Man convicted of striking roommate with hammer, beheading him, and placing his body in suitcase

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (TCD) -- A 32-year-old man has been convicted of charges related to the 2021 slaying and decapitation of his 63-year-old roommate in their apartment.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office announced that a jury returned the guilty verdict Friday, Feb. 16, convicting Julian Summers of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of Bruce Jefferies.

On Dec. 12, 2021, at approximately 9:50 p.m., officers with the Memphis Police Department responded to the area of Pine Street and Eastmoreland Avenue, where they found a suitcase with Jefferies’ body inside.

According to the district attorney’s office, investigators determined Summers struck his roommate in the head with a hammer while he was sleeping. After the assault, he used a knife to behead Jefferies and then cleaned up the area before placing the victim’s body into the suitcase.

Surveillance footage reportedly shows Summers pulling the heavy suitcase through Broadmoor Apartments and to a dumpster, "leaving a trail of blood in his wake."

However, Summers was reportedly unable to put the suitcase in the first dumpster and had to take it to another location.

According to WHBQ-TV, police followed the blood trail to the apartment complex. Officers reportedly observed no evidence of forced entry inside the apartment unit, but there were signs of struggle, including broken glass, a broken mirror, and blood in the bedroom.

There were also reportedly bloodstained clothes in the washing machine ready to be washed.

Authorities arrested Summers, and he confessed to his roommate’s slaying 16 days after the attack.

He and the victim had lived together for two years before Jefferies’ death, WHBQ reports.

Jurors watched a recorded confession from Summers during the trial. However, according to the district attorney’s office, Summers’ testimony was inconsistent with what he initially said to police in 2021.

Summers raised the issue of his mental health at the time of his admission to the crime, but the state presented a rebuttal witness from the West Tennessee Mental Health Institute who "attested to the defendant’s competency and asserted that Summers was malingering — exaggerating mental health symptoms."

MORE:

• Man Convicted of First Degree Murder and Abuse of a Corpse After Beheading Roommate - Shelby County District Attorney's Office
• Memphis man accused of killing roommate and putting body in suitcase, 1/3/2022 - TCD
• Man charged with killing roommate, dumping body in suitcase in Midtown, 12/29/2021 - WHBQ
• News Release, 12/20/2021 - Memphis Police