ENCINITAS : Pleas for Help Go Unanswered
A 41-year-old transient whose pleas for help went unanswered by a passerby was found stabbed to death behind a liquor store late Friday night, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported.
The victim was identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office as Christopher James Somerville.
Homicide detectives said the victim had occasionally worked at a liquor store in the 1400 block of North Highway 101 and slept behind it at night.
Lt. John Tenwolde said investigators talked to a person who “overheard an argument” between two or more men behind the store, followed by a man yelling “help me” several times.
“The witness failed to recognize the seriousness of the event, as disturbances are common at that location,” Tenwolde said.
Somerville’s body was discovered more than an hour later by another transient who also sleeps in the area and who notified authorities, Tenwolde said.
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