Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams — a comic genius whose manic energy and quick wit charmed fans for nearly four decades — hanged himself with a belt inside his Northern California home after trying to slash his wrist, authorities said Tuesday.
Williams, 63, and his wife had gone to sleep in different rooms at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and she left the house Monday assuming the “Mork & Mindy” actor was still snoozing, Marin County sheriff’s Lt. Keith Boyd said.
The actor’s personal assistant got inside the house and knocked on Williams’ bedroom door at about 11:45 a.m., but the comic didn’t answer.
“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 with a belt secured around his neck with the other end of the belt wedged between the closed closet door and the door frame,” Boyd said.
“Mr. Williams at that time was cool to the touch with rigor mortis present in his body.”
Authorities struggled to paint an exact picture of Williams’ suicide.
“He was not in a chair,” Boyd said. “He was suspended … from the belt which was wedged between the door and the door frame, in a seated position, slightly suspended off the ground.”
Boyd continued: “The best way to describe his position when we found him, when we examined him … his body is in a position that looks like he’s sitting in a chair, slightly off the ground, suspended from the belt that was wedged between the door and the door frame.”
The actor had apparently tried to kill himself by cutting his left wrist.
“The inside of Mr. Williams’ left wrist had several acute superficial transverse cuts,” Boyd said.
“A pocket knife with a closed blade was located in close proximity to Mr. Williams. The pocket knife was examined and a dry red material was located … on the blade of the knife which appeared consistent with dried blood.”
Williams’ shocking death came little more than a month after the actor, who had long struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, checked himself back into rehab in a bid to stay sober.
Boyd declined to say whether Williams left a suicide note, though celebrity gossip site TMZ said the actor didn’t leave any writings.
“At this time, the Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made,” Boyd said.
Williams was married three times and had three adult children.
“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken,” graphic designer wife Susan Schneider said in a statement on Monday.