A Canadian man was stabbed to death in Progreso, Yucatán, on Friday in what police have called a “crime of passion.”

Bruce Ivan Allen, 70, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was killed Friday morning inside his rented apartment in the Gulf coast port city.

He received multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck, according to social media posts by friends of the victim.

A Mexican man known by the nickname “El Pelón” (Baldy) was arrested in connection with the murder.

Police said nothing was stolen from Allen’s apartment and that he was found naked on a bed.

Herman Savoie, Allen’s partner of 38 years, found the body and alerted police.

The suspected murderer allegedly stayed with the deceased man the night before the attack, which is believed to have followed a heated argument.

According to media reports, Allen and Savoie had spent the winter in Progreso for several years and were well known in the community, especially in a restaurant district popular with foreigners.

A woman who said that she was the lawyer of the deceased denied the police version of events in a social media post on Saturday.

“Our friends [Allen and Savoie] were the victims of a thwarted robbery by a man who decided to take the life of another. This is the correct version [of events] and not the versions that are circulating on social networks. I am Bruce’s lawyer, rest in peace . . . Herman, I assure you that the bastard who committed this despicable crime will pay for what he did,” she wrote.

The online newspaper Progreso Hoy said it has received emails from Canadian residents of Progreso stating they have been victims of a range of crimes including assaults, robbery and fraud and that municipal and state authorities provide little assistance or security to the city’s large foreign community.

But another said in a Facebook post that Progreso was “very safe.”

Canadian Reg Deneau said, “. . . this type of occurrence is highly unusual in the local community.”

Source: Progreso Hoy (sp), ChronicleHerald (en)