Joan Rosenthal's Mysterious Murder Has Sleepy Town Wondering 'Who Done It?'
The California grandmother is the first murder victim in Tiburon in 40 years.
Sept. 24, 2009 — -- The residents of sleepy Tiburon, Calif., are coping with news that they haven't heard in nearly a decade.
Joan Rosenthal, a 75-year-old grandmother, was found dead in a pool of blood on Tuesday from a gunshot wound to her head on the front steps of her home 20 minutes outside of San Francisco.
"This is statistically one of the safest communities in the country," said Tiburon Police Chief Michael Cronin, who told ABCNews.com that no suspects or motives have been identified in connection with Rosenthal's homicide.
The shooter also did not appear to have taken anything from Rosenthal's home, said Cronin.
According to Cronin, Rosenthal's murder marks only the fourth murder in the town's nearly spotless history.
In 1999, a 55-year-old man was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in his home. One of his sons was later convicted of the killilng.
Before then, Cronin said that a dead baby washed ashore in the town in 1988, and in 1979 a girl was brought into the state from Washington and was killed in a nearby pasture.
The local paper, the Marin Independent Journal, reports that the most common crime in Tiburon is theft, either of vehicles or from vehicles and homes. In 2008 there were 99 thefts, 20 burglaries and two car thefts, most of which were committed by people who did not live in the area, according to the paper.
Related Stories
ABC News Live