The nephew of a prominent Democratic senator was found murdered in his small Washington state town — lying in a pool of his own blood with a bloodstained wood-splitting ax nearby.
Bob Tester, 35, was found after his 8-year-old daughter called her grandmother to say her father had been killed.
It is believed Tester was murdered during a targeted home invasion in his Spangle, Washington, residence. Spangle is outside Spokane.
His daughter apparently interacted with her father’s killer — moments before the murder.
Court documents state: “The man told her to stay in bed because he was going to kill her dad,” NBC Montana reports.
“We do not believe that this was a random act,” said a spokesman from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department. “We do believe that the suspect knew the victim.”
One report indicated the home reeked of pot – and that Tester is believed to have been growing marijuana for local dispensaries.
Tester’s uncle is Jon Tester, the Democratic senator from Montana and the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to the Senate from across the country.
Sen. Tester’s office told the press “his family would prefer privacy during this difficult time.”
Bob Tester’s last Facebook posting — both ominous and self-reflective — reportedly was included in court documents.
“I stick to myself for a reason. Don’t do family bbqs for a reason… There’s gonna be some hard days ahead of us but i want you all to know that I was victimized by someone close to me. He took my best friend from me and turned her life into darkness, thru drugs and manipulation… Just understand why I roar when i do. Understand my agony,” Tester wrote on Facebook.