A convertible sports car stolen 30 years ago was found buried in the courtyard of a California mansion built by a man with a history of murder arrests, attempted murder and insurance fraud.
The Mercedes-Benz, filled with sacks of unused cement, was discovered Thursday by Silicon Valley landscapers.
Police believe the car was buried 4 feet or 5 feet deep in the backyard of the house in the 1990s, before the current owners bought the property.
The car was reported stolen in September 1992 in nearby Palo Alto, Atherton City Mayor Rick DeGolia said.
The sprawling house with pool and tennis court was built by Johnny Lew, who spent time behind bars in the 1960s and 1970s.
He was found guilty of killing a 21-year-old in Los Angeles in 1966, but the sentence was overturned two years later.
And in 1977, he spent three years in prison after being convicted of two counts of attempted murder.
In the late 1990s, he allegedly hired undercover police officers to take a $ 1.2 million yacht “west of the Golden Gate Bridge into international waters and put it on the bottom.”
His daughter Jacq Searle told the San Francisco Chronicle that the family lived on the property in the 1990s – when Atherton police believe the car was buried – and that her father had died in 2015 in Washington state.
Police Commander Daniel Larsen wouldn’t say if police believe the vehicle was registered in Lew.
Although cadaver dogs warned of possible human remains on Thursday, none were found more than 24 hours after technicians began excavating the car.
