Bremerton, Wash. — The family of Floyd Zumwalt tells us they never expected to be holding a vigil for him outside his home on Lebo Boulevard in Bremerton.
Indeed, they used to joke that the great grandfather who had crammed so much life into his 87 years, might never die. They opened up his bedroom where the unthinkable happened Saturday night.
"It looks to me like he was lying in bed, the same spot that he laid in every single time and he was stabbed," said Zumwalt's granddaughter, Brittany Turner said, her voice breaking. "There's blood splatter on the wall. And he was hit with a baseball bat. He fell to the floor. And there's blood all over."
It is difficult for Turner to talk about her beloved grandfather. She and her mother say he invited anyone down on their luck to live here, people they never knew. So they can only speculate over who would kill him.
"It's not a random attack," said Turner. "But I mean you'd think that would mean someone who knew him."
"Because they knew," said Debbie Jordan, the victim's daughter. "It seems like they knew when to come in. They knew when my dad would be laying down."
If Bremerton Police know who that person is, they aren't saying. Since last night when Zumwalt's body was found, their communications have been mostly by email.
Detectives were spotted canvassing the neighborhood. And now his family is hoping something will turn up and soon.
"There was no reason for anybody to come in for whatever they needed come in for and take from him, he would have given it to him," said Turner. "They didn't need to take his life."
Indeed, his daughter says from what they can see, nothing was stolen.
They are hoping anyone who knows anything about this murder will contact Bremerton Police. They are desperate to know who would kill an elderly man in his own bed.