A man suspected of killing Ranjith Kankanamalage has pleaded not guilty to the crime in an appearance at the Old Bailey.
Erik Feld, 36, of Tredegar Road, Tower Hamlets, spoke via video-link on 12 April.
He has been remanded in custody and his trial is set to begin on 6 March 2023, the BBC reported.
There will also be a case management hearing on 15 July 2022.
Kankanamalage’s body was found dead in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, East London, in the early hours of 16 August.
The 50-year-old, who was known as Roy by friends, was declared deceased at the scene by members of the London Ambulance Service who arrived at around 6.30am.
He was found to have a head injury and a post-mortem examination later ruled that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, believed to be from a hammer.
In a statement released by police, it was confirmed that the “incident is being treated as a homophobic hate crime”.
They urged the LGBTQ+ community in the area to report anything suspicious to police immediately, especially at night.
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