NASA's Apollo navigator found dead with rope around neck in Thailand

Paul M. Muller, Ph.D. Paul M. Muller, Ph.D. Photo: Http://mullerpaulm.com/ Photo: Http://mullerpaulm.com/ Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close NASA's Apollo navigator found dead with rope around neck in Thailand 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A retired NASA official who served on the Apollo Navigation Team has been found dead inside a home in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported Tuesday in its online editions.

Police Col. Ekarat Intasueb, chief of Mae Sot police station, told the newspaper that Paul Milford Muller, Ph.D., was found with a rope tied around his genitals and waist and another rope tied around his neck, hanging from a knob of his bedroom door.

There were no signs that Muller, 76, had been assaulted, according to the Bangkok Post.

Muller appeared to have died from asphyxiation or from a heart attack after a drug overdose, police said.

Investigators told the Bangkok Post that equipment for injecting crystal methamphetamine, five methamphetamine pills and several sex toys were also found in the room.

Police suspect that Muller had been dead about three days when his body was found in the Tak province of Thailand. The body was sent to Mae Sot hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Muller, who lived in Thailand, worked for 10 years at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and served on the Apollo Navigation Team, according to his website, mullerpaulm.com,

He also was the author of three books, including "Suicide Inc" -- described on his website as a "romantic and erotic thriller."

Police were trying to contact his relatives to take charge of the body, the Bangkok Post reported.