Suspected prostitute, 24, eyed in grisly axe murder of elderly man in his San Francisco apartment

A 24-year-old suspected sex worker is being investigated in connection to the grisly axe murder of an elderly man in his downtown San Francisco apartment, according to a report.

John Tyler, 69, was discovered by maintenance workers on May 6, dead in his blood-spattered apartment at Hayes Valley affordable housing complex, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The victim was reportedly found in his bed and had been hacked at with an axe.

Autopsy reports showed the elderly man had 16 defensive wounds to his hands, head and face, and fractures to his skull and ribcage. 

Police recovered a hatchet, a bloody knife, six cell phones and a blue latex glove.

Video surveillance footage from just outside Tyler’s apartment showed him entering alongside a young woman who wore a surgical mask on May 3, the Chronicle reported.

That suspected sex worker left at 9 a.m. on May 4 and no one came in or out of the apartment until Tyler was found by maintenance personnel, the report stated.

A building manager at the apartment complex told the Chronicle that Tyler was known to bring younger women into his apartment and she assumed they were prostitutes.

DNA evidence collected from the blue latex glove and hatchet match that of a young woman whose driver’s license photo appeared similar to the woman seen in the surveillance videos, according to San Francisco police.

The 24-year-old woman was arrested in Oakland on July 10 and on suspicion of homicide. But she was not charged and later released, the report said.

The investigation into Tyler’s death is ongoing.

“The police had probable cause to make an arrest based on the evidence gathered; however, to make appropriate charging decisions for criminal prosecution, further investigation is required,” a statement from the public defender’s office issued to the Chronicle read.

“We have asked the police for further investigation. Once the investigation is complete, all of the evidence gathered will be assessed, and if we believe that charges are appropriate under our higher burden of proof, we will file charges accordingly.”