Inset: William Bordsen (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The apartments at 4600 Coronado Drive in Charlotte, N.C., where William Bordsen allegedly beat his roommate to death during a dispute over cigarettes (Queen City News).
A North Carolina man is accused of beating his drunk roommate to death with a box fan and stomps to the face and stomach — allegedly documenting his brutality in “derogatory” cellphone videos and photos — after the victim came to his room “asking him for cigarettes,” according to police.
William Bordsen, 40, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing 65-year-old Robert Murphy at their apartment in Charlotte. Officers responded to the residence, located in the 4600 block of Coronado Drive, at around 10:55 a.m. Monday and found Murphy dead and lying on the floor, according to Bordsen’s arrest affidavit. He had a large amount of swelling to his face and eyes, along with lacerations to his face, arms and legs.
“There were multiple large bruises all over his body,” the affidavit says.
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Bordsen was at the apartment when officers arrived and “voluntarily” went to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police headquarters, where he was questioned by investigators, the affidavit notes.
“During his police interview, he stated that at approximately 4 a.m., the victim was intoxicated and came to Bordsen’s room asking him for cigarettes,” the affidavit alleges. “When Bordsen refused the victim began to get angry. A physical fight then ensued. During this altercation, Bordsen struck the victim with his fists an unknown number of times in the face and head area.”
While he was allegedly pummeling Murphy, Bordsen “used a box fan to strike the victim multiple times in the head,” according to cops. He told police that Murphy fell to the ground and was attempting to get back up when Bordsen started “kicking the victim in the stomach and face multiple times,” per the affidavit.
“When questioned about the last assault with his legs to the victim’s body, Mr. Bordsen admittedly stated that they weren’t needed and ultimately regretted those additional kicks,” the affidavit says. “Additionally, a footprint was seen on the victim’s forearm.”
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Bordsen allegedly confessed to being “sober” during the fight and told cops Murphy was intoxicated. Detectives — with Bordsen’s consent — say they searched through Bordsen’s cellphone and found “multiple photos and videos” that he captured, his affidavit says. They allegedly showed “the bloody victim, alive, lying on the floor in the same location where his body was later found,” according to police.
“Bordsen can be heard speaking in the videos to the victim in a derogatory manner,” the affidavit says. “He did not call 911 until 10:55 a.m., approximately six hours after the photos and videos were taken.”
Bordsen was being held Wednesday on $400,000 bond in the Mecklenburg County jail.
