Carradine's Body Returning Home, Family Urges FBI Investigation

By Megan Masters

With the body of David Carradine en route to the United States, his family is calling for an FBI investigation into his death and plans its own autopsy.

The remains of the Kung Fu star are being transported to the States on a United Airlines flight that left Bangkok at 6:50 a.m. Saturday, per Thai press reports. Following an autopsy in Bangkok on Friday, Carradine's body was released into U.S. Embassy custody to be flown home.

Meanwhile, Carradine's comanager, Tiffany Smith, told CNN that a second autopsy will be conducted in the United States at the urging of his family. "They're doing everything possible to get to the bottom of what really happened." The results of the procedure performed overseas are not expected for at least three weeks.

Carradine's family and friends have vehemently refuted the initial Thai police theory that the actor committed suicide, continuing to believe that foul play may have been involved. Now they have made a formal request for FBI assistance.

"They want an investigation. I would think that the people in Bangkok would want to support an investigation and allow the FBI to go over there and assist in the investigation so we can get the answers to the questions," attorney Mark Geragos, who represents Carradine's brother, Keith Carradine, said on Larry King Live.

According to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller, the agency only gets involved in death investigations overseas if a crime is suspected. In the case of Carradine, that has yet to be determined.

Geragos added that the family hired a forensic pathologist to conduct the followup autopsy, which will seek to determine whether a second party was involved in the death. Thai police claim that surveillance footage showed no one entering Carradine's hotel room prior to his death and he was apparently the only one who used a keycard to access the room.

The lawyer has also expressed outrage over a photo of Carradine's hanging body that was printed in a Thai tabloid. He has vowed to pursue legal action against any U.S. publication that uses the image.

The 72-year-old's body was found Thursday morning hanging in the closet of his Bangkok hotel room with ropes around his neck and genitals, police revealed Friday, suggesting that he may have accidentally died while performing autoerotic asphyxiation*.

(Originally publised June 6, 2009, at 12:15 p.m. PT)

*autoerotic asphyxiation - refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. It is also called asphyxiophilia, autoerotic asphyxia, scarfing, kotzwarraism, or breath control play. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a gasper. The erotic interest in asphyxiation is classified as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. Psychiatrist Joseph Merlino stated that it meets the criteria for a disorder "because it has the potential for lethality or serious injury."

Historically, the practice of autoerotic asphyxiation has been documented since the early 1600s. It was first used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction and impotence. The idea for this most likely came from subjects who were executed by hanging. Observers at public hangings noted male victims developed an erection, sometimes remaining after death (death erection), and occasionally ejaculated when being hanged. Note that, however, ejaculation occurs in hanging victims after death because of disseminated muscle relaxation; this is a different mechanism from that sought by AEA practitioners.