Man Beats Colleague To Death With Sledgehammer At Workplace; Arrested

A 31-year-old man was arrested for brutally bludgeoning his co-worker to death with a sledgehammer at their workplace in Florida.

While responding to a report of a "suspicious incident" at the marine and energy manufacturing company Wärtsilä situated on the 2900 block of Southwest 42nd Avenue, Hollywood, shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, police found a man's body lying face down on the floor in a pool of blood. He suffered visible head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene, Miami Herald reported.

Employees told officers that Bryan A. Menocal admitted to killing his co-worker, whose identity was not released by authorities. Witnesses reported seeing Menocal with a sledgehammer after their morning meeting, according to an arrest report accessed by the outlet.

Menocal first attacked the victim and then, with the sledgehammer in his hand, went into the office of another colleague and confessed to killing his co-worker, as per the arrest report. After the attack, he exited the office before the arrival of the cops. Several employees searched the building and found the deceased victim in a fuel room.

Menocal was located in Deerfield Beach nearly two hours after the incident was reported and was taken into custody, police said. He was arrested for "repeatedly striking (the victim) in the head with a large sledgehammer."

He was charged with one count of second-degree murder and was placed at Broward County Main Jail. The motive behind the brutal killing remains under investigation.

Hollywood Police spokesman Christian Lata told reporters this was an isolated incident between "two people that did know each other and worked together."

"At this time the Hollywood Police Department does not believe that there's any danger to public safety," the spokesman said.

Menocal has an exhaustive criminal history that goes back a decade, including multiple felony counts of cocaine possession, as per Broward County court records obtained by New York Post. Menocal's LinkedIn page said he had been working at Wärtsilä as a diesel technician since February 2022.

The marine company, meanwhile, issued a statement expressing sadness about its employee's death. "Wärtsilä is very saddened that an incident with a fatality has occurred today at our facility," a company spokesperson was cited as saying by NBC Miami. "Our deepest condolences go to the family of the deceased worker."