A 78-year-old fond of helping others was beaten and burned in his Brighton home and his van apparently was stolen early Sunday.
“He was a nice guy who was always helping people. That’s the part that really gets me,” said Everett Moreland, son of victim Robert Moreland. “I don’t know if that’s what got him.”
The younger Moreland said that when he went to help his father with a new lawn mower Thursday evening, three down-on-their-luck guests were at his father’s home — a woman in her 40s or 50s with sandy-blond hair possibly named Laura, and two men in their 20s.
The woman, his father told him, had lost her job, couldn’t afford rent and needed help.
Neighbors called the fire department when they saw smoke rolling from the home at 13444 Kennedy Ave. about 4:15 a.m. Sunday.
Firefighters found Robert More land’s body inside.
“There was a lot of trauma to the body and a hole in his head,” Everett Moreland said of his father. “But they aren’t sure if he was shot.”
An autopsy today will confirm the body’s identity and the exact cause of death, said Sgt. Candi Baker, spokeswoman for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
Moreland’s 1989 maroon Chevrolet custom van had been missing. It was found abandoned on a Brighton street about 7:15 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ve taken the van in, and we’ve begun the investigation to see what it will tell us,” Baker said.
Robert Moreland was a semi-truck driver who still made short-haul trips, his son said. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 2005.
“I can’t believe it happened to him, especially on Father’s Day,” said neighbor Howard M. Jones.
“I’ve known him for 25 or 26 years, and I couldn’t say a bad thing about him,” said neighbor Joe Stone.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
