Search for suspect and motive after 75-year-old man found dead inside Coney Island home
NEW YORK -- A 75-year-old man was found dead inside his Brooklyn home, and now police are searching for his killer.
Police said Donald Wallace was discovered inside his apartment Thursday at Cary Gardens on West 23rd Street in Coney Island. Sources told CBS2 neighbors reported a foul odor coming from his home at the NYCHA building.
Sources said he was partially inside a sleeping bag with injuries to his head and had been there for some time. There was no indication of forced entry, and it doesn't appear anything was taken.
Police said Wallace, a convicted murdered, spent two decades behind bars for a 1972 killing in the Bronx, as well as robbery and grand larceny auto. He also had a drug conviction.
In 2016, Wallace was stabbed by two people he owned money.
Many neighbors said they knew he spent time in prison but didn't know what for, noting they met him years later. They said the 75-year-old mostly kept to himself. His wife died the past year.
"I didn't see him for a week, so I said something's going on. But I didn't know what's going on," neighbor Renaldo Jordan said.
Outside the building, there's a growing memorial of candles.
"Everybody knew him," Jordan added.
Wallace was often seen with his dog Snow, and one neighbor said he liked to paint.
"He was a good person. Walked his dog a lot in and out of the house. He didn't bother nobody," said neighbor Shon Hardison.
"I know him at least 10 years. Ten years, he was beautiful people. He was good," Jordan said.
The medical examiner says he died due to blunt force trauma.
Police sources say a motive is unclear right now.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.