Son accused of killing elderly father after claiming he fell in Miami-Dade home: cops

A Miami-Dade County man faces a first-degree murder charge after police say he killed his elderly father over the weekend and initially tried covering it up by saying he fell inside their condo.

Miami-Dade police and fire rescue paramedics went to their home in the 9900 block of Northwest 6th Lane in the Fountainebleau neighborhood shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday after the son, 53-year-old David Scott Buer, called 911 to report his father was hurt in a fall.

However, detectives said in their arrest report that cops and medics arrived to find Paul Buer, 81, lying in bed and covered in bruises — with lacerations on both arms.

The younger Buer told police that the cuts stemmed from his efforts to get his father back into bed after he collapsed, according to the report.

But homicide detectives noticed “several apparent blood spatters” on the window blinds located next to Paul Buer’s bed. Additionally, there were blood smears on his bed and several blood-soaked paper towels located throughout the house, the report states.

The Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and concluded the cause of death was “homicidal violence, including strangulation.” Detectives and the medical examiner determined Paul Buer was murdered — not injured in a fall, the report states.

After David Buer was taken into custody, he maintained to detectives that his father fell and struck his walker a few days earlier, according to the report. Buer added he was his father’s caretaker and that they were the only ones living in the home.

Police on Sunday booked David Buer into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a charge of first-degree murder and aggravated elderly abuse.

As of Monday afternoon, his bond has not been set. Information about his legal representation was not immediately available.

David Buer also has a previous arrest for elderly abuse in April 2014. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation. It’s not immediately clear whether that case, too, involved his father.