Ernest Scherer Denies killing His Parents
On the day when a prosecutor says Ernest Scherer III brutally murdered his parents at their Pleasanton home, the 32-year-old professional poker player was asleep on his couch in his Southern California home, he testified Monday.
During his third day of testimony in the double-homicide case, Scherer III remained calm as he continued answering questions from his public defender about his actions before, during and after his parents’ bludgeoning deaths in the middle of the night at their Castlewood Country Club home.
“At some point, I probably crashed on the couch,” Scherer III said as he described watching a movie and falling asleep the night authorities said his parents were killed.
Scherer III, 32, a 1996 graduate of California High in San Ramon, denied that he drove from Las Vegas to Pleasanton and then to Southern California on March 7, 2008, and instead said he drove from Las Vegas straight to his home in Brea because he had to wake up in the morning to play in a card tournament with his grandfather.
He also denied stopping at a Nike outlet factory store in Primm, Nev., where deputy district attorney Mike Nieto said he purchased, with cash, a baseball bat and sneakers that were used in the killings of his parents.
“I didn’t stop in the factory outlet mall,” he said. “It’s not a place that I go shopping.”
Nieto has said that Scherer III killed his parents, Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and Charlene Abendroth, 57,in hopes of collecting a $1 million inheritance because he had mired himself in debt through his various poker and sports betting losses.
The slayings occurred, Nieto has said, while Scherer Jr., a former San Ramon Valley school board member, was trying to collect a $616,000 loan he had given his son for his Southern California home.
The couple was found dead in their home about a week after they were killed, authorities have said. They suffered cuts from a Turkish sword that was taken from the house and blunt force trauma from a youth baseball bat.
In opening statements of the case, Nieto said that Scherer III drove from Las Vegas to the Bay Area on March 7, 2008, killed his parents and then drove to his home in Southern California.
During that drive, Nieto has said, Scherer III purposely turned off his cell phone so no one could reach him to detect where he was.
Scherer III pleaded not guilty following his arrest two years ago in Las Vegas. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to seek the death penalty.
On Monday, Scherer III continued to explain his actions before and after his parents’ death and the various affairs he had in Las Vegas with women he met while gambling and hanging out at a piano bar.
Scherer III said that he did not have his cell phone on after he left Las Vegas because the batteries ran out.
He also explained how he was questioned by police after his parents were found dead and how he began to realize that he was the primary suspect in the homicide investigation.
“I felt like a suspect and it is not a pleasant feeling,” Scherer III said.
Scherer III admitted that he conducted an Internet search for countries that do not extradite criminals to the United States soon after his parents were killed and said he and his ex-wife agreed that she should remove text messages from her cell phone that were sent to him on the night of his parents’ death. But Scherer III said both ideas were his ex-wife’s and he agreed with her because he was in a state of shock.
The Internet search was done, he said, after police had confiscated his car and searched his house in Brea.
“It was a sleepless night,” he said. “We were discussing many options but we quickly realized that it wouldn’t look good; it was a bad idea.”
Scherer III showed no emotion when discussing the moment he found out his parents were killed, but he did begin to cry slightly when discussing speeches given at his parents’ funeral.
“We were very, very lucky; (my sister) and I had very good parents,” he said. “We were blessed.”
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Posted by Senior Editor on Mar 1 2011. Filed under Gossip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
