'I touch little girls': Robert Raynor, 80, found dead with chilling warning on his chest
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK: A neighbor discovered the body of 80-year-old Robert Raynor in a family home on July 19. However, it wasn't an ordinary death. The Staten Island senior's body was found with two ominous messages scrawled across his chest and stomach, as well as cuts to the forehead. Based on what the neighbor said, it appears Raynor was murdered by someone.
The odd death of Raynor is far from the most bizarre death we have covered. In November 2020, we reported on the discovery of a headless corpse of a woman in Baltimore. In late December, influencer Alexis Sharkey's body was found in a ditch in Houston, placed as if "it was a mannequin". In the UK, the shocking death of Sarah Everard has taken the nation by storm, especially after former cop Wayne Couzens was arrested in connection to the case.
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Adding to the mystery of Raynor's death is the fact that the neighbor alleges someone else was involved. It doesn't appear as if this was some bizarre suicide, but instead, he was brutally killed. Heres' everything we know about the case.
Who killed Robert Raynor?
Raynor's upstairs neighbor Isaac Williams told The New York Post he was forced awake early on Monday (July 19) morning by a ruckus in the building. "It was so loud, I could hear it over the air conditioner. I said, 'What the hell are they doing down there?' It was loud banging, like 'boom, boom, boom'. Like people were wrestling or someone was throwing somebody around," he said. He eventually managed to sleep through the noise, but when he went down to check on Raynor in the morning, he was in for a surprise.
Williams discovered Raynor's body at around 9:30 am sprawled across the hallway. "I was coming down to get some cigarettes, and I just happened to look back in the hallway and I saw him lying there," he said. "My first instinct was he was drunk and he’d just fallen — even though I’d never seen him drunk." Raynor was wearing nothing but pants, but they were pulled down well below his waist, and his arms were above his head, indicating he had likely been dragged.
Williams didn't get too close but called the police. On closer inspection, the cops found the words "I touch little girls" written on his chest. On his stomach, were the words, "I take dolls in my room for girls age 1-5". The NYPD also found the words "I touch" written on his right leg. The words appear to have been written with a black magic marker. Raynor also had cuts to his forehead and two black eyes.
If Raynor got into a fight, Williams had no doubt he would not have been able to defend himself. "He could barely walk. He could barely lift his arms up. When he’d go to the store to buy beer, he had to put a backpack on for two little cans because he couldn’t carry them. That’s how pitiful his state was," Williams contended. The NYPD's homicide division is currently investigating the strange incident, indicating that the police too are viewing this as a murder. The medical examiner is expected to rule on the cause of death soon, but the real question is who killed Raynor?
According to Raynor's son, the senior lived with three "female relatives" including two children. It is unclear where they were at the time of death or what their exact relationship is to Raynor. There's no word on where they presently are, or if police had/plan to interview them. That's just another big question mark in this odd death.
The Post reported Raynor did have a rap sheet, but none of his charges appeared to be linked to paedophilia or sexual abuse. He was also not a registered sex offender. According to The Post, Raynor was arrested over two dozen times, but only four were unsealed - two assaults against a girlfriend in 1987, a third assault in 1992, and drug possession rap in 1996. Until the police reveal more, there is little else we know about the mysterious murder.