist, lecturer wife were beaten to death in country club home
Matthai Kuruvila,Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writers

Monday, March 17, 2008

(03-17) 16:45 PDT PLEASANTON --

A Republican Party activist and his university lecturer wife were beaten to death inside their country club home in Pleasanton and had been dead for at least a week before their pajama-clad bodies were discovered Friday, authorities said today.

Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and his wife of 31 years, Charlene Abendroth, 57, were discovered at 12:30 p.m. Friday after their daughter could not reach them and summoned officials from the Castlewood Country Club association to the home at 18 Castlewood Drive.

"Ernest and Charlene were brutally beaten," said Sgt. Scott Dudek, a homicide investigator for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, who added that the couple's adult son and daughter "are devastated by the murders."

No arrests have been made, and authorities would not speculate as to the motive. However, they did suggest that the couple had been targeted and indicated that some portions of the house had been ransacked.

"Do I believe it was a random act? No, I do not. Do I have proof? No," Dudek said at a press conference this afternoon.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/17/BAUTVLBB9.DTL&tsp=1