A half-naked British man was found dead at a Spanish airport with a slice of ham on each buttock and his genitals in a can of tuna – a death authorities mused may have involved “foul play.”
Steven Allford, 51, was discovered face-down on a bench outside Malaga’s airport, with his hands and feet bound by cables and his pants pulled down, the Mirror of the UK reported.
Preliminary tests indicated he died of asphyxiation when he choked on his vomit after drinking booze, the paper reported.
“There were no obvious signs of violence on his body but the position he was found in suggested foul play,” a source told The Daily Mail. “It is not known if what happened was done after or before death.”
Detectives were trying to find out if the ham was placed on his exposed derrière as a sick prank after he had died. Police also said he may have been taunted or sexually assaulted.
Authorities were reviewing surveillance video to search for clues in the bizarre case.
Allford — who had suffered from schizophrenia and alcoholism — had regularly begged for money in the area, which is frequented by the homeless, Spanish media reported.
He also may have been the victim of hobophobia, a fear or hostility toward the homeless, according to the Hatento Observatory, which investigates prejudice against vagrants.
His body reeked of booze and several empty bottles of alcohol were found nearby, the Mirror reported.
A cart near his body contained documents that helped cops identify him.
It was not known where in the UK Allford was originally from and police were trying to establish whether he had missed a flight home.
Malaga Airport, Spain’s fourth-biggest, serves 14 million passengers a year.