Location: Pennsylvania
On June 25, 2024, my husband entered an office space we have rented for many years and was killed by the upstairs tenant. This tenant had planned this act and had even called his father the evening before to tell him of his plan. Then, he broke into the building using an outdoor access via the Bilco basement door, walked up the stairs joining the basement to the 1st floor space we rented, and hid in the bathroom waiting for my husband to arrive.
Eight days prior to this incident, the police were called via 911 by the landlord/property owner. The police interviewed the second floor tenant who claimed that my husband was poisoning his water. Clearly, the man was having a mental issue. I watched the body cam footage. They did nothing. The landlord called because that particular morning, the upstairs tenant had been threatening and banging on my husbands back door. My husband, fled the first floor via the front door and left. He contacted the landlord, as he did on past occasions about this new incident. She told him everything was ok. Then, the upstairs tenant called the landlord and told her if she wanted her rent, to come get it. This prompted her to call the police. When the police arrived on scene, there was a gun sitting out on the table inside the door. It was the same weapon used to kill my husband eight days later. The police spoke with the man for a few moments before asking him to put the gun away, as it was making the officer uncomfortable. The police continued to speak with this man and eventually left. They never followed up with the landlord or my husband. They never asked my husband if he was poisoning this man, and they never reported to my husband what this man was saying he was doing. They never called for mental health services or crisis intervention. Eight days later and my husband is dead.
The property owner/landlord never came to the property and did not reach out to me for over 2 weeks after. In fact, the property owner, who works and lives in the area had never once been to the property since she purchased it 3 years prior. She had won eviction against this tenant once before in the fall prior, but chose to allow him to remain, in spite of threatening other tenants, neighbors and my husband. She put my husband in the middle by requesting he do things for her to “help out”. Things like moving an eviction notice that the sheriff had improperly placed on his door to the upstairs tenants door because she didn’t want to have to pay to send the sheriff out again. She ignored every plea made about how this person was harassing and terrorizing my husband and others. This list goes on and on.
I have spoken to 3 attorneys. They all say I have a case, then something changes and they don’t want to touch it. We do live in a tight knit community and this landlord is a well known realtor.
I believe that his death was 100 percent preventable and that police procedure was not followed. I also believe and have proof that this property owner did nothing to provide safety for her tenant. In fact, she repeatedly put the owness of the situation on other tenants.
In the meantime, every attorney I’ve spoken with tells me that I only have 2 years to file a civil case and that they highly recommend I speak with another attorney. Does anyone have any advice? I can go into more detail, but it is a lot. I would add that this upstairs tenant no longer had access to the shared basement space unless the landlord approved of it and provided his with a key. The police found no broken lock and an intact lock on the Bilco door. I believe she gave him the key the day prior in the hopes he would leave. She provided him access and not one of the “apartments” or spaces in the building were cut off from one another, meaning once inside the building, you could easily move freely between areas by opening a door….a door that should have been sealed off.
Also, in the meantime, this upstairs tenant is in a mental facility refuses medication to become competent. We have years of appeals for a Sell hearing before he is ever tried.
Thank you in advance for your help. I will post more information if asked. I really need a dedicated attorney who is not afraid to go after a big fish. I am providing a link to an article about this situation.
Comments
Well first of all I am terribly sorry for your loss, I honestly can’t imagine what you’re going through. And reading through your story, I’m not seeing a particularly strong case anywhere in terms of going to court and getting money. Yes, there were multiple failures, cascading failures, an avalanche of failures. But failures don’t necessarily create liability. If three lawyers have declined to take the case, then there probably isn’t a case. The police have immunity as well.
Nothing you have said here gives rise to a civil suit against the landlord or the police. When you say “something changes and they don’t want to touch it” that something is likely that a review of the case shows no available suit.
The police do not owe an individual duty to your husband or to anyone else. More, they aren’t required to call for mental health support or crisis management if they don’t feel it’s necessary or appropriate.
The landlord is not required to settle disputes between tenants or to evict one tenant to please others. In your narrative the subject broke into the building, so his tenancy isn’t even a real factor here. More, you’d have to argue that the homicide was reasonably foreseeable and that the landlord somehow would be able to prevent that. You don’t have that here.
You might have a suit at the outside against the father, depending on what was told to him and when.