Man charged in bloody bathtub murder in Midtown
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A man has been arrested and is facing murder charges in connection with a man whose body was found in a bloody bathtub in Midtown.
Jeffrey Wong, 41, was arraigned and ordered held without bail in the death of Khemraj Singh, 47. Wong was caught on surveillance video leaving a bar with Singh.
He had told detectives he walked Singh home, but did not admit to the killing.
Singh was found dead in his bathtub inside his West 48th Street apartment Wednesday. He was in the tub, with a shower curtain draped over him. Bloody scissors were found in another room. There was no forced entry.
According to the autopsy, Singh's cause of death was "a puncture wound to the left side of the neck which cut the carotid artery, and that there were over six additional stab and puncture wounds to the back, torso, face, neck and hands, as well as bruising to the face and chest, and hemorrhaging to the eyes and signs of compression to the neck."
The autopsy results contradicted Wong's claims to detectives "that if Singh had been stabbed, it was because he must have fallen on the knife in the bathtub."
According to Wong's version, he "went home with Khemraj Singh...to do cocaine and that Singh came out of the bedroom naked, that defendant attempted to leave, that Singh pulled out a knife, that defendant struggled with the victim and pushed him into the bathtub and began punching him."
Prosecutors said in court it was a strong murder case, downplaying Wong's version of the events. But they did not provide a motive for the brutal murder.
In 1996, Wong stabbed a man in the head in Manhattan and served four years in prison. He was released in June 2000, but then returned to prison for four months in 2002 on a parole violation, records show.
Detectives said they believe Wong placed the victim in the bathtub to make it appear to be an accident.
Singh served on Community Board 4 and local political groups like the McMannus Democratic Club.
Wong is due back in court on October 22.
