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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 03:00 PM Aug 2014

Police Release More Details On Robin Williams' Death

Source: TPM

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published AUGUST 12, 2014, 2:49 PM EDT

The Marin County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday released more details about the death of actor Robin Williams.

The coroner has not yet made a final determination on the cause of death, but evidence indicates that Williams committed suicide and died from asphyxia due to hanging.

Warning: Several of the details police released are graphic in nature.

According to a statement from the Marin County Assistant Deputy Coroner Keith Boyd, Williams retired for the evening on Sunday after his wife went to sleep in a separate room. She left the home Monday morning and believed he was still asleep.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/more-details-robin-williams-death

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Police Release More Details On Robin Williams' Death (Original Post) DonViejo Aug 2014 OP
Yes--that is pretty graphic. Don't click the link unless you really want a picture in your mind. nt msanthrope Aug 2014 #1
I'm not going to click on the link. Thanks. eom. In_The_Wind Aug 2014 #14
Sounds like he was pretty determined. n/t geomon666 Aug 2014 #2
Oh no! elleng Aug 2014 #3
too bad rtracey Aug 2014 #4
Makes me so sad hollowdweller Aug 2014 #5
Do we really need to know all this? Dopers_Greed Aug 2014 #6
Sadly, some probably do cleduc Aug 2014 #11
Should it be public? Yes. Should it be headline news? No. Xithras Aug 2014 #21
What I do not understand RebelOne Aug 2014 #7
Pills take longer to work geomon666 Aug 2014 #8
his wife went to bed in a separate room J_J_ Aug 2014 #19
I do not think one can expect a rational thought process from an individual in the depths... LanternWaste Aug 2014 #22
Sleeping pills don't work most of the time. JoeyT Aug 2014 #15
I've lost four people to hanging. DeadLetterOffice Aug 2014 #23
...no "details" for me. SoapBox Aug 2014 #9
This message was self-deleted by its author ailsagirl Aug 2014 #10
Why? David in Canada Aug 2014 #12
Press Conference Video Link & several details from it tomm2thumbs Aug 2014 #13
Those facts make it sound more like the INXS singers death to me.... n/t EX500rider Aug 2014 #16
I will wait to see what is finally determined for sure tomm2thumbs Aug 2014 #17
very odd J_J_ Aug 2014 #18
what's even more odd tomm2thumbs Aug 2014 #20
I read an interview over 20 years ago where he talked about his ongoing clinical depression uppityperson Aug 2014 #24
...I would actually rather think it was a suicide, instead of sir pball Aug 2014 #25
It's ironic that George Carlin did a whole piece on it - and the covering up of it tomm2thumbs Aug 2014 #27
I hate to add to this, but it will dispel possible bs DonCoquixote Aug 2014 #26
 

rtracey

(2,062 posts)
4. too bad
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 03:33 PM
Aug 2014

I am always saddened to hear of a death on someone with means to get the help they need. Rich actors, entertainers, major sports figures usually have the financial ability to pay, but don't seem to have the surrounding support of friends to assist them. What saddens me more is hearing of the deaths of people without the means to get assistance. We can talk about breast cancer, prostate cancer, even stomach surgery for the overly obese, but when it comes to brain sickness, we are pushed away, back burner....this thought process needs to change. I am glad to see the NFL taking a baby step toward concussion problems, but what about depression. Eventhough this man was not an NFL player, many older players suffer from the same problems as Mr. Williams. Mental illness needs to be brought further forth to the front lines......

 

hollowdweller

(4,229 posts)
5. Makes me so sad
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 03:41 PM
Aug 2014

That he couldnt' feel good. That he felt bad enough to kill himself.

That what he gave to so many happiness and mirth he apparently suffered a deficit of himself.

Dopers_Greed

(2,640 posts)
6. Do we really need to know all this?
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 04:07 PM
Aug 2014

CNN was on in the restaurant we went to for lunch and it has pretty much turned into TMZ.

 

cleduc

(653 posts)
11. Sadly, some probably do
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 05:25 PM
Aug 2014

Saw some ugly rumors about his death starting on the net.

Like Obama's birth certificate, that report linked above won't entirely kill them but it will dramatically muffle them and eliminate them in the minds of rational people.

I don't think Robin would mind wackos spewing conspiracy crap on the net getting smacked down with science and facts.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
21. Should it be public? Yes. Should it be headline news? No.
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 08:09 PM
Aug 2014

It's important for details of closed police investigations to be public, because that's an essential tool in monitoring the actions of law enforcement officials.

Why CNN, Faux, and the rest have to run it as headline news is cultural, and is unnecessary. Not all that long ago, details like this were relegated to unsavory sites like ogrish, where people with morbid curiosity could review them if they really wanted. It wasn't something that a civilized person looked at without cause. Nowadays we're plagued with a lowest common denominator media mentality that has replaced class with ratings.

RebelOne

(30,947 posts)
7. What I do not understand
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 04:42 PM
Aug 2014

is why he just did not take an overdose of sleeping pills. Why choose such a painful way to go by hanging himself?

 

J_J_

(1,213 posts)
19. his wife went to bed in a separate room
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 07:59 PM
Aug 2014

he had twelve hours, would have made more sense to use sleeping pills, instead it tried to cut his wrist with a pocket knife. Doesn't make sense.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
22. I do not think one can expect a rational thought process from an individual in the depths...
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 08:14 PM
Aug 2014

"Doesn't make sense..."

I do not think one can expect a rational thought process from an individual in the depths of a depressive episode. These instances aren't cut-and-dried-Sherlock-Holmesian mysteries from which we collect clues and make deductions and then inform Inspector Lestrade... these are irrational thoughts coming from a distraught mind suffering from and under the influence of a disease.

