One of Mayor Michael Nutter’s elderly neighbors was found dead Friday morning in Wynnefield.
Robert Lancaster, 76, was found in his bed by his nephews around 9:30 on the 2300 block of N 50th Street -- just a couple doors down from Nutter’s home.
The retired insurance agent and real estate broker's death was ruled suspicious because Lancaster appeared to have been beaten. His face was covered with a pillow when he was found but once it was removed it appeared his face was badly beaten, detectives said.
There was also a lot of blood at the scene, authorities said.
Lancaster's pickup truck was missing, but it was found at 52nd Street and Westminster Ave., said police.
The investigation was underway but was hindered because of what investigators called, “a lot of clutter,” due to construction going on in the home where Lancaster lived for about 30 years.
"I think it was somebody who knows him," Lancaster's nephew Milton Wright said.
Nutter declined comment Friday night. Earlier in the day he told reporters that he only knew Lancaster as a neighbor.
Lancaster was married and had three kids but lived alone. He was last seen Tuesday when he went to vote, according to a neighbor.
An official cause of death was pending autopsy results.
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