Names, causes of death released in South Hill slayings
STACEY MULICK
Pierce County sheriff’s detectives were following up on leads but made no arrests Tuesday in the shooting deaths of two men found Monday morning in a South Hill home.
“We don’t believe it was random,” sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. “This was definitely a targeted situation.”
Investigators have discovered that several guns – including an AK-47 rifle and AR-15 rifle – as well as a computer tower were missing from the home in the 9400 block of 175th Street Court East where Jeffrey Poling, 36, and Travis Dennis, 32, were killed.
Both men were shot in the head and were found in the same room.
“We believe that there might have been something on the tower,” Troyer said. “They left the monitors and other valuable stuff behind.”
Dennis lived in the home, which is owned by his father. His relationship to Poling, who was from Spanaway, wasn’t immediately clear, Troyer said.
“A lot of people came and went from here,” he added.
Dennis’ father went to the home Monday morning after he could not get in touch with his son, Troyer said. The father spotted a body on the floor and called 911.
Sheriff’s deputies broke into the home and found the two men. They also found bulletproof vests, weapons and ammunition throughout the two-story home and a large eel in a commercial-sized fish tank in the garage.
Detectives believe Dennis and Poling were killed sometime Sunday night. They found no signs of forced entry to the home.
“We are still working to nail down the time frame,” Troyer said.
He described Poling and Dennis as single men. He said the home was well kept.
Deputies had been to the house in January to take a report on a stolen car, Troyer said. There had been no other recent police calls to the house.
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com
