Authorities announced new details in the case of a man who was found dead on a property on Jaycox Road in North Ridgeville in May.
An arrest warrant has been issued for 37-year-old John L. Rowan in the death of 60-year-old Harold Litten Jr., police said.
Litten was reported missing by his family in April.
According to the Lorain County Coroner' Office, Litten's cause of death is listed as "homicidal violence," but an official ruling has not been made yet. Investigators said Litten sustained blunt force trauma during the attack. A weapon was recovered from the scene, police said.
Authorities said Rowan and Litten were familiar with each other but it's not clear how and when the two men initially met. According to police, Rowan worked as a car mechanic for Litten and had worked on one of Litten's vehicles the day of the homicide. Police said robbery was a motive in the killing.
Rowan went to "great lengths to cover up the homicide," adding they believed Litten was killed at the residence where his body was found, investigators said.
Rowan is currently serving time in the Lake Erie Correctional Facility on an unrelated offense and is scheduled to be released on Oct. 15, 2017. Once he is released, he will be brought back to Lorain County and arraigned in court on murder charges, police said.
