Family seeks help finding 84-year-old man’s killer

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The family of an 84-year-old Lafayette man fatally stabbed inside his ransacked home is pleading for the public’s help in finding whoever attacked him.

William Hartlep’s relatives spoke during a news conference Wednesday in an effort to solicit new leads in his death that was discovered two weeks earlier.

The Journal & Courier reports that daughter-in-law Monica Hartlep said she couldn’t understand how someone could attack a person who couldn’t stand on his own. William Hartlep used a walker and an electric mobility chair.

Lafayette police Lt. Tom Davidson wouldn’t say what items were taken from Hartlep’s home or whether there was forced entry. Investigators don’t yet know whether Hartlep was targeted or randomly chosen.