Halifax Regional Police have identified a man whose body was found inside his south-end residence Sunday evening.
Officers responded to a rooming house in the 5200 block of South Street before 11 p.m. after 65-year-old David William Rose was found dead inside the home.
Sources tell CTV News a man who lives in the shared unit found Rose in a common kitchen area with a bag over his head.
Police say an autopsy has been conducted and Rose’s death has been ruled a homicide, but the cause of death will not be released.
Investigators have cleared the scene but flowers have popped up at the entrance of the rooming house.
Rose was originally from Newfoundland but had been living in the south end for several years.
Stephen Gates, a friend of the victim, says he spoke to Rose every day.
“I play the violin and he loves the violin. He was one of my strict critics,” says Gates.
“He was a wonderful guy. He had a big heart. He’d tell me ‘Steve, why don’t you open your eyes more when you play the violin. You’ll make more money.’”
Rose was a retired widower who suffered from diabetes. He walked with a cane and was hard of hearing.
Friends say he went to a local church regularly for meals, although he went more for the company than for the food.
“We are all really shocked and we’re going to miss him and we need more people like him around,” says Gates.
Police haven’t released a possible motive for the murder or say whether anything was taken from the home, but they don’t believe it was a random incident.
“We don’t believe this is random but the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police.
Rose’s death is the third homicide in Halifax so far this year.
