In 1985 and 1986, a series of commercial burglaries kept law enforcement officials busy throughout the San Diego area. The burglars worked in groups, breaking windows with rocks to gain entry to office buildings and taking valuable office equipment such as IBM Selectric typewriters.

On May 14, 1986 at about 6:10 a.m., Ed LeDuc, an unarmed Sharp Hospital security officer, was checking the corporate office building at 3131 Berger Avenue when he apparently interrupted one of these burglaries in progress. The suspects attacked LeDuc and clubbed him to death with an antique rifle removed from one of the offices. The suspects then fled, leaving behind several IBM Selectric typewriters stacked just inside a door leading to the parking lot.