Kung Fu Kotzwarraism

David Carradine died two days ago. He was 72.
Carradine was famous for his role of Kwai Chang Caine on the 70s TV show Kung Fu, though most people probably recognize him from the Kill Bill movies and numerous under-produced TV karate episodes.
When his death was first announced two days ago, Bangkok papers did not release the cause of death out of respect for his family. So I figured he either killed himself or had a heart attack while sodomizing a 10-year-old Chinese boy.
Today, Thai papers released a report that Carradine was found naked hanging in a closet of a luxury suite at a swanky hotel. He had a rope tied around his neck and a rope around his genitals.
Though it's painfully obvious, Thai police and reporters are ignoring the fact that he died performing autoerotic asphyxiation, or kotzwarraism in the Far East. Authorities claim that the official cause of death won't be known for a few weeks until the autopsy is done, because everything "is still unclear." Yeah, sure.
Even Carradine's family and friends are coming out and saying they know David would never kill himself. For one, that's a stupid thing to say. Anyone is capable of killing themselves and I'm confident a vast majority of septuagenarians have considered it at one time in their 70+ years. But since they're eliminating the possibility of suicide, we're left with two options: "scarfing" or a freaky murder by some sexual avant garde artist/killer. I guess the latter is possible.
If indeed he did die of autoerotic asphyxiation, I feel bad for the guy. I think people should be able to perform whatever odd and fetishist sexual acts they want as long as they're not hurting others. The few articles I read lead me to believe he wasn't suicidal, but that's a moot hypothesis.
The manager of the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel, where Carradine's body was found, said that the night before he was found he had played piano for guests in the lobby and even a flute solo. Suicides don't play the flute. He was also working on several movie projects at the time, one of which the director said "he was very excited to be working on."
He's not the first celebrity to die this way. The last one I can recall was Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS. In the case if Hutchence's death, it was ultimately ruled a suicide, but I don't believe that. He was found naked too, and as is often the case, someone probably "sanitized" the scene. That's the official term when friends or family members remove sex toys or drug paraphernalia before police/reporters arrive.


ADDED NOTE: Associated Press writer Michael Casey just released an article suggesting that Carradine may have died from autoerotic asphyxiation. For the record, his announcement comes 10 hours after mine.