Chiayi City Police yesterday said that Elizabeth Yvette Bretel, the 23-year-old Australian teacher found dead at the bottom of the stairs in her apartment building Jan. 26, died as a result of an accident.
Bretel was found unconscious in a pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase and was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Martin de Porres Hospital.
"In their autopsy report, the forensic pathologists said there was an `obvious wound' on the back of her head," said Shih Kun-mo (
"We found no other scar or mark on her to lead us to suspect foul play. Evidence such as footprints and fingerprints show she fell from the balcony on the fifth floor of the building, although her own room was on the third floor," Shi said.
"What she was doing on the balcony was a mystery because we have no witness evidence on that. We are pretty sure that it was an accident, however."
Shih said there was no evidence that a crime had been committed, and that Bretel was unlikely to have committed suicide as there was no suicide note and interviews of her friends and neighbors indicated that her behavior had been completely in character in the days preceding her death.
"When she was found, she was fully clothed," he said. "Her room on the third floor was locked and there was no sign of robbery or theft."
Shih said there was no evidence to support rumors that Bretel had been beaten to death by local gangsters, adding she had no known connection with gangsters or crime.
An autopsy verdict of accidental death in Taiwan stands unless relatives of persons named on the death certificate appeal the decision within a year, in which case an inquest is held.
"It is sad but the evidence says it all," Shih said. "She was cremated and her family members have taken her ashes back to Australia. The case is closed."
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