RCMP on Vancouver Island confirm a 60-year-old B.C. artist was murdered in a rural community off the east coast of the island.
Investigators say an autopsy was conducted Tuesday on the body of Stefano Savioli.
The results reveal the impressionist style artist was the victim of a homicide.
Mounties are not saying how Savioli died and no arrests have been made.
The victim was found last Friday in his home on Cortes Island at the extreme northern end of Georgia Strait, east of Campbell River.
A team of officers remains on the 25-kilometre long island but police say no further details of the investigation can be released.