Son Says Killing Father With A Hammer Was A 'Mercy' Killing

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Son Claims Brutal Killing Of Father Was An Act Of Mercy

Buffalo, New York - Last Saturday night, David Erhardt walked into the restaurant where his father, Thomas, had worked to pick up a cheese-and-pepperoni pizza, presumably for himself and his ailing father.

"He was acting weird," said Mike Storm, owner of Kensington Avenue Pizzeria and Restaurant. "He was jittery and antsy. The pizza wasn't ready, and he said, "Where's my pizza? Where's my pizza?' He was real anxious to get out of here."

Co-workers were so concerned about Thomas Erhardt, their "Grampa," who was ill with cancer, that one wrote on the pizza box, "Get well, Grampa."

Two days later, the restaurant workers found out why David Erhardt had seemed so antsy.

Thomas Erhardt, a 57-year-old Vietnam veteran, had been beaten to death with a hammer on Jan. 8 - three weeks earlier.

Law enforcement officials now have a confession from David Erhardt, who claimed he acted out of concern for his ailing father after they had received an eviction notice for their Kensington Village apartment.

Fellow workers and regular patrons at the Kensington Avenue restaurant, where Thomas Erhardt had done some electrical work and odd jobs for four years, weren't buying that this was a merciful act.

"When you brutally kill your father [with a hammer], where's the mercy in that?" Storm asked. "There's no justification for that at all. If you wanted to do a mercy killing, give him some sleeping pills."

Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark seemed to agree.

"I think he could have found a little kinder way to end his father's life than to bludgeon him to death with a hammer," Clark said. "It doesn't speak to a mercy motive."

Several restaurant workers and patrons said they would have taken in Thomas Erhardt. And they didn't consider him helpless in any way.

"He was weak from chemotherapy and radiation, but other than that, he seemed fine," said Thomas Capodicasa, 59, sitting at the restaurant counter Tuesday. "He was able to take care of himself."

Law enforcement officials questioned the bizarre aspect of the body being kept in the apartment for 22 days.

On Monday, David Erhardt called police. At first, he said he found his father's body, and it was a homicide, detectives said. But after police questioned him, they said, he admitted what happened.

David Erhardt has been described as a somewhat reclusive man, with an extremely high IQ, who spent a lot of time at his computer in the apartment.

"The very fact that he would have been in the apartment alone the entire three weeks bespeaks that he was somewhat odd," Clark said.

Authorities have charged Erhardt, 26, with second-degree murder. But prosecutors expect his attorney may offer a defense of "extreme emotional disturbance," which could lead to guilt on a lesser charge, manslaughter.

"Whenever anybody acts in a manner that doesn't make a lot of objective sense, anybody has to question whether he was acting in a clear and lucid manner," Clark said.

Authorities have determined that many of the specific claims made by David Erhardt in his confession seemed to check out.

He reportedly killed his father the day after receiving the eviction notice, on Jan. 7.

Homicide Squad Lt. Kenneth Bienko said that seemed consistent with a neighbor's claim that she began noticing a strong odor from the apartment in the second week of January.

Why did the son call police Monday? Authorities have been told that an eviction hearing was set for the next day.

Thomas Erhardt's body was found on the apartment couch under a blanket.

"We would assume, or hope, he was asleep when he was killed" Bienko said.

Other sources, though, indicated the father woke up during the attack and pleaded, "Stop it. Stop it."