The victim had told police he’d been threatened with the sword the day before his head was cut off.
A Connecticut man allegedly used a samurai sword to decapitate his roommate and landlord, Victor King. The suspect, Jerry David Thompson, is refusing to talk to investigators claiming that he is a sovereign citizen.
King, an accomplished bridge player, was found dead in his home on Asylum Avenue on Sunday after police were called to perform a wellness check, authorities said, according to the Hartford Courant. King’s friends had not heard from him in more than a day; upon their arrival, authorities found the retiree dead on the kitchen floor with a sheet covering some of his body. King had sustained “severe trauma” to his arms, chest, shoulder, and neck from a samurai sword, police told the paper.
Thompson had been renting a room in King’s home for less than a year and authorities zeroed in on him as a suspect after King’s friends reported that King and Thompson had had disagreements over rent, according to another report from the Hartford Courant.
The arguments stemmed from Thompson not paying his rent, and that led to Thompson allegedly threatening King with a sword, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the paper.
The day before his death, King went to the police to report Thompson for threatening him with a weapon, the Courant reports. After authorities found King’s body the next day, they set out searching for Thompson and found him driving in the North End area.
After being transported back to the station, Thompson refused to speak with the authorities; he instead directed them to a piece of paper in his Jeep, and that paper suggested that Thompson considered himself a sovereign citizen, according to the Courant. Those who subscribe to the Sovereign Citizen movement believe that the law does not apply to them, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Thompson, who has previous convictions related to assault and robbery, was arraigned on Tuesday, the Courant reports.
He is currently being held on $2 million bail. He is refusing to talk to investigators or a public defender. Thompson is currently without legal representation.
King, was a renowned bridge player. He had attained the title of Grand Life Master. The highest rank in the American Bridge League.
Sources: AWM, Hartford Courant, Southern Poverty Law Center