Police investigate 'violent' homicide of 87-year-old Bremerton man



BREMERTON -- Police say the 87 year old man found dead in his Bremerton home was likely murdered

Homicide investigators won’t get into the details just yet, but say his death was violent

“I don't think they realize the damage they've done,” granddaughter Jennifer Ward said through tears

Eighty-seven year old Floyd Zumwalt, or Grandpa ‘Junior’, was the rock and the heart of his family

“If you didn't have somewhere to sleep he would invite you into his house, feed you,” Grandson Dustin Ward explained. “He was our support system. If anyone needed anything called Grandpa.

His grandchildren still don’t understand how he became the victim of a homicide

“When the officers came to check it, it was clear he died of homicidal violence,” Bremerton Police Capt. Jim Burchett explained outside the crime scene. “We suspect he was targeted by someone he knew.”

A next-door neighbor in the 100 block of Lebo Boulevard heard signs on a struggle.

“I heard like banging, you know like wrestling, like when you knock something over,” neighbor Jesse Sisneros described.

It’s the reality his 72 grandchildren and great grandchildren still can’t wrap their minds around.

“He lived 87 years giving everything and then somebody could come in and do something like this to him is heartbreaking, Dustin Ward added.

The family is desperate for answers.

“If you heard anything just come forward. He deserves justice. We all do. We all deserve answers,” Jennifer pleaded.

Police say there are no suspects yet. The family says investigators called the violence Zumwalt endured as ‘abnormally brutal’.