Caltech scientist's slaying is mystery

Man accused of killing astrophysicist in desert town had prior run-ins with the law.

- BY SALVADOR HERNANDEZ

IPAC/Caltech

CARL GRILLMAIR, a Caltech astrophysicist, was fatally shot at his Antelope Valley home.

Situated deep in the Mojave desert, Llano is secluded — and that’s always been one of its biggest selling points.

More than a century ago, the hamlet was home to a storied socialist cooperative that historians described as one of America’s most significant Utopian societies. The Llano Del Rio Cooperative Colony is long gone, but its stone remains are perhaps the biggest attraction in a place marked by vast open spaces dotted with homes on sprawling lots.

One of those homes was Carl Grillmair’s. To him, the remoteness of Llano was its prime attraction. Grillmair, 67, was a Caltech astrophysicist, and colleagues said he was drawn there because, unobstructed by city lights, the desert offered clear views of the cosmos at night.

Freddy Snyder was another member of the community, a married 29-year-old father of two living with his mother just two miles from Grillmair.

On Feb. 16, authorities allege, their lives collided on Grillmair’s front porch when Snyder arrived at the home and fatally shot the astrophysicist.

The killing shocked the Caltech community, where Grillmair was a beloved researcher, and the sparsely populated enclave.

"Out in the country, we don’t deal with those kinds of issues," said one Llano resident who recalled his own run-in with Snyder but asked to not be identified for fear for his safety. "We got away from all those, or at least we thought."

Now, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detectives are trying to unravel what sparked the deadly shooting.

Officials and court documents indicate that weeks earlier, Snyder had had a run-in with Grillmair.