Metro

Chelsea man found slain in ransacked apartment

The body of John Laubach was removed from his apartment early Saturday.

The body of John Laubach was removed from his apartment early Saturday. (Christopher Sadowski)

A Chelsea man was found slain in his apartment last night with his arms and feet bound and duct tape over his mouth, law enforcement sources said.

Officers found John Laubach, 57, at 7:53 p.m. in his home at 212 West 22nd Street, police said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Laubach was killed but his hands were bound with duct tape and tied to a bedpost with an electrical cord, sources said. Laubach’s feet were also bound and his face was covered with a towel.

He was found wearing only a white undershirt.

There were no signs of forced entry to the apartment, which had been ransacked.

A female friend went to Laubach’s fourth floor apartment to check on him after he didn’t answer his phone, and called 911 after finding the victim unconscious, said sources.

“I always saw him walking around with a parrot on his shoulder,” said a neighbor. “He looked like Mel Brooks — just better looking.”

Sources believe Laubach, a Maryland native who moved to West 22nd Street after selling his Fifth Avenue apartment about 18 months ago, was formerly a company CEO and had business and personal interests overseas.

Erika Medina, worker at Champignon Cafe, just around corner from the apartment called the man a “regular customer.”

“Everyone knew him because of the parrot.”

Bob Clemens, 57, who has lived in Laubach’s West 22nd Street building for 20 years, said Laubach and his female friend had a close relationship.

“They went to church every Sunday,” Clemens said. “They came to my Christmas party. They were totally cool and fun.”

Other neighborhood regulars recall him sitting on a bench outside this cafe with the bird, named Bolo, on his shoulder.

Laubach’s former neighbors on Fifth Avenue, where Laubach sold a one bedroom apartment for $650,000 in July 2010, described him as an outgoing person who had frequent male visitors, and regularly attended a nearby church. Laubach health problems in the past, including two strokes.

“He was very friendly, quiet, respectful,” one man said.

Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts