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Subscribe to RSSThe discovery of a man's body in the stable area of Churchill Downs was being investigated as a homicide. Msnbc's Alex Witt talks with investigative crime reporter Michelle Sigona.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Homicide detectives investigating a slaying at Churchill Downs just hours after the Kentucky Derby said Monday they have no suspects but stressed the death appeared to have nothing to do with the iconic horse race.
Louisville Police Lt. Barry Wilkerson said Monday investigators are asking witnesses to come forward with information in the slaying of 48-year-old Adan Fabian Perez.
An autopsy was conducted to determine the cause of death, but Jo-Ann Farmer, chief deputy coroner for Jefferson County, said the office was withholding information pending the investigation into the death. She said the autopsy did reveal injuries on Perez's body.
Perez's body was found Sunday morning in a barn on the track's backside. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Perez worked at the track as a groom for trainer Cecil Borel, brother of three-time Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel.
Wilkerson says there were several altercations in that area of Churchill Downs on Saturday night, and police are trying to determine if Perez's death is connected. He says he's hoping witnesses come forward who might have information on what happened to Perez.
Perez's body was found in the back portion of Barn No. 8, just a few barns away from where Derby winner I'll Have Another was stabled.
'Some type of altercation'
On Sunday, Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley told NBC News station WAVE 3 that Perez "did sustain injuries that lead us to believe he was involved in some type of altercation." Smiley said.
"[Detectives] were able to determine that there is foul play involved, however we still do not have an exact cause of death and we'll have to await the coroner's report for those details," Smiley said.
Jo-Ann Farmer, chief deputy coroner for Jefferson County, said Perez was identified by his 19-year-old son, who works at the track.
The body was found in a barn occupied by Louisville trainer Angel Montano Sr., Smiley said. Montano did not have a horse in Saturday's derby.
Police interviewed people who live above the barns to try to piece together what happened. About 200 people live at Churchill Downs at any given time — either in dormitories on the edge of the property or in small apartments above some of the barns themselves.
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"We don't have anything pointing to the fact that this would have had any association in terms of Churchill Downs or the derby itself," Smiley told WAVE 3.
I'll Have Another, ridden by jockey Mario Gutierrez, won the 138th running of the race at Churchill Downs in a stunning finish before a record crowd of more than 165,000 people.
About a week after last year's Kentucky Derby, jockey Michael Baze's body was found in a vehicle near the track's stables. His death was ruled an accidental overdose.
NBC News station WAVE3, NBC News' Michelle Franzen, msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Leave a Comment:
They need to call Columbo... didn't he solve one like this once? Sure sounds familiar. The guy threatened to reveal drugs being used on the winning horse... or something like that.
Call me police, if you need any help with this.
The victim found out, in a rough way, that Neigh means Neigh.
No solicitations please; especially one's that don't make sense!
Murder At The Derby....sounds like a novel....hope they find the killer(s)...sad that his kid had to id his father on a day that, I am sure, was very exciting and a lot of fun.
Just one more thing, sir....
Sounds like an episode of Murder she Wrote or Colombo. I can see Peter Falk walking around the grounds of Churchill Downs in his raincoat looking for clues. It probably was the trainer who lost the race or a disgruntled jockey
1 down 11 million to go! get in line like everyone else who wants to be an American!
Where's Dick Francis when you need him?
I'll ignore yet another meaninglessly cruel attack (yes, muddlehead, that's you), but when a 15 - 1 horse wins, there is good reason to be suspicious in this sport that is well-known to be half-crooked.
The bookies should have been happy with all the money on lower odds runners, but the surprising result surely stirred rumours, accusations. Someone might have placed a monster bet on the eventual winner just before the start and it was too late for the bookies to adjust the odds. and drugs, yep. Interesting the jockey and the victim were both - well, I'll leave that for muddlemutt to give us his entertaining guess on that.
Hey, muddledick, weren't your parents immigrants somewhere back down the line or are you descended from Spitting Bull?
When there are 20 horses in a field, 15-1 odds is not that unusual. It's entirely possible this had nothing to do with the Derby.
@brit-bag; parents came form outerspace. and collapsed comments are the best to read!!! thanks! (comments collapsed could still be read by clicking the small box with the x in the center just in case you didn`t know) I`ll wait for your response once school gets out for lunch, don`t forget to "get in line like everyone else" for your grilled cheese on whitebread and drink you milk, when you grow up buy a house in TX,AZ,CA, you`ll fit right in dbag.
so you are going to add to the rumors, speculations with your analysis? And since when is a 15:1 winner unusual? Looks like you are trying to cover all the bases including a crooked, sorry, I meant half crooked industry. My guess is that you know absolutely nothing about the industry and have never been to a track in your life.
Was the victim in this country legally?
I would be surprised if he was. Good chance that if the killer worked a similar job he/her is half way back to his/her home country. Will likely never be caught.
Give me a break! If any of you had ever been to or worked on the "backside" at the racetrack, you wouldn't be trying to connect this murder to the Derby. It's a rough place and everyone parties on Derby day at the race track. Fights happen. There are a lot of immigrants, (not all legal) who work there. Surprised it hasn't happened before.
15-1 odds that it was over a woman
1 to 1 odds it was over money.
To call Columbo, it would have to be long distance, he is dead.
He's also not real, so he's neither dead nor alive.
Wait---Columbo DEAD----WHAT -- Columbo was a fictional character??????
Goober is dead.......
I can see this is going to be a monday to remember.
Some one just informed me that Goober was a fictional charater.
Man, this day is really going down hill.....
Winterfling
It has happened before.
The backside is a shady place to be after hours.
