Identified! CA - San Francisco, Male body parts in suitcase, Jan'15 - Omar Shahwan

[BeginnersLuck]

http://sfist.com/2015/02/03/suitcase_murder_still_might_not_hav.php

SFist just received word from the San Francisco District Attorney's office that the suspect in The Suitcase Murder, Mark Andrus, will not be charged with murder today, and therefore he will likely be getting released from police custody pending any other charges.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bre...-no-charges-now-against-suspect-dismemberment

Gascon said in a statement his office was "very disturbed" by the facts of the case, but noted that the San Francisco Medical Examiner has yet to determine a cause of death or even the identity of the victim whose body parts were discovered inside a suitcase on Jan. 28 on 11th and Market streets. Gascon said there was insufficient evidence to charge suspect Mark Andrus, 59, who was arrested Friday evening in the city's Tenderloin district.

"Until we have the evidence necessary to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, we are ethically obligated to hold off on charging this suspect," Gascon said in the news release.

 

[cvaldez1975]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bre...-no-charges-now-against-suspect-dismemberment

wow. well, they dont want to proceed without evidence i guess.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Cause-of-death-may-be-elusive-in-San-Francisco-6065425.php

With only a torso and a leg and no crime scene, forensic pathologists in San Francisco must use a small amount of information to try to determine how a man died before his dismembered body was dumped last week in the South of Market neighborhood. The cause of death — if one can be found — is pivotal, letting police know whether they’re dealing with a murder or something else, like desecration of a corpse. That’s a misdemeanor at best...

The medical examiner’s office shipped DNA from the victim to the state’s Bureau of Forensic Services lab, which processes thousands of cases a month and could take weeks to return results, depending on whether the case is made a priority. Officials from the lab did not return phone calls.

Even if results confirm — or rule out — that Shahwan is the victim, identifying a cause of death may be impossible...

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

OMG! Suspect is dead!

WTH is going on?

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Suspect-in-S-F-body-parts-case-dead-6069878.php

 

[Migmuu]

OMG! Suspect is dead!

WTH is going on?

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Suspect-in-S-F-body-parts-case-dead-6069878.php

Jesus. It all sounds like the first 30 minutes of a bad horror movie.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...y-Parts-Case-Dies-of-OD-Police-291207501.html

Mark Andrus, the 59-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder in the grisly case of a dismembered body found in a suitcase in San Francisco died Saturday, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office confirmed Sunday.

The Public Defender's office said Andrus was rushed to a hospital, where he died. The San Francisco Police Department could not confirm the death, stating that "Mr. Andrus is a free man," and is "not in police custody."

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Suspect-in-S-F-body-parts-case-dead-6069878.php

Andrus, 54, was rushed to the hospital for drug-related reasons and went into septic shock and died, a source familiar with the investigation told The Chronicle.

 

[azure]

I wonder if the victim also died of a drug overdose. Toxicology reports may not be back yet. If LE began to suspect this, or if Andrus told them something to this effect, it may explain why LE dropped him like a hot potato.

 

[cvaldez1975]

ok, so the ppl involved in this case are IV drug users, as referenced by methadone clinic (heroin), and sepsis. the suspect probably had abscesses at his injection site, which caused the septic shock. one of the earlier articles indicated LE suspected this was more of an abuse of corpse case. maybe the victim died of sepsis or OD, and was receiving public benefits and these guys wanted his benefits? ill thought out though!

 

[catlike]

"San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office confirmed just now that the dismembered body found in a suitcase two weeks ago was 58-year-old Omar Shahwan, the man
who was reported missing in Vallejo two weeks ago."

http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2015/02/11/omar-shahwan-dismembered-body-in-suitcase-was-missing-vallejo-man

 

[cvaldez1975]

now my question is, was he septic or have drugs in system (did he OD)

 

[BeginnersLuck]

I honestly, don't no what to think about this. I don't know if it's a strange crime due to bizarre effects from drugs, or something more sinister. It does make me wonder if there is some really bad drugs on the streets and who is dealing those drugs.

 

[rob525]

Thats what I was kinda thinking. Maybe he was on the way some where to dispose of the suitcase and got paranoid, set it down and took off. If he still had the victims state ID maybe the paln was to keep cashing the checks as they came in.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

February 2016:

Suitcase Murder Case Closed With Few New Details, Andrus Responsible, Says SFPD

http://sfist.com/2016/02/01/suitcase_murder_case_closed_with_fe.php

It appears that the SFPD is closing the case file on last year's "suitcase murder," almost exactly a year after it occurred, despite the fact that a couple of key aspects of the case remain a mystery. The sole suspect, Mark Andrus, who died just days after being initially detained and questioned by police, never confessed to the crime, but the SFPD now believes they have enough circumstantial evidence to close the book on the case, which left Andrus' longtime friend, 58-year-old Omar Shahwan, dead and dismembered.

While the exact cause of death will still never be known, investigators spoke to the person staying in the room directly next door on what was likely the night of the murder, and that person reported hearing banging on the wall, and Shahwan "begging for mercy."

Andrus then proceeded to make numerous Google searches and go shopping on Craigslist for hand saws and power tools, even searching for saws specifically "to cut up meat." Homicide investigator Sgt. Gary Watts then believes Andrus cut up the body in the bathtub of the room at the Aldrich Hotel, and managed to contain and clean up any blood. By the time he examined the room, a month after the crime would have been committed, he couldn't find any evidence of it.

Shahwan's head and hands have still never been found.

No murder weapon was ever found either, and we'll likely never know the motive for the crime.

Digital footprint closes bizarre, year-old SF dismembered body in suitcase homicide case