He saw the rug. He saw the blood. Then he got to the garbage — and had a sinking feeling. It seemed like a dead body was inside.
Paul Bass Photo
The man’s suspicions were on target: He had come across a dead body stuffed in plastic inside a garbage can in the rear of 103 – 5 Sheffield Ave.
That happened Thursday. Friday afternoon police confirmed that the dead man had been the victim of a homicide, the city’s ninth already in 2010.
Police withheld the victim’s identity pending notification of the family.
Meanwhile, an investigation into his death continued led by the department’s Major Crime Unit. Police Friday afternoon were awaiting approval a search warrant for the second floor of the three-story Sheffield Avenue building, which serves as a transitional “sober house” for recovering addicts.
Patrol Officer Alan Wenk was the first police officer to arrive at the scene Thursday around 2 p.m.
He said he encountered a maintenance man there who works for Leonard Goldberg of Hamden, the building’s owner.
Wenk said Friday that the man told him he’d been working at the house for several days and noticed a rug missing. On Thursday he discovered the rug in the back yard. Then he went over to a trash can and tried to move it.
“He realized how heavy it was,” Wenk said. “He looked inside it — it didn’t look right. It was bloody.”
He called the cops to report what might be a dead body. Wenk took a look too and came to the same conclusion. But he didn’t want to disturb the evidence.
The department’s Bureau of Identification spent hours at the scene, determining that, yes, a dead body was in the garbage. The body had been wrapped in plastic, according to one officer at the scene. The body was transported to the Chief Examiner’s Office, which on Friday ruled the death a homicide, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery.
Four neighbors on the block, including Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards, said they have encountered no problems with the house in the past.
“It’s just unbelievable. It’s something you see on the news, not something you see at your front door,” said Edwards, who lives across the street.
“I’m not going to talk about what’s going on or what happened,” landlord Goldberg said when reached by cell phone Thursday night.
Police asked anyone with information about the murder to contact them at 203 – 946-6304. This is the latest in a spate of of killings, and the latest violent incident in Newhallville, which has been hit hardest.
Police ask anyone with information about the crime to call Major Crime Unit at 203 – 946-6304 or the police tip line at 203 – 946-6296.
Ahhh...another delightful day in New Haven.