Menifee Death Now A Murder Investigation; Victim ID'd

MENIFEE, CA — A man who was found badly injured along a Menifee road has died, and now officials have opened a murder investigation. On Thursday, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced that 53-year-old Paul Leon Smith succumbed to his injuries on Monday — four days after he was assaulted. Smith was a resident of Menifee.

On Dec. 7, law enforcement responded to a "man down" call in the area of Briggs and Old Newport roads after passers-by came upon Smith lying on the ground, unconscious. Once there, police and paramedics found Smith, performed "life-saving measures" and took him to the hospital, according to sheriff's Sgt. Walter Mendez.

On Monday morning, Smith died at Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar.

Details about what may have happened to Smith are limited, so police are asking for the public's help.

"Just prior to Mr. Smith’s assault, he had been seen riding a bicycle with a small trailer attachment near the area he was found," Mendez said in a news release.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the sheriff's Central Homicide Unit at (760) 393-3527.

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Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone