Autopsy Finds David Carradine Did Not Commit Suicide
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An independent autopsy conducted on David Carradine’s body concluded that the actor did not commit suicide.
"On the basis of the information we currently have, coupled with the autopsy findings, Carradine's death does not appear to be a suicide," Dr. Michael Baden, who performed the autopsy, told FOXNews.com Thursday.
Baden said that the final results of the cause of death would likely be available "within a week or two."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In any death, before arriving at a final cause, one has to gather not only the autopsy results, but also the findings at the scene of the death, the crime lab information and the toxicology results. In this situation, some of those investigations have not been completed yet," Baden said. "But the information we now have does rule out a suicide."
Carradine was found dead a week ago, hanging in a closet of a Bangkok hotel room.
PHOTOS: Click here to see photos of David Carradine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, Carradine's brothers have asked for understanding as Thai authorities investigate.
Keith and Robert Carradine say they're grateful for the outpouring of support during what they call a "profoundly painful time." In a statement read Thursday in Los Angeles, they also thanked U.S. and Thai authorities for their work.
Hotel surveillance footage indicated no one entered Carradine's room before he died, the policeman leading the death investigation said last Saturday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police initially said Carradine's body was found "naked, hanging in a closet," causing them to suspect he committed suicide, though no suicide note was found.
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Immediately following the rumors of a suicide, the actor’s family, friends and associates denounced the possibility of him taking his own life.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last Friday, police said the actor may have died from accidental suffocation or heart failure after revealing that he was found with a rope tied around his neck and penis — leading to speculation that Carradine may have engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.
Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic Science, said the circumstances under which Carradine died suggest the 72-year-old actor may have indeed been performing auto-erotic asphyxiation. The practice involves temporarily cutting off the supply of oxygen to the brain to heighten the effects of a sexual climax.
"In some cases it can suggest murder, too. But sometimes when the victim is naked and in bondage, it can suggest that the victim is doing it to himself," said Pornthip, considered the country's top criminal forensics expert. She did not take part in the autopsy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If you hang yourself by the neck, you don't need so much pressure to kill yourself," she said. "Those who get highly sexually aroused tend to forget this fact."
Carradine's body was discovered Thursday morning in his luxury suite by a chambermaid at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel, said its general manager, Aurelio Giraudo.
Carradine flew to Thailand and began work on a film titled "Stretch" two days before his death. His friends and associates insisted he would not have killed himself, telling CNN's Larry King he had a happy marriage, recently bought a new car, and had several films lined up after he finished work in Bangkok.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Carradine, a martial arts practitioner himself, was best known for the U.S. TV series "Kung Fu," which aired from 1972-75. He played Kwai Chang Caine, an orphan who was raised by Shaolin monks and fled China after killing the emperor's nephew in retaliation for the murder of his kung fu master.
Carradine also appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.
He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill." Bill, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill — Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates, including Bill.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOXNews.com's Allison McGevna and the Associated Press contributed to this report.