Suspect’s Father Held in Carson Slaying

A 49-year-old Tustin man was arrested Thursday after his son, who is charged with abducting and murdering a young Carson woman 7 years ago, told authorities that his father was involved.

Robert W. Beckett Sr. was arrested in his home shortly after midnight in connection with the 1981 disappearance and presumed murder of Tracy Stewart, then 18. Beckett was being held Thursday without bail in the Norwalk jail on suspicion of murder and is scheduled to be arraigned today, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. William Stoner said.

A warrant for Beckett’s arrest was obtained Wednesday, based on statements from his son and other sources, Stoner said. The younger Beckett, 27, was charged with the murder last year and is awaiting trial.

The younger Beckett’s arrest came after his conviction in 1985 for felonious assault on a woman friend in Colorado, for which he served 2 years there, Stoner said. While in prison, Beckett talked to authorities about a murder in Carson, and detectives were eventually able to connect him with Stewart’s disappearance, Stoner said.

Stoner said Stewart, whose body has never been found, called her parents Aug. 9, 1981, to tell them that she was on a date with someone named Robbie. She was never seen again, the detective said.