A comparison:
Bare bones of the story: It was June 2013. Around 4:30 am at a Toys R Us location, the victim named Larry Wells and his 3 coworkers noticed the badge activated door at the store was still opened. They did not put too much stock into it and carried out their morning routine. Moments later, the victim is found in an office with what appeared to be gunshot wounds (that were later confirmed to be large stab wounds). Someone dressed in dark clothing was seen walking around the store on CCTV footage. No one could name a single person who would want to harm this man, he was well liked and by all accounts, extremely kind and thoughtful.
Some similarities:
Similar - Perp was dressed in dark clothing, seen on CCTV in the building before the victim arrived.
Similar - The victim was thought to have been shot at first. The victim was actually stabbed multiple times in the chest.
Similar - It appears the suspect was able to leave quickly without being seen or noticed fleeing
Some differences:
Different - The perp was moving with a purpose, trying to avoid beeing seen on camera
Different - The killer was walking around with large knife visibly seen in hand on CCTV
Different- There was no debate on the killers gender (I find there is less debate on this when the crime is a male victim. Many female victim cases are debated about the gender of the concealed identity murderer. Missy's case, Liz Baraza, the Florence Salon murders, Tinley Park Lane Bryant shooting and another case VERY similar to Missy's that I cannot remeber the name of the victim ATM).
Not exactly different but not exactly the same. Just a few things to think about with contrasts in the cases:
The Toys R Us murderer's plan was to pretend to fumble around at the entrance to be seen on CCTV in an attempt to give the illusion they were not familiar with the building.
The other 3 employees ran out of the building (assuming he suffered a gunshot) concerned they may be next.
The CCTV just so happened to not catch any of the footage from the office the victim was murdered in.
*Interesting note - To my knowledge, no phone data was obtained to place the killer at the scene.
Suspects and suspicion - DNA was taken from CCTV cables that were pulled in the office the victim was found in, along with a distinct college football championshit hat. The DNA matched on both items, confirming it was the same person. The other 3 workers were questioned and their DNA was taken. One of the workers acted really anxious, and one of the workers acted extremely suspicious and refused to talk. DNA was taken from dozens of people and all of them were cleared.
Breakthrough - The police realized there was one person that had not obtained DNA from. Throughout the investigation, the loss prevention specialist who was extremely close with the victim, provided the police with an immense amount of help. This person was alleged to have burst into tears about the victim's murder and wanted to help the police catch who did this to his friend, and the man he personally hired. The loss provention officer avoided giving DNA and blatanly lied about a conference he was attending in order to continue avoiding it. Alas, the DNA matched him.
Murderers explanation for DNA - The murderer claimed he worked with CCTV cables all of the time, and that the hat must have had touch DNA.
Murders motivation and account of what lead to the violence - The murderer was having severe financial and marriage problems. According to him, he was not there to harm anyone and the plan was to demand the safe in the office be opened (This is highly debated, as the man had a large knife out walking through the building WAY before he saw anyone). The murderer claims that the victim lunged at him, and recognized him after his mask was lifted in the scuffle, which lead to the hat being knocked off his head and left behind.
Couple of links for this story if you would like to know more: A Baseball Hat Leads Authorities To Man Who Brutally Murdered Beloved Toys ‘R’ Us Manager | Oxygen Official Site Toys R Us Manager Denies Killing Employee Before Consoling Staff