David Carradine's family was right all along: The actor's death was not the result of suicide.
In a video statement today, brothers Keith and Robert Carradine announced that Dr. Michael Baden, the forensics expert they independently hired to carry out a second autopsy on the actor, determined that their sibling did not take his own life.
"The autopsy findings and the evidence thus far available demonstrate that Mr. Carradine's death was not the result of suicide," Baden said.
The chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police conducted the autopsy in California, after the body arrived from Bangkok earlier this week.
An initial postmortem was done in Thailand, but officials there said the results would not be back for one or two more weeks.
In their statement, the brothers of the late 72-year-old thanked fans for support during what has been a "profoundly painful time."
"First of all, we would like to thank everyone for their heartfelt expressions of love and sympathy for what we are going through," said Keith Carradine.
"Until we have all of the pending results of the investigation we respectfully ask that we be allowed to lay our beloved brother, husband and father, grandfather and great-grandfather to rest in peace and with dignity," Robert added.
They also thanked both Thai and U.S. authorities who have been working in conjunction on investigating Carradine's mysterious death.
The Kill Bill star was found dead in his luxury hotel room exactly one week ago. Police said the actor was hanging naked in his closet, a rope tied to his neck and genitals, leading to the suspicion that his death may have been the accidental result of autoerotic asphyxiation.
No funeral arrangements have yet been announced.
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