The body of US 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, and his death may have been caused by accidental suffocation, Thai police said yesterday.
The 72-year-old actor's body was discovered on Thursday in his luxury suite at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Police initially said they suspected suicide, but Carradine's associates had questioned that theory.
Police Lieutenant General Worapong Chewprecha told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope tied around his genitals and another rope around his neck.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“The two ropes were tied together,” he said. “It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not, or he died of suffocation or heart failure.”
Thai police completed an autopsy on Carradine yesterday. But police Colonel Somprasong Yenthuam, superintendent of the Lumpini police station, which is handling the case, said results would not be ready for at least three weeks because the cause of death was unclear. He called the time lag “normal.”
Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center, told reporters that the autopsy was conducted because of the “unusual circumstances surrounding Carradine's death,” but did not elaborate.
Police Lieutenant Teerapop Luanseng said on Thursday that Carradine's body was found “naked, hanging in a closet,” and that police at the time suspected suicide.
But one of Carradine's managers dismissed the theory.
“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.”
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 US 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 telephone from Beverly Hills.
Filming began on 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.
Aurelio Giraudo, the hotel's general manager, said Carradine checked into the hotel on Sunday and he last saw him on Wednesday. He said Carradine chatted with staff and even played piano a few nights in the lobby.
“I was a fan. I had a very nice talk with him when he checked in,” Giraudo said. “He was very much a person full of life.”
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from