Suspected Grindr rapist and murderer hunted by police who fear there may be further victims

Death of Adrian Murphy linked to attack on another man in London

Police believe both known victims were drugged after arranging a 'hook-up' online (Getty)

Detectives investigating a suspected murder in south London have linked it to the rape and robbery of another man who met a stranger using the Grindr dating app.

The body of Adrian Murphy, 43, was found at a flat in Battersea last week and police fear he may have been drugged during an online "hook-up".

Officers are still awaiting tests to confirm a cause of death but have revealed that property was stolen from the address, which Mr Murphy had been house-sitting.

Scotland Yard warned there may be more victims after linking the incident to an attack on a 40 year-old man in Walthamstow, east London, five days earlier.

The victim of the rape and robbery believes he was drugged by a man he had invited to his flat after meeting him on Grindr on 30 May.

Laptops, mobile phones, a wallet and cash were stolen while he was unconscious and he was found later that day by a friend who raised the alarm and taken to hospital. He has since been discharged.

A 24 year-old man and a 17 year-old girl were arrested on suspicion of murder, rape and theft before being released while the police continue the investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Pack, of the Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “We have linked these two incidents through our suspects and our enquiries continue to establish the exact circumstances.

“We know the victim in the Walthamstow incident met the male suspect through a social networking site and we are investigating whether there is a similar connection in Mr Murphy’s death. Both incidents happened over a short period of time and thorough enquiries have led us to make these prompt arrests.

Adrian Murphy, 43, was found dead at a flat in Battersea on 4 June (Metropolitan Police)

He also urged the public to contact them if they had been subjected to similar attacks.

“Please have the confidence to approach my team so we can investigate what happened to you," he said. "You will be taken seriously and treated with sensitivity.”

He also appealed for witnesses who saw anything suspicious in the area of Lombard Road.

DCI Pack said both incidents involved ”hook-ups organised on social media or dating platforms”.

He added: “We know for a surviving victim that Grindr was used in the east London incident, it is most likely something similar in the Battersea incident. Both incidents involve taking or the administration of some sort of drug; we’re not entirely sure what that is.

“It could be a normal ‘chem sex’ drug – such as GHB, GBL, or crystal meth. It could be something not related to the chem sex scene at all. Fortunately the chap in the first incident was found in a comatose state and rushed to hospital. He was lucky.”

Officers believe Mr Murphy may have been drugged after arranging a meeting online on 1 June.

DCI said the death was being treated as unexplained until further tests had been carried out but said that “detectives have identified a suspect”.

Additional reporting by SWNS