Man beaten to death with his own cane
|
The victim, Donald Holt Lawson, 62, formerly of Warren County, was pronounced dead on arrival at White County Hospital Monday afternoon. He suffered numerous blows to the head and body with what lawmen say was a metal cane that contained a four-prong support at the bottom. Lawson was disabled.
The alleged assailant, Robert Lynn Christian, 38, has been charged with criminal homicide and is being held at Van Buren County Jail awaiting arraignment. Investigators are not sure about the motive in the killing; however, doctors who examined the victim’s body reportedly described the crime as the worst case of rage killing they had ever seen.
The crime occurred around 1 p.m. Monday while Christian, who was an acquaintance and neighbor of the victim, was visiting at Lawson’s Greenbrier apartment. At some point during the visit, lawmen believe Christian became angry and began beating the victim with the heavy cane. In addition to blows to his head and chest, investigators also found evidence Christian bit the victim.
A witness arrived shortly after the killing to find the living room covered in blood from the brutal crime. Christian was reportedly lying on top of the victim and began cursing the woman when she opened the door.
“Come see what can happen to you,” Christian reportedly told the woman. “Look at what I can do to a man.”
At the time of the crime, Christian was reportedly on probation in Warren County on theft charges.