By Steve Mosco
The rotting remains of an unidentified woman were found in the attic of a Richmond Hill residence Saturday — weeks after a man killed himself in the same house, according to police.
Authorities said when relatives of Devendra Autar, 32, found his body hanging from a pull-up bar July 20, a note reading “Hell is waiting for me” was also found written on a piece of paper.
When the suicide victim’s brother, Devchand Autar, a police officer with the 111th Precinct in Bayside, returned to the house to pack his brother’s belongings, a foul stench led him to what could have been the reason for Devendra’s morbid scrawl.
According to the NYPD, Devchand discovered the woman’s corpse, wrapped in plastic and stuffed into a plastic container. Police said the medical examiner found the woman had been stabbed 22 times in the neck and torso, had numerous tattoos and stood between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8. The medical examiner also said the victim’s race could not be determined because of the condition of the body.
A day after the grim discovery, a car without license plates sat on the front lawn, the only reminder someone once lived in the house as its windows were all open wide, presumably to air out the stench of death.
Neighbors of the house, on the Van Wyck Expressway service road, were shocked and dismayed when told another victim was found in the house’s attic.
“I’ve lived here for 10 years and I could never imagine anything like this ever happening,” said Kamla Lelchand, who remembered seeing Devendra Autar but could not recall anything of significance about him. “Besides the traffic [from the Van Wyck], this is a very quiet neighborhood. To hear this, it is just so sad.”
Another neighbor, David Singh, recalled Autar as a man who always waved hello.
“I’d see him and we’d wave,” said Singh. “He was pleasant. I don’t know what happened that would make him kill himself or maybe even another person. I can’t believe this.”
Reach reporter Steve Mosco by e-mail at smosco@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
