Elderly man found stabbed to death in Torresdale

An elderly man was found slain yesterday afternoon in his Torresdale apartment with multiple stab wounds, police said.

The 78-year-old man, identified by homicide unit Lt. Mel Williams as Michael Lopuskanski, was found just after 1:45 p.m., lying face-up - and clad only in a white T-shirt - on the living room floor of his second-floor residence on Linden Avenue near Frankford.

The apartment, which is above a family member's unit, was not ransacked, nor were there signs of forced entry, said Sgt. Tim Cooney, of the Homicide Unit.

The victim, who had a number of medical issues, according to Cooney, had wounds to the upper back, the right side of his face and along the right side of his neck.

The victim was found dead after he missed an appointment with his sister, police said.

Neighbors said they rarely saw the man, if at all, outside his residence. But they knew he relied on oxygen tanks because they had seen him use an oxygen mask, and one neighbor saw a truck delivering tanks to the duplex.

Police had not yet determined a motive for the attack, or named any suspects. However, a 31-year-old neighbor, who did not want to give her name, said she saw the victim in a heated conversation with an unidentified youth on Friday.

The youth was standing on the small front lawn underneath the victim's second-floor porch, the neighbor said. "The older guy was saying, 'How much more money do you want from me?' or 'I already gave you. Get out of here,' " the neighbor said. She said she saw the young man walking south on Frankford shortly after.

Another woman, 37, said she saw the youth about noon yesterday as she swept her property.

He greeted her with "Have a nice day," she said. *

Staff writer Gloria Campisi contributed to this report.