Local News

TIBURON (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― The police chief of Tiburon said Wednesday that a controversial proposal to put video surveillance cameras at both entrances of the town was moving ahead after the murder of a 75-year-old woman.

Chief Mike Cronin said that if the cameras had already been in operation, they might have helped investigators narrow down a suspect in the shooting death of Joan Rosenthal.

The cameras would take pictures of license plates of cars entering Tiburon on Paradise Drive and Tiburon Boulevard. 

When the idea was first proposed, there were questions of logistics, cost, privacy, and how the information would be used, but Cronin said the project was now ready to roll, and he added that cameras could be up as early as November.

Rosenthal's body was found Tuesday morning on the front patio area of her house in the 600 block of Hilary Drive in the city's Del Mar neighborhood. Police said she was shot once in the head, although an autopsy was being ducted Wednesday to confirm that the death was a homicide.

As of Wednesday, police still hadn't identified any possible suspects or determined a motive for the killing.

"I had just seen her last week, and it's just absolutely shocking," said Geri Thayer, who had known Rosenthal for 40 years. Their children went to primary school together, and both were recently widowed.

"She was the most gentle, kind, loving person, and she was just an amazingly talented and bright woman, and fun to talk to," remembered Thayer.

Nieghbors remembered Rosenthal as both a good neighbor and an active member of the community.

"She was a very good neighbor," Kathy Keating said. "Our children grew up together. She was a very meticulous person and was well-organized."

Keating said she and other neighbors initially thought Rosenthal lost her balance and fell before police disclosed she had been shot in the head.

"We are all up in age and tend to lose our balance more," Keating said.

Keating said none of the neighbors heard a gunshot and added, "I can't image anyone who would hurt her.".

Rosenthal's husband, attorney Kenneth Rosenthal, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease died in January.

But despite her husband's passing, "she still had so much to live for," Keating said.

"She was extremely active in many ways," added Sally Shepard, who was friends with Rosenthal for 44 years. "She got her master's degree in career counseling and taught classes at the College of Marin. She was a trained speech pathologist."

"We walk almost every day. She has five grandchildren who are the love of her life, two sons and two daughters-in-law. They were an extraordinarily close family," Shepard observed.

"She was a quiet contributor. You did not see her picture in the paper," Shepard said. "I was with her the night before. She had health problems in the past year that somewhat limited what she could do."

Investigators said Rosenthal lived alone and there were no signs her home had been ransacked.

Marin County authorities sent in teams Tuesday to help search for evidence in the area surrounding the woman's home. That search effort continued on Wednesday.

Tiburon has long been known for having little violent crime, with officials saying there have been only four homicides in the Marin County community in the past 40 years.

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