Family of Slain Deputy Quadruples Reward

The family of a slain Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy announced Sunday--the first anniversary of the killing--that they have raised the reward for information leading to a conviction in the case to $100,000.

“We hope this money will maybe bring the one person out who has the piece of information that detectives will use to solve it,” said Trish Hardy, whose brother, Deputy Charles Robert Anderson, was slain Jan. 24, 1987.

“There has to be someone out there who can bring this to an end,” Hardy said.

Anderson, 35, an 11-year veteran, was off duty when he walked into his Burbank home on a Saturday morning and was shot to death by an intruder. He was carrying his 5-year-old son, who was not injured. His wife and year-old daughter were in the family’s car outside the home in the 1700 block of West Oak Street.

Fled to Neighbor’s House

After hearing gunshots, Anderson’s wife, Beth, ran into the home and saw him sprawled in the hallway. She then grabbed their son and fled with both children to a neighbor’s house. When police arrived, Anderson was dead and the intruder was gone.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Salerno, assigned to a joint investigation with Burbank police, said Sunday that progress on the case has been slow and that the increase in the reward from the $23,000 put up by various police organizations shortly after the slaying was welcome.

“It has been an extremely tough case because of the little information we have received,” Salerno said. “We hope that in putting up this kind of reward, we will generate new information.”

He said the investigation is “very much” active. Salerno added that he could not comment on exact details of the case other than to say that investigators believe that Anderson had been killed by a person he probably didn’t know, apparently a burglar who was surprised by Anderson’s return home.

Hardy said she, her parents and two brothers have added $77,000 to the reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

“Even after a year, it is hard to live with,” Hardy said. “There is nothing anybody can do to bring our brother back, but it would help us to know that the person who killed him is being brought to justice.”