Queens man beat 71-year-old to death because he thought he was a pedophile

This is…wow…

Source: SOPA Images / Getty

We’ve published a lot of shocking crime stories over the years but we’ve never come across anything like this.

According to reporting in the NYDailyNews, a Queens man has been arrested and charged with the murder of his 71-year-old neighbor. The unidentified man, 31-years-old, beat the septuagenarian to death with a steel pipe of some kind. He told police that he did it because he believed his neighbor was a serial pedophile.

A source familiar close to the NYPD says that he told investigators he murdered the man because he made too much noise and that he, “smelled the guy having sex with children.”

Jesus.

The man is described as being emotionally disturbed in some way and likely needs help with his mental health. Despite this, he reportedly surrendered peacefully to police and was then taken to the hospital for psychological evaluation and medical care.

NYPD says that the victim did have about a dozen arrests on his rap sheet but they were all for minor offenses and none were sexual in nature.

Seems difficult to imagine a situation in which this man, whose race is not identified, does not end up in prison regardless of his mental state. Just a sad state of affairs all the way around the board.