Police seek public's help in identifying body found in Milton

Print Posted by Witherspoon November 16, 2010 04:43 PM

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Brian R. Ballou / Globe Staff

By Brian R. Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

MILTON – The man whose body was found in an upscale neighborhood here apparently had no criminal record, police said today as they tried to both identify the man and track down his apparent killer.

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Milton Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. this afternoon provided a description of the victim, hoping the information will trigger a relative or friend to contact police. He said the man did not have a wallet on him when found, and that his fingerprints did not match any profiles in the state's criminal records database.

Wells said the cause of death was not yet known pending an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office. But he said it was clear from looking at the man that he was the victim of a homicide. The killer, or killers, had violated their victim, he said.

"The mutilation was so gruesome and extensive it didn't seem real,'' the chief said.

Wells said the victim appears to be a black man with a muscular, athletic build. He did not have any tattoos or body piercing. He said the man weighed about 120 pounds and was 5 feet 5 inches tall.

When found, he was wearing only blue jeans, the pockets of which were empty, the chief said.

Wells said detectives are investigating the possibility that the man's body was dumped on Brierbrook Street where he was found by a passerby Monday night. But he said no conclusions have been reached, in part because they don't yet have the man's name.

"One thing I can safely say – whoever this young man was, yesterday morning he got up and went about his business or whatever,'' the chief said. "But at 9:30 last night, his body was found in a very gruesome, significant, homicide scene.''

In the quiet, upscale neighborhood near the Blue Hills Reservation, residents were in shock today after learning about the grisly discovery. Standing in the doorway of his home on Brierbrook Street, Chris Tosi said he learned of the discovery from a police officer Monday night.

"He told me that a body had been found in the street,'' Tosi said. "We knew nothing because we had been indoors with our kids.''

"Pretty freaky,'' Tosi said. "Pretty weird.''

Wells, who lives nearby, said he couldn't remember another time that police had to respond to the neighborhood for trouble.

Late this morning, police cordoned off an area on the lawn of 50 Brierbrook St. Police at the scene said that the body was found in the street in front of that home and that body parts from the victim may have swept onto the lawn by a street sweeper.

Police were examining residential surveillance videos today to see if they captured any of the incident.

Police were also looking for information about a white Audi sedan and dark colored sedan, possibly a crossover style vehicle, which were reported to be in the neighborhood Monday night.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Milton police or the State Police unit at Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating's office.

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