Rick Slick Rick Buchanan and the scene outside his home after he was found dead inside (WTVT screenshots)
Authorities in Tennessee are investigating the gruesome death of a popular Memphis-area DJ who was allegedly found decapitated inside his home with his pants pulled down around his ankles.
The body of Rick Buchanan, also known by his stage name “Slick Rick,” was discovered on Wednesday afternoon by his brother John Buchanan.
“I walked in and then I found him, and I just called 911,” John Buchanan told Memphis Fox affiliate WTVT just hours after he stumbled upon his brother’s mutilated remains.
The brother said that he came over to Rick Buchanan’s home after receiving an ominous phone call from one of his brother’s neighbors, the New York Daily News reported. Upon arriving at the residence, John Buchanan said he went to the front door, but it was locked. He then went around to the back of the home where he found the door wide open. He then went inside and made the grisly discovery.
In his initial interview with WTVT, John Buchanan left out the particularly graphic details of what he came upon in his brother’s home.
“I thought his coat was up over his head like it was cold or something,” he said of the body. “So I just ran out and then I ran back in and I noticed it wasn’t that. It was something worse.”
John Buchanan reportedly added that Rick Buchanan’s keys were “still in his hand” and said that “his pants were pulled down to his feet.”
It was not until Thursday that he confirmed to the station that his brother had been decapitated, though he did not appear on camera again.
John Buchanan noted that his brother had been working far less after a brush with death about a decade ago when he was shot during a robbery outside of a live music venue called The Stage Shop in 2014.
According to a report from Memphis NBC affiliate WMC, Rick Buchanan in May 2014 was walking to his car outside the music venue owned by his mother when two masked men approached him and held him up at gunpoint, demanding his money before shooting him at least once. He was hospitalized in critical condition and underwent several surgeries due to his injuries.
John Buchanan said he had “no idea” whether the latest incident involving his brother was related to the 2014 shooting.
After the shooting, Rick Buchanan reportedly became increasingly reclusive, as he had difficulty finding work and preferred to stay home with his dog “Lucky” rather than go out. John Buchanan told WTVT that he planned to adopt his brother’s dog.
The Memphis Police Department on Friday afternoon confirmed that an adult male was located dead inside a residence in the 4500 block of Angel Street. However, there was no indication that Rick Buchanan had been beheaded, with police saying there were “no immediate signs of foul play on the scene.”
“The cause of death is undetermined at this time, the department said. “The death investigation is ongoing.”
