PORT ANGELES — Acclaimed Native American carver and instructor George Cecil David of Neah Bay died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the preliminary results of an autopsy that ruled his death a homicide.
“That’s the finding of the physician thus far,” Mark Nichols, Clallam County prosecuting attorney and ex officio coroner, said Tuesday.
“The certifying physician will add his name to that document.”
Employees of the building that contained an apartment where David was staying at 1111 E. Columbia St. found the Nuu-chah-nulth carver’s body at about 12:45 p.m. March 28, authorities said.
“We still have a murder suspect on the loose,” Detective Sgt. Tyler Peninger said Tuesday afternoon.
Services for David are at noon Friday at Neah Bay Assembly of God, 220 Third St.
Burial will follow at the Neah Bay Cemetery.
Police served a search warrant March 29 on the apartment where David, 65, was staying.
They removed for further examination a couch, a portion of carpeting, blood swabs, DNA samples and clothing, according to the warrant.
David, a Port Alberni, B.C., native, arrived in Port Angeles on March 25 while on his way to a memorial service on Vancouver Island, his nephew Wade Greene of Neah Bay said Tuesday.
Greene, a Makah tribal member, said David boarded a bus from Neah Bay to Port Angeles the afternoon of March 25 and had planned to leave for Victoria on March 26 to visit family and attend a March 30 funeral.
“He jumped on the bus and someone picked him up on that end [in Port Angeles], and that’s the last we heard of him,” Greene said.
“Every time I saw him, he was always upbeat,” Greene, also a carver, said, adding that David was securing permanent housing in Neah Bay.
Greene, 44, said David’s daughter, Maria David, lives in Neah Bay.
“He never had time for drama, and he loved everybody, and he always thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed carving and anything to do with Native artwork,” Greene said.
Smith said authorities have canvassed downtown Port Angeles and commercial areas east beyond First and Race streets — in the vicinity where David was staying — talking to residents.
Smith said David was staying at the apartment of an acquaintance and ventured outdoors while in Port Angeles.
“We’ve got evidence that he was out and about on foot and he was moving and he was seen in some places,” Smith said.
“I’m not in a position to say which places.
“We are comfortable he was out on foot and some of the people saw him.”
Police also are looking for videos from businesses that might yield clues in David’s death, Smith added.
Anyone who might have encountered, spent time with or talked with David during the weekend of March 25-27 should contact Peninger at 360-417-4957 and also can call detectives at 360-417-4919 or 360-417-4953.
Three Port Angeles police detectives were assigned to the investigation Tuesday, Smith said.
The State Patrol, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and the Neah Bay Police Department also were assisting in the investigation.
David was a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations based in Tofino, B.C.
He carved poles, rattles, paddles, headdresses and large face masks.
“He was in the top five of our field of West Coast carvers,” Greene said.
“He could do anything.”
Smith would not comment on whether there was forced entry into the apartment.
He said speculation was expressed on social media that David was murdered for his art.
But Greene said it was unlikely David, who had just sold some artwork before he left Neah Bay on March 25, had taken any with him to Port Angeles.
“He was focused on the funeral,” Greene said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
