Police launched a criminal investigation into the death of the University of Hong Kong student Joseph 'Joey' Basha after it emerged that his wallet and phone were still missing more than a week after his body was found, and amid family concerns over the initial explanation of how he died.
'My brother is not a drug addict. He is not a heroin user,' his sister Dr Jacqueline Berenson said. 'He may be a party kid ... but he would not inject himself. He wouldn't commit suicide.' Berenson is a forensic psychiatrist at Columbia University in New York City.
The 25-year-old Canadian was found slumped on a public toilet in Yau Ma Tei near his home last Wednesday, 48 hours before he was reported missing. A yellow nylon belt was around his upper left arm and two fresh needle marks were on his left forearm. Basha was left handed.
A needle was found on the floor on the right hand side of his body and there were no old injection marks, according to a detective working on the case.
Friends and family were informed of his death only this Tuesday - six days after his body was found.
Autopsy results showed that the master's student, who also played in a local indie band, had small bruises on the back of his head.
The cause of death is yet to be determined, but police say the bruises, which measure 4cm by 0.8cm at most, are too superficial to be the cause of his death.