The death of actor and comedian Robin
Williams was a suicide, the coroner in Marin County, California, said Friday.
Alcohol and illegal drugs were not involved,
the statement from the coroner's office said. Prescription drugs were found in
"therapeutic concentrations," the statement added.
Williams was found dead in his Tiberon,
California, home August 11 from what investigators suspected was a suicide by
hanging. He was 63 years old.
The death certificate, obtained by CNN on
August 21, says his ashes were scattered off the coast one day later.
Investigators believe Williams used a belt to
hang himself from a bedroom door, Marin County Assistant Deputy Chief Coroner
Lt. Keith Boyd said at the time.rds:
Williams on depression
Williams was sober but struggling with
depression, anxiety and the early stages of Parkinson's disease when he died,
his widow, Susan Schneider, said in a statement in August.
"Robin spent so much of his life helping
others," she said. Whether he was entertaining millions on stage, film or
television, our troops on the front lines, or comforting a sick child -- Robin
wanted us to laugh and to feel less afraid."
Williams had "a recent increase in
paranoia" and was sleeping in a stepson's bedroom because of insomnia and
anxiety associated with Parkinson's, according to the coroner's report.
The coroner's report said his body was found
about 11:45 a.m. by a personal assistant who used a paperclip to open the
locked door of the bedroom where Williams had been sleeping. Williams was found
in a seated position on the floor of the bedroom with a belt secured around his
neck and the other end of the belt wedged between a closet door and door frame.
The actor was wearing black jeans and a black
short-sleeve T-shirt, the coroner's report said.
A cellphone recovered from Williams' pants
pocket was dead. After recharging the phone, the coroner searched through its
texts and emails and found no messages referencing suicide, the report said.
The last call on the phone was made the night before to Williams' wife, Susan,
and lasted 38 seconds.
In one incident the evening before he died,
Williams took several wristwatches and put hem into a sock and took them to
someone's house for safekeeping, an indication of his paranoia, his wife
suggested. Also noteworthy, according to Williams' wife, is that he may have
learned of the suicide technique from a movie role in which a character
Williams portrayed died from autoerotic asphyxiation.
Grief and
remembrance
Williams' death was met with an outpouring of
grief and recollections. Friend Billy Crystal paid tribute to him at the Emmy Awards, and later helped
Williams' son, Zak, throw out the first pitchbefore Game 5 of
the World Series while Williams' other children watched. Daughter Zelda got a tattoo in honor of her
father.ed: You had to be on your toes
Gilbert Gottfried, another friend, remembered
a "generous" man who was welcoming to his fellow comedian.
Culled From CNN.
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