Body of Baton Rouge therapist found in Tangipahoa Parish

TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (WAFB) - A well-known Baton Rouge mental health therapist was found murdered and wrapped in a tarp alongside a roadway in Tangipahoa Parish, investigators said.

Detectives say 69-year-old Dr. William Nicholas Abraham of Baton Rouge died in a “violent attack” with blunt force trauma to his head, neck and shoulders.

“It was a very physical and very violent attack,” said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker. “He was bludgeoned about in the head shoulders and neck. There was a lot of bruising what have you.”

Those who knew the therapist said they are stunned by his death.

“He was kind, loving, a gentle man, and frankly not the kind of man that something like this would’ve happened to,” Jarrett Ambeau said. “I’m absolutely devastated and completely surprised that something like that could’ve happened to a man who I believe to be so tender and so gentle and have such a service heart.”

The doctor’s stolen vehicle was recovered off Sherwood Forest Boulevard in Baton Rouge Monday afternoon. A person inside the vehicle crashed, got out, and took off on foot. That person was not apprehended.

Later on Monday evening, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office released pictures of a person of interest. Deputies said the individual was seen in store surveillance images and is the last known person to have been driving Abraham’s vehicle.

RELATED: Person of interest sought in homicide investigation of Baton Rouge therapist

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office says a passerby spotted the doctor’s body dumped along Highway 51 between Fluker and the Village of Tangipahoa Sunday morning. No weapon was found at the scene and investigators say they believe the murder happened elsewhere sometime Saturday, with his body later being dumped along the highway.

Monday afternoon, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker pleaded for the public’s help as they search for the killer. Sticker said his agency is seeking “any information that the public can give us to help us put the picture together of Saturday, Saturday evening before he was ultimately murdered - which we believe occurred sometime Saturday night.”

Deputies in Tangipahoa Parish say they are focusing on finding out where the homicide happened.

A search of the victim’s home in East Baton Rouge Parish found no indications that any crime had been committed there, investigators said.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Tangipahoa Parish Criminal Investigations Office at 985-902-2008. To remain anonymous, tipsters call Crime Stoppers of Tangipahoa’s tip line at 1-800-554-5245 or visit www.tangicrimestoppers.com.

“We’re just asking anybody in the public that knows our victim, if they saw him on Saturday evening anytime, please call the Tangipahoa Parish sheriff’s office or Crime Stoppers,” Sheriff Sticker said.

Visitation for Dr. Abraham is scheduled for Monday, October 7. It will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Clarksdale, Mississippi. A funeral mass will follow the visitation along with a reception at McKenna Hall.

Click here to report a typo.