According to various reports, David Carradine's family members have requested help from the FBI in the investigation of the actor's death at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel this past Thursday, June 4. Thai police have said they will welcome the FBI's presence, but only, in accordance with Thai law, as observers.
Based on surveillance footage and interviews with hotel staff, Thai authorities stated they have basically ruled out foul play. They have added that Carradine may have died from accidental suffocation or heart failure. His body was reportedly found with a rope tied around his wrist, neck, and genitals, which has led to speculation that the actor may have engaged in a sexual activity known as auto-erotic asphyxiation. It'll be a few weeks before the autopsy reveals the actual cause of death.
Adding more fuel to the tabloidization of David Carradine's death, court documents filed by one his ex-wives, Marina Anderson, at the time of their divorce have been leaked online. The documents are supposed to contain statements about Carradine's "deviant" and "dangerous" sexual activities.
The Thai chief investigator, however, has said that the "previous conclusions on the cause of [Carradine's] death were made by people who know nothing about the case."
Carradine's family believe there's the possibility that others may have been involved in the actor's death. They'll use another forensic pathologist once his body arrives in the US.
Carradine was in Thailand working on the film Stretch, which will have to be partially rewritten. The actor appeared in dozens of feature films, but made his mark as the hero of the 1970s television series Kung Fu.
"He was an iconic actor who was so long a supporter of indie films, and that made him special to us in the independent film community," said Elizabeth Levine, whose upcoming project, Portland, will now have to be recast. "It means so much for an actor with that resumé and that stature to get behind an indie film, because that's what makes indie films move and get made."
Elizabeth Levine quote: Vancouver Sun
I'm leaning toward the "Assassination by a secret Kung Fu Sect" theory as the most plausible explanation for Carradine's death