Martinez, Calif. – On a hillside near San Francisco, criminal defense attorney Daniel Horowitz, 50, and his wife were building their dream home on a site swarming with contractors.
It was there, Horowitz said, that on Saturday night he found his wife slain.
Authorities have yet to disclose a motive in Pamela Vitale’s slaying and refused Monday to say what direction the investigation had taken. But one of Horowitz’s colleagues said the killing appeared to have nothing to do with any of Horowitz’s clients, who included drug dealers, murderers and other hardened criminals.
Neighbors told the San Francisco Chronicle that the property was so busy with contractors that the couple left a note explaining how to use the coded keypad to open their security gate.
Lawyer and longtime friend Ivan Golde said Monday that police were closer to solving the case, but authorities said those remarks were premature.
“There is a potential suspect, but it’s not a former client,” Golde said outside the courtroom where he and Horowitz were defending a woman in a closely watched murder case. A judge declared a mistrial in the case Monday because of the news coverage of Vitale’s slaying.
An autopsy Monday revealed that Vitale, 52, was beaten to death, a Contra Costa County sheriff’s spokesman said.
As construction on their home progressed, the couple feuded with a neighbor, Joseph Lynch, over his attack dog and his alleged drug use. Lynch, 54, had sold Horowitz and his wife a 4-acre lot adjoining their property where he had a deal to live for 10 more years in a camper.
Lynch, 54, said he was on the property on the day Vitale was found dead. He said he spent the day walking his German shepherd and was building a door for the dog when he heard sirens and began getting calls from concerned neighbors.
Horowitz is not a suspect, said his lawyer, Robert Massi.
