SAN JOSE — An 84-year-old man has been charged with murder on allegations that he fatally shot a neighbor he believed was breaking into his home, a notion that the defendant’s own relative rejected, according to authorities.
Bert McElhaney was arraigned Thursday in a San Jose courtroom in connection with the Monday evening shooting at the River Glen mobile home community on Almaden Road along the Guadalupe River.
McElhaney — whose name is spelled “McElhany” in court and jail records — was 83 when the shooting occurred, and he turned 84 on Wednesday in the Santa Clara County Main Jail, where he is being held without bail.
San Jose police officers were called at 6:39 p.m. Monday to the mobile home park and found 63-year-old Gerald Robert Cis slumped over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, with two bullet wounds in his torso and neck. Cis was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting marked the city’s 21st homicide of the year.
According to an investigative summary accompanying a murder complaint filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, in the wake of the shooting, San Jose police detectives interviewed witnesses including Cis’ wife, McElhaney’s granddaughter and another neighbor.
The neighbor reported that she heard two “pops,” looked out the window and saw McElhaney standing near the driver’s door of Cis’ vehicle. McElhaney appeared to talk to Cis before he walked back to his home.
Cis’ wife reportedly told detectives that she heard what she thought was her husband arriving home from work when she heard two loud “bangs,” which prompted her to look out her front door a couple of minutes later. She saw Cis in the driver’s seat and McElhaney standing a few feet behind the vehicle parked out front. That prompted her to go out and check on her husband, police wrote.
A woman identified as McElhaney’s granddaughter told detectives that three hours before the shooting, she saw her grandfather sitting in his living room holding a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to the investigative summary. She said McElhaney told her he was waiting for Cis, called him an “intruder” and that he thought Cis had been regularly breaking into his home for the past two years.
Detectives wrote that the granddaughter “did not believe that anyone was breaking into (McElhaney’s) residence,” and that she told them McElhaney had “several” locks and bolts installed on each of his doors.
Police reported recovering two .22 caliber bullet casings near the driver’s side of Cis’ vehicle, each bearing a distinct “C” head stamp that typically indicates a bullet’s manufacturer. After detectives obtained a search warrant for McElhaney’s home, they reported finding a .22 caliber pistol and live .22 caliber rounds that had the same head stamp as the spent casings found at the crime scene.
McElhaney, who at his arraignment was escorted into court on a wheelchair pushed by a bailiff, said nothing during the brief hearing and was remanded back to jail without bail by Judge Shelyna Brown. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Source: www.mercurynews.com