Belgian authorities investigating suspicious death of a famed gastro freeloader

BRUSSELS – Belgian authorities are investigating the death of an unrepentant gastronomic freeloader as a possible murder.

Two days after the father of Titus Clarysse found him dead in his apartment, investigators were looking on Thursday for suspects in what spokeswoman Annemie Sirlippens calls "a case of murder or manslaughter."

Clarysse was famed in and around the university town of Ghent for walking into any restaurant of his choosing, ordering anything from steak to lobsters and walking out without paying.

Sirlippens said "we are talking about 100 incidents spread over several convictions" and at least a half decade of gastronomic and financial excess.

Newspapers reported the 35-year-old was stabbed on Monday night. There was no immediate indication of the motive.