LOS ANGELES – Famed New York pathologist Michael Baden has ruled out suicide following a private autopsy of actor David Carradine‘s body.
“After doing the autopsy, reviewing all the findings and the information we have so far, I had sufficient information to rule out suicide,” Dr. Baden, the former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, told the Daily News.
“In order to arrive at a proper manner of death, we have to combine the autopsy findings with evidence from the scene and laboratory findings, which could take a few weeks,” he said.
“The family is getting all that through the State Department, the FBI and the Thai authorities. That would include the entire file, whatever is seen by police, everything at the scene and everything from the crime lab and toxicology tests.”
Carradine, 72, was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room one week ago today, hanging naked in a closet with ropes tied around his hands, neck and genitals.
Two of Carradine’s ex-wives have since revealed that the “Kung Fu” star got his kicks with bondage and kinky sex. One theory is that Carradine died from accidental asphyxiation.
“[Baden is] familiar with autoerotic asphyxiation,” said colleague Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, chairman of the Department of Forensic Sciences at John Jay in an earlier interview with The News.
“He’ll perform a typical autopsy of the body … [and] a psychological autopsy, to get into the mind of the deceased.”
Carradine’s family, meanwhile, thanked the public and Thai officials Thursday for their support and cooperation.
“This is a devastating loss for our family, and we greatly appreciate the compassion pouring in from all over the world,” brother Keith Carradine said.
“Until we have all of the pending results of the investigation, we respectfully ask that we be allowed to lay our beloved brother, husband and father, grandfather and great-grandfather to rest in peace and with dignity,” another brother, Robert Carradine, said.
“Thank you for your understanding during this profoundly painful time.”
