The 911 caller reported a commotion in a yellow home with gray trim in Canyon Country one evening last month. When deputies arrived, they found an elderly man in the garage. He had been beaten to death.
The man, a 74-year-old named Jack Miller, became the seventh homicide victim this year in the city of Santa Clarita and its unincorporated neighborhoods — an area that is consistently rated one of the safest in the nation and is known for attracting families looking for good schools for their children.
In previous years, the area usually saw two homicides at most.