Actor found slain at home of Canada talk show host

AN actor has been found murdered at the rented home of Canadian talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos in the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles, police and the TV personality said.

The body of Richard Hong, 41, was found at the house by officers responding to reports of a burglary there on Friday morning, said Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.

“Officers were directed to a male, the apparent victim of a homicide,” Eisenman said, adding that witnesses reported seeing a man in a black jacket fleeing the area on foot.

That suspect remained at large on Friday evening despite a search of the neighbourhood using dogs and a helicopter.

The Los Angeles Times, citing a coroner’s spokesman, said the victim had sustained head trauma.

“Many of you have seen the reports of a homicide which occurred early this morning in the home I rent in Los Angeles,” Stroumboulopoulos, 44, said in a post on Twitter.

“I only have a few details but it seems like it was the result of a break-in. The victim was a dear friend of mine, who was staying at my place while I was away. I am heartbroken.”

Stroumboulopoulos said he was sending the message from a plane en route to Los Angeles from New York “so I can be with my friends there, who are also devastated”.

Stroumboulopoulos is best known as the host of the CBC talk show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. One of the country’s most famous TV presenters, he also served as the host of Hockey Night in Canada, a fixture of Canadian television, for two seasons.

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