Landlord decapitated by tenant who couldn’t pay rent

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A Connecticut man decapitated his landlord with a sword after being told he had to move out because of overdue rent, Hartford police say.

The Hartford Police Department responded to a 911 call Saturday morning from the landlord, Victor King, who said that his roommate Jerry Thompson, 42, had been "waving a sword at him in a threatening and terrorizing manner" amid a rent dispute, according to an arrest warrant filed by Hartford detectives.

King gave officers Thompson's cell phone number, according to the warrant. It did not say if police spoke to Thompson Saturday. The next day, police received calls from a neighbor and then a separate friend of King's who were concerned about his safety, the warrant said.

Police entered the residence Sunday afternoon to find a grisly crime scene and King's body "covered by numerous articles of bedding" on the floor, according to the warrant.

A medical examiner investigator's preliminary observations suggested King's injuries were consistent with a large edged weapon, noting "lacerations to the landlord's right arm, upper chest and across the neck causing decapitation."

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