Teen Dressed As Clown Arrested After Fatal Stabbing Of Elderly Man In Illinois

A 15-year-old boy wearing a strange clown costume has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal stabbing of an elderly man in East St. Louis, Illinois, the New York Post reported.

On Monday night, local police responded to reports of a body found lying in the roadway. Authorities identified the victim as 78-year-old John Wesley Allen Sr, who died after suffering multiple knife wounds.

Doorbell camera footage showed the teenager in a nightmarish look, walking up to a neighbour's house. The individual leaned toward the camera and spoke an eerie audio message: "I've been looking for you."

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Alarmed neighbours reported seeing the teenager wandering through the neighbourhood shortly before the crime, peering into house windows while carrying a large blade. One local resident noted that the suspect spent several minutes lurking on private property before moving into a backyard.

The Illinois State Police tracked down and arrested the 15-year-old suspect on Tuesday. Officials confirmed the teenager is believed to be the same person seen in the doorbell video wearing the clown disguise.

"Video footage of the suspect dressed in a clown costume has been circulating, and ISP is currently working to collect all relevant video," ISP said in a statement.

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Law enforcement agencies have not yet disclosed a potential motive for the attack, nor have they revealed whether the teenager had any prior connection to the victim or the neighbourhood.

Lee Palmer, a resident, told the media outlet KMOV that the creepy clown suddenly appeared on their front porch. At that time, his mother was home alone.

He said that the man stayed there for several minutes and went behind the house. "I couldn't believe it. He was dressed in the clown outfit. That was kind of spooky for her," Palmer said, as quoted, further admitting that he thought that 'clown' was "going to kill everybody in the house".

"Why out of all the houses, why come to this house?" he added.