Case of murdered astrophysicist, formerly of Calgary, part of broader FBI investigation

The FBI is looking for links between scientists who have gone missing or disappeared over the last four years. Calgary's Carl Grillmair is among the slain.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it is looking into possible links between the death of former University of Calgary astrophysicist Carl Grillmair and several other scientists who have died or disappeared in the past four years.

Grillmair, 67, was found shot to death on the porch of his California home on Feb. 16.

After graduating from the University of Calgary, he moved to the state in the 1990s, taking a job at Caltech Institute of Technology.

A 29-year-old suspect, Freddy Snyder, was arrested and charged with Grillmair’s murder and carjacking days later. He was also charged with burglary in relation to a Dec. 28, 2025, event.

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The U.S. intelligence agency now says Grillmair’s death is among several killings that are tied to speculation of a conspiracy.

The FBI says it wants to determine if murders of the scientists – all of whom engaging in sensitive research – were coincidental, connected or just rampant internet speculation.

“That’s really not helpful to investigators,” said former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe of the online rumours.

“They want to not prejudge anything and just look at the raw facts.”

U.S. President Donald Trump was also asked about the investigation and said he “hopes it’s random.”

“They were very important people, and we are going to look at it,” he said.

There is no information about how long the probe is expected to take.

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Stephen Hunt