Elderly woman’s slaying shakes Hedwig Village

Victim may have known her attacker as no signs of forced entry are found

The slaying of a 79-year-old woman inside her Hedwig Village home has shaken the well-todo city that hasn’t seen an active murder investigation in roughly two decades.

The slaying of a 79-yearold woman inside her Hedwig Village home has shaken the well-to-do city that has not seen an active murder investigation in roughly two decades.

Reminders of the recent violence reverberated down the village streets Tuesday morning as reporters swarmed the scene and police re-canvassed the area, looking for leads in the killing of Janeil Bernard.

“This is a very big hit to this community,” Sgt. Marvin Collins of Hedwig Village Police Department told reporters.

It was Bernard’s maid who first reported the slaying Monday afternoon, after she walked into the ranch home on the 11000 block of Capri and made a gruesome discovery.

The elderly woman appeared to have been beaten and stabbed, and parts of the house were ransacked.

“It was a very brutal scene,” Collins said, adding that it appeared Bernard had fought back against her attacker.

Collins said robbery may have been the motive.

After Monday’s find, police realized the woman’s car and wallet appeared stolen. The vehicle — a red Cadillac sedan with a Texas license plate — turned up in southwest Houston, near Almeda Genoa and State Highway 288. The keys were found on the ground about 200 feet away.

Acquaintance attacker?

Houston police, who notified Hedwig Village about the recovered vehicle around 10:30 p.m. Monday, have offered to process the car for evidence.

Bernard had a “very scheduled life,” Collins said.

She was involved in a number of activities. Bernard did part-time accounting work and had clients who came to her home, but no one was on her calendar for a recent visit, according to investigators. Authorities are hoping for tips about her Sunday-night routine.

Police also are developing a suspect and are monitoring the credit cards that were in her wallet for activity.

Despite the chaos inside, some parts of the home were untouched, as if the robber had a specific goal in mind, investigators said.

“Whoever did this didn’t spend a lot of time in the house,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of electronics that weren’t taken. Whoever did this was looking for a particular — possibly cash or jewelry.”

It still was not clear Tuesday what may have been taken.

“Because she’s a very independent person, there’s not a lot of information as to what all she actually had,” Collins said.

There were no signs of forced entry at the home, and Bernard typically kept her doors locked, leading police to suggest the woman may have known her attacker.

‘Time to help her’

Surveillance footage acquired by police from nearby homes has narrowed the killing’s time frame to a seven-hour span on Sunday.

Collins said one of Bernard’s sons said he spoke to her around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Security video from the neighborhood shows the red Cadillac leaving the home between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., the sergeant said.

Authorities are asking people to come forward with any additional information that can help reconstruct the chain of events.

“I’m told she’s a real giving person, that she helps a lot of people that are in need,” Collins said. “Now’s the time to help her.”

Police said they have no record of any past calls for service at the home, though Bernard’s son told officers the house had been burglarized some 20 years ago.

“I don’t think we’ve had an active homicide in this city since the 90s,” Collins said. “We have an older resident population in this area, and that has people worried, that has people concerned.”