Why would they do that? To garner sympathy by looking as though they were on the defense? [it seems a risky move. Kaoru gently places Dave's head back down.]

There is also the matter of whether the wounds or the fall came first, and why such excessive damage was caused if we presume Mr. Strider was unconscious from early on... [a gesture toward the bruising along Dave's front.] And the bruising here might be a result of blood pooling on the side he laid on after death rather than damage from a fall, but so many broken bones would suggest a fall from above the first floor, correct? In which case the attacker would have needed to carry him up to the second or third floor to drop him, unless they threw him down with enough force to imitate a higher drop.