So, it's in a trash bag and there's a hand hanging out of it. So, I'm pretty sure it's body. >> Hey, I just sent you the the pick. You're looking at a probably a torso and some pants, but it looks almost look like a tumor on the side or something like that, too. >> Do you remember anything distinctive about him? >> Ribs if hurt more, can't breathe, heart stops is what I remember. >> So, the plastic and the barrel and stuff, that was part of the tradition. That's how you honored him. On April 22nd, 2024, officers responded to a residence after neighbors reported a lingering foul odor. Inside, investigators discovered human remains concealed inside a trash barrel. Investigators later determined the resulted from a physical altercation between the victim and the man believed to occupy the apartment, which occurred nearly 2 months prior to the discovery. >> 61 to 40. Yeah, I need you ASAP. So, what do you think it is? >> I mean, I saw I thought it was blood. >> Did you see anything that would indicate that? >> It just looks like skin to me. I mean, I saw the blood. >> Hey, I think it is. So, it's in a trash bag and there's a hand hanging out of it. So, I'm pretty sure it's body. I haven't got looked close enough, but it's definitely a hand that's hanging out of a trash can. Yeah. So, just stay out here for now, please. >> Where did the gentleman go that was here? I'm not sure, but >> he left at 9:00 this morning. >> He was supposed to have moved out as of yesterday, but she said he stayed last night. >> And where did he go? >> I don't know. He went across the street and he told the girl that he was going to go to the food bank. And then probably around, I don't know, maybe around 1:30, he circled around the the neighborhood cuz I had the guy come and fix my heat and I was outside. So, she came over. He told me that he was circling around the neighborhood. Oh, he's around somewhere, but I don't know. I have any idea where it's been sticking all over my apartment and I didn't have no garbage in it. Today the hallway stunk. I opened the front door and it's like where the hook and then I opened the side window the other day cuz it was nice out. I smell garbage so I freaking shut it. >> When did you uh notice the smell? >> Uh probably last week. Um this weekend I was gone and I came back home Saturday and it smelt like garbage. Last week in the middle of the week when it was nice, I opened the window. I could smell it. >> Ma'am, I'll give this back to you in in a momentary. I got to talk on the phone for a second. I'm pretty positive I have a body in a trash can that's over a week. It is like completely decomposed. >> Have you been in there? >> Yes. >> Is there a body in there? >> I'm pretty >> okay. Don't go in there again. I'll call him back. I'm going to go in there. >> Call you back. Yeah, it's a looks a body to me. No one comes in here. Get his information. Wrote this off. Do you have the victim's information or who do you think it is? >> I don't have no idea who that is. >> The guy. He's still out on the street out and about. Who? Who resides here? He was here today, right? The guy >> left at 9:00. >> Yeah. Who's the gentleman? >> Who is it? What's his name? >> His name is Daniel. >> Who? Does he stay with somebody or >> No, it's just his apartment. >> What What race is he? >> He's black. He's like 6'4, like 350. He's a big guy. >> Hey, uh, I'll get all I got all the information coming my way. >> Yeah, he's been they've been here for because about a month ago, he destroyed the whole laundry room. I had to call in. >> Who's they? >> Yeah. >> Him. Okay. >> I'm not sure. >> It's not him. >> It's not him. >> No, it's their story, Brent. One step at a time. >> So, I'm going to have to gather all the information I can from you. Okay. What time did you come here? >> Um, today. I've been on site since >> No, no, I mean into this room. Uh right after see when I called you guys it was like 5 minutes before that I called 911 at 3:47 so it was probably like 3:40. >> He was taken out of here like 2 weeks ago by ambulance I think. >> So he was taken by ambulance. >> Yeah. And he was gone two weeks and he came back this >> So was he is he ambulance right now? >> No. This was >> He's got his own vehicle. >> Oh, he has his own vehicle. >> Do you know what he drives? >> Oh, no. It's I don't know. >> Okay. So when you got here at 3:40 you went in here. >> Yeah. I've been on site all day, but I went in there at 3:40. >> And then when did you notice the smell? >> She had been complaining about the smell. She mentioned it, I think. >> Did you Was it by text or by uh phone call? >> The smell? I saw her on Friday. >> She was having a heating issue, so I stopped by. >> You noticed the smell on what date? >> I came home Saturday and it smelt like garbage or whatever. And then I left Sunday to go to church and when I came back, it still smelled. I didn't have any rubbish in my house. So, when did you first notice the smell? [snorts] >> In my apartment. >> Yeah. >> Saturday. >> You said you spoke to her on Friday. >> No, but I smelled >> Oh. Oh, I guess I talked to you yesterday. That's when you called me for the >> Yeah, I called you. I texted you yesterday. >> Yeah. I thought you told me last week. >> I mean, I called Jenny yesterday. Texted her. