The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 23

Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 7, 1979 Robbery Motive In Beating Death Man's Slaying Shocks Placid Sewickley ill) fM (iif ililBIIBl money in the house," said Brannon. "He probably tried to resist. So he was fatally beaten. Older people these days are tragically vulnerable to attack." Investigators reported that drawers were overturned and "things were strewn all over the house." The victim's daughter-in-law, Mardi Besterman, said the old man "was of modest means and there was no likelihood that he'd keep money at the house." "He had no enemies," she said, "so robbery had to be the motive for the senseless slaying." She described the 79-year-old retiree as a frugal person who made daily trips to the public library in Sewickley so he could read the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Pittsburgh papers "without having to subscribe to them." She said her father-in-law frequently went to Sewickley Valley Hospital so he "could enjoy the hot meals they served there to senior citizens." he was responsible for the noise.

But county Homicide Inspector Robert. Meinert is asking that anyone who saw the victim between last Friday and Monday to call county police at 355-5530. The victim's daughter-in-law recalled that he had "a bad habit" of carrying between $50 and $100 in his wallet. "I tried' to tell him that it was foolish to walk around with that much money in his pocket," she said. Police feel that whoever waylaid him in his home may have seen the money he carried in his wallet and then decided to check out his house.

One thing missing when the body was found was the wallet. Mrs. Besterman also recalled that he' kept two handguns in his bedroom so "he could protect his property." But the guns were of no use to him when his home was invaded. Police found one of the guns in the ransacked house. The other a nine-shot pistol was one of the items stolen.

"I don't know how anyone who was watching him could figure him for a rich man." she said. "It was all a terrible mistake." Besterman was a native son of Sewickley born there to parents who also had spent their entire lives in the borough. "He was so proud of the town so fond of reminiscing about its famous residents, its lovely homes, its beautiful gardens and its nice people," said his daughter-in-law. According to Mrs. Besterman, he was "good about keeping the doors at his bouse locked he never forgot to do that." Police said they don't know if entry was forced or if he let the person or persons who killed him into the house.

There were no signs of carnage to windows or doors, investigators said. He was last reported seen alive Friday morning by a neighbor. Others said they heard the rattle of a garbage can lid at his place Saturday and assumed that By WILLIAM PADE Night City Editor The slaying of Walter Besterman, an old man who lived alone in a big frame house along tree-lined Centennial Avenue in Sewickley, has cast a shadow across his home town. Besterman, 79, member of an old-line family in the town, was beaten to death in his home, according to police. The coroner's office yesterday reported that the retired auto salesman died of "blunt force injuries" apparently inflicted during ransacking of his house.

His battered, trussed-up body was found in a hallway near the front door. Sewickley Police Chief Walter J. Brannon said "it looks like another sad, sad case involving the victimizing of a helpless old-timer." The tragedy has caused shock and dismay throughout Sewickley, a town that prides itself for its charm and good manners. A neighbor of Besterman's said "the slaying next door simply means that there's no place in America that's safe anymore." But Brannon said "there's no way to build a fence around a whole town." "Crimes of this type are on the increase everywhere," he said. Besterman's body was found Monday evening lying face down in the hallway with his hands tied behind the back with a clothesline.

His cousin, Alberta Moreland of Coraopolis, told police she had become concerned in recent days when he failed to answer her phone calls. She and her husband, Evan, went to the house, found the back door ajar and Besterman's body inside. "Someone most have thought he had if 2 County Jail Fires Being Probed 2 4 1 ing materials thrown from the top floor of the jail's main five-story cellblock ignited the security window, made of an unbreakable but flammable plastic. No one was injured, and firefighters extinguished the blaze within minutes. 5 County jail authorities still are trying to determine who set two fires at the Ross Street lockup, one of which destroyed a plexiglass security window in a short-lived blaze that brought a quick response by city firefighters.

Jail officials learned of the first fire around 3:55 p.m. yesterday when an unidentified caller from the nearby Plaza Building told them that smoke was pouring from the roof of the landmark structure. About 9 a.m. today, a small paper fire was discovered on the fifth floor of the jail, but there was do damage. The fire was reported by someone outside the jail who saw smoke.

Deputy Fire Chief Fred Steinkirchner set the damage to the window on the Sixth Avenue side of the jail at $1,000. Warden James Jennings said yesterday's blaze probably started when burn- Family Savings Drop WASHINGTON (UPI) American families are saving less of their income in 1979 than the average 6 percent they had been putting aside each year for the past decade, the Agriculture Department said. UP1 Ttttphoto Lottery Winner Here's the winning Daily Lottery number for Tuesday, Nov. 6, 1979: 097 SOILED SANDS A visitor to a Galveston, Texas, beach poked at the black oil that has been drifting ashore from the leaking tanker Burmah Agate. The tanker was ripped open during a collision with the freighter Minosa last Thursday and has been leaking oil since.

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