Ernie Scherer III Murder Trial To Begin This Week

It was a case that shocked the poker community.  Poker pro Ernie Scherer Jr. and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, were found brutally murdered in their Castlewood Country Club home in 2008.  Both had been beaten and stabbed. 

At the time, Alameda County Sgt. Scott Dudek had reached out to Gambling911.com, asking for help in solving the case.  He believed that people within the poker community might have clues regarding the murder of Scherer and his wife. 

Dudek also informed Gambling911 that Scherer III, Ernie’s son, was a "person of interest" in the double homicide, advising that the younger Scherer has reportedly owed substantial gambling debts.  The elder Scherer and his wife were believed to have amassed a significant fortune in real estate over the years.

"From the very beginning we look at family members and rule them out and unfortunately for Ernest Scherer III, he cannot be ruled out," Dudek told the Mercury News. The younger Scherer is a professional poker player having learned the game from his father, who dabbled on the circuit.

Dudek told the local CBS affiliate - KPIX TV - the case was being publicized on the Web site gambling911.com because he had been seeking the help of gamblers in solving the case. Specifically, Dudek wants anyone owed money by Scherer III to come forward.

Scherer III himself was a poker player, and some say more successful at the game than his dad.  Dudek believed at the time that Scherer was in attendance at the 2008 World Series of Poker. 

This week, prosecutors will look to portray 

Scherer III as a degenerate gambler who owed substantial debts and murdered his parents in order to obtain a 7-figure inheritance. 

The judge hearing the case has imposed a long-standing gag order, preventing attorneys on both sides from discussing the case.

Witnesses in the case, according to the Contra Times, will likely include Ernie Scherer, the grandfather, whose son reportedly expressed concern that Scherer III was a compulsive gambler, a mistress and unaware gambling associates.

One Pamela Waters reportedly dated Scherer III and alleges he stated that his parents’ home had been burglarized prior to police making the murder case public.

Another woman claims that Scherer III assaulted her between the time of the slayings and his arrest.  According to the Contra Times, the prosecution is looking to refute character testimony that Scherer III never exhibited violence tendencies. 

Another expected witness is one Tanner Scadden, a Scherer III associate, who prosecutors say was offered a bribe by the murder suspect to “testify falsely that unknown persons had threatened him over outstanding gambling debts”.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher