Man behind bars after alleged boyfriend’s death

A Pinellas County man was charged with first degree murder after deputies discovered the body of his boyfriend inside the home the two men shared over the weekend.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, David G. Elsey, 50, was found dead with upper-body trauma inside a home on the 1600 block of Summit Way when deputies responded there to conduct a welfare check around 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 7. Arthur Michael DeCarvalho, 26,who neighbors say shared the home with Elsey, was charged with first-degree murder.

Elsey worked as a human resources recruiter for the marketing research firm Neilsen and was a former leader of the company’s pride coalition as a resource for LGBT employees. Friends say he was a Disney fan and neighbors described him as quiet and respectful.

ArthurDeCarvalho
Arthur Michael DeCarvalho

The sheriff’s office had received information from Clearwater police about a traffic stop early on June 7, in which DeCarvalho gave “concerning information” indicating something happened at the residence. Deputies were then dispatched to the home.

Detectives say the investigation is still in progress but believe the two met online within the past few months.

The Tampa Bay Times reported the two had been seeing one another for a while and DeCarvalho moved into the residence owned by Elsey in May. Police say, however, that DeCarvalho is a transient from Kentucky.

“He said their relationship was going great,” Patrick Martin, a next-door neighbor said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times.

The neighbor went on to tell the newspaper that Elsey described DeCarvalho as “the one.”

According to the arrest report, DeCarvalho admitted to the crime and told police he used a rope to bind Elsey in their bedroom before grabbing a hatchet from the garage and striking him with it 10 times.

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