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Because he was throwing his mattresses over there behind the house over there and my heat was broken. So, I I called him up and said like, "He's throwing his mattresses over the the banking over there and my heat don't work." What did she tell you on Sunday? >> She just said she had noticed the smell. >> I can smell it right now. That smell right I can smell right now. That's the smell I could smell in my apartment. >> But he was still here yesterday. So >> he said well he's moving out. >> He slept here yesterday last night. >> He's been sleeping here all week. >> How you doing? This is Lieutenant Greenfield police. How are you? We have a possible It could be a hom scene in Greenfield. I need the on call SPDU guy to give me a call or her whoever it may be. Uh it was a welfare check. Uh, looks like to be a guy uh in a trash barrel stuffed inside. That's all I have so far. Could be a scene. >> Okay. >> All right. So, I got I already called state police. They're going to call me back. No one goes inside that place at all. >> Do we know who it is? >> I don't know yet. I don't want to touch it cuz they're stuffed into a trash bag. So >> Oh, that's Daniel. >> Yeah, but it's not him, though, I guess. >> Oh, boy. >> You went in today? >> Yeah. The one that found and called it in. >> Yep. And you're the only person who's been in there >> as far as I know. >> Where did you go inside? I walked past into the bathroom and I was going to start taking pictures. The damage. Yeah. >> Then I did notice the smell was strong. She had mentioned that there was a like a mop thing on the side cuz I noticed the the bag and the trash can. I grabbed the mop thing and just pushed the plastic aside and saw the blood and the >> Yep. >> the yellow stuff. >> Can you show me the bottom of your feet? I'm just Okay. Show me the other one. >> Okay. Thank you. A witness reported blood and a hand visible inside a trash barrel and the scene was classified as a probable the apartment's occupant is described as a black male roughly 6'4 and 350 lb who was expected to vacate the unit the day before but stayed overnight and left around 900 a.m. Neighbors had reported a foul odor for about a week and the occupant had been taken from the property by ambulance roughly 2 weeks earlier. >> Do you know your neighbor? Do you live here actually? >> Do you know your neighbor at all? Do you know who he stays with or who stays with him? >> A tall guy who rides a bike. I don't know exactly his name. >> Is his [snorts] bike here? >> Uh, no. He's usually parked right >> who who rides the bike? The guy that owns or rents the place or the >> the guy who hung out with the guy who rents the place. He has a car. >> Oh, he has a car. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> He was actually uptown a little while ago. >> A first name for that guy that he stays with on the bike. >> I don't I don't He's just He's one homeless guy. I know that. >> Homeless guy. Okay. I do know that >> he always had like tall like taller probably a little taller than uh my landlord backpack like a winter hat and rides a bike. >> Is he white or >> Yeah, white. >> Have you seen the guy on the bike at all? Who's the guy that lives there in the apartment? >> The guy who lives there, he was at the Salvation Army at 11:00. >> Okay. >> And then the guy on the bike, he was uptown around probably I don't know. I came back down probably >> uptown today. Yeah, today probably like 12:31 when I came back down. He was uptown uh by um the uh bleaches. >> You're positive you saw him today? >> Yes. Okay. >> Yes. When I seen the the person living there, he was in his car. He uh no shirt on, no shoes on, just a pair of pants and he was like swag. >> How long's the guy on the bike been staying there? >> Off and on probably a month, maybe two. At a neighboring residence, officers learned of a second man believed to be homeless and known to ride a bicycle who had been staying intermittently with the resident for one to two months. He is described as a tall white male who carries a backpack and wears a winter hat. >> There was a guy on a bike that was staying with the guy who own who's what's the first name of the guy that owns it? >> Taniel. >> Some guy