Pieces of sh*t that work there, bookies, drugs, money/wealth.. put it together and whaddaya get? Just what we got here. *Jus sayin*
I was taught at a young age that it's best not to speak of the lumps in someone else's potatoes until you get the lumps out of your own. When one is so quick to shine the light on someone else, it's usually in a vain effort to get the light off themselves. Sometimes self can be a scary place, can't it?
When you judge others, you don't define them, you define yourself.
I love lumpy taters!
What do the speculators on Wall Streeet have to do with what happened at the Kentucky Derby?
Most of the time, when someone is murdered it is because someone does not like someone else.
Bingo.
Man was a victim of Horse Play.
And, there may have been some monkey business going on.
Unfortunately, this guy's lucky horse shoe was on the fritz. I'm definitely interested to know what happened. Back in 1982, my cousin worked the stables at Pimlico and he told all manner of stories of things that went on between the stable hands, trainers, owners, etc. and things were always more intense in the week preceding Preakness.
OMG... Accidental overdose last year, murder this year. Found in the stables.. Jockey killed. Money, betting, competition. Wow this is an awesome book. Could it be a serial killer? Unsolved mysteries. Hmm. I doubt the death was about anything other than the race.
While its sad that a murder happened, its more entertaining to see the comments of the people.
yes most are really stupid especally the one about Obama's whearabouts.
Who wrote this article? This wouldn't pass sixth grade writng class.
"Authorities received a call shortly before 5 a.m. on Sunday reporting a body found in a barn not far from where I'll Have Another, the horse that won Saturday's race, was stabled."
Was the was horse stabbed? The sentence structure is wrong, the tense is wrong, and it is a classic run on sentence. Is this what passes for journalism today?
Shouldn't it read "The body of a man who had been stabbed was found in a barn not far from I'll Have Another, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby?"
MSNBC, you are an international news organization, Even if you can't get facts straight, at least learn how to write a sentence.
You must be outta something to do.
The article did not say the horse was 'stabbed' ... it said the body was found not far from where the horse was 'stabled', ie - where the horse's stable was. Also, there's nothing wrong with this sentence - makes perfect sense and it's not a run-on sentence either. If the part of the sentence that is in between commas is omitted and the sentence still makes sense, this is not a run-on. Example when omitting the part in between commas: "The body of a man who had been stabbed was found in a barn not far from where I'll Have Another was stabled." Makes sense to me. The words "the horse that won the Kentucky Derby" were in parentheses because they are clarifying who/what "I'll Have Another" is (the horse that won).
So in simple terms, all the sentence is saying is that a man was stabbed and was found in a barn near the stable where the winning Derby horse is kept. The horse's name is I'll Have Another. Make sense now?
BTW - why does everybody trash journalists? Perhaps those of you who enjoy doing so should go to Journalism school yourselves ... maybe then you all would be educated enough to know good journalism when you see it (or not) and your comments would be valid. Not just you, Phil Van, but all of the Journalist-bashers out there.
what r U the writing doctor
Phil,
The word used by the writer was "stabled," not "stabbed." The horse was stabled near there, meaning he was kept near there. There was no stabbing mentioned in the article or any other one about this incident.
jlang-342776
what r U the writing doctor
__________________________________________________
Why not? A writing doctor was definitely needed.
It never said the victim was stabbed.
Where is Jessica Flether when you need her?
Where is Jessica Fletcher when you need her?
Jessica is in Cabot Cove writing another book. LOL. BTW, I am too young to know that, but damn I loved that show.
Witness reported said: "It was Wiiilllllbuurrrrr!"
Oh, I get it. You are making a joke.
Right?
Does Obama have a solid alibi?
thats really inane and stupid! DOES every thing have to be political give us a break ,
Very strange. In an area where horses are held and no security cameras? Value of horses could be anywhere from 10 grand to millions. You would also think you would need to check in and out of that area. This way you know who is in that area at all times. That is just horse sense to me. The Killer is now off and running while Investigators and Detectives try to run him down.
i used to work at the downs, security there was/is a joke.
Who refers to it as "the downs"? I have worked, ran my own horses there and the common referance would be I worked at "Churchill", and their security is NO joke
the story forgot to mention that these are the same barns where Secretariat and Seattle Slew were kept. I hate when writers leave out important information.
and thousands of other horses whats your point??
I guess that was like the joke about the roof, way over your head. It has as much to do with this as I'll have another.
Never heard of Secretariat or Seattle Stew.
guess he got a little short with someone
Can you say ILLEGAL!
Investigators were Foaled today when He said She said actually said nothing. The He was the victim found dead and not able to speak. The She, a 5 year old Mare also refused to talk. Authorities are now trying to Track down Mr Ed to question the 5 year old Mare hoping to Shed some light on this Homicide. If you have any information regarding this Stalled investigation please contact the local authorities or Churchill Downs. A reward will be Ponied up leading to the arrest of the guilty parties.
Anyone watch "luck" on HBO? That’s the first thing that popped into my head when I read this
Most likely had winning ticket on the long shot and got robbed for the winnings.
Mike Fillmore, I hope you're joking about Secretariat, the Triple-Crown winner (in 1973!) and the subject of a successful Hollywood movie in 2010 (just two years ago). The fact that Secretaria was the first Triple-Crown winner in 25 years show what an achievement it is. Seattle Slew more recently (but still decades ago) was also a Triple Crown-er.
As for this year's winner, he was already successful and was on a winning streak coming in to this race. So the inference by "Brit" (way up near the top) that 15-1 odds meant this horse was somehow unworthy - and thus there had to be a shady connection between this and the murder - is quite a leap. I guess "Brit" is a conspiracy fan.