The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

AN elderly man was found by his neice hanging from a tree in the yard of his Palmdale home yesterday morning in what police have said is an apparent suicide.

Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander, officer-in-charge of the Central Detective Unit (CDU), said the deceased was discovered shortly after 10.30am hanging from a rope tied to a tree in the backyard of his Murphyville Road home off Rosetta Street. The man appeared to be in his early 70s, police said

Chief Supt Fernander said that according to preliminary inquiries by police, family members went out yesterday morning, leaving the deceased home alone. When his neice returned, she could not find him.

A subsequent search of the entire house and the yard resulted in him being found hanging from a tree.

Chief Supt Fernander said emergency medical services (EMS) personnel were subsequently called to the scene They later confirmed that the body showed no signs of life.

Chief Supt Fernander said there was “nothing to suggest foul play at this time.”

“There were no visible injuries to the body or nothing like that,” he added. “We are looking at a suicide at this stage. But we will wait for an autopsy and continue to do our inquiries.”

Chief Supt Fernander did not provide the man’s identity, but said: “We want to respect the family. We have a name, but we don’t want to release it yet.”

In June, a 48-year-old father of three was found hanged from the ceiling of a wooden shed attached to his Hillside Estates home.

According to police, the victim’s wife found him hanging from the rafters with an extension cord tied around his neck. At the time, Chief Supt Fernander said the man’s wife, after praying with her husband, went about “her normal routine getting ready for work” when she realised she had not seen her spouse for some time.

He said the wife went to check on her husband only to discover him hanging from a drop cord thrown over a rafter in the shed.

At the time, Chief Supt Fernander said police did not suspect foul play. He said the family of the deceased said he had been depressed for some time and was receiving counselling.