on a bike was helping you pick up the yard or something like that at some point. >> He was not helping me do anything, but he and Daniel maybe were the ones cleaning that stuff up. >> Yeah. Do you know who that what his name was? >> Oh, the guy with him. >> Yeah, >> I just know his name is Mark. >> Did you guys see Mark coming out of here today? >> No, he hasn't been hanging around here. >> No, just Daniel. I don't think it's the homeless guy that's in the barrel, but it's hard to tell cuz it looks like a pretty good decomp on it. And that guy who's been seen today downtown, so highly unlikely. Hey, I just sent you the the pick. You're looking at a probably a torso and some pants, but it looks almost look like a tumor on the side or something like that, too. I don't want to disturb it. So, uh, I just want to make sure you get everything out you want before I go in there and clean it up. So, I wrote, "Do you need any help? I just want to make sure that you get everything you want out before I clean. When will you come here and get the rest of your stuff?" And then he sent some audio thing. Can you just send that? >> Send this first. >> Yeah. And then listen to that. Contact GPD. But this is not a single officer approach with extreme caution. >> Yeah. He text it back. What did he say? >> That other thing he sent was just him showing me the checks that he had. >> Okay. Can you handle I've been slugging away with best. Can you take screenshots? Can you just email me those screenshots and every new one that comes in? Can you check inhouse for the recent calls that were here and then there's he had somebody that was here with him. It's a male fellow. We dealt with him before loj and granger been on calls with him on Chapman Street when he was wrestling outside of Smitties. Any call involved him disturbance uh fight or something like that where there's a second male. No stress. Just take your time. Look with the pants and all that stuff. It looks like it's a male. Oh, I mean the hand. Yeah. >> The smell. >> Yeah. >> But I want other officers here. >> What do you mean? No. Meaning if he shows up, you can kind of disappear as long as we can get a hold of you. You hear what I'm saying? >> Yep. >> Okay. Thank you. If any pertinent information like comes, call Greenfield dispatch so they can relate. Like like if he's on his way or something like that where it's important. Okay. >> Okay. >> Back at the scene, a neighbor said this associate had previously helped clean the property but had not been seen there that day. Investigators reviewed photographs showing what appeared to be a body and additional damage and instructed that further contact with the resident not be made by a single officer. They then traveled out of state and located him at an airport where he agreed to speak with them. >> Hey Tan, >> how's it going? >> Good. How are you? You remember me? >> No. >> I'm a police officer from Greenfield PD. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. >> We're a little ways from home. >> Yeah, a little bit. Uh, >> what are you doing out here? >> Oh, I thought I'd go home. I thought I'd visit my mom, you know, and been a while, so I figured >> Where's mom? >> Oh, Vancouver Island. You know, I flew about there in September. >> Did you already grab a ticket? >> Yeah, it's uh it's already booked. >> Oh, nice. >> When did you get to the airport today? >> I mean, I spend a lot of my time just mostly just driving around. >> Yeah, >> since I got a car. That's what I do most of the time, Jose. Just drive. I drive for no reason. I get lost. I got lost in like uh all the surrounding towns, Heathro, Coler, Conway. >> Oh, yeah. We're familiar with those towns. Did you have a residence in uh Greenfield? >> Temporarily. Yeah, the VA put me there, but I hated it. Hit my head on the ceiling all the time, so I pretty much was never there. It had been broken into a lot, too. Like >> last time I was there sometime in like I don't know, January or something. >> So, what address were you living at in Greenfield? >> Hard for hard for me to remember. I I really don't go there. I I mean I I haven't been there in a long time, like months. Uh, I've been mostly at the other location. >> When's the last time you could remember actually being at your old place? [sighs] >> Like if I ever even came by, it'd be like just throw something in there cuz I thought, "Oh, this is cool." And I closed the door. >> Have you talked to the building owners at all recently? >> No. >> Whereabouts were you at today? Like what were you up to? >> I went to I was at my cabin. I kind of putter around. I don't really do much. like to wheel. >> So, I was kind of up there seeing what the car could do. >> Did you come to Greenfield at all? >> No. >> Tan, do you know if anyone's