Update on David Carradine, Conspiracy Nuttiness begins.

Since Wikipedia continues to be dialed in on the whole business, I'll quote them.

"On Friday 5 June, the Carradine family lawyer Mark Geragos spoke on Larry King Live and dismissed claims of suicide, stating instead that David Carradine could have been murdered by a 'secret sect of kung fu assassins,' after it was revealed that Carradine had been attempting to uncover groups working in the martial-arts underworld."

It's always a gigantic headache to find or allege a conspiracy, because frankly, most of them are beyond nutty. Now we have a "Secret Sect of Kung Fu assassins." True or untrue (more likely the latter) this will never go away, particularly because it absolves the extreme fan of having to deal with the kinky sex life of their hero. In ways I'm sorry I got "roped" into this (cough). Now that attorney for the wacky (Mark Geragos) has elbowed his way in, things are really getting out of hand.

I mean no harm to the grieving family of David, but how long is it until you start making jokes about a situation, that had it not resulted in death, would have been a late night talk show topic for months? What if David had been found gagged and bound like that, but alive? It brings to mind all of mom's admonitions about clean underwear because you might get hurt, or die or be found unconscious with skid marks, or worse. Certainly the dead no longer care for their own reputations, but I'm pretty sure they would have preferred to leave their loved ones with less of a mess to clean up.

With that, I put to bed the whole business (I hope) unless something truly earth shattering turns up. His death circumstance looked weird to me when it broke. It quickly got very weird and now it's gone to "Twilight Zone" weird with the fog of rumor and PR wars taking over. The only reason I'm writing about it now is to follow up on a sort of nostalgia obit for an old man in Hollywood, that died, then turned out to have died weird.

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Carradine "Gasper" theory confirmed.

So it's true. The Bangkok Post (warning, graphic)

"American actor David Carradine might have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation, Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) director Porntip Rojanasunan said on Friday morning.

The 72-year-old actor's body was found inside a closet in his suite in Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel about 11am on Thursday.

One end of a shoelace was tied around his penis and the other end fastened around his neck, while his hands were bound with a cord which was also tied around his neck.

He could have been be trying auto-erotic asphyxiation and may have suffocated during the act, Kunying Porntip said.

She said other evidence supporting this theory included a penis shrine inside his room.

She did not believe anyone else was involved, but admitted she could not be 100 per cent sure.

Carradine arrived in Bangkok a few days ago to star in a new movie, Strand."

Of course with the way the story has trickled out piece by piece, the notion that David was alone when he died, should not be entirely trusted. Murdered? Maybe. Accidental death with a participant? Also a maybe. In my book someone who flirts with death for a thrill gets what they bargained for. What a legacy to be remembered by.

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David Carradine a "Gasper?" (UPDATED)

Someone or several someones continue to aggressively, and apparently correctly update "Wikipedia's" David Carradine page.

"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. A police official said Carradine was found hanging by a rope in the room's closet. Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reported that his body was found curled up in the wardrobe with a shoelace tied around his penis and neck.

Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand, a Thai forensic pathologist and Director of Forensic Science Institute, stated the incident met four of the criteria for accidental death involving Autoerotic asphyxiation. Pol Lt Gen Worapong Chewprecha, Commander of the Metropolitan Police, remarked that the closed circuit television installed within the hotel supported the theory that no other persons were involved with the death. Carradine's representative and family members told the press that they believed the death to be accidental and not a suicide.

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."

This continues to be interesting because very little of what appears new on the "Wikipedia" page has turned out to be false, if any of it has. It has been updated regularly and to my knowledge, as I said, accurately.

So if David's death was NOT a suicide, but accidental. how did he end up wrapped in curtain cords and naked/half naked, hanging in his closet with no signs of a struggle, dead?

The only answer I know of is Erotic Asphyxiation, something I alluded to earlier but tried to stay away from. The initial reports of David's death, if scanned and combined together, including information found at the Wikipedia site all suggested a kinky something that was being hidden. Relatives claiming that a man "hanging" in his closet half to fully naked and wrapped in the cord that killed him are pretty much saying that David was into this kind of abnormal sexual gratification.

It just about shouts too that someone else was there, and something went wrong. It's hard to wrap yourself up in a rope and hang yourself accidentally. It sounds like people in his family kind know what went on in David's life.

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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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