Husband And Wife Brutally Beaten In NorCal Home

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Ernie and Charlene traveling abroad

Friends say Ernie Scherer and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, were enjoying their "golden years."  For two years, the couple lived in their 4,000 sq.ft. Castlewood Country Club home near the East Bay suburb of Pleasanton, Calif., 40 miles from San Francisco. Among their neighbors in the posh country club community were professional golfers and sports celebrities.  The pair liked to travel, and had just returned from trips to Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands.

On March 14, 2008, Ernie and Charlene's daughter couldn't reach them by phone and began to worry so she called the Castlewood homeowner's association. A security guard was sent to their home and noticed a week's worth of mail and newspapers piling up. When the guard looked through a front window, he made a startling discovery; the lifeless remains of Ernie Scherer were lying on the floor.

When detectives from the Alameda County Sheriff's Department arrived, they found the husband and wife in their pajamas, brutally beaten, and lying in different parts of the house.  The home had been ransacked. 

Normally, Ernie and Charlene were in bed by 11 p.m., and police believe that's about the time of day that they were killed.

Ernie and Charlene were well-known figures in their community.  Cops say Ernie was a colorful character with conservative -- and sometimes controversial -- views on taxes and public schools that upset some. Ernie was a real estate investor in residential properties throughout the country, and was an expert at poker.

Charlene was regarded as one of the most popular college professors at California State University East Bay, where she taught Economics for 30 years.  She was also involved in church activities. Ernie and Charlene are survived by two adult children.

After months of calling the couple's son, Ernie Scherer III, a person-of-interest, authorites arrested the 30-year-old professional poker player in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2009. 

Son Arrested In Parents' 2008 Murder

A professional poker player was arraigned on Feb. 26, 2009 on two counts of murder and two special circumstances clauses that could lead to the death penalty for the deaths of his parents at their country club home in Pleasanton, Calif.

Ernie Scherer III, 30, was dressed in red jail clothes as he told Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert McGuiness at a brief hearing that he hasn't yet hired an attorney. McGuiness referred him to the public defender's office and ordered him to return to court on Feb. 27, 2009.

Scherer was arrested in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2009 for the brutal murders of his pareents -- Ernie Scherer, Jr., 60, and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, 57 -- according to Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Dudek.

Investigators believe that on March 7, 2008, Scherer drove from Las Vegas to his parents' home and killed them. He then drove back to his home in the Orange County, Calif. town of Brea, where he lived with his wife and young son.

The bodies of Ernie Scherer Jr., 60, and Charlene Abendroth, 57, were discovered a week later after Scherer's sister called her parents' homeowners association because she was worried.

Scherer was brought to the Bay Area on Feb. 25, 2009 after he waived extradition.

The special circumstances clauses filed against Scherer III are multiple murder and murder for financial gain. He's also charged with allegedly using a sharp instrument to kill his parents. If he's convicted of special circumstances murder, Scherer III would face either the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

The district attorney's office won't make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty for him until after his preliminary hearing is completed.

Sgt. Dudek says Ernie Scherer Jr. dabbled in playing poker for small amounts of money but made his living in real estate, but his son's sole source of income was gambling on the professional level. Dudek says Scherer III's substantial debts may have been a motive in the murders.