Carradine’s Family Asks For FBI & Forensic Pathologist’s Help
David Carradine
David Carradine’s family is asking for the help of FBI and private forensic experts to help investigate the actor’s fatal death attorney Mark Geragos said Saturday. That was the same day the Thai police said survaillance cameras indicated that no one had been in his hotel room before he died.
Keith, Carradine’s brother, met with the FBi on Friday and filed reports that could eventually lead to the agency opening its own investigation, Geragos said. Geragos represents Keith Carradine.The family also wants a private autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to determine whether there was foul play, Geragos said.
Geragos said, the family hopes that the body will arrive in Los Angeles by Monday.
Geragos said that the family decided to get extra help because of the conflicting information about the actor’s death and the lack of information from the Thai authorities.
“All we really know is not much more than the public knows, and that’s disturbing,” Geragos said.
Laura Eimiller, FBI spokeswoman, confirmed on Saturday that Carradine’s family had gotten in contact with the agency. Agents were checking with the FBI’s legal attache at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to see if the Thai authorities “are requesting or would welcome FBI assistance in the matter.” She said the FBI only gets involved in death investigations overseas if a crime is suspected.
David Carradine’s body was found Thursday morning in the luxury suite by a chambermaid at Bangkok’s Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel, said the general manager said. Carradine’s family, friends and reps have said that they doubt the 72-year-old would have killed himself.
Police first said Carradine’s body was found “naked, hanging in a closet,” giving them the idead to suspect he had committed suicide. On Friday, police said the actor had a possibility of dying from an accidental suffocation or heart failure after releasing that he was found with a rope tied around his wrist, neck and genitals. Which then lead police to think that he had engaged in a from of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.
The results from the autopsy performed on Friday in Bangkok were not expected for another three weeks, Dr. Nanthana Sirisap said, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Autopsy Center. Nanthana said that is was normal considering the usual circumstances of the death.
Colonel Somprosang Yenthuam, who is leading the investigation, said police have interview all of the staff at the hotel where Carradine was staying and have gone over the surveillance footage outside of his room. Based on that information, they have found no evidence that someone was in his room before he died. They have ruled out foul play.
The police continued investigating on Saturday. The police interviewed the crew of the film that Carradine was shooting with in Bangkok for his new movie “Stretch.”
Baden is the chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police and Geragos said he expects Baden’s examination will answer many unanswered questions.
“It’s an amazing thing what a good pathologist can accomplish,” Geragos said.
Carradine flew to Thailand last week and had just began working on a film “Stretch” two days before he died. His friends and co-workers told CNN’s Larry King he had a happy marriage, just bought a new car, and had many movies to shoot after working in Bangkok.
Carradine, was a martial arts pactitioner himself, was best known by the U.S. TV series “Kung Fu.”
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
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