Attempted murder victim dies Attempted murder victim dies (December 05, 2003)

Reward for finding suspects is now $20,000

By Jon Wiener

The shocking attack on an elderly woman in her Jardin Drive home has turned into Mountain View's first murder case in almost two years.

Doris "Dot" Condon, 77, died last Friday after slipping into a coma, finally succumbing to the head injuries she suffered during the October 25 attack. Police believe that two men entered her home that day to commit burglary although there were no signs of forced entry and only a small amount of cash seemed to be missing.

"We are now looking at a murder investigation," said Mountain View police spokesperson Jim Bennett.

Family members, neighbors and police are still struggling to comprehend the tragedy.

Carol Brainerd, Condon's daughter, fought back tears during a Tuesday interview as she sat cross-legged on the floor of the house where she grew up.

"We don't know why this happened," she said. "I'd like to know what was so important to somebody they would beat up an old lady."

Des Telmond, Condon's housemate and companion of over 34 years, cannot decide whether he wants to shoot the perpetrators or see them suffer in prison. Telmond was the first person to find Condon after the attack and notify police. "It's like losing an arm and a leg and half your heart," he said.

Cobbling together pictures for a poster of her mother's life, Brainerd remembered her mother as a free spirit and a lifelong learner.

Condon kept records of every place she had eaten lunch, along with comments to aid her memory, and tracked the score of every San Francisco 49ers football game.

She had lists of just about anything that lent itself to being listed: Greek letters, the seven wonders of the ancient world, major league baseball teams, the solar system, the states in the union and their year of admission.

Sticky notes littered her desk and room, each containing a little fact she wanted to remember -- "James Bond's brother named Henry" -- or a new vocabulary word she was hoping to use.

"There are very few people in the world like her," Brainerd said.

Born into privilege, she grew up in a three-story Victorian house in Maine. She graduated from the University of Maine, and in 1948 she married William H. Condon. Seven years later they moved to California.

By the time her three children were all in high school, Condon started work as a technical editor at Ford Aerospace, where she stayed for 16 years. She became a widow in 1972, when her husband died in a kayaking accident on the American River.

After retiring, she enjoyed gardening, traveling, using her computer and sitting in the backyard and watching the squirrels, and living a life of peace and quiet.

"This is a great neighborhood, a very quiet neighborhood," said Bennett. "When you look at what took place -- on a mid-afternoon on a Saturday afternoon -- it was almost inconceivable. But it happened."

Police believe two or more suspects beat and strangled Condon, who sustained serious head injuries. Telmond found her on the floor when he returned home at 1:40 p.m. and called the police.

Two landscapers whom Telmond hired six years ago, happened to arrive at the house early that day. They told police they saw two young Latino men fleeing the scene.

They described the first suspect as 18-20 years old, 5'11" and 140 pounds. He had a medium build, short black hair and a Fu Manchu mustache.

The second suspect is 18-20 years old, 5'6" and approximately 120 pounds. He is thin and also has short black hair. They were driving a gray Dodge Intrepid, model year 1993-1997.

The Mountain View City Council has offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the apprehension and prosecution of the suspects. The family of the victim has offered an additional reward of $10,000.

Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call Lead Investigator Jessica Serb at 903-6348 or the 24-hour tip line at (866) 570-8211.

Condon is survived by Telmond, her brother, Howard Merrill, her daughter, Brainerd, two sons, Chris and John, and four grandchildren.

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