Murder Suspected In Elderly Woman’s Death Neighbors Describe Her As Caring; Son Finds Body In Ransacked Home

Wed., Sept. 3, 1997

By Robin Rivers robinr@spokesman.com

An elderly woman known to her north Spokane neighbors as a motherly person who often checked on them may have been murdered in her home.

The woman’s body was found about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday by her son.

He told police the two-story house at 325 W. Mansfield had been ransacked.

An item taken from the house was found blocks away, leading detectives to believe she had been murdered during a burglary, Police Chief Terry Mangan said.

The cause and time of death have not been determined. The woman’s identity was being withheld late Tuesday.

Neighbors said they last saw the woman, believed to be in her 80s, on Sunday. She was sitting on her front porch.

With crime scene tape wrapped around the house, detectives scoured the lawn for evidence Tuesday afternoon.

There were no signs of forced entry, but neighbors said that doesn’t mean much.

“There was a window she always left open so her kitties could get in and out,” said Karen Morse, who lives two houses down. “She slept upstairs. You wouldn’t hear anyone if they were downstairs.”

The victim had lived in the Mansfield home for about 50 years. She lived there alone since her husband died six years ago, neighbors said.

The woman’s hearing-impaired son came by three times a week, mowed the lawn and did odd jobs.

Morse believed the family was, at one time, “fairly well to do.” They collected a variety of things, from antiques to knickknacks, she said.

Neighbors said the health of the woman, who rode the bus and prized her independence, had recently deteriorated. They started seeing less and less of her.

“She usually went to bed about 7 o’clock,” Morse said. “We wouldn’t know if anything was wrong after that because there were never any lights on in the house at night.”

Another neighbor, TJ McAvoy, said he hadn’t seen the woman in months. “She didn’t come out much,” he said.

Police had no suspects late Tuesday. Fingerprints were being lifted from the recovered item.

, DataTimes

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