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NEW YORK: Manhattan man found murdered in sex gone wrong game was studying for Episcopal priesthood
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
March 5, 2012
A 57-year old businessman, who was found dead, bound and gagged in a ransacked apartment following a “sex game gone wrong", was a committed churchgoer and studying to become an Episcopal priest.
John Laubach was was found murdered in his Chelsea bedroom -- duct tape across his mouth, his hands bound and a towel draped over his head. He was wearing only a white T-shirt, with an electrical cord lashed around his wrists, when his body was discovered Friday night by his best friend inside his fourth-floor apartment on W. 22nd St. Laubach limped after suffering a stroke and was often seen with his pet cockatoo perched on his shoulder.
An article in the “New York Post” said Laubach often met young men for sex. Laubach apparently was a committed churchgoer who attended Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue every week and he was studying to be an Episcopal priest. H ande often volunteered to help out at services.
A VOL reader said, “Once I saw that he had a fondness for lots of sex with anonymous men and went to church, I was afraid I knew what church denomination he was a member of.”
Newspaper headlines ran: “Manhattan man found murdered, gagged and bound, in Chelsea -- Gruesome discovery stunned neighbors”
Neighbors and friends of John Laubach, 57, were stunned to learn of the quiet man’s violent death. , and policePolice were are still hunting for suspects in the killing.
Laubach’s death stood in stark contrast with his volunteer work at Church of the Ascension on Fifth Ave., where he routinely helped with preparations for the 9 a.m. Sunday service.
“He’s a very, very dedicated person,” said church sexton Len Bowman, 59, who first met Laubach six years ago. “You could tell the church was his family.”
The insurance business executive would handle everything from floral arrangements to setting up the chalice, wine and water for the celebrant.
According to newspaper reports, Laubach’s ties to the church dated date back to his days living on Fifth Ave. before selling his old place and moving to the Chelsea studio apartment. He always came to the church unaccompanied.
There was no sign of forced entry at the victim’s apartment, indicating Laubach perhaps knew his killer, police sources said.
Neighbors said Laubach, a former Baltimore resident, lived alone with his pet cockatoo, Bolo. The white bird, known for sitting on its owner’s shoulder as he walked around the building, was heard squawking in the apartment hours after the killing.
Sources said detectives are poring over Laubach’s cellphone and computer records to learn whom he was talking to before he was killed, and are exploring the theory that one of his hookups may have resulted in his death.
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