Expecting sense from an unsound or unstable mind makes even less sense, and points to an agenda previously implied in other posts of yours...

JoeyT

(6,785 posts)
15. Sleeping pills don't work most of the time.
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 06:28 PM
Aug 2014

Pills being so bad at killing you are one of the reasons so many people know someone that attempted suicide rather than everyone knowing someone that was successful. From what I can find suicidal non-prescription overdose has a 6.0% success rate, while prescription OD is 12.3%, compared to hanging's 89.5%.

I think he probably chose hanging because it's the least messy and traumatizing for the people that find you, while still being really lethal.

Edit: By the last sentence I mean all the stuff above hanging is really quick, really lethal, and really messy...The kind of messy that scars the people that find you for life. Pretty much everyone says Robin Williams was a good-hearted, compassionate guy, so I'm sure he took that into account.

DeadLetterOffice

(1,352 posts)
23. I've lost four people to hanging.
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 09:38 PM
Aug 2014

And in 20 years in the field professionally, I've only met one person who survived an attempt by hanging -- and that was because the anchoring object couldn't bear the person's weight and broke.

It's pretty damn lethal.

And I hear what you meant about messy but I have to tell you -- no matter what method is used to complete a suicide, the person who finds you is scarred for life. It's outrageously traumatic. But that is generally NOT what people are thinking about in the last seconds before an attempt, even someone as generous of spirit as Mr. Williams.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
9. ...no "details" for me.
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 05:14 PM
Aug 2014

WTH has happened to society, that they need to know all morbid and graphic details?

It makes me sick to my stomach.

Response to DonViejo (Original post)

David in Canada

(512 posts)
12. Why?
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 05:32 PM
Aug 2014

I declined to click on the link out of general principle. What is the purpose of releasing such details to the general public? These details should between law enforcement and Williams' family. This is NONE OF OUR DAMNED BUSINESS!

tomm2thumbs

(13,297 posts)
13. Press Conference Video Link & several details from it
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 05:34 PM
Aug 2014


If you don't wish to know more, please do not continue to read this post... simply some questions raised from the press conference.



Some interesting items pulled from the press conference:

• Lt. Keith Boyd noted: 'He was clothed, in a seated position… with a belt secured around his neck, with the other end of the belt wedged between the closed closet door and the door frame…. his body slightly suspended'
(Boyd partially motions with his hands in a vertical position as he describes it, as if the belt may have been inserted in the side of the door jamb, not the top... just an observation and may simply be just how he addresses questions using hand gestures vs. indicating how the belt was secured.)

• When asked about his statement 'fully clothed' by a reporter, Lt. Keith Boyd responded "what I said was 'clothed', I did not say 'fully clothed'..."

• Reporter: "was he in a chair?"

"he was not in a chair. He was suspended, as I indicated, from the belt which was wedged between the door and the doorframe, in a seated position, slightly suspended off the ground."

______

Until the investigation is completed, I'm not sure that calling it intentional suicide would be a natural call as some of what was indicated might run counter to that.

One reason that might be important, other than finding out the truth, would be that if this was not intentional suicide, for whatever reason, the guilt of friends/loved ones who feel they 'should have stepped in to check on how he was feeling'... or 'could have prevented it if they had only spoken to him', etc. would be lessened.

If this turns out to be an accident vs. intentional suicide, it will certainly change how those close to him feel, and would certainly change how his end is perceived.



tomm2thumbs

(13,297 posts)
17. I will wait to see what is finally determined for sure
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 07:25 PM
Aug 2014

But it does seem like an extraordinary way to commit suicide, hanging in a seated position barely off the floor where one's feet could obviously lift them up quite easily.



 

J_J_

(1,213 posts)
18. very odd
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 07:55 PM
Aug 2014

but then it said his wrists had superficial wounds from a pocket knife nearby....seriously?

I just don't think he would do it like that.

But I don't think he would do this at all. He might have been an alcoholic but nowhere did he say he was depressed or suicidal. He said he was self medicating for anxiety and was trying to get over alcoholism.

tomm2thumbs

(13,297 posts)
20. what's even more odd
Tue Aug 12, 2014, 08:06 PM
Aug 2014

Robin Williams was in a movie about the subject alluded to in EX500rider's post above, called "World's Greatest Dad". There are clips on YouTube which I won't post due to the sensitive nature of it, especially given the circumstances.

From what was described at the press conference, this situation sounds more reasonable than a proactive attempt by Robin Williams at suicide, but I was not there and have not heard everything there is to be heard. The movie portrays a father who covers up his son's accidental sexual death with a suicide note, etc.





uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
24. I read an interview over 20 years ago where he talked about his ongoing clinical depression
Wed Aug 13, 2014, 03:59 AM
Aug 2014

He has been fighting it for at least his adult life. Not situational "my dog died I am sad" depression but the deep dark chemical imbalance that he fought so hard which resulted in a lot of his manic happy acting. Acting was therapy for the cancer of depression. Manic happy acting was the reault of his depression.

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
25. ...I would actually rather think it was a suicide, instead of
Wed Aug 13, 2014, 11:32 PM
Aug 2014

Autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. I'm assuming that's what you're getting at...I'd seriously rather remember him as a terminally troubled man hiding behind a smile (as most "funny guys" are), instead of, well, yeah, ew.

DonCoquixote

(13,615 posts)
26. I hate to add to this, but it will dispel possible bs
Wed Aug 13, 2014, 11:52 PM
Aug 2014

NOTE: DO not imitate this unless you want to hurt your family, and risk going to Hell yourself.


The method Mr. Williams used is a common way of killing yourself in Prison. When I worked there, a lot of times the officers would be like "How they they hang themselves without something to throw the rope around?" Sadly, they did not need that, nor a well tied noose.

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