- April 26, 2024
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A Palm Coast man who stands accused of killing his landlord said in a confession that he was angry with how his landlord had been treating him, according to court documents.
Erick Elom Niemi, 42, was arrested Saturday in the case of the death of his 76-year-old landlord, Leonard Lynn. Niemi is now in jail on a charge of second-degree murder.
After he was arrested, Niemi told deputies that he and Lynn got into a verbal argument late May 29. Niemi said he tripped Lynn and, after he fell to the ground, straddled him and partially covered his face with a pillow, as Lynn begged Niemi to stop, according to an arrest report.
Niemi said he choked Lynn while knocking his head into the wood floor for one to two minutes. When Lynn’s body went limp, Niemi dragged it into the master bedroom and left it there, the report says. Niemi then took Lynn’s car to a location on Ryapple Lane.
After she hadn’t heard from him for several days, Lynn’s daughter asked deputies to go to his home on Ryken Lane to conduct a wellness check. Deputies arrived just before 6 p.m. Saturday, but Lynn’s car was not on scene and all the doors and windows to his home were secure, so they left.
Later that night, two of Lynn’s relatives went to his home themselves to check on him. Upon entering, they saw what looked like blood in the living room. The door to the master bedroom was locked. The two called police.
When deputies arrived on scene, they forced the door open and found Lynn inside, surrounded by blood and with a pillow covering his face. A medical examiner ruled the death was a result of blunt force trauma. It is estimated that Lynn was killed the Wednesday before he was found.
A neighbor had seen Niemi return to the residence on a bicycle at around 6 p.m. that evening — just after deputies attempted their welfare check. Deputies searched for Niemi and found him parked and sitting inside Lynn’s car on Ryapple Lane.
Although Niemi confessed to killing Lynn after being read his rights, no confession is final and no conviction will be made until the case goes through the court system. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office will forward the case to the State Attorney’s Office. If Niemi does not supply his own attorney, he will be appointed one by the state.
The prosecution and the defense will then decide whether to move the case to trial.
Niemi's charge of second-degree murder, which means the act was not premeditated as it is in first-degree murder, carries a minimum sentence of 16.75 years with the potential for life in prison. He would face a minimum of 25 years in prison if he were accused of using a firearm in the crime. He was also charged with grand theft auto, a third-degree felony.
