Gregory Lange, the 64-year-old man from Arouca who police originally believed died in a sex act was in fact murdered.Detectives of the Region Two Homicide Bureau reclassified his death yesterday after an autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov showed he was strangled and beaten to death.Alexandrov, in a telephone interview yesterday evening, said ligature marks on his neck and blunt-force trauma to his head showed his strangulation was not self-inflicted.
"His eyes were bloody and he was most likely beaten with a simple weapon, such as a fist," Alexandrov said.Lange, who worked at Optometrists Today, was found by colleagues who went to his home at Albert Street, Arouca, after he failed to show up at work on Monday and did not answer his cellphone.Alexandrov said yesterday the friends who found him made a "terrible mistake" when they removed the belt they found wrapped around his neck and the clothing used to bind his hands behind his back.
He said he had asked crime scene investigators for these pieces of evidence so he could recreate the crime scene to complete his post-mortem report. He also took swabs from Lange's body to determine if he was sexually assaulted, as first suspected by investigators.Insp Mark Maharaj and Sgt Rene Katwaroo of the Northern Division are continuing investigations.