Seidman, neighbors said, was a father figure to the younger man. The two met, according to neighbors, at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where Seidman worked for 40 years in the laundry unit before retiring in 2009. They were often seen together grocery shopping, bowling, and going to the movies and church.
Neighbors said they did not know where the younger man lived and had not seen him since Seidman's body was discovered.
The young man alerted neighbor Dolores Kelly that something was wrong late Wednesday afternoon.
Kelly was in her apartment down the hall from Seidman's when she heard pounding at her door and John screaming, "Murray's dead! Call the police!"
When she opened her door, she said, John collapsed to his knees in her living room and began beating the wood floors with his fists.
"There was blood everywhere," she quoted him as saying. "My best friend is dead."
Kelly, 50, and two other neighbors, Alan Abbonizio, 57, and Tammy Walkingstick Riley, 43, said Seidman kept to himself but was personable.
Kelly recalled passing him in the hallway on Jan. 7.
She said that Seidman walked everywhere and that a nearby Dunkin' Donuts shop and Doyle's Deli were two of his favorite stops.
Abbonizio recalled spending Christmas Eve with Kelly in Seidman's apartment watching wrestling on TV. It was Seidman's favorite sport, he said.
"We were laughing and having a nice time," Abbonizio said.
At Mercy Fitzgerald, the mood was somber as former co-workers learned of Seidman's death.
"He was a landmark in the hospital, having worked here for half the hospital's existence," spokeswoman Bernice Manallo Ho said. "Everybody liked him. He was just a very nice man."
Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149 or mschaefer@phillynews.com.
