RIVER FALLS – Police located a deceased man covered in blood outside his River Falls apartment building Sept. 26. An autopsy determined the cause of death as accidental.

Gregory T. Nill, 63, lived at 1882 S. Main St. #1. Police were dispatched to the address at 9:47 a.m. when a neighbor found him outside hunched over. EMS also responded and confirmed Nill was deceased; he appeared to have been dead for several hours and was cold to the touch.

Investigators found a large amount of blood on the ground around Nill’s body in multiple locations, indicating he had been in different positions. It also appeared he had been underneath his vehicle for a time or that the vehicle had moved. Blood was also found on the door to his apartment, on his nearby work truck and personal vehicle, and inside his personal vehicle. The keys to his vehicle and resident were hanging on the back windshield wiper of his Chevy Equinox and his apartment door was locked.

When officers unlocked the apartment door, they found a large amount of blood throughout the bathroom and kitchen, and some blood in the living room. Paper towels covered in blood were scattered throughout the residence, which was highly cluttered. No one else was located inside and no signs of a struggle or foul play were present.

The medical examiner identified a deep, Y-shaped laceration near Nill’s ear. Though he had an empty knife sheath on his right hip, police believe Nill fell and hit his head on a table corner after finding a table that matched the laceration pattern. The table top and corner were also covered in blood. The ME identified damage to the superficial temporal artery, which explained the extensive blood loss. His skull showed no signs of fracture and no other injuries were present.

Police spoke to Nill’s neighbors to try to determine a timeline of events. One neighbor said she saw him around 5 or 6 p.m. the night before working on his truck. She said she heard his television turn on around that time and heard nothing unusual after dark. Another neighbor said he saw Nills in his vehicle at 9:30 p.m. the night before, and that he appeared to be moving around a lot inside it. He said Nill returned home around 12:20 a.m. and had difficulty parking the vehicle, hitting the curb multiple times. Another neighbor said he almost hit a wall near his parking spot, pulling forward and backing up multiple times. She didn’t see him exit the vehicle. Nill’s vehicle was seen on Flock cameras at 10:40 p.m. the night prior near 456 W. Spruce St.

Inside the home, police also found several empty vodka bottles scattered throughout.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Nill’s cause of death as head trauma from a fall. Manner of death was ruled accidental.

His brother said in a Facebook post that his passing is “a heartache.” He leaves behind one 1-year-old daughter, who lives in River Falls. His brother fondly remembered cutting down Christmas trees, attending Gopher football and Twins’ games, meals together and downhill and cross country skiing.

“I will miss our outings and I will deeply miss Greg. He was kind, with a good heart, and generous with his time,” his brother said.