A 91-year-old World War II veteran who was brutally beaten in a recent home-invasion in Northern California has died, according to CNN-affiliate KOVR in Sacramento.
John Masson suffered horrific injuries on Oct. 28 when thieves broke into his North Highlands home in the middle of the night and demanded his car keys after blindfolding and tying up his stepdaughter and a caretaker, the television station reported.
Masson refused to give them up though, “because he’s a military man,” his stepdaughter, Akemi Girion told the station.
The thieves left without the keys, instead grabbing cash, jewelry and prescription drugs from the one-story home. They also severely beat the elderly man, according to the television station.
“His face was all broken,” Girion told the KOVR. “Jaw, cheek, head. Everything was broken.”
Masson succumbed to his injuries over the weekend, just days before Veterans Day.
A veteran and survivor of three wars, Masson was in the Air Force for about half of his life, according to Girion. In addition to World War II, he also served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
More recently, Masson cared for his disabled stepdaughter, according to Girion.
“We were two peas in a pod, and they stole that from me. They stole my father,” she said.
No arrests have been made as of late Monday, and Girion has issued a plea to help catch her father’s killers.
“Please, help us to catch the people who did that to my father,” she told the station.
CNN contributed to this report.
