Warren Asher Jr. lived just down the street from the FBI's headquarters, in a downtown apartment building called the Lexington. An upscale address popular with government and corporate types, the building on D Street NW counts City Administrator Robert C. Bobb among its residents.
It is an unlikely setting for a homicide.
Warren Asher Jr.
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But last week, Asher, a 57-year-old federal worker who liked to be called Rusty, was found dead in his sixth-floor apartment -- strangled, according to the D.C. medical examiner's office.
Police officials said they are investigating the possibility that Asher, who was gay, was slain by a male prostitute. According to police officials, Asher was known to seek out male prostitutes in an area a few blocks from his apartment.
Asher's body was discovered at noon Jan. 18 inside his apartment at 400 Eighth St. NW. A native of Mississippi, he had no family in the area, and his colleagues were a kind of surrogate family.
"We are seeking the assistance of the community to piece together a part of his life that was pretty secretive," said Sgt. Brett Parson, head of the D.C. police gay and lesbian liaison unit. "We believe that Mr. Asher had frequent visitors at all hours, and we are seeking information from anyone who knew about his personal life."
The slaying came to light after Asher did not show up for his job as a public affairs specialist at the Office of Personnel Management on Jan. 13. His colleagues tried unsuccessfully to reach him, said his supervisor, Susan Bryant.
When Asher missed work the following day, a Friday, a colleague went by the apartment to check on him but was assured that he had been seen around the building.
"We worried," Bryant said, "but did we think it was something like that? No. We thought maybe there was a misunderstanding and maybe he was on leave. That's what we hoped for."
After the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, Asher still didn't return, and his co-workers were frantic. A few of them went back to the apartment building to implore the staff to check on Asher.
Someone went to his apartment and found the door ajar. Asher's body was inside, according to authorities. The building staff called Bryant, who was Asher's emergency contact.
"We were all horrified," Bryant said.
Police quickly located Asher's wallet, credit cards, cash and cellular phone, and they do not think robbery was the primary motive in the killing, investigators said. Some items in the apartment had been overturned, suggesting a struggle. But police initially thought that Asher might have been stricken by a heart attack or some sort of seizure and knocked over the items before collapsing.
Later in the week, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, concluding that Asher was asphyxiated by compression on his neck, spokeswoman Beverly Fields said.
Lt. Robert Glover of the police department's violent crimes branch said police know of no suspects but are tracking down friends and associates who might be able to provide clues.
"There's an awful lot of work yet to be done," Glover said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call detectives at 202-727-9099. The city offers rewards of as much as $25,000 for tips that lead to arrests and convictions in homicide cases.
This week, Asher's co-workers had a memorial service for him at the agency's offices on E Street NW. Asher was a rose aficionado who always insisted on picking out his own flowers instead of having them delivered. And so, at the service on Tuesday, his colleagues put a dozen roses on his desk, Bryant said.
They also listened to the Oklahoma Sooners fight song, which Asher, an alumnus, was fond of playing for his colleagues, knowing how easily the tune they all found so corny nonetheless worked wonders in soothing office tensions.
"He was a very special person," Bryant said.
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
