MADISON, Wis. – Madison police focused on the homeless as they investigated the murder of a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student.
Lieutenant Joe Balles says neighbors in the area where Brittany Sue Zimmerman was killed are regularly approached by transients asked for money.
Balles says investigators have not determined a homeless person killed Zimmerman.
City Council President Mike Verveer, who lives in the neighborhood near campus, says it's possible a transient person simply has information that could be helpful to police.
Zimmerman's fiance found her body in the first-floor apartment they shared about 1 p.m. Wednesday. The fiance is not considered a suspect. An autopsy determined Zimmerman died of "a complexity of traumatic injuries," but authorities weren't specific.
Police also are investigating whether there is a connection between the homicide and an incident that happened around the same time Zimmerman's body was found. A man entered a house shared by several UW students just after four people left, leaving the door unlocked. The intruder left quickly after a student who remained in the house told him to leave.
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