ME determines dead Levittown man had been stabbed, Nassau detectives say

A 70-year-old man found dead in his Levittown home Friday was the target of an attack, Nassau police said Monday.

There was no evidence of forced entry into the home of homicide victim William Cahoon, Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick of the Nassau County Homicide Squad said, and police are still trying to determine if anything had been stolen.

“We don’t believe this was random,” Fitzpatrick said during a news conference Monday outside Cahoon’s Shepherd Lane house. “I won’t get into why we believe that. We are beginning this investigation with that in mind.”

Nassau investigators did not realize Cahoon had been fatally stabbed until his body was examined over the weekend by the medical examiner, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said police were not immediately able to determine that Cahoon had been stabbed because of conditions in his house.

“Mr. Cahoon was something of a hoarder,” Fitzpatrick said. “The conditions in the house made it difficult to see things. It wasn’t apparent right here at the scene until he was taken to the medical examiner’s office.”

Police said they did not know when Nassau County Medical Examiner Tamara Bloom’s office examined Cahoon’s body. Bloom’s office declined to comment Monday.

Nassau police investigators, some wearing Tyvek suits, were in and out of Cahoon’s house for much of Monday morning. An officer blocked off the property with crime-scene tape shortly after the news conference.

“There are smells, there is clutter,” Fitzpatrick said. “There are conditions that are not conducive to good examination inside.”

Neighbors said Cahoon was a recluse who lived alone and did not have many visitors. “He kept to himself,” said Maria Dounias, Cahoon’s next-door neighbor.

Second Precinct officers found Cahoon’s body in a bedroom Friday evening after receiving a request to conduct a “well check” from an acquaintance at 6:44 p.m. Friday.

There, they found Cahoon’s body in one of the bedrooms, police said.

Nassau police ask anyone with information about Cahoon’s death to call the squad at 516-573-7788 or Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story gave the wrong place of employment for the victim based on information provided by the police.