Murdered Ann Arbor Man Met Hookups on Grindr

Ann Arbor police have arrested three homeless men in the murder of 71-year-old David Maurer, who met them on Grindr before they allegedly robbed and killed him. The men are currently being held in jail without bond. If convicted, each faces life in prison.

According to an article on MLive, Ann Arbor detective William Stanford testified during a Dec. 15 probably cause hearing that the elderly man was killed during a robbery by his Grindr play pals, 19-year-old Richard Thompson of Flat Rock, and 20-year-old Rikky Ranger and 19-year-old Mark Paling of Melvindale.

Stanford said that Ranger met the victim on Grindr before driving down with the other two suspects to Maurer's Ann Arbor senior citizen housing complex in Lurie Terrace on Nov. 23 to drink, smoke marijuana and have sex.

Paling told detectives that at some point, the men signaled to Thompson to put Maurer in "a sleeping hold headlock" and hold him there while they robbed him of a .22 caliber revolver, wallet, marijuana, cash, prescription pills, watches and a laptop. By the time they were done, said Paling, Maurer was limp.

Thompson allegedly then kicked him in the body several times and punched him in the face. Ranger said that he fell face first into the couch; police found the body on Dec. 1, after neighbors called 911 complaining of a "strong odor of decay," as Stanford said.

Police investigated Maurer's bank records and security footage to determine that the men had used the victim's credit cards several times, once at a gas station a block away from where Paling, Ranger and other homeless people lived with a church caretaker.

The three men were arraigned on charges of open murder, unarmed robbery, conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery, larceny in a building and larceny of a firearm. They are being held at the Washtenaw County Jail until their preliminary exam on Dec. 26.

"Due to the fact the suspect is homeless, not a member of this community and has no ties to this community, I'm asking for no bond," Stanford said in an earlier MLive article.