Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Gregory Smith
Journal staff writer

The Providence police are investigating the death of a Federal Hill man whose body was found in an alley Sunday, hours after he apparently fell or jumped from the window of his third-floor tenement apartment across the street from Caserta Pizzeria.

Police Maj. Thomas F. Oates III today identified the man as Brian Westphal, 33, of Apartment 3, 108 Spruce St., and said no foul play is suspected because he apparently fell or jumped.

The Rhode Island state medical examiners' office tentatively determined in an autopsy that Westphal, who was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, died from hypothermia or exposure, according to Oates. None of the injuries that he suffered in the fall was fatal, the medical examiner determined.

A final conclusion about the cause and manner of death is pending toxicological tests, Oates said.

A live-in property manager at 108 Spruce told the police that he heard a noise in the alley at about 5 a.m. Sunday and, assuming it came from one of the vagrants or scavengers who frequent the alley, he shouted for the person to keep quiet and to leave.

When the manager went outside at about noon, he discovered Westphal and called the police.

The victim's roommate said that when he arrived home the night before, the door to Westphal's bedroom was closed and he assumed that Westphal was asleep.

The police found the bedroom window open and the window screen on the ground near the body.

 Tags  body found Federal Hill Providence R.I.

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