Belmont Man Found Guilty of Killing Mother

Redwood City, California —  Robert Walker Black was convicted Friday of shooting his mother and uncle to death and leaving their bodies to rot in the crawl space beneath his home.

Jurors, who began deliberations on Thursday, found Black guilty of two counts of second-degree homicide.

Black was arrested in 1984 after his wife called police to report that he had confessed to her that in October, 1980, he killed his mother, Agnes Black, 74, and uncle, Isaac Black, 72. Officers unearthed the bodies, which had been buried under Black’s Belmont home.

The prosecution contended that the 54-year-old Belmont man murdered his mother to escape her dominance and to gain access to her bank accounts. The uncle was slain because he witnessed the first killing, said San Mateo County Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Holm.

Black had told reporters outside of court that he killed the pair by accident after mistaking them for a couple of “hit-men” in the darkness. The defense did not call any witnesses, but maintained that the case against Black hadn’t been proved.