MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — An Upper East Side man who's accused of bludgeoning his roommate to death may also have ordered his pitbull to attack the dying man, prosecutors said.
At the arraignment Wednesday of alleged killer Shaun Dyer, officials said he also tried to keep eviction marshals out of the apartment where David Shadha lay bloodied and with bite marks by making excuses for why they could not enter.
"I don't know if it's working, my key is jamming," Dyer allegedly said while trying to keep them out of the third floor apartment, according to court documents. He then added that "the place is a mess."
As the eviction officer ordered him to open the door and take his dog away, Dyer then warned the marshals of the gruesome scene, according to the documents.
"I think my roommate may be dead," he allegedly said.
Hours earlier at about 8 a.m. on Oct. 13, Shadha made a call to police to report that his roommate had told the pit bull to attack him. Prosecutors said police arrived, but left because no one buzzed them into the building.
Shadha was not discovered until after noon that day when Dyer returned to the apartment and encountered the city marshals.
"We believe that [Dyer] bludgeoned his roommate to death with some sort of cylindrical object," Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert said. The DA is still awaiting results of forensic tests conducted at the crime scene and they're trying to get an impression of the dog's teeth, they said.
While the dog had attacked the victim a week prior to his murder, the autopsy also showed that there were "fresh bite wounds" on his body, the ADA added.
Dyer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and was ordered held without bail by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro.
He is due back in court on Dec. 21.
