Firefighters
battling a two-alarm
fire that tore
through a Bronx
apartment Monday
made a gruesome
discovery - an
occupant who was
dead with his throat
cut.
Donald Holliday, 53,
was stabbed a dozen
times in the chest,
slashed across his
throat and then left
to die inside his
14th-floor apartment
in the Marble Hill
Houses, police said.
Investigators
believe the killer
then set the
apartment on fire at
9:20 a.m. to cover
up the crime, police
said.
"It's sad because
this is a relatively
nice neighborhood,"
said resident Eileen
Henderson, 43, who
said Holliday rarely
spoke with his
neighbors.
"He's a loner," she
said.
Detectives were not
certain why Holliday
- who had a minor
criminal record -
was targeted for
such a brutal death.
Bloodstains were
found in a
stairwell, leading
investigators to
speculate that he
was jumped there and
then dragged into
his apartment.
It was not clear if
anything was taken
from the apartment.
Cops were reviewing
surveillance video
at the high-rise
building, where
residents were
shaken by the
killing.
"It's scary," said
Emerald Kennedy, 23,
who lives two doors
from Holliday's
apartment. "It just
goes to show how
short life is," she
said
