A former World Trade Center worker who left his job shortly before the 9/11 attacks has died after being beaten by three teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida, police say. Roger Borkum, 64, a widower from Long Island who was homeless at the time, was found with severe head injuries just before midnight on October 19.
According to an arrest report, the trio attacked Borkum three times between 9:44 p.m. and 10:48 p.m. on Hogan Street, and were seen rummaging through his backpack. After the second assault, a witness called Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, who found Borkum unharmed and left. The suspects then returned for a third attack, after which another witness called 911. Borkum was found in a pool of blood, with a trail leading down the sidewalk.
Borkum died in hospital four days later. Authorities arrested Justin Curry, now 13, Marcavion Lacey, 19, and Robert Pope, 17, within hours of the attack. They were indicted on murder charges on November 20.
One of the suspects reportedly told investigators the attack was triggered because Borkum had “dissed” their “dead homies.”
Borkum’s obituary noted that he “narrowly escaped death” when a consulting job ended in late July 2001. He had been working on the 77th floor of Tower 1 at the World Trade Center and was laid off two months before the attacks. A programmer, he built a consulting business and created a calendar app for Lotus Notes. His wife, Celeste, died in 2009 during a humanitarian mission in Africa.
