David Carradine

According to Reuters the medical examiner who oversaw the second autopsy concluded that Carradine died of asphyxiation ruling out suicide as a cause of death.

The Carradine family hired forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to conduct an investigation into the actor’s death. Baden told Reuters, “The cause of death was asphyxiation, an inability to breathe, now why that happened is still what we’re working on.”

Baden also said, “He didn’t die of natural causes, and he didn’t die of suicidal causes from the nature of the ligatures around the body, so that leaves some kind of accidental death.” The doctor also told Reuters he is waiting for additional information from Thai police in order to rule out the possibility that Carradine was killed by someone.

The expert also said that more information was needed from Thai investigators before the actual cause of death could be determined.

Carradine’s brothers, Keith and Robert Carradine, each read part of a prepared statement to reporters from The Associated Press at a Los Angeles hotel. In their first public remarks since their older brother was found hanging in a Bangkok hotel room closet last week, they thanked supporters and asked for privacy.

“This is a devastating loss for our family and we greatly appreciate the compassion pouring in from all over the world,” Keith Carradine said.

They also released a statement by Dr. Michael Baden of New York that indicated a second autopsy determined Carradine didn’t kill himself. “However, to reach a final determination as to the cause and the manner of death we must wait for further information from Thailand as to the scene findings and the completion of the crime laboratory and toxicology studies that are still being performed,”

Baden’s statement concluded. Reached by phone after the morning briefing, Baden said he expects to receive more information from Thai authorities in a week or two and stressed that the information at hand was incomplete.

“The autopsy is only part of the analysis,” he said.

Binder also said he doesn’t think Carradine took his own life – nor does he think he died accidentally. If you rule out these two scenarios, then it points to murder or homicide.

Watch video about David Carradine death reports

Larry King recently interviewed David’s friends and fellow actors.

Watch Larry King Interview Video about David Carradine’s Death

Here are some additional facts about Carradine’s lifestyle:

In a review of divorce court filings conducted by the web site www.thesmokinggun.com, Carradine’s most recent ex-wife once accused him of “deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly.”

As investigators try to determine how actor David Carradine wound up dead in a Bangkok hotel closet with a rope tied around his neck and genitals, it was revealed that the famous actor was once accused of “deviant sexual behavior” by ex-wife, Marina Anderson, according to a new report.

Marina Anderson also alleged in a sworn declaration that Carradine — best known for the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu” –engaged in an “incestuous relationship with a very close family member.”

Anderson’s assertion was filed six years ago in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Thai officials, meanwhile, said Carradine’s death may have been caused by accidental suffocation and there is no evidence anyone else was in his room at the time.

The 72-year-old actor’s body was discovered Thursday in his luxury suite at Bangkok’s Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel.

Police initially said they suspected suicide, but The Bangkok Post quoted officials who said the veteran actor, who is married, may have died from “auto-erotic asphyxiation.”

He could have been trying to gain sexual pleasure by cutting off his breathing and accidentally suffocated, officials told the newspaper.

In regards to the allegations put forth by Anderson in 2003, the court papers do not detail Carradine’s alleged “deviant sexual behavior.”

Although the document was supposed to be filed under seal, it was mistakenly placed in the public court file where thesmokinggun.com found it.

As for the incest charge, Anderson reported that Carradine and the unnamed relative admitted the taboo relationship, but that her “pleas for him to get counseling in regards to this matter were ignored and he wanted no part in the healing process the other person needed in order to get closure.”

Anderson, who was married to Carradine for four years, said today she stands by the allegations in her court filing, but declined to further discuss it.

Based on the data so far, I believe that David Carradine engaged in an erotic sex act gone wrong and that there was at least one other person who was involved in the sex act who participated by tying his hands behind his back.

In my opinion, when the sex act went wrong, the other person panicked and left the scene. I am not sure if this scenario would be classified as a crime, accidental death or involuntary manslaughter. I don’t believe there was a premediated murder or conspiracy as some have speculated.

More facts will unfold as the investagation continues. We are waiting for more accurate facts to be reported and not rumor.

Here are some of the facts as we know them:

The body of American actor David Carradine, best known for the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu,” was found in a hotel room closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals. His death may have been caused by accidental suffocation, Thai police said Friday.

David was found in a sitting position in the closet with the cord wrapped around his neck and the closet rod. The authorities have said there doesn’t appear to have been any assault or forced entry to his room, that would indicate a crime. It appears for now that the authorities don’t suspect that he was murdered. Thai police officers investigating the death say he most likely died of asphyxiation, possibly when an autoerotic sex game went wrong. No news has been released about whether there was a suicide note or not. Some say it had to be an accident, those who know him say he would never commit suicide.

Carradine, 72, was found naked in a closet in an upscale Bangkok hotel on Thursday with cords around his neck and his genitals. The police are checking DNA found on the cords, but say they found no signs of a struggle, suggesting that Carradine might have either tied himself up or submitted voluntarily to his incapacitation.

“It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure,” Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha of the Royal Thai Police told reporters. The results of the autopsy are expected to be released on Saturday.

One of Carradine’s managers dismissed the idea of suicide.

“All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide,” said Tiffany Smith of Binder & Associates, his management company. “We’re just waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give … and that’s not something David would ever do to himself.”

Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science, said Carradine may have died attempting a sex act known as auto-erotic asphyxiation that cuts off oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

The practice is said to result in a form of euphoria similar to alcohol or drug intoxication which enhances the sexual experience.

“If you hang yourself by the neck, you don’t need so much pressure to kill yourself. Those who get highly sexually aroused tend to forget this fact,” said Pornthip, who is considered the country’s top criminal forensics expert but who did not take part in the autopsy.

Carradine had flown to Thailand last week and began work on a film titled “Stretch” two days before his death, Smith said. He had several other projects lined up after the action film, which was being directed by Charles de Meaux.

Carradine was in good spirits when he left the U.S. for Thailand on May 29 to work on “Stretch,” Smith said.

“David was excited to do it and excited to be a part of it,” she said by phone from Beverly Hills.

Filming began Tuesday, she said, adding that the crew was devastated by Carradine’s death and did not wish to speak publicly about it for the time being.

Monica Donati, a spokesman for the French film company MK2, which was making “Stretch,” said in statement from Paris that the film crew in Bangkok was “clearly shocked” by Carradine’s death but would finish shooting. Carradine only had three more days of filming left in Bangkok, she said.

Aurelio Giraudo, the hotel’s general manager, said Carradine checked into the hotel May 31 and he last saw him June 3. He said Carradine chatted with staff and even played piano a few nights in the lobby as well as flute which the “guests really enjoyed.”

“I was a fan. I had a very nice talk with him when he checked in,” Giraudo told The Associated Press. “He was very much a person full of life. I mentioned to him that I had seen (the movie) “Crank” with my family and that was the last smile he gave me.”

Giraudo said a chambermaid discovered Carradine’s body, adding that she knocked and entered after there was no response. Police arrived shortly thereafter.

Somprasong said there was no evidence there was anyone else in the room at the time of Carradine’s death.