A professor of psychology at the New School for Social Research was found dead in the basement of his Brooklyn home on Monday night, and officers arrested a man hiding in a closet on a murder charge, the police said.

The officers were responding to a 911 call of a burglary at the two-story home of the professor, Jeremy Safran, in the Prospect Park South neighborhood at about 6 p.m. They found Mr. Safran, 66, unconscious in the basement with severe wounds to his head and body, a bloody hammer lying nearby, the police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Searching the basement, the police discovered a 28-year-old man, Mirzo Atadzhanov, inside a closet. He was charged with murder and burglary.

Dermot Shea, the New York Police Department chief of detectives, said at a news conference on Tuesday the police were still trying to discern a motive for the killing. It was unclear if Mr. Atadzhanov knew Mr. Safran.