Grave-Robbers Come Up Short in Bizarre Crime

Would-be grave-robbers attempted to dig up the body of a suspected drug dealer--buried in Newhall with a jewelry-studded watch and gun--but failed because they did not dig deep enough, authorities said today.

The desecrated grave of Robert R. Hagen was discovered Monday at Eternal Valley Memorial Park, but Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators remain puzzled by the bizarre crime.

Hagen, 25, was shot and killed in his customized Mercedes-Benz on July 24 shortly after leaving a hearing at the Van Nuys Courthouse, where he was facing four charges of arson. At the time, police said he had long been suspected of being a drug dealer, though he was never charged.

Paul Neville, manager of the cemetery, said Hagen was buried along with several rings and a watch and pistol encrusted with jewels that his family believed had sentimental value to him.

Hagen’s casket was placed in a concrete vault nine feet below ground, Neville said. On top of it, another empty concrete vault was placed. It is to be used when Hagen’s mother dies, Neville said.

Sheriff’s investigators said the unknown grave-robbers--equipped with a shovel, pick, gloves and masks to guard against odor--dug into the first vault, but they gave up after finding it empty and apparently believing that it was Hagen’s burial vault.

But what confused the would-be grave-robbers also confused the investigators.

“We had an empty concrete vault,” Lt. Harvey Cantor said. “Our initial conclusion was that a coffin was missing.”

That changed after cemetery officials checked records and determined it was a “double-depth” grave, Neville said.

What remains is the mystery of why the grave was desecrated. Though Neville, who directed Hagen’s burial, said several pieces of jewelry were buried with him, investigators and others familiar with the murder victim said that the value of the belongings is strictly sentimental.