It’s always the neighbor you’d least suspect.
One California neighborhood was sent into a panic when one of their own was found dead after going out for a hike. Richard Helzberg, an 82-year old resident of San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, California suffered what police initially thought was a gunshot wound to the head, and was later pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
Police initially called the death “suspicious,” while neighbors were left in the dark as police helicopters circled overhead and nearby roads were shut down, which understandably had the community on edge as they waited on word of whether or not a murderer was loose in the area.
Well, it turns out there was. But it wasn’t a person.
According to police, it’s believed that Helzberg was kicked by a horse that was seen near the road where he was hiking:
“On Monday, June 5th, an autopsy was performed to determine the cause and manner of death. After the autopsy it was determined that the cause of death was severe, acute craniocerebral trauma. No evidence of this injury being caused by a firearm was found.
This blunt-force trauma was potentially caused by a kick from a horse, which was on scene along the fire road where Helzberg had been hiking. No other significant injuries were noted during the completed examination.”
Police said there is no risk to the public, but it seems like a wild horse that’s going around kicking people is a pretty big risk…
