MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Melbourne man was behind bars Wednesday after allegedly plotting for weeks to bludgeon his roommate to death with a large, wooden elephant statue, police said.
Roger Goodrich was arrested after another roommate found Michael Barlow dead in a bedroom, an arrest affidavit said.
Goodrich told investigators that Barlow’s “declining health” led him to want to “put the victim out of his misery,” the affidavit said.
Donald Beyer, who found Barlow’s body, said that the man had diabetes but no major health issues.
Police believe Barlow’s body had been in the house for days before it was found.
“I went further into the room and I saw something weird on the side of the bed, so I kicked it and it was him,” Beyer said.
When he ran out to tell Goodrich what he’d found, the suspect’s reaction was disturbing, Beyer added.
“This guy laid on the couch like nothing ever happened,” Beyer said.
Goodrich has only been living in the house for about a month, Beyer said.
In a statement to police, Goodrich claimed that Beyer “also struck the victim multiple times in the forehead area.”
Beyer has not been charged in connection with Barlow’s death.
Goodrich was being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder.