Coroner Releases New Details About Robin Williams' Death

On August 11, 2014, at approximately 11:55 am, Marin  County Communications received a 9-1-1 telephone call  reporting a male adult had been located unconscious and not  breathing inside his residence located at 95 St. Thomas Way  in unincorporated Tiburon, CA. The caller was distraught  and indicated an apparent suicide due to a hanging had taken  place and rigor mortis had set in. The Sheriff’s Office, as well  as the Tiburon Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire  Protection District were dispatched to the incident with  emergency personnel arriving on scene at 12:00 pm. The  male subject, pronounced deceased by firefighters from the  Tiburon Fire Department at 12:02 pm has been identified as  Robin McLaurin Williams, a 63 year old resident of  unincorporated Tiburon, CA. 

Preliminary information developed during the investigation  by Coroner Division personnel has revealed Mr. Williams had  been seeking treatment for depression. Mr. Williams was last seen alive by his wife at approximately 10:30 pm on August  10, 2014 when she retired for the evening in a room in the  house. It is unknown at this time when Mr. Williams’ retired  for the evening in a bedroom in his home. At approximately  10:30 am on August 11, 2014 Mr. Williams’ wife left the home  believing Mr. Williams to still be asleep. Mr. Williams’  personal assistant became concerned at approximately 11:45  am when he failed to respond to knocks on his bedroom  door. At that time the personal assistant was able to gain  access to Mr. Williams' bedroom and entered the bedroom to  find Mr. Williams clothed in a seated position, unresponsive,  and with a belt secured around his neck with the other end of  the belt wedged between the closed closet door and door  frame. His right shoulder area was touching the door with  his body was perpendicular to the door and slightly suspended.

Mr. Williams was cool to the touch with rigor mortis present  in all of his extremities and livor mortis positioned  appropriately for the position he was located in. The inside  of Mr. Williams’ left wrist had several acute superficial  transverse cuts. A pocket knife with a closed blade was  located in close proximity to Mr. Williams. The pocket knife  was examined and dry red material was located on the blade  which appeared consistent to dried blood. It is unknown at  this time if the dried red material is in fact blood or if it is Mr.  Williams’ blood, but scientific testing will be conducted to  evaluate its investigative value. 

Mr. Williams was transported from the scene to the Napa  County Sheriff’s Office Morgue by the Coroner Division  pending a forensic examination which was conducted this  morning prior to this press conference. The forensic  examination, conducted by Dr. Joseph Cohen who is the  Sheriff’s Office Chief Forensic Pathologist, did not reveal any injuries indicating Mr. Williams had been in a struggle or  physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. The  preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed  supporting physical signs that Mr. Williams life ended from  asphyxia due to hanging. Toxicology testing will be  conducted to determine if Mr. Williams had any chemical  substances in his system at his time of death. Toxicology  results will not be available for approximately 2 – 6 weeks  while the testing is being performed. 

Please note this is an active investigation into the cause,  manner, and circumstances of Mr. Williams’ death. The final  cause and manner of death will not be certified until the  conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away. 

When the investigation is concluded and our final results are  ready for dissemination a press conference will be  scheduled.