Summary: The body discovered in a hotel room in downtown Washington has been identified as a DLA Piper lawyer.
Police have identified the stabbing victim discovered last Tuesday in a downtown Washington D.C. hotel and he was a lawyer. More to the point, it was David Messerschmitt, 30, an intellectual-property attorney for DLA Piper who handled commercial and technology agreements. As Piper’s New York office spokesman, Josh Epstein explained, Messerschmitt was an associate.
“This is an extremely tragic situation and we send our sincere condolences to David’s family,” said Epstein. “We are cooperating with the police as they continue their investigation.”
As far as the investigation is going, police have little to go on. They do have a picture of a hooded man who was in the hotel the night before the body was found. As for motive, they don’t yet have any information.
Further, DLA Piper isn’t saying much more than that the victim’s family is “deeply saddened and shocked by the loss of David.” As per the family’s request, they forbid coworkers to talk about David, nor is the family saying anything. A woman believed to be Messerschmitt’s wife said over the phone she did not wish to speak.
Nevertheless, despite the paucity of details or substantiating context, some of the pathos of the situation remains palpable, as David and his wife said in a 2012 wedding-gift registry that they were planning a Cincinnati wedding and honeymoon in Greece, a dream vacation. “We know that this trip will not only celebrate the start of our new life together, but will create life-long memories as well.”
News Source: Washington Post