been at your house in Greenfield for anything? >> I don't think so. I mean, anybody could have broken in there is a lot of people that have. >> The stuff you were just talking about, Tan, the like the mattress and the box spring and stuff. Where was that from? >> A lot of stuff is just found. >> You found it? >> Most things like there wasn't anything in there that I purchased. I just would walk around the city overnight and if I found like a cool bike or something just >> Right. But you were saying that like you needed to move some stuff out of somewhere and move it into your storage unit and you needed some more time to get your stuff out. Whereabouts are we talking about? >> Oh, I don't know. I mean, usually at my dad's there's like a couch or something that's at 10 High Street and uh Turner's Falls. Got to get a bunch of stuff and bring it to um my storage unit. It's my grandma's couch from um I don't know like 2015 or something. Do you have any [snorts] thoughts on why we came all the way to Albany to talk to you? >> No, >> nothing at all. >> No. >> Well, I mean, obviously you know that we're from Greenfield and you know where you are now, right? >> The vet center. >> You're saying you're at the vet center right now? >> Yeah. >> Do you know what building this is? >> Yeah. >> What is it? >> I was going to go visit my mom. >> Like before we talked, but you were saying you were going to take a flight, so you know this is an airport. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Is there a reason why you wouldn't be telling us the entirety of the truth? So Tan, every time that we got on to one of those subjects, like when I started talking to you about like you were moving stuff out, we know you were moving stuff out of the apartment. We saw the stuff, you know, the mattresses in the boxing, you know, behind the apartment near the dumpster, stuff like that. >> I can't put stuff in the dumpster cuz uh I was told not to. >> Probably not supposed to put mattresses in there cuz it cost a lot of extra, >> right? >> Do you think that there's a reason why we we might have been over at your apartment today? >> I don't think so. >> Did you have any agreement with the landlord as to when you'd leave? Yeah. >> When was that day? >> I mean, I should have been gone. >> No, but I mean specifically there was a day, right? >> I wonder what's going on. >> We want to figure out what's going on as well. >> Were you staying at that house with anybody or that apartment, I should say? >> No, I have my cabin. I've been in my cabin. I haven't been No. >> Do you know of anyone that may have been staying at at the apartment, >> sir? No, sir. I do not. >> Who have you been in contact with in the last week or so? Any friends? >> No, just my mom and dad. Is there a reason why people would put you at your apartment within the past week or so and say that you were that they saw you there moving property out? >> Well, I mean, I would do like a smash and drop. It would be like if there was a time when I had a minute or something, I'd be like, just run. >> Yeah. >> Uh, >> so really when do you think you the last time you were you were there then? >> What day is Martin Luther King Day? >> Sometime in the middle of January. So again, my my question was, do you know why people would say they saw you there within the past week? >> I don't know. I mean, >> were you there moving property? >> No. >> Throwing things away and things like that? >> No. You're taking me to [snorts] the place where I live, which is Clark Mountain Road, cuz I used to live in apartment 309 there. So basically when the year came up, that's where I've been. That's where I've been living >> except for the lease that we just talked about with Joshua. >> Well, that ended in like November. Do you remember staying in Greenfield last night at all? >> No. >> So, you didn't sleep in your car in Greenfield last night? >> No. >> Had you been in a relationship recently with anyone? >> Sir, no, sir. >> Do you spend time with someone on a regular basis? Do you have any friends that are close to you that you spend time with? >> Sir, no, sir. I mean, I read books. I go to meetings. >> So, wait, you you said that you you do hang out with some homeless people sometimes, though. >> I've gone to a couple job sites. >> What's the person's street name that you met there? I don't know their actual names and I don't know their last names. Then there's Mark who's like 48 from [snorts] like Leiden and his mom kicked him out just like I've been kicked out. >> Another thing I want to ask is obviously I'm just as we're sitting here talking to you and I just make observations. I'm a very observant person as you can tell. I noticed that your clothes are ripped. Is there a reason for that? >> I hike in