URBANA – An Urbana man found dead in his home in September was a homicide victim, a Champaign County coroner’s jury has ruled.
But no one has been arrested in connection with the death of Richard D. Combs, 43, who lived in an apartment at 1703 E. Florida Ave.
Urbana police detective Matt Quinley testified that Mr. Combs’ girlfriend arrived home from work about 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 3 and found him in the entryway to their apartment, just behind the door. Quinley said that he had multiple injuries to his face and mouth and that the apartment had been ransacked.
Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said an autopsy showed Mr. Combs died of a heart attack with a contributing factor being stress due to an assault.
Quinley said Mr. Combs’ car had also been stolen. It was recovered four days later in the 1500 block of Kiler Drive in Champaign.
Police found grocery bags with frozen food items on the floor near Mr. Combs, leading them to believe that whoever assaulted him was waiting in the apartment when he arrived.
In another inquest concerning an unsolved death, jurors ruled the death of Holly Cassano, 22, of Mahomet, also to be a homicide.
Ms. Cassano was found on Nov. 2 in her mobile home by her mother about 10:30 a.m. She was the victim of multiple stab wounds.
Champaign County sheriff’s investigator David Sherrick said there were signs of a struggle in the home but declined to give many details because of the ongoing investigation.
No weapon was found, and there was no evidence of forced entry to her home on DuPage Street, Sherrick said. No one has been arrested for her murder.
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