Man Arrested in Slaying of Noted Geophysicist
Police on Friday arrested a 24-year-old man in the robbery and slaying of a renowned geophysicist who was killed while on a visit.
Paul Bradford Cain, 24, was arrested in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California and brought to San Diego, where he is in jail awaiting arraignment.
Stanley Keith Runcorn, 73, a professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, was found dead in a downtown hotel room Dec. 5. He was instrumental in the development of radar during World War II and was a pioneer of the “continental drift” theory.
Cain, an amateur kick-boxer, had been living in the YMCA across the street from the aging hotel where Runcorn was staying. Police discovered a pager in Runcorn’s room that was traced to Cain.
An autopsy showed that Runcorn suffered severe kicks to the body and had been strangled.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
