SHAMOKIN - City police are assisting authorities in New Jersey in a homicide investigation involving the beating death of a 55-year-old man inside his apartment.
Chief of Police Edward Griffiths said the victim, who has not yet been identified, was found dead at about 6:30 p.m. Monday in his apartment at 15 Woodlawn Ave., Ewing Township, which is located near Trenton, N.J.
Griffiths said two detectives from Mercer County in New Jersey conducted an interview Wednesday with a "person of interest" in the homicide probe who is not considered a suspect in the case. He said the adult male who was interviewed lives on South Franklin Street and has a "connection" with the alleged murder suspect, who remains at large.
The man who was interviewed is believed to have driven the alleged murder suspect to Ewing Township, where the murder occurred. After reportedly dropping the alleged murder suspect off at the victim's apartment, the driver reportedly went shopping at a nearby mall before returning to pick up the alleged suspect.
Both men then allegedly drove to Connecticut, where the alleged murder suspect was dropped off. The man who lives in Shamokin returned home.
During a consented search of his South Franklin Street home Wednesday night, police seized evidence they believe is connected to the murder.
The detectives, who also interviewed a few other local residents who are acquaintances of the man living on South Franklin Street, returned to Shamokin on Thursday to search the city man's vehicle for additional evidence.