Cops: North Huntingdon chiropractor killed at his office

After a North Huntingdon chiropractor was found dead in his office 30 minutes before it opened, investigators quickly suspected foul play.

Five days later, township and county officials publicly commented on the case — now considered a homicide.

An employee discovered the body of David S. Bailey, 54, at 8:30 a.m. Friday in his Parkway Drive office. That was eight days after he apparently did not show up at a federal court hearing seeking the payment of back employment taxes.

“The investigation started on Friday, over the weekend is when the autopsy was performed, forensic evidence was reviewed by the investigators,” North Huntingdon police Chief Robert Rizzo said Wednesday. “Initially, the death was ruled suspicious. After the review of all that evidence, it was determined it was moving to a homicide investigation.”

Police would not say how Bailey died. No one else was ever in danger, according to Rizzo and Mike Brajdich, chief Westmoreland County detective. Both declined to discuss suspects. No charges have been filed.

“Investigators never believed there was an … immediate community threat,” Rizzo said.

Toxicology results will take several weeks, Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha said.

“It is very active, there’s a lot to it,” Rizzo said. “There’s four detectives working it actively, and they’re putting a lot of hours in.”

Police said they did not notify the public of the death until Wednesday, after they were sure it was a homicide. Bacha said police asked his office to hold off on issuing a news release about Bailey’s death.

Federal court records show Bailey’s business was in danger of being shut down because he owed $325,000 in employment taxes as of Aug. 10, 2018. The Internal Revenue Service had been trying since 2008 to bring the business into compliance, but court filings said the “pattern of behavior” continued into recent years, leading the agency to seek a permanent injunction in April 2018.

That injunction was granted four months later. Bailey was ordered to start paying taxes and file quarterly returns.

He failed to show up for a federal hearing in Pittsburgh on Nov. 21. Prosecutors filed a proposed order in the case six days later, asking a judge to hold him in contempt and shut down the chiropractic business. That order had not been signed by a judge.

Bailey had been in business since 1998, according to federal filings.

M&T Bank in June filed a mortgage foreclosure action in Westmoreland County court on the business property. No payments have been made since Aug. 1, 2018, according to the filing.

A lien filed by the IRS in county court in July showed that Bailey owed $19,910 in income taxes.

A woman who answered the door at Bailey’s Hempfield home Wednesday declined to comment. Family members could not be reached.

A bouquet of yellow flowers sat in the mailbox at the closed business Wednesday.

Bailey was a 1983 Norwin Senior High School graduate, according to his obituary. He is survived by his wife and three sons.

Anyone with information about his death is asked to call township police at 724-863-8800.