Crime & Safety

California Detectives Seek Clues in Murder of Local Man

Detectives trying to figure out how Prince George's County man ended up dead in parking lot of Los Angeles area beer hall.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office are in town this week trying to figure out how a Prince George's County man ended up murdered outside of a California beer hall earlier this spring.

The mystery begins at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 20, 2012, when Los Angeles County sheriff's responded to the Alpine Village beer hall outside of Torrance, CA. for a report of a deceased person. Police arrived to find 45-year-old Prince George's County resident Dwight Henry dead in the backseat of a white Chevrolet Trailblazer in the parking lot outside of the beer hall. 

Henry was not shot or stabbed, but instead appeared to be the victim of some sort of physical struggle said an official with the California Coroner's Department according to a report in the Torrance-based Daily Breeze

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Right now, though, detectives don't know much about Henry. They're here to try and speak with anyone who may have known Henry here in Prince George's County.

"Our guess is that anybody that knows him in Maryland might know why he went to California and who he was going to see," said Detective Toni Martinez in an interview. "The suspects aren't going to come forward out in California to say 'yeah, we did it.'"

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Henry was born in Jamaica, but had lived for the last 20 years  in the Hyattsville and Laurel areas, where some members of his family reside. His residences were not too stable, according to police, who said that Henry moved frequently in the area, often living with friends and family. 

Police also know that the car in which Henry's body was found belonged to an ex-girlfriend living in Georgia. According to The Daily Breeze, police said that the car had been borrowed from the girlfriend three weeks prior to Henry's death. 

Another clue which police hope might help jog people's memory is a distinctive elephant-tooth and pendant necklace which Henry was wearing when he was discovered dead. 

Police said that Henry was an avid soccer player too, described as actively involved in area competitive soccer leagues.

Los Angeles sheriffs are asking for anyone who may have known Henry or his reasons for traveling to California to get in touch with homicide detectives by calling 323-890-5500.


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