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By GALEN HOLLEY
Staff Writer
Police are investigating two possible crimes in conjunction with the death of a Grenada man.
According to Chief Investigator Capt. George Douglas, police are looking into arson and homicide in connection with the death of Steven Vickers, 52, who was found dead in his home at 468 Greer Rd. around 5 p.m. Jan. 1.
Police and firefighters responded to a call from one of Vickers’s relatives who discovered his body after friends reported receiving alarming text messages from him the previous evening, Douglas said.
“Relatives and friends received a message from Vickers’s phone saying ‘Goodbye,’” Douglas said.
That was on the evening of Dec. 31.
Police have not ruled out suicide in Vickers’s death, but are treating the case as a homicide, Douglas said.
Vickers’s home suffered fire and smoke damage, according to Douglas, although he couldn’t say whether or not the home was still on fire when the relative arrived and found the body.
According to a police report, furniture was stacked in the middle of the living room.
“A neighbor reported seeing smoke and hearing a sound that could have been either a gunshot or fireworks,” said Douglas.
Because two simultaneous crimes were being investigated, Grenada police enlisted the help of the Mississippi Crime Lab to work the scene, Douglas said. Grenada police are also receiving assistance from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
“There were several potential hazards, including electrical and other concerns,” said Douglas. “We were working against a lot of elements.”
Because of these potential hazards, investigators, including Grenada and state fire marshals, were essentially forced to work in the dark, Douglas said.
Officials recovered a weapon from the scene, Douglas said, but he would not disclose the caliber of the gun or weather a spent casing was also recovered.
The state crime lab is performing an autopsy to determine the cause of Vickers’s death, Douglas said.
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