On March 7^th, 2008, Ernest Scherer Jr. and his wife Catherine Abendroth were murdered in their home at the Castlewood Country Club. A video surveillance camera caught a red, 4^th-generation Camaro leaving the Castlewood Country Club on the night of the murders. This Camaro has become pivotal in the murder trial of Ernest Scherer III, son of the murdered couple and owner of a Camaro similar to the one caught in the video tape.

We have already covered how the prosecution called to the witness stand Casey McCarthy, a Chevrolet salesmen and Camaro enthusiast. McCarthy was able to positively identify the Camaro in the video as a red, post-98 convertible with aftermarket wheels and brighter headlights, similar to the one owned by the defendant. However, the public defenders office called to the witness stand its own Camaro expert, reports the Pleasanton Patch.

The defense called Gerald Maya, who testified that there were two other Camaros similar in make and model to the defendant’s registered to Pleasanton residents, and only one of them was red. This car belongs to Tony Baird, who testified that there was no way he had driven his Camaro near the Castlewood Country Club on the night in question as he drives his SUV to his job as a martial arts.

The trial centers around a trust fund for the defendant, which he would have inherited at age 30. Witnesses for the prosecution have testified that the defendant thought age 30 was too old, and it would appear that his admittedly excellent taste in cars could be his downfall in this terrible double murder. The lesson here? If you’re going to commit a crime, don’t do it in an easily identifiable car.