Police investigate suspicious death

Spokane Police detectives are investigating the suspicious death of a man found in a house on North Addison Street.

Police received a call at 9:40 p.m. Monday from people at 2211 N. Addison St. saying that a 47-year-old man was not breathing, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

Emergency personnel responded and the man, whom police did not name, was declared dead at the scene.

The man was an acquaintance of the people living at the house. He arrived there late Monday afternoon, Cottam said. The residents of the home said they allowed the man inside and then went upstairs to take a nap.

They left the man in the living room.

“They said when they got up several hours later they found him dead and called Spokane Police,” Cottam said.

Emergency crews arrived and found that the man had some kind of head trauma, he said.

“But detectives haven’t determined it was a crime.”

Major crimes detectives finished processing the scene for evidence about 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sgt. Joe Peterson said.

“He had a black eye. But we’re not sure when it happened,” Peterson said. “Nobody is really talking. We’ll know a lot more after the autopsy.”

The autopsy was not expected to be done until today, Cottam said.

“Right now all we know is that we have a dead man,” Cottam said. “We don’t know how he died. We are investigating it as a possible homicide. We have no information as to how it happened or even where.”

The house where the man died is decorated with a wooden cross adorned with Christmas lights. The yard is a collection of garbage, weeds and plastic children’s play houses.

A sign over the door reads, “The Oasis.”

Three people were at the house at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, but they declined to comment.