UPDATE: For the latest story on the developing homicide case, click here.
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GILROY—Police have ruled the death of a Gilroy man Monday as a homicide and they await more information from the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office, according to Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Pedro Espinoza.
Foul play is suspected in the death of a 56-year-old man who has been identified as Robert Joseph Heiser—the city’s first homicide of 2015. There were injuries to his upper body consistent with blunt force trauma but a cause of death has not been determined, Espinoza said.
On Wednesday, police asked for help identifying two Hispanic women of interest seen on a surveillance camera trying to use a credit card of Heiser’s at a convenience store in East San Jose, Espinoza told the Dispatch.
“We can’t speculate as to how they came into contact with that credit card, and that’s why they’re persons of interest because we would like to find that out,” Espinoza said. The purchase was for miscellaneous food items and “nothing major,” he said.
Police went to Heiser’s home on the 1400 block of Bay Tree Drive after receiving a loud noise call from a neighbor at 2:59 a.m. Feb. 16. The neighbor had been awoken by barking dogs and reported hearing a noise of unknown origin, according to Espinoza.
Heiser was found unconscious on the floor inside the home where police believe he lived alone. Emergency medical personnel tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead at the scene and police quickly identified the death as suspicious.
“My guess is something got those dogs attention…Detectives continue to investigate this incident around the clock,” Espinoza said.
Police set up a tip line in an effort to identify the persons of interest, both between 18 and 25 with black hair.
Anyone with information about the women or anything related to the crime is urged to call police at (408) 846-0330.
