Buried ex-postal worker was strangled to death: Cops

Frank Soucie, 60, the popular retired postal worker who was the subject of an intensive search until his body was found buried in the back yard of his Ridgewood, Queens home Tuesday night, was a victim of "homicidal asphyxia," the medical examiner ruled Wednesday.

Cops Wednesday had detained his stepson, Derek Tudor, 27, who had reportedly confessed, but had not yet charged him in the crime.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne was quoted in the Daily News as saying Tudor admitted suffocating Soucie but then "began to cry again and asked for a lawyer."