Man Murdered in Clayton Grew Up In Castro Valley

A tragic killing in Contra Costa County has links to Castro Valley.

Last Friday, 61-year-old Richard Wester was found unconscious and not breathing in his home in unincorporated Clayton.

On Monday an autopsy found blood in Wester's chest from multiple rib fractures and suggested that these chest injuries had caused his death, according to a report by Bay City News. 

On Tuesday, Contra Costa County prosecutors filed murder and assault charges against the murdered man's son, Matthew Wester, 22.

Readers tell Patch that the elder Wester was born and raised in Castro Valley, and was a 1969 graduate of what was then Canyon High School. It was not immediately known when Richard Wester moved away.

Matthew Wester appeared in a Martinez courtroom Tuesday afternoon. A judge scheduled his arraignment for next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

According to court documents filed by Richard Wester in 2010, his son had a history of anger and violence. A restraining order the victim filed against his son in Contra Costa County Superior Court in 2010 described the young man as being "prone to rage."

In the court documents, Wester described an incident in March 2010 in which his son came to his house and became angry when he was told he could not live there. He said his son "spit in my face, punched and kicked me, destroyed furniture, waved a knife, stole from me and broke into my house."

He said in the restraining order that the violent outburst followed similar incidents over the past two years, but that the incidents were "increasing in frequency and intensity."

Bay City News contributed to this report.