Toronto police have put up a $50,000 reward to try and solve the murder of a 72-year-old disabled man whose kindliness may have unfortunately been his undoing.

Richard Clements, 72, had a history of opening his door to people and helping them out, Det. Brian Borg of the Toronto Police Service's homicide squad told a news conference on Thursday.

On Dec. 3, 2008, someone came to visit Clements in his south Etobicoke apartment. They found the door unsecured, with no signs of forced entry.

"(Clements') body was found inside the apartment beside his overturned wheelchair.  His prosthetic limbs were found on his motorized scooter, which had been left in the hallway," Borg said.

A post-mortem examination showed Clements died of multiple stab wounds. "There is no way to describe Richard's death as anything other than vicious," Borg said, adding, "Obviously Richard would not have had any chance against the heartless coward who killed him."

Evidence from the scene suggests that Clements' killer robbed the suite.

"Footprints in blood suggest that this person went to an apartment (one floor below) but did not enter. There the footprints end," the detective said.

This suggests the killer was familiar with Coin Street, the surrounding area "and that other neighbour, where the footprints suddenly stop," Borg said.

Police suspect the killer was wearing Nike Edge running shoes.

Although seven months has passed without an arrest, "I want to assure those who knew Richard that this case remains under active investigation by the homicide squad," Borg said.

"It is my hope that by appealing to the public ... some sense of closure can be brought to Richard's family, who we speak with often and like so many others, remain puzzled by the vicious murder of a decent, kind and generous man," he said.

People often came to Clements to borrow money or cigarettes, "because Richard was the kind of person who would give them what they asked for," he said, adding Clements lived off a disability pension.

"It would not be uncommon for people in the building who knew Richard to show up in the middle of the day or middle of the night."

Building management has a good surveillance system in place and has been very co-operative, Borg said.

Clements was the city's 68th homicide victim of 2008.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, or to text TOR and a message to CRIMES (274637).