Police Say Death of Montclair Man May Be Homicide

Bay City News--A 78-year-old man was found dead in his home in the Oakland Hills Thursday morning, and police are investigating the death as a possible homicide, Oakland police said.

Housing records indicate Joseph Robertson owned the home in the 2300 block of Thackeray Drive, near Shepherd Canyon Park.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Robertson had worked in the photography department at the Montclarion before his retirement. The Oakland Tribune reports that Robertson often attended services at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Piedmont.

Robertson was found dead at 7:18 a.m.

A neighbor on the quiet street in Oakland's Montclair neighborhood who declined to be named said that police told him that Robertson's door had been found kicked in. Police have not confirmed that or other details about the case.

The resident said neighborhood groups have recently alerted people living in the area about a string of break-ins and robberies in which doors were kicked in.

"As we can best tell, these people ring your doorbell and rattle your door and if you don't make any answer to the inquiry they kick your door in," said the neighbor, who declined to be named.

For more details, see this article in the San Francisco Chronicle and this story in the Oakland Tribune.

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