"...a drunken dispute in the street that night."

Checks have just come out.... (San Francisco, CA)

Homeless man arrested - body found in San Jose

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, August 30, 2008

(08-29) 20:34 PDT San Jose -- A homeless man believed to be in his 70s was found slain in a shallow grave in an industrial area of San Jose, and police soon arrested another transient in the killing, authorities said Friday.

Someone called police at 5:50 p.m. Thursday and told the responding officer about a suspicious man who may have been living in the area of Tasman Drive and Cisco Way, said San Jose Police Officer Enrique Garcia. Apparently there had been a drunken dispute in the street that night.

The responding officer investigated and soon summoned homicide and crime scene investigators to the area. They found the decomposed body of a 71-year-old man, whose name was not released, buried in a field off the road near Cisco Systems Inc. He may have been killed in April.

Robert Plummer, 52, was found in a nearby motel and was booked on murder charges. Police said they are still trying to determine the motive in the slaying, but they say the suspect appeared to have been cashing the victim's Social Security checks.