Son Used Bleach to Clean Mother's Murder Scene: Report

A Pompano Beach man charged with beating his mother to death tried to clean the gruesome scene up with bleach, according to the arrest report read by a judge Friday.

Danny Martin, 30, is facing first-degree murder charges in the beating death of his mother, 48-year-old Heidi Mittica.

He was ordered held without bond in his first appearance in Broward court Friday.

Mittica's body was found Wednesday in the apartment she and Martin shared in the 100 block of N. Pompano Beach Boulevard after she didn't show up for work.

Mittica was "unresponsive on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, she had blood and bruising to her face," Broward Circuit Judge Jay Hurley said, reading from the arrest report. "She was pronounced dead by EMS on the scene a short time later."

Neighbors said they had heard a commotion coming from the apartment the night before, and witnesses said they saw Martin coming and going, Hurley said.

Another neighbor who was walking their dog also noticed a bleach smell coming from the apartment.

"It is alleged that you attempted to clean up the crime scene where there was blood with bleach on the couch, on the floor," Hurley said.

Police say Martin fled the scene in Mittica's BMW, and was later found in the car in Boca Raton. Inside the car were garbage bags consistent with the crime scene cleanup, Hurley said.

Martin had cuts on his face and hands as well as bruises on his hands sustained during the beating of Mittica, authorities said. Mittica had defensive wounds on her body, Hurley said.

Hurley said the coroner determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma.

Martin was being held without bond and said in court he had no attorney.

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