Elderly Man Found Murdered In SV Home

SPOKANE VALLEY — Police in Spokane Valley are investigating the homicide of an elderly man at a home near the corner of Boone and Wilbur.

Sgt. Dave Reagan says that the 80-year-old man was found dead in his home Saturday evening.  He was found in a closet under a pile of clothes.

The man’s home was ransacked when police arrived.  Reagan said that investigators believe that someone was trying to rob the house when they confronted the victim.  There is evidence of a scuffle between the victim and the robber, he said.

Reagan also said when the girlfriend of the victim got worried when he didn’t show up for a meeting, she called a neighbor to check on the victim.  The neighbor couldn’t find the man, so the girlfriend went to the home and and they searched again.  this time, they found the man’s body.

The neighbor owns an ambulance, so he had his son bring over a heart monitor to try and revive the man.  But he was already dead.

Neighbors say police first arrived at the home around 8 p.m., and shortly afterwards blocked off a stretch of roadway around the home. Boone is still closed between Bates and Wilbur, as four properties are part of the crime scene.  The road may not me opened until sometime Sunday afternoon.

Investigators will be at the house for most of Sunday, trying to gather up clues to who may have broke into the home and killed the man.  An autopsy on the man is scheduled for Monday.