New details have emerged about the accused killer of Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 67, was shot in the torso on February 16 by a gunman who approached him on his porch.
Authorities have since arrested 29-year-old Freddy Snyder, who has been charged with Grillmair’s murder and is being held on $3 million bail.
New details obtained by the Los Angeles Times have revealed that Snyder was previously arrested two months earlier for entering Grillmair’s property with a loaded, unregistered rifle.
Per The Los Angeles Times:
On December 20, Lt. Michael Modica of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the scientist noticed someone possibly trespassing on his property and called police.
When officers arrived and found Snyder in the area, Modica said, he was carrying a gun and explained he was on his way to the post office.
Grillmair’s home and the local post office are in the opposite direction from Snyder’s home, property records show.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Snyder told officers he had the gun with him in case he encountered wild animals. But officers noticed the gun was loaded and not registered to Snyder, so they took him into custody.
In addition to one felony count of carrying a loaded firearm, the indictment against Snyder accused him of attempting to escape from the Palmdale Station jail the day after he was arrested.
The New York Post further reported that Judge Osman Abbasi, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom, dismissed Snyder’s gun crime charge.
Exclusive | Newsom-appointed judge gave suspect in Caltech genius’ murder a slap on the wrist, weeks before massacre https://t.co/WoJPp0m7ug pic.twitter.com/IJtk4VU0zR
— California Post (@californiapost) February 24, 2026
After dropping the gun charge, Judge Abbasi ordered Snyder to take a gun safety course, and he was released from jail shortly after.
Snyder was scheduled to appear in court again on February 5 regarding his case, but he did not show up for the hearing.
Despite his failure to appear, Snyder’s charges were dismissed under California Penal Code 1385, and just eleven days later he allegedly murdered Grillmair.
Grillmair’s murder has rocked the astrophysicist community, as he was a renowned researcher in the studies of dark matter, galactic structure, stellar populations and exoplanets.
Grillmair also stood out in the community for finding water on a distant planet orbiting a star.
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