Was anyone arrested for 1977 murder of two PG&E employees in Placer County?

Q: Was anyone ever arrested for the murder of two PG&E employees on Folsom Auburn Road in Loomis in the 1970s?

A: Two PG&E employees, 28-year-old Carla Burkart and 55-year-old William Harrington, were found shot to death in their company vehicle outside a home off Auburn-Folsom Road on March 2, 1977.

Placer County sheriff’s officials said at the time that they believed the two interrupted a burglary at the home as they were notifying residents that their power was going to be turned off for repairs, according to stories in The Sacramento Bee.

Detectives arrested two suspects, one an ex-convict who had served time for murder and the other a convicted arsonist, but they were released due to lack of evidence.

Detectives theorized that Burkart went to the door of the house while Harrington waited in the PG&E vehicle with the engine running. Burkart apparently rang the doorbell and, when no one answered, left a notice on the door.

Investigators determined that Burkart interrupted a burglary because the residents were not home, but the television had been moved and other items disturbed inside the residence.

Burkart, who had worked for the utility company only a month, had gotten back in the vehicle and may have been telling Harrington what she had seen, when the murderer approached the passenger side and fired repeatedly at the two with a .38-caliber revolver. They died instantly, according to detectives.

Rewards totaling more than $20,000 were offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case, but it remains unsolved.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Was anyone arrested for 1977 murder of two PG&E employees in Placer County?."