Murder suspect got into fight with his mom before killing Caltech astrophysicist, officials say

In the morning hours of Feb. 16, Freddy Snyder armed himself with two rifles and demanded his mother hand over her car keys, according to authorities.

When his mother refused, prosecutors say, Snyder fired a gunshot into the ceiling of their shared Llano home in the Mojave Desert before taking the keys and driving off with her car.

Snyder drove to the nearby home of Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, who went outside to his front porch to see what was going on, according to a Los Angeles County district attorney’s office news release. Snyder allegedly shot Grillmair once in the neck, killing him.

On Tuesday, Snyder pleaded not guilty in the killing of the 67-year-old Grillmair. He’s been charged with felony counts of murder, carjacking and first-degree residential burglary, according to the release. The two men are not believed to have known each other, and investigators have found no clear motive for the killing.

Snyder’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 5 at the Antelope Valley Courthouse, officials said. He remains in custody in lieu of about $3.2 million in bail.

If convicted as charged, Snyder faces up to life in prison.

Weeks before the shooting, Snyder may have been on Grillmair’s property, according to officials and court documents.

On Dec. 20, Lt. Michael Modica of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, the scientist spotted someone possibly trespassing on his land and called law enforcement.

When deputies arrived and found Snyder in the area, Modica said, he was carrying a rifle and explained that he was on his way to the post office.

Grillmair’s home and the post office are in opposite directions from Snyder’s home, property records show.

Snyder was charged with one felony count of carrying a loaded firearm after deputies noticed he was carrying a rifle that wasn’t registered in his name. Snyder also was charged with trying to escape from the Palmdale station jail the day after he was arrested.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department told The Times, however, that deputies at the Palmdale station had no record of an attempted escape that day.

When Snyder appeared in court Dec. 23, he was released on his own recognizance and ordered to complete a hunter safety course and obtain a hunting permit.

At his next court hearing, on Feb. 5, prosecutors asked the judge to drop the charges.

Astrophysicist Grillmair was born in Alberta, Canada, and earned a doctorate from Australian National University. He joined Caltech’s IPAC Science and Data Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences in 1997, according to a statement released by Caltech.

He was a member of the instrument support teams for NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph and Infrared Array Camera, according to the university.