Actor Robin Williams hanged himself with belt, had cuts on his wrist in suicide at home, authorities reveal

Oscar-winner Robin Williams, alone in his bedroom with his demons, used a pocketknife to slice his left wrist before finally wrapping a belt around his neck.

 

The mercurial comedian, after a recent struggle with substance abuse and depression, then hanged himself from a clothes closet as his wife slept nearby in a separate bedroom, authorities revealed Tuesday.

Read More...DAY ONE OF SUCIDE

 

Toxicology tests will determine if Williams, who was 63 and fresh out of treatment in a 12-step program, had any drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his suicide, said Lt. Keith Boyd of the Marin County sheriff’s office.

Superficial cuts on the inside of the comedian’s wrist and a bloody pocketknife found near his body indicated Williams likely tried and rejected another method of killing himself before using the belt.

Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider, last saw her husband while heading to bed at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and there was no indication of any problem when she left the house 12 hours later believing he was still asleep.

“Mr. Williams’ personal assistant became concerned at approximately 11:45 a.m. (Monday) when he failed to respond to knocks on his bedroom door,” Boyd said.

The worried employee finally went inside to find a lifeless Williams in a seated position with one end of the belt pulled tight around his neck.

The other end was stuck between the closed door and the frame of a closet, he said.

The beloved funnyman’s right shoulder was pressed against the door, and rigor mortis indicated that Williams was dead for several hours before he was found.

“He was suspended, as I indicated, from the belt, which was wedged between the door and the door frame . . . in a seated position, slightly suspended off the ground,” Boyd said.

Williams’ wife got to their home in the town of Tiburon, near San Francisco Bay, shortly after the 911 call and the arrival of the sheriff’s department.

Paramedics were not dispatched to the scene — the first sign that there was no hope of reviving Williams, a source said Tuesday.

Asked if Williams left a note, Boyd replied, “We’re not discussing the note, or a note, at this point as the investigation is ongoing. That information will be discussed at a future time.”