Death of Costa Mesa man investigated

Marisa O’Neil

Police are investigating the mysterious death of a man in a ransacked

Mesa Verde apartment.

Officers Tuesday morning found the decomposing body of a man later

identified as 33-year-old Steve Mark Muller, Costa Mesa police Sgt.

Jack Archer said.

Detectives originally considered the man’s death a possible

homicide because his apartment appeared to be ransacked, Archer said.

But an autopsy Wednesday showed no trauma and no obvious cause of

death, Orange County Supervising Deputy Coroner Rod Thomas said.

Police are investigating Muller’s death.

“We’re working it as suspicious because of the condition of his

apartment,” Archer said.

Officers went to the apartment in the 2700 block of Mesa Verde

East late Tuesday morning after receiving a call of a possible dead

body. A friend of Muller found him dead when he went to the apartment

to check on him, Archer said.

The body was badly decomposed, and it appeared he had been dead

for five to seven days, Archer said.

Muller was the only one who lived at the address, Archer said.

The friend was able to enter the apartment through the front door,

which was unlocked, Archer said.

An autopsy Wednesday showed no signs of trauma, and it didn’t

appear that Muller had been stabbed or shot, Archer said. Toxicology

tests will be done, but results won’t be available for about six

weeks, Thomas said.

Detectives believe that drugs may somehow be involved in the

death, Archer said.

Police are interested in the state of Muller’s apartment, Archer

said.

“We want to figure out: Did he do this before he died?” Archer

said. “Or did someone come in after, looking for something?”