Michigan: Apeman Arrested for Strangling Elderly White Landlord to Death

Christopher Cheatham.

You’d think a 71-year-old white man would know better than to rent to blacks.

But I guess after spending 12 hours a day in front of the Talmudvision for years on end (that’s basically how most boomers spend their retirement), having a pet jiggaboo in the house might begin to sound hip and exciting.

MLive:

Slain retired postal worker Richard “Dick” Fortune was strangled to death, according to his autopsy report.

Police conducting a welfare check at Fortune’s home in the 2600 block of Lillian Road found the 71-year-old’s body about 5:15 p.m. Feb. 20.

“The autopsy demonstrates multiple injuries of the head and neck which are consistent with strangulation,” Washtenaw County Deputy Medical Examiner Allecia Wilson wrote in the autopsy report.

He was fully clothed and wrapped in a tarp inside the home, according to the report, which MLive/The Ann Arbor News obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. A slip of paper with what appeared to be a grocery list was in his pocket.

Wilson noted several injuries to Fortune’s neck and petechiae in his eyes indicative of strangulation, leading Wilson to declare Fortune’s death a homicide, according to the report.

The man suspected of killing Fortune, Christopher Michael Cheatham, was arrested and arraigned on murder charges July 31.

Cheatham, 25, is charged with one felony count each of open murder and illegal use of a financial transaction device, and three counts of stealing a financial transaction device.

He is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of receiving and concealing stolen property less than $200.

Cheatham was linked to Fortune’s death through both biological evidence found in Fortune’s bedroom and cellphone data recovered by police, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Nimish Ganatra said during the arraignment.

Cheatham was one of several tenants living in Fortune’s home at the time of his death, Ganatra said.

Richard Fortune.