LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police say they believe the beating deaths of two sleeping homeless men near downtown Las Vegas are connected, and they need public help to find the killer.
Police Lt. Dan McGrath told reporters Monday that 46-year-old Daniel M. Aldape was killed Jan. 4 and 60-year-old David H. Dunn was slain last Friday in a vacant lot area near City and Grand Central parkways. That’s near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, west of the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
The Clark County coroner said Tuesday both men died of head injuries, and neither had places of residence. Both deaths were ruled homicides.
Police Capt. Andy Walsh said neither man was robbed, and that it was possible their assailant was also homeless.
“We need the public’s help,” he said.
McGrath, a homicide detective, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Aldape had been struck “four or five times in the head” with a heavy object and that his body was still wrapped in blankets when officers arrived.
Investigators have not been able to establish a possible motive nor have they ruled out anything, he said, including the possibility someone attacked the men for the thrill of it.
“This was a straight act of violence, not a robbery,” McGrath said.
Walsh said police combed the area after Aldape’s death for witnesses and clues, and warned people who live on the streets about his slaying. He said investigators were doubling their efforts following Dunn’s death.
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