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GREENSBORO - A man whose body was recovered following an apartment fire Saturday morning died as the result of a homicide, police said Monday.

The body of William Ransom Hobbs Jr., 56, of 708 S. Elam Ave., was recovered after an apartment fire at 519 Summit Ave. at 9 a.m. Saturday morning, police said.

Investigators ruled the blaze as arson, but have not said whether Hobbs died as a direct result of the fire.

The apartment's tenant, Deborah Moy, 36, suffered severe burns in the blaze and remains in critical condition at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Greensboro police Lt. Brian James said Moy and Hobbs were acquaintances and she is not being considered a suspect at this time.

James said investigators have no suspects and have no motive for the arson.

"It's all still under investigation," James said.

"We are trying to go through the evidence. Any time you have an arson involved it makes it difficult to determine what happened."

Police are working with the fire department and the State Bureau of Investigation on the case and may not find out how the blaze was set for another two to four weeks as evidence is processed.

It is still too early to say whether any accelerants were used to start the fire, James said.

James said police had not received the results of an autopsy on Hobbs' body being conducted at the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Chapel Hill as of Monday afternoon.

The fire was contained to one apartment.

It occurred in the two-story, stone house with a turret on the front that neighbors refer to as the "Castle" because of its resemblance.

Hobbs' ex-wife, Nancy Hines of Boone, said friends in Greensboro have told her that Hobbs may have been at Moy's apartment because the woman was having a domestic dispute with her boyfriend or husband. Hines said she had not received any official word from police that confirmed that information.

She said Hobbs had been living in Greensboro with a friend for several years since their divorce and had been self-employed as a musician, specializing in Americana and Blues music.

Police ask that anyone with information about the crime call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com