the woods a lot. >> Do you feel comfortable talking with us? Like do you feel like you could be honest with us? >> Yeah. like the detective here said, like we kind of feel like we're hinting around it and it seems like every time you go to acknowledge it, you change the subject and that when you divert from a subject like that, it's kind of like one of those things that like we kind of have some information and we would really really like to figure out what's going on and I would really appreciate if you could be more honest with us. We know accidents happen to people all the time and if something happened, I would really hope that you would feel comfortable talking to us about it. There was somebody um that was found hurt inside of uh the Chapman Street address. >> Okay. >> Um we got reports from several of your neighbors that they saw you there recently. You seem like a really nice, pleasant guy. I think that something happened. There was an accident. Maybe you were defending yourself. I don't know. That that's what we're here to to speak with you about. >> Hey, Mom. Here's Tan. Just wanted to uh talk to a few of these guys. Yeah. You know, serve, protect, defend. >> Oh, being woken up. Someone crawling through the window. Scary. Of course. >> You know, and and then getting hit to the point of if I get [snorts] hit more, I'm going go into defense mode. >> Did you know who it was, T? >> No. >> Do you know who it is now? >> I have no idea. I really have no idea. >> I can tell you what, T. If somebody broke into my house, you know, it would be a fight for sure. We're just trying to figure out maybe if we know who this person or we'll start with when when it happened. >> And we just want to know why you acted why you did so that we can figure out, you know, >> did this guy startle you? It sounds like you were startled or >> pure defense. I mean, being beaten. I was just being punched to the point of of living and I was punching my ribs, punctured my heart, punctured my lung. >> Do you have some injuries on you? >> I I did. I I had shown my my dad and um Amy, she's a nurse. I'm still recovering from that. I had never been in that much pain. Somehow I remember like being so exhausted and then being like, "Oh man, what just happened?" didn't know if he was looking for money. Didn't know if he was looking for like electronics or something. If everyone had already taken electronics, I'm assuming that's what they're looking for. And feeling so helpless and scared and afraid. You can't [snorts] say anything to anybody. It's just like I don't know what the hell to do. I figured, [snorts] oh, if I slept on it, I'd wake up and I'd figure out something or my dad or my mom or somebody. >> So, what did you see when you woke up to >> something bad, right? But not intentional. >> Not intentional. >> Did you do anything in between then and now? >> No. >> Did you move them? >> No. >> So, what's the code on that? >> You were scared of tan, right? >> Yeah. >> I'm assuming you know, do you wake up and find somebody in your apartment and hurt at least more? When people get nervous, they panic. It It happens and you got to make a decision, but it's not always an easy one to make, you know. >> Hey Tan, is there a reason why you didn't call the police over this? >> I didn't have a phone for the longest time. I found this today. >> Mhm. >> Where'd you find it? >> Underneath the car seat. >> In your car or? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, after you woke up the next morning, did you notice anything about him? >> No, I know exactly what I did. I woke up and I went to um the car dealership to uh realign my tires. I continued my life. Just avoided, [snorts] >> you know, somewhere where I felt unsafe. >> So, do you know who this person is, >> sir? No, sir. >> No. Was there any objects that were used during this altercation that you remember or was it just your fist and his fist? >> Zero object. >> Do you remember anything distinctive about him? >> Touching hard, ribs hurt. Ribs if hurt more. Can't breathe. Heart stops is what I remember. >> Was he a black guy or a white guy? >> Uh African. >> After the incident, you went got your tires rotated. When you went back, was the guy still there? This is where things get weird cuz um I'm not the only person that was going inside of there. For a long time, I lost my keys. Like I said, I was in the hospital for the last few weeks. >> What hospital again? I'm sorry. >> Arbor. >> So, if we went there and looked up medical records and stuff, it would show that you were there recently. >> Yeah, for the entire last few weeks. I know I asked you about when you returned to the house if you saw that person still there and then you had mentioned that there's multiple people in and out of your