Murder at the Gun Store

Tony’s Sportsmen’s Den was a fixture in the 2700 block of Foothill Boulevard in the 1950s and ’60s. The valley was then populated by many sportsmen, young family men who hunted and fished locally. Tony’s supplied hunting rifles, handguns and ammo, along with a complete selection of fishing equipment, all from a storefront at 2729 Foothill Blvd. Tony’s was owned and operated by long-time CV resident Anthony “Tony” Campanelli. He lived in a house next door to his business.

On Monday, July 24, 1972 Campanelli opened his store at the normal time of 9 a.m. He placed his open sign in the window and perhaps noticed a bright red MG convertible parked in front of the store. After good weekend business, he was just preparing a deposit slip for the cash in his cash box. Tony was old school and the money was kept in an old-fashioned tin candy box, distinctive with a picture of a British king and queen.

At 9:15 Tony took a phone call and seemingly everything was okay. But at 9:30 a woman customer entered the store. She found no one behind the counter. Curious, she called out but there was no answer. She checked a storage room behind the counter and there she found Tony’s body in a pool of blood.

When the sheriffs arrived they found that Tony had been beaten badly and then shot in the head, execution style. Apparently the killing had happened behind the counter. Tony’s body had then been dragged into the back room, bloody footprints marking the progress of the killer.

Missing from the store was a handgun from under the glass counter, a .357 magnum. A hunting rifle, a .444 caliber Marlin with a scope, had also been removed from the wall and was missing. Gone as well was the candy tin cashbox containing $700 in cash. And the bright red MG.

Passersby had noticed the car parked in front of Tony’s starting at about 8:30 a.m. The red car was the only clue the police had so an intense search was put out for this rather conspicuous car. It was described as a red 1954 or ’55 MG TD Roadster convertible with the top up. The chrome on the car was brightly polished, especially the front grille. There was one occupant in the car, described as a White male.

Initially, the police theorized that Tony had interrupted a burglary in progress when he opened the store. Tony lived next door to the shop and had an alarm system that rang in his home. But that theory didn’t hold up as the “open” sign was out and Tony had received a phone call at 9:15 a.m. Some local wags threw out the idea that it was a mob hit because of the execution-style killing and Tony’s Italian heritage. But it’s unlikely an organized crime assassin would use a highly visible bright red sports car.

The police set in motion an unusual way of gaining witnesses to the murder/robbery. They blocked off Foothill Boulevard in front of Tony’s Sportsman’s Den, and interviewed each car that passed through the bottleneck. The L.A. Times printed a photo of the operation. Cones brought the traffic lanes down to one lane in each direction. Scores of police were gathered around a long line of stopped cars. A big sign proclaimed: “Los Angeles County Sheriff is conducting a murder investigation. Thank you for your cooperation. Peter J. Pitchess, Sheriff.” An estimated 1600 vehicles were stopped but no further information was gained.

To this day, that murder/robbery has never been solved. The business was closed up and everything was left on the shelves for many years, inviting much speculation. Finally, a pond supplies store opened there and was there for many years. It’s currently a financial office.

I spoke to one employee of the former pond store who told me that Tony’s ghost was a sometimes unmistakable presence behind the counter where he died. Of course, that’s very subjective but maybe, just maybe, the spirit of Tony Campanelli is still hanging around, hoping for justice.