BANGOR (AP) – The death of 51-year-old man whose body was found in his First Street apartment was labeled Thursday as a homicide.

An autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office determined that Thomas Forni died of multiple stab wounds.

Forni’s body was found Tuesday night and the death was initially termed suspicious. His name was withheld until Thursday after police contacted relatives.

The death came to light around the same time that police responded to a fight about a block away between two brothers in which one was hit with a baseball bat and the other was stabbed.

Investigators were seeking to determine whether the two cases were related.

“We’ve not been able to make a connection yet,” said Sgt. Paul Kenison. “Both are still being treated as separate incidents.”

Kenison said police have made no arrests in the Forni slaying. He would not speculate about a motive or say whether a weapon was found.

The investigation also continued into the fight at an apartment on Second Street between Walter Travis, 27, and his 18-year-old brother, James.

Walter Travis, who was under police guard at Eastern Maine Medical Center, faces a charge of elevated aggravated assault.

James Travis, who was released from the hospital after being treated for a 5-inch laceration on his head, told the Bangor Daily News that his brother attacked him with a baseball bat and he stabbed his brother several times in self-defense.

When the older brother left the building after the attack, he was bleeding from the abdomen and leaving a trail of blood to First Street, James Travis said.

Walter Travis has a long history of violence, his brother said, and he started displaying bizarre behavior during his last stretch in prison, where he served about two years for a probation violation on a burglary charge.

AP-ES-06-26-03 1650EDT



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