Family of 83-year-old Pittsburgh man found dead in neighbor's home call for justice 4 months later

The family of an 83-year-old Pittsburgh man who was found dead in his neighbor's home after being reported missing is speaking out.

Lester Bridges was found dead in February after breaking into his neighbor's home in the city's Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood, authorities said. According to the autopsy report, Bridges was stabbed over 70 times, including more than 20 times in the neck and more than 36 times in the torso. 

There have been no arrests, and police told KDKA on Thursday that the investigation has been submitted to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office for review. 

"There are times that memories just come back, and then you realize that the person is not there," Alice Hill said. 

A family's heartbreak

For 92-year-old Hill, the loss of her life partner is felt in the quiet moments when habit meets heartbreak, and she remembers that Bridges is gone. 

"You go to drink a cup of coffee and remember there were two people drinking coffee. Now it's only one," Hill said.

Beyond the walls of the home they shared for years, the most chilling reminder sits next door.

"You victimized an individual that lives next door to a family that still lives there, and it's a reminder every day, to walk out the door and just see him there scot-free. That's not justice," Anthony Hill, Bridges' grandson, said. 

Investigating the case

On Feb. 6, Lester Bridges, who had early on stage dementia, went missing from their home. He reportedly left his home in a hoodie and slippers to check on his red truck. He didn't have his emergency alert device on. On Feb. 7, around 8 a.m., he was found dead next door.

According to police, the neighbor said he stabbed Bridges to death because the 83-year-old broke into his home. The family says investigators told them that the neighbor claims it was self-defense.

The stabbing happened at 2 a.m., but police weren't called until about six hours later. Nearly four months later, the details remain impossible to escape. The family says the two men had been neighbors for years. 

KDKA's Mamie Bah asked Alice Hill, "Have you considered moving?"

"Why should I move?" Alice Hill said. "Where should I go? It's not going to bring him back. The idea is the body was so close."

KDKA went to the neighbor's house on Thursday. He declined to comment and shut the door.

Unfortunately, the family's heartbreak is a familiar feeling. In 1992, Michelle Hill, Alice and Lester Bridges' daughter, was found beaten and strangled to death on a hillside in the neighborhood. Thirty-four years later, her case remains unsolved.

"We got through that, and then he got killed," Alice Hill said. "My heart is just not where it should be."