A Caltech genius has been gunned down on his porch in Southern California.
Carl Grillmair was found dead outside his home in the unincorporated community of Llano, 75 miles north of LA, on Monday.
The 67-year-old astrophysicist, who was an expert on distant planets, died from a fatal gunshot wound to the torso, the LA County Medical Examiner said.
Cops arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, on Wednesday and charged him with murder. He was also charged over a nearby carjacking and first-degree burglary over a Dec. 28 incident.
His bail has been set at $2 million. It is unclear if there were any links between the suspect and Grillmair.
Cops found the victim lying on his front porch after a 911 call at around 6.10am on Monday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokesman for Caltech confirmed he was employed there as a research scientist at the institute’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.
Grillmair was known for his decades of work and contributions in galactic astronomy.
His interests included work on Dark matter, Galactic structure, stellar populations and exoplanets, according to the Caltech website.
He had been “awarded substantial observation time as a principal investigator on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope, and his research has earned him numerous accolades including a NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.”
Fellow scientist Fajardo-Acosta described Grillmair as both a mentor and close friend, and told KTLA his death is a profound loss to the scientific community.
“He was a great friend and will be missed dearly,” Fajardo-Acosta said, adding that Grillmair “takes knowledge with him that will be irreplaceable.”
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
