Alameda, California Scene of Yet Another Gambling Debt Murder
It was only last year that professional poker player, Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, 57, were found brutally slain in their Pleasanton, California home. The couple were murdered by their own son, Ernest Scherer III. The motive: Scherer III needed money to settle a gambling debt.
Pleasanton is a town inside Alameda County, California, and this week we learn of yet another murder allegedly involving gambling debts within that county.
An Alameda Safeway employee was charged today with the gambling-related fatal shootings of a co-worker and a bakery delivery man, police said on Monday.
The suspect, Andrew Wong, 20, owed money to both victims, in one case as much as $5,000. He is charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances: multiple homicides; one killing committed during a burglary; and one committed during a robbery.
The victims were Quang Quach, 36, and David Wells, 52. Quach was shot dead inside his home on April 3. Wells, a bakery delivery man, had been murdered many months before, July 31, 2008.
Police said Wong made admissions to a relative about his involvement in the Quach killing, and boasted to other people about killing both victims.
Sgt. Jim Rullamas said Wong made mostly sporting event bets with both victims. He reportedly owed Quach $5,000. How much he owed Wells was not known.
Police suspect Wong set up a meeting in the parking lot with Wells and killed him in the Safeway parking lot along his route. Police also say there was no sign of forced entry into Quach's apartment.
Wong was arrested this past Thursday leaving his home where he lived with his parents. Numerous guns were found on the premises.
Police said Wong has worked at the Safeway store since 2007.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
