US man facing eviction from his rental home charged with murder of his landlord

Jacob Morrill, a 24-year-old tenant residing in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is facing eviction from his rental home. However, he has now been charged with murder after allegedly killing his landlord with an axe blow to the head on the same day that a court hearing was scheduled.

Morrill was taken into custody on Monday, and he reportedly informed investigators about the location of the body, which was wrapped in a tarp and concealed in the woods.

According to US-based media reports, Morrill appeared before a judge on Tuesday and was formally charged with first-degree murder. Police Chief Brian Peters expressed shock during a press briefing, stating that such incidents had been rare in Portsmouth in recent years.

Local police, cited by media outlets, mentioned that the victim, 50-year-old Xue Feng Wu, had left his home in Tiverton early on Monday to check on his property, which Morrill had been renting on West Road.

Officers were dispatched to the area after several hours had passed without any contact from Wu. Upon arrival at 4:32 pm (local time), they discovered Morrill. Morrill claimed that the landlord had been at the property earlier in the day and had gone to court in Providence.

Wu was expected to attend court that morning for the purpose of evicting Morrill. However, it was not until after 6 pm (local time) on Monday that police apprehended Morrill.

Morrill was taken into custody, and during questioning, he revealed the location of the victim’s body. Police found Wu’s body in the rear wooded area of the rental property, wrapped in a tarp and secured by wire fencing and other objects in a brush-filled area.

According to the police, Morrill and Wu had a confrontation inside a garage at the rental property, during which Morrill allegedly struck Wu on the head with a small handheld axe, causing his death.

Chief Brian Peters, while addressing reporters, expressed his shock at the incident occurring in Portsmouth and stated that such occurrences had been infrequent in the area in recent years. The Portsmouth Police Department offered its condolences to Wu’s family for their tragic loss in a press release.