A 64-year-old Lincoln County man was found dead inside a car yesterday morning in the Winburn Square Apartments parking lot in what police are investigating as a homicide.
John A. Laswell was sitting at 1218 Winburn Drive in the driver's seat of a white 1990 Pontiac Grand Am, leaning backward away from the window.
Police arrived shortly before 9 a.m., in response to a call; they left the body inside the car while they cordoned off the area, took photographs and looked for clues in a death Sgt. Jack Dawson would at first call only "suspicious."
After a day of interviews, public appeals for tips and getting a "couple of leads," Dawson said: "I think it's safe to say this is a homicide investigation."
The car is registered to Laswell's wife, Dawson said.
Laswell was removed from the car about 12:50 p.m. Deputy coroner John McCarty said he would not discuss other details of the case until the preliminary results of an autopsy are released today.
By 11:30 a.m., Winburn Square tenants and neighbors had encircled the scene, speculating about who was dead and why.
The possibility that the man had been murdered left many fearful of talking about the incident. Some residents expressed disbelief that someone died where their children play; others said such crime in their neighborhood doesn't surprise them.
"It is worrisome," Albert Vince said. "I don't know. It's just one of those things, I reckon."
STANFORD-- John Anthony Laswell, 39, Hustonville, electrician, husband of Rebecca Johnson Laswll, died Thursday of a gunshot wound. Services 2 p.m. today, Spurlin Funeral Home. Visitation noon today. Memorial gifts: Alzheimers Association.