...To the criminals, he was likely seen no differently than anyone else who had a stash of valuables in his house. The only thing that made this story remarkable was the fact that it involved crypto instead of cash, gold, jewelry, corporate secrets or any other easily carried stores of wealth.
In many ways bitcoins are more attractive to the robbers than physical valuables. It's easier to convert to fiat than art/jewellery/electronic equipment/cars etc, easier to launder, and most of all - you're not in possession of stolen goods (unless you're stupid and force victim to send btc to the wallet installed on your phone etc).
Probably cash would be still the preferred target, as you don't need to convert it, but having huge stash of cash is always suspicious and can be a crucial proof against you.
I don't know. If I were a robber, I'm not sure that I would take such a huge risk for what effectively only exists within the mind of my intended target. Let's say that I tried to rob you and for whatever reason, you decided that you're not going to give me the keys to your account or maybe you don't even have access to the keys. My only options at that point are to either kill you and walk away or just simply walk away. Either way, I'd be left with absolutely nothing to show for it other than a potential trip to a jail cell, making a more conventional cash grab more appealing.