The manager of a brewery in Leesburg, Virginia, was killed by his 21-year-old son, according to police.
Dean Lake's body was discovered in his home Saturday morning, Leesburg police said. He had trauma to his upper body but was not shot or stabbed.
Lake was the director of operations for Black Hoof Brewery.
Nikki Haase, wife of the owner of the brewery, said Lake was hired full time a couple of years ago to run the day-to-day operations of the business.
“I think everybody that knew him liked him,” she said. “I don’t know anybody who had ever a bad word to say about him. He was very generous with his time with other brewers.”
She said she and her husband, Bill Haase, knew Lake was having struggles with his son, who was suffering from mental illness.
“I do know that he was trying desperately,” she said. “He and his ex-wife were trying desperately to get him help and were facing a lot of obstacles.”
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Investigators developed Lake’s son, Schuyler, as a suspect early on, and a photo of him was released to the public, police said. Someone spotted him several hours later near a Leesburg shopping center where he was taken into custody.
Neighbors said they frequently saw the 21-year-old in the neighborhood on his bike.
“He was kind of aloof and to himself from what you could see,” one said.
“Very much a loner,” another said.
Police charged Schuyler Lake with second-degree murder, credit card theft and credit card fraud. He’s being held without bond.
As word spread of Dean Lake's death, brewers in Loudoun County showed up at Black Hoof to offer their condolences.
