A Detroit investigation into a missing person call led officers to a blood-soaked basement where three older men were discovered dead, prompting the arrest of a 27-year-old man authorities say had ties to the victims.
Police were dispatched to a residence on Edsel Street shortly after 1 p.m. last Wednesday to follow up on a report that someone had not been missing.
While canvassing the area, officers were approached by a man who claimed he had just been assaulted at a nearby house.
That interaction drew officers inside the Edsel property. What they encountered in the basement, officials said, was immediately alarming.
First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald said the scene was evident as soon as the door was opened, with visible blood and signs of violence throughout the area.
Investigators believe the three men died from blunt-force injuries. Fitzgerald said at least two of them also sustained stab wounds.
Their bodies had been concealed beneath piles of worn clothing, and one was covered with a section of carpet.
Relatives later identified one victim as 66-year-old Norman Hamlin, a Marine Corps veteran who served during the Persian Gulf War and owned the home.
The other two men were identified as 65-year-old Mark Barnett and 72-year-old William Barrett.
Residents in the neighborhood told local reporters the address had long been associated with drug activity.
Fitzgerald acknowledged there had been speculation about narcotics use at the home but said officers did not recover drugs during their search.
The suspect taken into custody Thursday is described as a 27-year-old man with a prior criminal record that includes carjacking, armed robbery, felony firearm offenses and fleeing police. Authorities said he was known to the victims.
Fitzgerald characterized the violence inside the home as extreme. “It was a brutal scene inside, just awful,” he remarked.
A neighbor, Joel Bond, told WDIV-TV that Hamlin had struggled with addiction and had allowed people to gather at the residence.
Bond said that while Hamlin was known as a kind person, opening his home to others carried risks.
The man who first approached police reported that he had been struck twice in the head with a hammer, though investigators indicated that allegation did not appear to be directly linked to the triple homicide.
In a separate case in Maryland, law enforcement officials announced charges against a 22-year-old assisted living employee accused of killing an elderly resident and later firing at a state trooper during a traffic stop.
Marquis Emilio James of White Marsh was arrested in connection with the Valentine’s Day shooting death of 87-year-old Robert G. Fuller Jr. at the Cogir Potomac Senior Living Facility in Montgomery County.
James had worked at the facility as a medication technician since October.
Police said surveillance footage captured a person wearing long wigs entering and leaving through a courtyard door around the time Fuller was shot in the head inside his apartment.
Authorities noted that nothing appeared to have been stolen from Fuller’s unit.
Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada said investigators determined the courtyard door alarm had been disabled weeks earlier on a date when James was the only individual recorded using it.
Detectives later recovered folded paper towels placed in door frames, which they believe were used to prevent doors from fully closing on the day of the homicide and again days later.
According to police, James was found inside the facility after his shift had ended in the days following the shooting.
Coworkers reported that he offered an unusual explanation for his presence.
When a supervisor was about to be notified, James allegedly triggered another exterior door alarm and left through a door that also showed signs of tampering.
At approximately 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Maryland State Police trooper initiated a traffic stop in West Baltimore after observing a vehicle without license plates. Authorities say James was behind the wheel.
Lt. Col. Steve Decerbo said that as the trooper approached, James abruptly opened the driver’s door and fired two shots.
The rounds narrowly missed the trooper, who sustained minor injuries.
James then drove away. Investigators recovered a shell casing at the scene that they say matches ballistic evidence connected to Fuller’s killing.
A coordinated effort involving Montgomery County Police, Maryland State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service resulted in James’ arrest in Rockville after a brief foot chase.
Search warrants executed in Baltimore County led to the seizure of multiple wigs and a mask consistent with the disguise seen in the surveillance footage.
Authorities said they have not established a motive for Fuller’s killing. James has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond.
In Washington state, deputies responding to reports of a protective order violation encountered a separate tragedy when they arrived at a home near Tacoma and found four people who had been fatally stabbed.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were on their way Tuesday to serve a domestic violence protective order on a 32-year-old man when additional emergency calls reported an active stabbing at the same address.
When officers reached the residence, they discovered four victims suffering from stab wounds. All later died. Deputies shot and killed the suspect at the scene.
Local reporting indicated that some victims were found in the backyard while others were located in the street in front of the home.
Court filings show that an elderly woman at the residence had petitioned for a protective order against her son, citing concerns about his deteriorating mental health and substance abuse.
In her request, she alleged that he had pushed her, issued threats and made statements suggesting her “grave has been already dug up.”
She also accused him of engaging in ritualistic behavior in the home, damaging property and harming her cat.
The order barred him from coming within 1,000 feet of her and required him to follow a mental health treatment plan.
Authorities said it had not yet been formally served at the time of the stabbings.
Officials have not released the names of the four victims or of the suspect killed by deputies.
