NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Metro Police may have solved a series of murders and attempted murders involving homeless men in downtown Nashville.
Christopher Crowley, 26, was arrested Thursday, taken to the Metro Jail and charged with murder. Crowley has accused of killing 41 year old Robert Mitchell who was presumed homeless. Mitchell was shot in the head as he sat on a park bench across from the Criminal Justice Center.
A surveillance camera captured a car stopping there at the time of the murder. Security people monitoring the camera wrote down a license plate and police tracked the car to Crowley.
Metro Police said the murder of a homeless man Thursday morning may be connected to two other violent crimes in downtown Nashville.
"The police department is very interested in Mister Crowley in regard to two 2009 cases in which homeless men were shot - one in the head and the other in the face," said Metro Police spokesperson Don Aaron.
Police say Crowley's method of operation fits the other crimes. In March 2009 someone tried to kill Albanus Kitaka while he was sleeping on 5th Avenue North. Someone woke him up and shot him in the mouth. Kitaka survived.
Almost 8 months later while Edward Matthews slept on a Chruch Street park bench someone shot him in the head. Matthews died. Both crimes happened overnight and at the time police felt the cases were related.
"We have evidence in the 2009 matters that will be analyzed along with the evidence that we have in the situation with Mister Mitchell's death as we attempt to see if these three matters are related," said Aaron.
The police department's homicide and cold case unit is investigating. That unit is led by Detective Pat Postiglione who a lot of experience dealing with serial killers like truck driver Bruce Mendenhall. Postiglione and Detective Danny Satterfield have questioned Crowley. But so far Crowley has refused to answer questions.
