Pierce County sheriff’s detectives continued Wednesday to look into Saturday’s death of a medical marijuana patient attacked at his Orting-area home.
No arrests have been made in Michael S. Howard’s death and no motive determined, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
Howard, 38, was attacked March 9 after he heard suspicious noises outside his home in the 17700 block of 147th Avenue East, armed himself with a can of bear repellent spray and went to investigate. He was hit on the head by an unknown person.
Howard was unable to provide a description of his attacker. He was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center, where he died Saturday, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office reported.
Howard, who used medical marijuana for back pain, had 150 pot plants in the shed next to the home. Thieves had targeted the plants when Howard was in jail in an unrelated assault case, said Renee Resser, who also lived at the home.
Investigators were looking into whether Howard was attacked because of the plants.
Stacey Mulick, staff writer
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