TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto police say a 65-year-old man found dead in the Ossington Avenue and Dupont Street area Saturday evening was murdered.

CityNews reports EMS responded to a fire at 117 Melville Ave. just before 10 p.m. Saturday night, where they located Jose Ignacio Ortiz, of Toronto, in the basement without any vital signs.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police updated the media Tuesday, saying the case has become a homicide investigation.

“After a post-mortem on (Monday), the cause of death was found to be blunt force trauma,” said Det.-Sgt. Pauline Gray.

At the time, it wasn’t clear if Ortiz’s death was directly related to the fire. Toronto Fire had responded to the scene due to a report of a natural gas smell in the area.

Gray said Ortiz, originally from Ecuador, was well known in his community.

Anyone with information on this incident is being asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

This is Toronto’s fourth homicide of 2013.