Seven burglars find elderly man dead in his home, so they moved in, spent his money, and stole his car

SMYRNA, GA - Seven burglars in Smyrna, Georgia allegedly broke into the home of Robert Westbrook, a 71-year-old grandfather, and found the man dead. However, rather than reporting this anonymously, the criminals reportedly took over the man's home with his remains decomposing inside the bathtub and stole his money, electronics, and car.

Cobb County Police told reporters that they responded to the Smyrna home for a welfare check and discovered Westbrook's body in the tub "in a severe state of decomposition," with Detective Daniel Goduto describing it as "mummification." The authorities told Atlanta News First that the homeowner was likely there for approximately three months. Cursory examination suggests he died from natural causes.

Unusually, the detectives noted evidence that the house was lived in during that period.

Goduto explained, “It was ransacked. Drawers were overturned, his master bedroom was completely just disheveled. But then there were items consistent with somebody still living there. The trash looked like it was taken out regularly. It looked like there was stuff in the garbage can that was fairly new.”

One day after the initial welfare check, a neighbor, now aware that Westbrook was dead contacted police and informed them that people were on the property. Officers responded and encountered four suspects who had loaded some of the man's property into their vehicle. “There was, like, some speakers, some computer equipment. There was a bunch of mail,” Goduto said.

They also noted the deceased's car was missing. It was tracked to a nearby gas station and its three occupants were arrested as suspects.
 

“They had the victim’s credit cards. They had some checks from him,” the Detective told WANF. “They had made purchases inside of the gas station. They were playing the lottery machines inside of the gas station with his money.”

Goduto told reporters that all of the seven suspects knew one another and several had criminal histories. “It goes to show their moral compass, if you will,” he added. “I mean, they broke into someone’s home. They saw him deceased on the ground and instead of saying, ‘Hey, we messed up, let’s call 911, we found this guy dead,’ they decided to just live there.”

He concluded that Cobb police believe that the suspects may have targeted the home due to its overgrown disheveled nature. “I think they thought it was a vacant house,” Goduto said according to the outlet. “If you know you have an elderly neighbor, check on them. If you see their house is overgrown, check on them.”