NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — One person was arrested Monday morning after he reportedly beat another man, hitting him multiple times with a pipe under the pedestrian bridge in Nashville. The victim later died in the hospital due to injuries sustained in the pipe attack.
Bryan A. Rebenstorf, 45, was originally charged with attempted criminal homicide, says the Metro Nashville Police Department, though the charge was upgraded to homicide when the victim was pronounced dead on Oct. 7.
Metro police identified the victim as 52-year-old Jerry Muller. Muller was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment after the attack.
A witness called about a fight underneath the pedestrian bridge in the 100 block of 2nd Avenue South and met officers arriving at the scene to additionally report that someone struck a person "several times" with a pipe, according to the arrest affidavit.
The witness told responding officers that the suspect was sitting near the edge of the sidewalk and the victim was unresponsive near the center of the walkway under the pedestrian bridge. Metro police officers talked to the suspect at the scene, who was eventually identified as Rebenstorf.
Rebenstorf told the officers that he no longer had the pipe when questioned if the suspected weapon was in his possession, but he confirmed to police that he struck Muller with the pipe. The suspect was detained while Metro police continued to investigate the scene.
After Rebenstorf was read his Miranda Rights, he told the investigators that he was friends with the victim but recently became upset because he felt Muller had been stealing from him.
Rebenstorf said he went to get cigarettes and came back to find Muller sleeping on his bed he had made with his personal belongings.
He then picked up a pipe he stored elsewhere and began striking the victim in the head and body multiple times, telling investigators that he was "fed up." The suspect could not recall how many blows were struck with the pipe, but Rebenstorf told the officers that he believed he hit Muller 10-15 times total.
The suspect told police during his initial detention that he should have "hit him harder" when commenting about the victim and that it was "too bad he isn't dead."
Rebenstorf was taken into custody without incident. He is currently being held on a $500,000 bond in the Davidson County Detention Center.
