FORT WORTH - The family of an elderly veteran who was beaten and robbed inside his home say his efforts to help a homeless woman led to his attack.
Marvin Zimmerman, 82, is recovering at a Fort Worth hospital.
Investigators say he was bound, beaten, robbed and left for dead inside his Wise County home by a group of men.
"These are four thugs who kicked his door in, dragged him out of his bed, beat him, tortured him -- for what?" said his son, Wayne Zimmerman.
Marvin Zimmerman is Korean War veteran, and a former hospital police officer.
His family said they had worried about their father's safety since last fall, when the 82-year-old allowed a homeless woman to live with him. He was told by one of his friends she was down on her luck and needed help.
The woman's boyfriend, 49-year-old Jimmy Murrell, also moved in.
He is one of the four men the Wise County Sheriff's department have arrested for the attack.
"I knew something sooner or later was going to happen," said Zimmerman's daughter, Carol.
Carol Hill was worried when she called her father three times last week and he didn't answer the phone. She was prepared to go over to his house when she learned he was in trouble.
"That was my worst fear, that I was going to go out there and find him," she said.
Murrell and three other men are charged with Injury to the Elderly with other charges pending.
Investigators say they also stole a number of items from his home.
But his family is thankful they didn't take his life.
E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com
Twitter: @craigcivale
