Belmont Stockbroker's Death A Homicide
POSTED: 5:05 pm PDT August 31, 2004
UPDATED: 4:30 pm PDT September 1, 2004
WOODSIDE -- Authorities on Wednesday classified the death of a 37-year-old Belmont stockbroker found dead in his mangled Mercedes Tuesday as a homicide.
Michael Fields' crumpled black car -- described as in "catastrophic condition" was found just before 7 a.m. Tuesday morning after it apparently fell from the highway into an embankment near Runnymede and Canada roads and crashed into a tree hours earlier.
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Video On Demand: Belmont Stockbroker Dies In Mysterious Car Crash
Coroner Robert Foucrault confirmed what investigators suspected on Tuesday -- that Fields' death was no accident.
"The cause of death of was determined to be a gunshot wound," Foucrault said.
The gunshot itself was probably fatal and Fields probably died before the crash, the coroner said. Foucrault refused to offer details on Fields' injuries or the location of the gunshot wound.
On Tuesday, Fields followed his weekday routine, leaving his Belmont home about 2:30 a.m. and heading southbound on Highway 280 toward San Jose. He never arrived at his San Jose office.
The sheriff's office said Tuesday that at least one bullet hole was found on the car and a firearm was found near the highway's center divide, approximately in the location where the victim veered off the road.
The homicide is of the "highest priority" for sheriff's department, Capt. John Cuneo announced today. The department set up a roadblock early this morning between 2:30 and 4 a.m., distributing fliers in hopes that morning commuters may have seen something suspicious Tuesday morning.
While highway commuters may help solve the crime, Cuneo assured that citizens have nothing to fear on the road. "There's no indication that this was a sniper type of activity," he said. "We believe this to be an isolated incident."
So far, the fliers have netted authorities have no solid leads in the crime. The sheriff's office is investigating the possibility that road rage led to the shooting.
However, "We're not ruling anything out," Cuneo said.
Anyone with potential information on the crash is urged to call Detective Bob Arnaudo at (650) 363-7823
AI
