David Carradine found hung in Bangkok, Suicide? Probably (UPDATED)

He apparently probably killed himself. CNN just put it on breaking news.

David was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. The TV Series "Kung Fu" defined his public persona. He was sort of the "Spock" of the martial arts. He was 72. Wikipedia has already updated his page with a date of death being yesterday. This means Mr. Carradine probably died over 24 hours ago and the news of his death is being "managed." That's because he was found hanged. This was a suicide, or something pretty disgusting. The Wikipedia entry is (now) as follows

"On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit, in central Bangkok, Thailand. The initial police report indicated that Carradine had committed suicide by hanging himself; he was found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe with a cord around his neck and body. Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot his latest movie, Stretch, but the film crew were aware of his absence when they went to dine out at a restaurant on June 3."

Clearly, since the article dates his death to June 3rd, the coroner established his time of death as the preceding day. The Wikipedia page changes by the minute and seems at the moment to be a better source of breaking news. In the evolving CNN story it says:

"(Personal Manager Chuck) Binder said (today) that the death is being investigated but could provide no other details."

This could get very ugly. My advice to those who die, don't do it (if you can) in a place with a reputation for the extremely kinky and shady.

UPDATE 11:13am EDT - Fox News has this story:

"The Nation said Carradine had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday but could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday. His body was later found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted."

There are only three alternatives left, unless the story about his "hanging" is a completely staged story.

David Carradine hung himself to extinguish his life. I find this harder to believe if he is making a movie but it could easily be true. For the record, let's put the probability of this as over 50%. UPDATE (4:50pm EDT) Suicide is now more like a 90% (70%? Weird, Wikipedia mentions a cord around his body) probability:

Fox News - "(D)espite an enthusiasm for his work, the actor had openly discussed his battle with suicidal thoughts. In a 2004 interview, Carradine said: 'I remember one time sitting at the window of the third or fourth floor of the Plaza Hotel for about an hour, thinking about just tipping off.'

He also said he had considered shooting himself.

'Look, there was a period in my life when I had a single action Colt 45, loaded, in my desk drawer. And every night I'd take it out and think about blowing my head off, and then decide not to and go on with my life. Put it back in the drawer and open the laptop and continue writing my autobiography or whatever. But it was just to see.' "

David Carradine hung himself as part of some other process. I will not go into gruesome detail but there are reasons, other than suicide, for someone to hang themselves. Many of those reasons are sexual. This was Bangkok. The story is being carefully managed. There are details we are being screened from knowing. This is supported by the fact that he was found "half naked." That usually doesn't mean with "with his shirt off."

David was murdered and method of death could have been strangulation. This could easily fit partly into the second scenario. The last two theories easily overlap at some points.

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