Kate hoax nurse autopsy results revealed
WARNING: This story contains graphic details
The Associated Press
Posted: Dec 13, 2012 5:39 AM ET
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2012 5:37 AM ET
Related
An inquest into the apparent suicide of a nurse duped by a hoax call from Australian DJs about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge heard Thursday that she was found hanging in her room, had wrist injuries and left three notes.
Coroner's officer Lynda Martindill said nurse Jacintha Saldanha was discovered hanging in her nurses' quarters on Friday by a colleague and a member of security staff at London's King Edward VII Hospital.
Martindill said an attempt to revive Saldanha failed. The case is being treated as an apparent suicide.
Jacintha Saldanha died after being hoaxed by an Australian radio show trying to get information on Prince William's wife Kate, who was being treated for severe morning sickness in a London hospital. (STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)Police detective chief inspector James Harman said Saldanha, 46, also had injuries to her wrists.
He told the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court that two notes were found at the scene and another among Saldanha's belongings. He said there were no suspicious circumstances, meaning nobody else was involved in Saldanha's death.
Harman said that police were examining the notes, interviewing the nurse's friends, family and colleagues and looking at emails and phone calls to establish what led to her death.
He also said detectives would be contacting police in the Australian state of New South Wales to collect "relevant evidence."
Saldanha answered the phone last week when two Australian disc jockeys called to seek information about the former Kate Middleton, who was being treated for severe morning sickness. The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and Saldanha was tricked into transferring the call to a nurse caring for the duchess, who revealed private details about her condition.
The DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, apologized for the prank in emotional interviews on Australian television, saying they never expected their call would be put through. The show was taken off the air and the DJs have been suspended indefinitely.
Australia's media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, said Thursday it was launching an official investigation into whether radio station 2DayFM breached its broadcasting licence conditions and the industry code of practice.
Coroner Fiona Wilcox opened and adjourned Saldanha's inquest until March 26.
Wilcox expressed "my sympathies to her family and everybody who has been touched by this tragic death."
In Britain, inquests are held to determine the facts whenever someone dies unexpectedly, violently or in disputed circumstances. Inquests do not determine criminal liability or apportion blame.
Saldanha, who was born in India, lived in Bristol in southwestern England with her husband and two teenage children.
The family was not in court. Lawmaker Keith Vaz, who has spoken on their behalf, said the nurse's loved ones "need time to grieve."
Vaz said a memorial Mass would be held Saturday at London's Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Unknown remains found on Dellen Millard's farm
- Police searching the farm of Dellen Millard, the 27-year-old charged with first-degree murder after the remains of Ancaster, Ont., man Tim Bosma were discovered, have found other remains on the property, but it's unclear if they are human or animal. more »
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- A jobless Canadian IT professional who is collecting employment insurance is upset because he now suspects several recent jobs he applied for went to temporary foreign workers. more »
- Tornado strikes school in Oklahoma City suburb
- A more than one-kilometre wide tornado hit an elementary school in an Oklahoma City suburb on Monday, say authorities, as twisters churned through the city's suburbs for the second day in a row. more »
- Can the Senate fire a senator?
- An expert on parliamentary rules says the Senate has the power to turf a senator from the chamber, as long as a majority approves the expulsion, and as long as there is cause. more »
Must Watch
Latest World News Headlines
- North Korea fires weapons after 'rocket launching tests'
- North Korea continued firing short-range weapons over its own eastern waters today after a weekend of what it called "rocket launching tests" intended to bolster deterrence against enemy attack. South Korean officials were investigating exactly what the North was testing. more »
- Yahoo buys Tumblr blogging site for $1.1B
- Yahoo is buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to rejuvenate an internet icon that had fallen behind the times. more »
- D-Day beaches wind turbine proposal seeks Canadian comments
- Canadians are being given the opportunity to voice their opinions on a plan to build 75 wind turbines off the D-Day beaches in France. more »
- Nahlah Ayed: Vote-wary Iranians mull Ahmadinejad's successor
- Iranians go to the polls in less than four weeks to choose a new president. The reform movement is still smarting from its bitter defeat four years ago, but the jockeying for power is no less intense, Nahlah Ayed reports. more »
The National
The Current
- PM's chief of staff resigns as Senate expense scandal unfolds May. 20, 2013 1:22 PM After a week of political turmoil over the Senate expense scandal, the Prime Minister's chief of staff Nigel Wright has resigned. But questions about the $90,000 cheque he cut for Senator Mike Duffy continue to swirl.
- Unknown remains found on Dellen Millard's farm
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- Central Newfoundland digs out from freak snowfall
- Petition looks to rename Victoria Day
- Missing Toronto woman's parents unfazed by Millard link
- Vancouver man attacked, killed in Costa Rica
- Edmonton driver, 62, charged in boy's patio death
- Jeep driver apologizes after stunt kills Edmonton woman
- Rob Ford should resign if allegations true, councillors say

