Retired Swedish Medical Center nurse , alley Tuesday night — might have been the victim of a serial mugger, police said Thursday.
Dederichs was in the nation’s capital as a tourist, renting space at a private residence in the northwest part of the city, south of Silver Spring, Md.
Washington, D.C., police told The Associated Press on Thursday that there were two serious but nonfatal attacks in the same neighborhood within 27 hours of when Dederichs was fatally struck in the head.
Like the 66-year-old Dederichs, the other two victims were struck in the head without apparent provocation as they walked alone, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
The attacks appeared to be random because the only connection or similarities among the victims was the manner of the attack, Lanier said.
The other victims, a 53-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, remain hospitalized, police said. They were not named.
Dederichs’ body was found in an alley, with his head resting on a fanny pack.
“I found the body right there, then I saw his head and I said, ‘He’s not asleep,’ ” Rahjaunn Dorsey
Dederichs was the only victim who was a tourist.
Police were warning area residents not to walk alone
