UK police: Self-exiled Russian tycoon Berezovsky died by hanging

USPA News - Self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found in the bathroom of his luxury home near London over the weekend, died as a result of hanging and there is no evidence of third-party involvement, British police said late Monday. The body of Berezovsky, 67, was discovered on Saturday afternoon at his home in Ascot, a small town about 21 miles (35 kilometers) west of London.

His body was discovered on the floor of his bathroom after he had not been seen since 10:30 p.m. local time on Friday, about 17 hours before his body was found by an employee. Investigators previously said they had found no evidence to suggest the well-known Putin-foe was the victim of foul play, and an autopsy carried out on Monday by a pathologist found the cause of death was consistent with hanging. "The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle," Thames Valley Police said in a statement. Toxicology and histology examinations will now be carried out while officers continue to search the property in Ascot, but results are not expected for at least several weeks. Peter Bedford, the coroner for Berkshire, will open an inquest at Windsor Guildhall on Thursday morning to discuss the preliminary results of the autopsy. Earlier, the employee who discovered the body told investigators that he forced open the bathroom door after becoming concerned for Berezovsky`s welfare. "The employee was the only other person in the house when the body was discovered," Thames Valley Police said in a statement on Sunday. Upon the discovery of the body, specialist chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN) officers were called to the scene after a paramedic`s personal electronic dosimeter (PED) was triggered. "This is a health and safety device used extensively by the emergency services," police said previously, adding that tests confirmed the scene was safe. Berezovsky, who had survived several assassination attempts, built his fortune in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was once a member of Russian President Boris Yeltsin`s inner circle but later clashed with Vladimir Putin, who succeeded Yeltsin and remains president. He fled to Britain in the early 2000s and sought political asylum for what he claimed were politically motivated fraud charges.