Sacramento County sheriff’s detectives this week were seeking the public’s help in solving the cold case of an Orangevale man who was shot to death 22 years ago near his home.
Scott Joseph Lee, 23, was killed about 11 p.m. on March 26, 2001. Sheriff’s officials said Lee’s family recently established a cash reward of $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for his death.
About 15 minutes before the shooting was reported, Lee was driving home to his apartment at a complex in the 8700 block of Greenback Lane, according to a news release from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. Lee was talking with his sister on the phone as he drove home.
During the phone conversation, his sister heard a male voice ordering Lee to give him something and glass breaking. Sheriff’s officials said his sister also heard her brother tell the suspect to “just take it.” Then, the call was cut off.
Lee’s family went to the apartment complex and found Lee on the ground next to one of the apartment buildings. Sheriff’s officials said Lee had been shot several times and was unconscious. Medics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Moments before they found Lee at the complex, his father and his girlfriend went to his apartment and found the front door open but nobody inside, sheriff’s officials said at the time. Searching around the landscaped yard, they found Lee’s body between two apartment buildings. There was no obvious motive for the shooting, although robbery was a possibility.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives have not been able to identify a suspect in the deadly shooting.
Detectives ask anyone with information relevant to this homicide investigation to call the Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau at 916-874-8476. Tips can be submitted anonymously by calling Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357 or by filling out the Sheriff’s Office online tip form.