Delay in death report tied to drugs

UMATILLA — Lee Eldridge Holman called 911 Sunday morning to tell authorities that he had found his friend dead in the friend’s home.

But Marion County sheriff’s detectives say Holman actually knew that his friend, Robbie Lyn Denski, 47, was dead on Saturday.

They allege that Holman, 49, took an extra day to report the death so he could dismantle Denski’s marijuana grow house in the meantime.

Marion County firefighters found Denski dead at his home at 17360 S.E. 260th Ave. Road, apparently of natural causes, around 10 a.m. Sunday.

Later that afternoon, sheriff officials arrested Holman. They said they found marijuana in his car.

“It looked like a small grow house had been dismantled inside [Denski’s] home,” sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Gold said. “The man had been deceased for a couple of days, but a couple of neighbors said they had seen the defendant [Holman] there on Saturday.”

The sergeant said Holman decided to get rid of the marijuana in the house. He allegedly took potting soil, marijuana and lighting equipment from the home and dumped them in the woods off Lake Yale Road in Lake County.

“We were able to find potting soil and traces of marijuana in Holman’s car,” Gold said. “We were also able to find a pound or two of marijuana leaves at the dump site in Lake County.”

Holman, who lives in Melbourne Beach, was on probation for marijuana possession in Texas. Gold said that he is not a suspect in Denski’s death.

“At this point, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary,” Gold said. “But we’ll continue to investigate the cause of death.”

Holman was taken to the Marion County Jail and charged with felony possession of marijuana, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.

Joe VanHoose may be reached at joe.vanhoose@starbanner.com or 867-4124.