The New York Police Department is searching for a man accused of performing sexual acts on a corpse while traveling on the Manhattan subway last week.
The man reportedly performed the acts on a man who passed away while riding the R train, law enforcement sources told NBC New York, several hours before the attack began.
“The unidentified individual had sexual contact with an unconscious and unresponsive adult male” and then fled on foot, the police department said in a press release.
While reports indicate police are still investigating the cause of death, the New York Post claimed initial beliefs are the victim died of natural causes. Police are, however, seeking to speak to a woman who handed the victim a cigarette shortly before he died, who allegedly rummaged through the victim’s pockets, police sources told the New York Post.
Investigations began after the victim’s body was discovered on the train at Whitehall Station early on Wednesday. Police later reviewed the train’s footage, which is where they found footage of the body being violated.
The sources told NBC the attacker waited for the train to empty before carrying out the abuse, which was said to last several minutes, including the time it took to move the victim from his seat onto the floor.
What is known about the alleged necrophiliac?
The accused attacker also rummaged through the victim’s pockets, The New York Times reported.
The accused necrophiliac’s brother told the New York Post that his sibling is a heroin addict who was released from prison only months prior. The accused’s brother did not believe the allegations.
“I haven’t seen him in a few days. He started staying out late. He has never done anything like this in his life — not what they said he did. I don’t think that he did that. He’s not that type of person,” the brother told the New York Post. “They said he took his thing out and put it in the guy’s … yeah, I don’t think he did that; he’s not a pervert.”
“They’re saying the police need to do a better investigation because my brother is not like that. No matter how bad the heroin addiction is, he’s not like that,” he insisted.