Bloody saw found from decapitated DJ proves murder, family claims – but police say death 'undetermined and dog dismembered him'

THE family of a beloved DJ who was found beheaded in his home are still searching for answers about his death, which remains unexplained.

Ricky Buchanan, 59, was found decapitated in his Memphis home on Jan. 24 – his pants were pulled down to his ankles, his jacket was zipped above the neck area and his head was about eight feet from his body, he said his older brother told The US Sun.

9

9

9

John Buchanan remembered that cold January morning when he received a worrying call from his brother's neighbor.

“I got a call when I found him. The neighbor across the street called and said, “There's something wrong.” “Ricky's dog has been on the porch for about three hours and he'll never do that,” John said.

“I jumped in my truck and drove there, and that’s when I found everything that contributed.”

John remembered entering his brother's one-story house and finding the back door open and off its hinges.

“There was no heat, so it was freezing in there,” the brother told The US Sun.

“When I found him, I originally thought it was so cold that he pulled his jacket over his head because I picked it up and it felt like a mannequin. She was so light.”

“I thought, what have I found? It’s not a body until I turned him over and saw his hands, and then I thought I’d unzip his jacket.”

“And when I unzipped his jacket, I noticed his head was cut off, and then when I looked up, I saw him about eight feet across the room.”

John immediately called Memphis police and broke the news to his daughters, who rushed to the scene.

DJ SLICK RICK

Ricky Buchanan was a well-known musician in the Raleigh neighborhood of Memphis, where he entertained patrons at his mother's bar under the name Slick Rick, without being related to the rapper who shares the same nickname.

For decades, the mother and son tandem owned and operated The Stage Shop, a live music bar where Buchanan often performed and DJed.

“[Rick] was her baby. “They were workmates,” John added.

“She was running the club and he was DJing and I’m the big guy in the family – I’m 6ft 3in and 250lbs, so I opened the door.”

Three months after Buchanan's body was found, his mother, Nita Makris, died.

“She didn’t do it until about a month after he died because it just broke her heart. She just laid down and starved to death,” John said.

“She was lying in her bed. The depression had taken over. We had to watch her slowly fade away,” Ashley Shea, John’s daughter and Buchanan’s niece, told The US Sun.

9

BLOODY SAW

Days after Memphis police returned Buchanan's home to the family, Shea was stunned to discover a bloody saw blade lying right next to her uncle's body.

“When I saw it, I knew immediately what it was,” Shea said.

The coarse-serrated blade, described as a handmade 12-inch straight saw knife with tape wrapped around the handle, was located 2 feet from where Buchanan's body was located.

“There was hair and blood on it,” she added.

John and Shea believe the saw knife was used to decapitate their family member.

“They killed him,” John insisted.

“Someone held his legs, sat on his back, pulled his head back and cut him open because the blood wouldn't run down his shirt.

“It squirted out. It popped out about two to three feet away from him.”

John believes his brother was murdered after the suspects ransacked his house.

“The way his pants were pulled down, both pockets were pulled out and a bean bag was cut open, it was like they were looking for something,” he suspects.

“It seemed like a planned ambush thing,” Shea added.

“He still had his keys in his hand, he still had his jacket on, like it didn't look like he was just hanging around the house.”

“Maybe they were waiting for him inside because his house is set up so that if you come in the front or back door you can't see the bedrooms or anything like that. You have to go all the way down.”

9

9

“Undetermined” death

Memphis police declined to comment to The US Sun when asked about the saw blade found at the home after investigators cleared the crime scene.

Police ruled Buchanan's death was undetermined but said the investigation was ongoing.

An autopsy report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center suggested Buchanan may have died of an accidental drug overdose.

Buchanan was found to have traces of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in his body.

The report also outlined a likely scenario of how Buchanan was beheaded.

“The most likely scenario is an accidental drug overdose resulting in death, followed by a necropsy by the deceased’s dog,” the autopsy states.

[Lucky] was 14 and had been with Rick since he was a puppy and was a trained service animal. He didn't cause his death.

Ashley Shea.

However, foul play could not be definitively ruled out.

“Based on all currently known investigative information, autopsies, examinations, forensic, anthropological investigations, toxicology analyses, and the circumstances surrounding and leading to the death, the cause of death is best classified as indeterminate (undetermined),” it said in the communication report.

“Foul play resulting in mechanical decapitation or other injuries prior to death could not be ruled out.”

Dog feces found at the scene tested positive for bone fragments, the autopsy report said.

9

9

Ashley Shea criticized the assessment, saying her uncle had his dog Lucky because he was still a puppy and a certified service dog.

“[Lucky] was 14 and had been with Rick since he was a puppy and was a trained service animal. He did not cause his death,” Shea told The US Sun.

“[Lucky] never left his side. If he ate him, it was after the fact. He's an animal and we have no idea how long Rick was gone.

“So, I don’t blame the dog, but because he’s a pit bull, they get a bad reputation.”

“But the force a dog would have to use to cut off a head would have resulted in its body being dragged all over the place and not in the same place.”

“[Police] put him in jail, dog prison, and we had to go to court and the judge apologized and said he was the 'best dog we ever had'.”

“Lots of room for doubt”

The family said there are still many unanswered questions and hopes a proper investigation will be conducted.

“There is so much room for doubt as they never secure the crime scene. “I found that the ‘weapon’ and protocol were not thoroughly followed,” Shea alleged.

“I just feel [police] They should have handled it differently from the start and they need to take some responsibility.”

John said he didn't hear any alarming signs from his brother when he last spoke to him.

He was a kind-hearted man. The last thing he said to me was to pray for him every day.

Trapper Ellis.

Memphis was hit by a snowstorm the week of Jan. 15 that paralyzed the city, John said.

“I called him that Monday [January 15] to make sure he was okay. For a whole week no one went out because it snowed about 10 inches and everything was closed,” he told The US Sun.

“And the following Monday we came back to work [January 22] when everything started melting and so on, and the lady saw the dog on the porch that Wednesday [January 24].

“So I don't know that it could have been anywhere between that Monday of the week before and that Wednesday, but everyone thinks he was there for three or four days or more.”

“And since it was so cold, it would have saved him longer because the back door was completely off its hinges.”

Trapper Ellis, a longtime friend of Buchanan, still remembers his childhood friend nearly nine months after his death.

“Rich was like my uncle to me. I've known him all my life. We worked at the fair together,” Ellis told The US Sun.

“Back then he had a Porsche and we drove around chasing women.

“He was a professional mountain bike rider and also did celebrity fitness training – truly a personality.”

“He was a kind-hearted man. The last thing he said to me was to pray for him every day.”

“I still think about him. He will be missed and hopefully justice will be served.”