Secret Role Gambling911.com Played in Solving Poker Murders
Now it can be revealed!
A poker-playing son who is accused of killing his poker-playing father will go on trial shortly in Northern California.
And Gambling911.com had a major role in bringing the alleged killer to justice, it can now be told!
Here's the story behind the story:
In March of 2008, newspapers in Northern California reported that a professional poker player named Ernest Scherer, along with his wife, had been found beaten and murdered in their home outside San Francisco.
Nothing more about his poker career other than that he was a pro was reported.
It was also reported that there were no immediate suspects in the twin killing.
Curious about how good a pro he was and how much he had won playing poker professionally, I looked up Ernest Scherer in an online poker player database to see what major tournaments, if any, he had won.
Two names came up in the database search--Ernest Scherer Jr. and Ernest Scherer III.
At first I didn't which one was the murder victim, as the newspapers had identified the slain man only as Ernest Scherer, with no Jr. or III after the name.
Checking their ages, I eventually figured out that Ernest Scherer Jr. was the man who had been murdered, and that Ernest Scherer III was his son and also a poker pro.
The fact that the slain man, a poker pro, had a poker pro son had not been reported before by any media.
The information I had stumbled upon was a scoop!
I wasn't writing for Gambling911.com at the time, but after I wrote up the story, with the new information, for another gambling news website, Gambling911.com picked up the story and reproduced it on its website.
Shortly after my story appeared on Gambling911.com, law enforcement authorities in California who were investigating the double murder contacted Gambling911.com owner Chris Costigan for more information.
The authorities, searching news stories online for information about the murder victims, had seen the Scherer story on Gambling911.com.
They had not known about the murder victim's poker pro son, and it raised immediate red flags for them.
Since Gambling911.com knew something major about the case that the authorities didn't, the authorities realized how connected Gambling911.com was to the gambling world and asked the website for additional information.
Eventually, Ernest Scherer III was arrested and charged in the double murder.
He goes on trial in November.
Even without Gambling911.com's assistance, the authorities in California likely would have eventually discovered the dead man's son was a poker pro too, leading to their breaking the case.
But because of Gambling911.com, they found out about him a lot sooner than they might have, leading to them cracking the case a lot sooner than they might have--perhaps before the alleged killer was able to go on the lam.
Just another day for Gambling911.com--reporting breaking gaming news and solving murders!
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
