Police found credit cards strewn throughout hotel room of slain DLA Piper associate, affidavit says
Police who entered a Washington, D.C., hotel room in search of a missing lawyer on Feb. 10 found his apparently lifeless body face down on the floor, with several stab wounds in his back, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Police had gone to the Donovan Hotel in search of David Messerschmitt, a 30-year-old DLA Piper associate, after his wife reported him missing. “A wallet was observed lying next to the decedent’s head,” the affidavit says, “with various credit cards strewn about. Additional credit cards and identifying documents were observed throughout the room.” NBC Washington, the Washington Post, Fox News and the National Law Journal (sub. req.) have stories.
The National Law Journal lists the items seized by police, as indicated in court documents: “Bed sheet, wallet with cards, pillow, HP computer, computer bag, lubricant and condom, bed sheet, clothing, credit card, cellphone, [illegible], swabs, finger prints, enema, [illegible], watch, towel, curtain, keys.”
Police are seeking a person of interest who was recorded on video entering the hotel lobby soon after Messerschmitt told his wife in a text that he would be home soon. Police are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Messerschmitt joined DLA Piper in April 2014 as an intellectual property associate who negotiated technology and commercial agreements. He previously worked at Mayer Brown.
