Former Mayor Shot to Death on Street
A former mayor of Alhambra was shot in the chest and killed Thursday night while walking through a quiet residential neighborhood in the San Gabriel Valley city.
Authorities said they had no motive for the killing of Stephen Ballreich, 41, who served on the City Council from 1974 to 1979 and was mayor from 1976 to 1977. His body was found in the 1700 block of South Marguerita Avenue, near a convent and close to his boyhood home.
Merrill W. Francis, Ballreich’s business partner, said he had been told by family members that the motive might have been robbery. Sheriff’s officials declined to comment.
Ballreich resigned from the council in 1979 and moved to Arkansas to begin a career in public relations. He returned in 1989 and later opened a political consulting business in Alhambra. Friends said that Ballreich, a resident of South Pasadena, frequently took long walks in the morning and evening hours.
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