Man found in home underneath furniture had been dead for weeks, cops say. Son charged
A son with a history of abuse against his father is now charged in connection with his death, Indiana police said.
On Nov. 14, police found a 63-year-old dead and “in the advanced stages of decomposition” in his apartment where he lived with his son, according to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department.
The man’s house was in “complete disarray,” police reported, with blinds torn off windows and an item hanging by electrical cords from a broken second-story window.
Officers found the man on the floor “with a chair on his body and a wooden table” on his neck, according to a probable cause affidavit.
An autopsy revealed he had two skull abrasions, several contusions on his back and broken ribs, according to a report by the Marion County Coroner’s Office. His cause of death was determined to be homicide by blunt force trauma to the head and torso, records show.
The victim’s 28-year-old son was picked up by police the morning of Nov. 14 before they found the father’s body.
The son, who was previously diagnosed with “unspecified psychosis, autism spectrum disorder, and a mild intellectual disability,” was walking down the road nude and taken to a hospital, according to court records.
While being evaluated, he told hospital staff that his father had been dead for three to four weeks inside his apartment after he said he struck him in the head, records show.
He told staff he was “homicidal and dangerous” and needed to be locked up, police said.
The son made other violent comments about wanting “to shoot all the females” at Greenwood High School, police said.
He threatened to kill hospital staff and said he raped several people that day, which is why he was walking naked, but no rapes were confirmed to have occurred in the area, police said.
In 2022, the father contacted Adult Protective Services for intervention because he said his son was physically abusing him, according to the affidavit. The man said his son would strike him with his hands and shove him down the stairs in incidents dating to 2021, police said.
On Aug. 3, 2022, the Center for At-Risk Elders was appointed as the son’s guardian, court records show.
The father had supervised visits with the son that he reported went well, and after a month, the man asked if his son could move in with him until placement at a skilled nursing facility was available, police said.
CARE approved the father’s request and set up community services to assist with the son’s medical care and set up regular check-ins, the affidavit says.
The last visit to the father’s home was Oct. 26, 2023, police said. He reported things were going well with his son and he had no concerns, records show.
The son was arrested on Feb. 2 and charged with murder, records show. He is being held without bond.
“(He), just like anyone accused of a crime, is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the State of Indiana,” the son’s attorney, Laura Pitts, told McClatchy News on Feb. 6.
“As was documented in the probable cause affidavit in this matter, (he) has diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and mental illness, and has been on a wait list for services through the Bureau of Developmental Disability Services. It is unfortunate that our most vulnerable citizens must wait so long to receive the services they so desperately need,” Pitts said.
McClatchy News is not identifying the son or the father because of the mental health conditions involved.
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Man found in home underneath furniture had been dead for weeks, cops say. Son charged."
