NEW YORK -- Autopsies were performed Tuesday on a mysterious Indian 'prince' and his wealthy Brazilian-born wife who were found dead Monday in their blood-splattered Park Avenue apartment.
Police authorities said the medical examinations would determine whether they were dealing with two murders or a murder-suicide, but the chief medical examiner's office said results would be delayed because further study was needed.
The dead victims were Chitresh Rao Khedker, who called himself Prince Khedker of Khed Anjanvel, 57, and his wife, Princess Nenescha, about 72. Tenants in the posh apartment house at East 60st Street with 24-hour doormen described them as quiet, although Khedker was a somewhat flamboyant personality, and apparently devoted to each other.
The Khedkers were last seen Friday afternoon and had been dead for some time, police said. The bodies were found after the family maid who let herself into the apartment with her own key at 10:20 a.m. Monday.
The handsome prince, who fancied velvet smoking jackets in jewel colors with gold buttons, was found face down in a pool of blood in the living room and the body of his wife was discovered at the foot of the bed in the living room. Both were fully dressed.
The prince suffered neck wound, possibly caused by a bullet or knife, although neither weapon was found. There were no wounds on his wife's body.
'There was a considerable amount of blood on him,' Hill said. 'You could see they were dead for some time.'
It did not appear that assailants had forced their way into the apartment, Hill said, but the apartment had been ransacked. Police said the ransacking may have been staged, adding that they had no immediate motive if indeed the deaths were murders.
'It's all open until we find the cause of death of the woman,' Hill said.
Police said the petite, attractive princess had been married to Max Hoffman, a wealthy shoe manufacturer with a factory in Brazil, but divorced him before marrying the prince about 10 years ago.
She had lived in the Park Avenue apartment during her first marriage and appeared to be wealthy in her own right. She appeared at society events in couture gowns and important jewels and made it clear she liked being called 'princess.'
Khedker, known as 'Prince Teddy' to his socialite friends, was something of a mystery. His title was suspect by the Indian community in New York, since Ked Anjanvel is a village south of Bombay and was not a principality in former imperial India, and his business interests also were vague.
But he appeared successful and meticulously well-groomed, drove about in smart sports cars, belonged to the exclusive Lotos Club, and shared a large colonial home with his wife in Littleton, N.H. He and the princess authored a book on bridge several years ago.
Khedker claimed to have investments in oil that took him often to Calgary, Alberta, and interests in various industries in India and the United States. In recent years he engineered a deal to sell helicopters to Portugal but it fell through, as did an announced plan to bankroll a new line of clothing by designer Gene Meyer.
'He never came up with the money,' said one of Meyer's associates. 'It was all talk.'
