Police carrying the Whatley’s body down the apartment stairs yesterday.
PENAMPANG: An American man was found dead in the master bedroom of a rented apartment on the second floor of a four-storey building in Jalan Penampang Bypass around noon yesterday.
The deceased, identified as Thomas Whatley, 60, was believed to have been dead for a few days before it was discovered by the apartment owner who did not wish to be identified.
The woman landlord said she was informed by her neighbours of a foul smell coming from the premises for the past couple of days.
“After I was informed by neighbours, I went to check and there was really a bad smell coming out of the apartment.
“Fearing something bad had happened, I immediately informed the Penampang police.
“It took the police a couple of minutes to break into the apartment and upon entering, we found the victim dead in the bedroom,” she said when met at the scene yesterday.
It is learnt that Whatley had rented apartment for nearly six months and the last time neighbours saw him was about a week ago.
Meanwhile, district police chief DSP Ratan Kumar Singh said police have ruled out foul play in the case and have classified it as sudden death.
He said the body was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a post-mortem and police would contact the victim’s next of kin.