Joanne Johnson, 93, murdered in her Augusta, Kansas home, September 2023

[CooperDyl]

From that link :
He said his daughter said she and her friend were walking in a park on the day of the murder when a white man came up to them and "coerced" them into going to Johnson's home. She said the man grabbed a rusty axe from Johnson's garage and beat Johnson to death.

Holy cow.
I'm not buying that a white man walked up to them and coerced them into this brutal crime.
Nope.
I get wanting to protect your kid, however... their excuse is ridiculous; imo.
Omo.

Interesting that the death was thought to be an “unattended death” (ie natural causes, a fall etc.) at first, was progressed to a homicide investigation and the girls’ excuse via their father is that a white man beat this poor innocent lady to death with an axe.

Could someone beaten with an axe possibly be misconstrued as having died of a fall when there would likely be impact wounds etc. that wouldn’t match up with an axe strike, particularly one supposedly perpetrated by “a white male” who would have the ability to swing the weapon with at least some force? Even a strike with the blunt side of an axe would leave an impact point dissimilar to hitting a flat surface such as a floor.
The only thing I could think of would be misidentifying an axe wound as an impact point from a sharp counter edge/corner etc.

Will be interested to hear more details, but what a horrible situation all around.

Original report that mentioned the killing progressing from an “unattended death” to homicide investigation
- Police: Woman dead in Augusta homicide

 

[Inthedetails]

Interesting that the death was thought to be an “unattended death” (ie natural causes, a fall etc.) at first, was progressed to a homicide investigation and the girls’ excuse via their father is that a white man beat this poor innocent lady to death with an axe.

Could someone beaten with an axe possibly be misconstrued as having died of a fall when there would likely be impact wounds etc. that wouldn’t match up with an axe strike, particularly one supposedly perpetrated by “a white male” who would have the ability to swing the weapon with at least some force? Even a strike with the blunt side of an axe would leave an impact point dissimilar to hitting a flat surface such as a floor.
The only thing I could think of would be misidentifying an axe wound as an impact point from a sharp counter edge/corner etc.

Will be interested to hear more details, but what a horrible situation all around.

Original report that mentioned the killing progressing from an “unattended death” to homicide investigation
- Police: Woman dead in Augusta homicide

I think "unattended death" was a place-holder of sorts. They found a woman dead in her home, not in the hospital, not under at-home medical care. I expect it was a checkbox on a preliminary form - perhaps needed to proceed to the next steps of examining the body further, not meant to be a final determination.

That's my lay-person understanding. I don't read anything mysterious into it at all.

jmo