Man's body found in Beacon Hill fire

The body found in a Beacon Hill backyard Wednesday night belonged to a 57-year-old man who appears to have been stabbed multiple times, according to Seattle police.

The man's body was discovered when Seattle firefighters responded to a house fire in the 2300 block of Beacon Avenue South at 6:45 p.m., said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb. His death is being investigated as a homicide and police are treating the fire as an arson, he said.

Whitcomb declined to say whether the 57-year-old had lived at the house.

He said the suspect remains unknown and at large.

The man's death is the city's 29th homicide so far this year, Whitcomb said. According to police crime data, there were 24 homicides in Seattle in 2004, a 40-year low. In 2003, police investigated 34 homicides.