The Face Of A Killer

Take a look at the photo. It's the face of a killer.

It's William Freund, who killed Vernon Smith and his 21 year-old daughter Christina, and tried to kill two or three others before shooting himself Saturday in Aliso Viejo, a town just a few miles from my home.

Reading through the OCRegister story, the only word that jumps out is "loner." That word can carry a lot of anger with it.

Investigators are mystified:

"Usually there's some type of motive, some nexus with the victim and suspect," Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said. "They were just casual neighborhood acquaintances. What made him pick that house is a mystery."

I don't think it's too deep a mystery. By all reports, the Smiths were well-liked, engaged in their community, tight as a family. They were happy, giving, caring.

Freund was not. So he killed them.

In coming days, we'll learn more about what was in his computer, and in a couple weeks, the toxicology reports will come back. We'll learn more then. But until then, we've just got a couple murders in a neat, successful and popular neighborhood by a young man who didn't fit in.