Homeless Man Killed In Dispute Over Rights To Abandoned Home: Police

PINELLAS PARK, FL — Pinellas Park police have arrested a 31-year-old man who police say is responsible for the death of 65-year-old Joseph Alan Maiden, a homeless man from Pinellas Park whose body was found in an abandoned home Wednesday.

According to a news release from police, Pinellas Park police were called to a home at 6035 Park Blvd. at 12:20 p.m. after Maiden was found dead inside the home where he'd been squatting for an extended period. A friend of Maiden's had stopped by the home to see him and reported his death to police.

See related story: Dead Man Found In Abandoned Home In Pinellas Park

Detectives said they determined Maiden died of blunt-force trauma to the upper body and declared him the victim of a homicide that was not random.

On Friday around 9 a.m., detectives arrested Miguel Alejandro Haisten, a homeless man from St. Petersburg, and charged him with first-degree murder.

In an affidavit, detectives said Maiden and Haisten had an ongoing dispute over who had the right to occupy the abandoned home. They said they found indications that Maiden was alive in the home prior to Haisten's arrival Wednesday around 11 a.m., at which time they believe Haisten forced his way into the home using a large plaster yard statue.

Detectives said the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office forensic unit found evidence that Haisten attacked Maiden with the same plaster statue and other objects, beating him until he died.

After learning that Haisten was scheduled for a court appearance on an unrelated misdemeanor charge Friday morning, detectives said they waited at the Pinellas County Justice Center and took Haisten into custody.

He's being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bail.