It was almost inevitable, but since it was announced that David Carradine had died and his body was found in an odd way (he was naked with a rope wrapped around his neck and genitals), there has been a flurry of different theories about how and why he died.
While Thai police first suggested it was suicide, later statements have indicated it was a case of misadventure, with Carradine dying during sex play. As with Michael Hutchence, they seem to believe he died while engaging in auto-erotic asphyxiation, a dangerous activity which involves restricting the ability to breath, in order to heighten orgasm. This has been backed up by reports that in his divorce from Marina Anderson in 2001, she cited her refusal to enage in “deviant sexual behaviour which was potentially deadly” as one of the reasons for the split.
However other theories have emerged, with his attorney and friend, Vicki Roberts, calling for a murder investigation to be opened. She said, “I believe that there may have been foul play. Anybody could stage a suicide after a murder.” Indeed this is what happened with actress and director Adrienne Shelly in 2006. New York Police initially announced she’d killed herself, but it later turned out she’d been murdered and her body posed to make it look like suicide.
There are plans for a seconds autopsy in the US to check for signs of foul play.
Even more bizarrely, the Carradine family’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, told Larry King Live that David had been investigating secret kung fu societies, whose members had the motive and mean to kill him, saying the Carradine family wanted the FBI to investigate in case he was killed by assassins. Geragos added, “Because the death took place on a foreign soil, FBI traditionally cannot just jump right in. So the family met with the FBI , with the idea of getting them to initiate some kind of an investigation there. The family, and Keith specifically, doesn’t for a minute think that he was suicidal.”
The situation was inflamed over the weekend when the Thai press published a photo of Carradine’s body hanging in his Bangkok hotel room. Although the face and other details were blurred,Thai police have confirmed it is a forensics photo of the actor. David’s brother Keith later issued a statement detailing his shock at the picture’s publication, calling it “profoundly disturbing”, and adding this warning for other media outlets, “The family wants it understood that, per attorney Mark Geragos, any persons, publications or media outlets will be fully prosecuted for invasion of privacy and causing severe emotional distress if the photos are published.”
There’s little doubt that such a shocking death is bound to get family members wondering if that’s what really happened. Let’s just hope the second autopsy brings them some resolution, rather than keeping the story running for months to come.