Lifelong Saline resident Robert Green never gave up his dream of writing a hit song.
Even at the age of 63, he remained dogged and undeterred in his pursuit and passion, writing more than 122 songs in the past year alone.
"He was always in love with music," said his daughter, Jennifer Green. "He was determined to sell at least one song. He'd been trying his whole life to get one hit out there."
That dream ended on Monday when he was found dead in his Sheffield Square home, the victim of a brutal fatal assault.
Jennifer Green had come to her father's home around 3 p.m. to pick him up with plans to paint her bathroom when she found him dead in the basement.
"I can't get it out of my mind," she said. "I couldn't believe my eyes. There was blood everywhere. It was unbelievably horrible."
No more than 24 hours after Jennifer Green's tragic discovery, Saline Police announced that a 33-year-old Superior Township man had confessed to killing Green, the first murder in Saline since 1981.
"After a lengthy investigation and extensive interviews, the man confessed to his involvement in the death," Saline Police Detective Don Lupi said Tuesday.
Police withheld the identity of the suspect pending his arraignment Wednesday in Washtenaw County 14A District Court at 1 p.m., which is after the newspaper's deadline.
The man was identified among others as a possible suspect through interviews with Green's family and friends, prompting police to issue a countywide bulletin on the suspect's vehicle.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies came across the vehicle in Ypsilanti Township near Michigan Avenue and Harris Street, and arrested the Superior Township man without incident. He was wanted on several unrelated warrants, including charges of car theft, nonpayment of child support and traffic offenses, said Sheriff's Cmdr. Dave Egeler.
The suspect was taken into custody and held in the Washtenaw County Jail, where he was questioned by police.
In a news release, Saline Police said "further evidence was discovered (at the time of the arrest) pointing to his possible involvement in the homicide. But they would not provide details on the nature of the evidence.
The man, whom Green knew, appeared to have acted alone, said Lupi, declining to disclose details on the motive.
Autopsy results released Tuesday by the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner confirmed that Green had died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Green was struck multiple times, Lupi said. Police were still searching for the murder weapon as of Wednesday.
The Michigan State Police Crime Lab assisted with the investigation, arriving at Green's home shortly after 5 p.m. and remaining well into the night.
"This investigation, which is ongoing, was the combined effort on the part of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, the Saline Police, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department and the Ann Arbor Police," Saline Deputy Chief Jack Ceo said Tuesday. "It was a very good effort on the part of all the agencies."
Sheffield Square neighbors described Green as a "nice guy," who was quiet, fastidious about his townhouse and Ford Ranger pickup truck, and carried aspirations of writing a hit country music song someday.
"He was such a nice guy," said Cindy Telfer, a neighbor Green had asked to help transcribe some of his handwritten song lyrics.
Green lived alone in Sheffield Square for more than five years with his dog, a Chinese Shar Pei mix named Bailey.
Several neighbors expressed surprise to police that the dog had not barked during the murder.
"That was important to the investigation," Lupi said later. "The dog wouldn't have let a stranger in the house and that's why we had a feeling it was someone he knew."
Neighbors said Green, a 1962 graduate of Saline High School who occasionally did painting and other handyman jobs, often could be found sweeping his sidewalk and parking area, and cleaning his truck. Music was often heard coming from his townhouse as Green played his songs on the keyboard, neighbors said.
"He was the neatest, most organized person I've ever met," said Graig Austin, a neighbor of Green's since 2005. "He kind of kept to himself, but in the summer when it was warm he would talk you up about everything."
That, said Jennifer Green and her brother Jason Louden, was their dad.
"He loved to talk," Jennifer Green said. "He would spend a lot of time at Mark's Midtown Coney Island, just talking to people. He loved people. He would have done anything for anybody. My dad would give anyone the shirt off his back."
"If he had 20 bucks in his pocket, he'd give it to you and be broke," Louden said. "He pretty much never thought of himself."
Remembered as an "easy-going, happy-go-lucky guy" who loved jokes and got along with almost everyone, Green wasn't taken with material possessions, preferring to spend his time tinkering, talking with countless acquaintances, writing his music and being with his four children and five granddaughters.
"The happiest times he had were when he was at one of our houses," Louden said. "If he was around us, he was happy as could be."
"He would sing all the time to his granddaughters," Jennifer Green said. "He would say, 'Do you like this new song, girls?'"
Louden recalls his father singing to him and his friends when they were younger from a small stage he had set up in the basement.
"Songwriting and singing was just something he loved to do," Louden said. "He never gave up on his music. He was always gung-ho about that, sending stuff out constantly. He would say, 'You've got to have a dream or there's nothing worth living for.'"
Living his entire life in Saline and working as a house painter, Green's children are amazed by the number of people their father knew.
"This was his life, this town," said his daughter. "He loved to just drive around Saline, talking to people."
The small Sheffield Square neighborhood where Green lived was shaken Monday afternoon and late into the night as news of his murder quickly spread.
"What a waste," said Art Harmala, one of Green's neighbors. "He's just living his life, not bothering anybody and then he's gone."
"It was definitely unsettling," Austin said. "This kind of thing doesn't happen in Saline."
"It shakes you up," said Sharon Heft, a longtime resident of Sheffield Square who knew Green when he was a boy. "It's a sad, sad thing."
Green's family is still reeling from his violent death.
"It doesn't even feel like it's real," Louden said. "I don't know if it's really kicked in yet."
Funeral services for Green will be held 11 a.m. Feb. 4 at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Saline.
Saline Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious mid-day Monday to contact Lupi at 429-7911.
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