Charles Robert Anderson, a 35-year-old deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, was shot dead at the top of the stairs of his Burbank home on January 24, 1987. He had just returned from a family visit; his wife Beth waited in the car because of a back injury while Anderson went inside to put their oldest son to bed. Beth heard a noise she described as a car backfiring, entered the house and found him fatally shot. She ran to a neighbor’s with their youngest son and called 911.

Investigators initially treated the scene as an interrupted burglary, but detectives later questioned that theory because many valuables were left untouched and the scene appeared staged. No murder weapon was recovered and the only fingerprints belonged to family members. Anderson’s sister Trish said his expression suggested shock or betrayal, prompting speculation he might have known his killer. A nervous caller contacted police the next day with information but hung up when he realized the call was recorded and never returned.

No arrests or publicly identified suspects have been announced and the case remains cold. Did anyone in Burbank or the family’s circle at the time notice anything unusual around January 24, 1987?