LAKEPORT – The Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a report on Wednesday morning outlining a preliminary cause of death for a man found murdered this past weekend.

Eric James Joaquin, 37, was found murdered on the morning of Feb. 28 in the Clear Lake Riviera home that he shared with roommates including John Robert Gray, 43, who was arrested later that same day and charged with murder.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that an autopsy was performed on Joaquin on Tuesday at the Napa County Coroner's Office.

While the final autopsy report is pending and will not be completed for several weeks, Bauman said a preliminary cause of death has been determined to be multiple blunt force trauma.

No other patterns of injury, including gunshot wounds, were identified, Bauman added.

Bauman said it's not known why initial reports speculated that Joaquin “may have been shot” but there is no evidence at this point that a firearm was involved in the homicide.

The sheriff's office said the men had an altercation on Feb. 26.

Gray made his first court appearance on Tuesday, as Lake County News has reported. He remains in the Lake County Jail on $500,000 bail.

The case remains pending further investigation and no other information on the case is available at this time, Bauman said.

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