According to the police complaint,
28-year-old John Joe Thomas told an unnamed witness, “I killed a
man.” That man was Murray Seidman, 70, whom Thomas allegedly
stoned to death because the senior made advances toward him.
Thomas told police that he beat his
longtime friend with a sock full of rocks in his Lansdowne,
Pennsylvania apartment five days before he claimed to have found the
senior's remains on January 12.
“John Thomas, who appeared to be
upset and crying, made a statement, such as 'I'm not going down there
again, there is too much blood,'” the police report says.
Police found Thomas screaming in the
hallway of the Ath-Dara Apartments. Inside apartment A7, they found
dried blood spatted on the living room floor, walls and furniture.
Seidman's bloody body was lying prone in the living room.
“Thomas explained to investigators
that he killed Seidman because Seidman had been making homosexual
advances toward him over a period of time and that he had read in the
Old Testament that homosexuals should be stoned in certain
situations,” a police spokesman told reporters.
Detectives first spoke to Thomas in
January, but he wasn't arrested until this week after the witness
came forward on Tuesday. Thomas allegedly told police that he bashed
Seidman in the head approximately 10 times with the sock full of
rocks.
“Thomas told detectives that he
received answers to his prayers to put an end to Murray Seidman's
life,” the spokesman added.
The retired hospital worker lived in
the same Lansdowne Avenue apartment building near Philadelphia as his
killer.
Thomas was the sole beneficiary of
Seidman's will and had power of attorney over the senior's affairs.