Police Suspect Richard III Murdered
There has been a lot of speculation as to why the victim was buried in a concrete block, mafia-style
LEICESTER (The Global Edition) – Local police launched a homicide investigation Friday morning after the remains of Richard III were discovered buried under a parking lot in the East Midlands city of Leicester, officials said.
The remains of the former British ruler, who authorities managed to identify through DNA analysis, despite not being able to contact next of kin to confirm the victim’s identity.
Since news of the discovery broke, there has been a lot of speculation as to why the victim was buried in a concrete block, mafia-style. During the course of their investigation, police learned that the victim had been reported missing several hundred years ago, after he failed to arrive home from battle, Leicester City Police Commander Alen Landgridge told reporters.
According to Commander Landridge, a missing persons report was filed around 5:44 p.m. on August 23rd, 1485 AD. Officers “followed leads throughout the centuries,” he said, but the investigation grew cold and eventually stalled at around noon, on July 1st, 1933 AD.
Police described the victim as a white male in his early thirties, but are not releasing any further information, including his exact age or the army he fought for.
Leicester Mayor Peter Soulsby told reporters that an autopsy report on the victim’s remains released Friday morning revealed numerous signs of blunt force trauma, and indicated that it was probable that the victim was hit numerous times with a large object prior to death. The report also noted that . The autopsy upgraded the circumstances surrounding the cold case from “suspicious” in nature to a full-scale homicide investigation.
The extensive indentation marks on the victim’s bones had led experts to conclude that the man had likely died in some sort of struggle
The official cause of death has yet to be released and Mayor Soulsby said it remains unclear as to whether the victim was killed in the parking lot where the body was found or transported there after his death.
Though Commander Landgridge said that the London police had no prior record of running away, he would not comment on whether other law enforcement agencies had had any dealings with the former British ruler Richard III.
“We are still in the very early stages of a homicide investigation,” he said, noting that authorities will be unable to release much information for fear of compromising the investigation.
