A 63-year-old employee has been charged with first-degree murder after his boss was found dead inside the auto-parts business where they both worked in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime and reporting based on the police affidavit.

Source: Law&Crime via X News Up

Mary Kelly was found dead on Tuesday morning, October 20, at Factory Motor Parts on Bobali Drive. Employees arriving for their shifts noticed spilled coffee, damage to a hallway wall and blood leading toward Kelly's office, looked through the office window, left the building and called 911, investigators said. Swatara Township police said officers received the call at about 8 a.m.

What investigators say the evidence showed

According to the affidavit, Kelly had suffered apparent stab wounds to her head and neck, and investigators found bloody footprints leading into an adjacent warehouse, where a large trash can held two blood-covered kitchen knives and what appeared to be hair, local station WHP reported via Law&Crime.

Surveillance footage showed Kelly arriving at about 7:17 a.m. and disarming the building's alarm with her employee code about a minute later, police said. A red Chevrolet SUV arrived shortly afterward and a man entered the business; the man was seen returning toward the SUV at about 7:37 a.m. Investigators said no other person entered the building in that period and there were no signs of forced entry.

Source: The American Retiree

Arrest in Maryland, motive not established

Police identified the suspect as Clifton Emerson Sr., 63, of Harrisburg, who had worked at the business for about four years. Maryland State Police took him into custody on Tuesday evening as Swatara Township detectives travelled south, police said.

A coworker told police Emerson had recently complained about receiving too few work hours and struggling to pay his rent, statements police included in the affidavit. Authorities have not established that the complaints were a motive, and that question has not been decided in court.