A post-mortem examination on the body of Russian oligarch and former Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky has found his death was "consistent with hanging" as there was no sign of "violent struggle", British police said today.
The 67-year-old businessman-turned-Kremlin-critic was found dead in his sprawling property in Ascot, an affluent town a few kilometres from Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle, on Saturday.
"The results of the post-mortem examination, carried out by a Home Office pathologist, have found the cause of death is consistent with hanging. The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle," according to Thames Valley police, which has been investigating the case since the self-exiled tycoon was found dead.
"Further tests will now be carried out, including toxicology and histology examinations, the results of which are likely to take several weeks.
A forensic examination of the property in Ascot, which is being carried out by Scenes of Crime Officers, will continue for several days and a cordon will remain in place until these have been completed," the police statement added.
The former billionaire power broker, who helped Russian President Vladimir Putin come to power, fled to Britain in 2000 after a bitter falling out with him. In self-exile, he became one of the fiercest critics of Russia's new elite.
The results of the post-mortem and reports that he was found dead on his bathroom floor with a scarf nearby with bruises on his neck appear to support the theory that the self-exiled tycoon may have killed himself.
His death had triggered worldwide speculation about whether onetime Kremlin kingmaker had become a victim of an assassination plot like his former friend and KGB officer, Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after he was poisoned with radioactive material while drinking tea at a meeting in London.
The findings of the post-mortem surprised Lord Bell, Beresovsky's PR adviser and one of his closest friends, who had spoken to him regularly over the last few months.
"He struck me as very low, but not that low It is very sad. It is horrible. It won't stop people writing about [other theories of] how he died, because people don't understand suicide," he said.
Berezovsky's body was removed from the property last morning, when the police had said that while his death remained "unexplained" there was no evidence to suggest the involvement of a "third party".
A formal identification process, which has not yet been carried out, will be completed today.
Berezovsky had been suffering from depression after a humiliating high court defeat last year at the hands of his former business partner and Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich.
His friends knew of his financial woes as his assets were frozen and legal bills mounted to 100 million pounds but insisted that he was a fighter who would not consider taking his own life.
They felt he had got over the worst of his depression, which was treated with medication and a spell at the Priory clinic.
He was found dead by his bodyguard on Saturday afternoon in the mansion owned by his ex-wife, Galina, in Mill Lane in an exclusive area of Ascot in south-east England.
The bathroom had been locked from the inside and his only remaining bodyguard, reportedly a former Mossad agent, had to force-open the door before calling in the paramedics who declared him dead.
Less than 24 hours before his death Berezovsky had told a Russian reporter that he wanted to return to his homeland.
A Kremlin spokesman had claimed that Berezovsky had recently contacted Putin, saying he wanted to go home.
A former Scotland Yard Commander who worked with Berezovsky has said reports the Russian recently wrote a letter of apology to Putin "aren't very credible".
"There was absolutely no chance of Berezovsky having any form of rapprochement with Putin. He'd burnt his bridges completely," said John O'Connor.
Sergei Markov, an adviser of Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed on Monday that he may have been murdered by British spies to stop him leaving state secrets to the Russians.
"The British secret services can be suspected," Markov said.
