LYNNWOOD – The man found dead in his mobile home Monday had a criminal record and was known to carry a big roll of cash, despite filing for bankruptcy five years ago.
Neighbors say he ran a business out of his home.
Police think he died in a robbery.
On Tuesday, the man was identified as Dennis Brockman, 63, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office said. They listed his death as a result of “blunt force injury to the head.”
The death is being investigated as a homicide, Rich Niebusch, a Snohomish County Sheriff’s office spokesman, said.
Investigators believe the motive was robbery, Niebusch said.
Brockman’s 2005 light blue Dodge Caravan is missing, he said. Investigators issued an alert for the vehicle, Washington state license plate number 478 UVJ. They asked anyone with information about the vehicle to call 911.
Police released no other information about the investigation Tuesday.
John McGrayne, a neighbor, said he discovered the body Monday and called 911.
McGrayne said he knew Brockman for 12 years and last saw him alive on Saturday.
McGrayne said Brockman had lived in the area since at least 1994. Brockman moved into the older style mobile home with his mother, who since has died, McGrayne said.
A girlfriend, who suffered from health problems, lived with Brockman more recently, the neighbor said. She had been taken to a hospital on Friday. McGrayne did not know her name or where or why she was hospitalized.
Brockman filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002. He was unemployed and collecting Social Security and disability payments as his only reported form of income at the time, said Christopher Raymond, a Seattle bankruptcy layer who represented Brockman.
Court documents show Brockman served time for a 1965 theft conviction.
More recently, Brockman may have run a pawn shop or loan business out of his home, McGrayne said.
Neighbors reported that the home was a busy place with people coming and going at all hours.
Whatever the business, Brockman often carried a large amount of cash, McGrayne said.
On Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies and the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team continued investigations at the home.
They would not comment on whether video cameras visible outside of Brockman’s home were operational or potentially helpful to the investigation.
Police discovered Brockman at about 5:40 p.m. Monday night in his home in the Martha Lake Mobile Manor, a mobile home park near Mill Creek in unincorporated Snohomish County.
Neighbor Dora Cantu remembered Brockman as a generous man who “would give you anything he had.”
Neighbors are frightened, she said. They were shocked that a violent crime could take place so close.
“It’s so unbelievable,” she said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