apartment. >> There was. Yes. >> Do you know any of you? >> I don't know any names. >> Did you have any barrels in your apartment? >> No. >> Trash barrels? >> Trash barrels? >> No. >> Ken, remember how we said that we talked to the landlord and the neighbors and stuff? Well, they said you were there last night and you've been there quite a bit recently. >> I was sleeping in my car. Yep. Sleeping in your car, moving stuff out of the apartment. Kind of like you indicated before when we were trying to figure out what the address was, right? >> Trying to stuff out >> so Josh could have the apartment back and you were going to move out and stuff. >> That was what we agreed to do. >> Right. So, in the process of moving all that stuff out, did you have a plan to clean the apartment out completely? >> I don't know. If I had an answer, I'd say something. >> Okay. What's the best way to say, "Hey, captain, this is what taints had happened." >> It was a home invasion. Yep. >> I was attacked. He used a butter knife to get into the air conditioner. I defended myself as best I could do. >> But my captain's next question is going to be why was he found the way he was in the manner of which he was? >> Is there a reason why he was placed into those bins? >> Sure. Sure. Is it fair to say that maybe you didn't know who it was when they broke into your apartment, but after you realized what had happened, you recognized them? >> Sir, no, sir. >> So, why would you want to honor their body then? >> I want him to do the same for me. >> Just a random stranger you don't know that tried to commit a crime against you. >> I feel like the fish out of water cuz this thing has never happened. >> So, the plastic in the barrel and stuff, that was part of the tradition. That's how you honored him. I don't know who was there or when or why or how. I know many have been in there and I know they've taken electronics. I don't know what else they've done. >> We know that we've already talked about the fact that you were in a physical altercation with someone who you felt was breaking into your house and assaulting you and something happened and that person is no longer alive. So during that time you were involved in the physical altercation. >> I saved my own life >> and you didn't recognize him from anywhere, >> sir. No sir. It seems like your pants are pretty dirty and your your shirt might be a little bit dirty. >> Oh, yeah. I know. I mean, I just I I walk around in the woods a lot. I'm a woodsman. >> Dan, the reason I asked about the pants is is because, you know, after a while things start to stink in your apartment, right? Like they start start to smell bad. Like stuff is not healthy inside of the apartment. And then it smells very similar to that right now. >> Like I said, I have troubles or I have issues. The DMH is trying to help me with that with showering and shaving and brushing teeth and flossing teeth. >> Do you think maybe some of the some of the smells or liquids from the apartment could have got on your pants? >> I think just washing clothes and drying clothes is just something I'm not good at. We're going to be able to review some of the surveillance cameras from the neighboring buildings and see exactly who goes in there and you know like when you were there last and you know this alleged incident that you're saying when they came in through the window, things like that. Do you feel like what you've what you've said is what we're going to review on the surveillance footage? >> Yes, sir. I do. >> And do you feel like all the things that like you saying there's multiple different people that come in and out are those people that you knew that you gave permission to go in there? I'd say there's been a couple people that I've had over with me to hang out for, I don't know, mix or something like that. >> Okay. >> But other than that, >> do you consider them friends? >> Barely acquaintances just from the morning meetings. >> Hey, Tan. >> Hey, Tan. >> We need you to keep your hands out of your pockets. You'll just place your hands up on that wall for me. >> Tan, we're going to have to go back and talk in the more uh secure area. Okay. Just be a gentleman with these guys like you have with us. Okay. Okay. >> I appreciate it. >> You can just face that wall. Place your hands on the wall, sir. Take a few steps back on your feet. Keep your hands on the wall. >> Thank you for being gentlemen to these guys. Okay, we're going to explain a lot more stuff to you when we get down there. >> The man was arrested and charged with firstdegree but pleaded guilty to voluntary along with kidnapping and assault charges involving a separate victim. He was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in state prison followed by 5 years of supervised probation.