Asphyxiation

Three young men were found dead early Friday, apparently asphyxiated after inhaling nitrous oxide--so-called laughing gas--emitted from an 80-pound canister they held across their laps in the sealed cab of a pickup truck. Los Angeles police called the deaths accidental and said the victims died after the canister's valve was left open inside the truck, parked with its windows up on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. who had struggled with alcohol and drugs, died of asphyxiation due to hanging, it was announced Thursday. The body of the 52-year-old was found in a building at her home in Bedford, N.Y., on Wednesday. An autopsy was performed Thursday morning by a Westchester County medical examiner. Officials on Thursday morning released a two-sentence statement, sent by email to reporters: “The Westchester County Medical Examiner's office today did an autopsy on the body of Mary Richardson Kennedy,” the statement said.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. who had struggled with alcohol and drugs, died of asphyxiation due to hanging, it was announced Thursday. The body of the 52-year-old was found in a building at her home in Bedford, N.Y., on Wednesday. An autopsy was performed Thursday morning by a Westchester County medical examiner. Officials on Thursday morning released a two-sentence statement, sent by email to reporters: “The Westchester County Medical Examiner's office today did an autopsy on the body of Mary Richardson Kennedy,” the statement said.

Paulette Gebara Farah, the 4-year-old girl whose disappearance and apparent asphyxiation death riveted Mexico this spring, died by accident in her bed, prosecutors said Friday. The finding exonerates the girl's parents. They have been at the center of a media storm since Paulette, who suffered developmental disabilities, was found dead in her bed March 31, more than a week after she was reported missing. Investigators said the body had gone undetected during the initial search for the girl.

Yale graduate student Annie Le died from traumatic asphyxiation due to neck compression, the office of Connecticut's chief medical examiner said today. Le's body was found Sunday in a university research building, five days after she disappeared. Raymond Clark III, whom police have described as a "person of interest" in Le's death, left the New Haven police department around 3 a.m. today, just hours after police with a search warrant took him from his Middletown apartment. "We took him into custody to gather evidence from his body and his person," Police Chief James Lewis said at a press conference.

A watch recovered from the wreck of the Confederate submersible H. L. Hunley hints that the vessel's occupants may have died from lack of oxygen rather than drowning, researchers said Friday. The Hunley was the first submarine to destroy an enemy vessel, sinking the Union ship Housatonic about 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 17, 1864, before disappearing. The watch, which belonged to Lt.

Canh Thi Nguyen, whose husband and son died of asphyxiation after using a hibachi grill to heat their Santa Ana apartment, remained in a coma Friday at the AMI Medical Center of Garden Grove. On Wednesday, a lethal dose of colorless, odorless carbon monoxide from the grill overcame the couple and their two children. The father, Nghiep Tan Nguyen, 39, and the boy, Jollivet, estimated to be about 3 years old, died where they slept in the front room of the converted-garage apartment.

A couple who used a charcoal grill to heat their apartment died of carbon monoxide poisoning early Thursday, authorities said. Agripino Ajquejay, 43, and his wife, Ermelinda Lopez, 51, were found dead in their home in the 14900 block of Vanowen Street shortly before 7 a.m., said Los Angeles Police homicide Det. Al Aldez. The victims were discovered by Ajquejay's 19-year-old son, Mauricio. His father, a recent immigrant from Guatemala, died holding the telephone, police said.

A 21-year-old Santa Ana woman has been charged with murdering her newborn boy by wrapping him in a plastic bag and dumping him in a trash bin last month, police said Monday. Teresa Sanchez, who works as a motel maid in Tustin, was arrested Thursday at the Santa Ana apartment she shares with her mother and two brothers, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Bob Clark. On Friday, the district attorney's office filed one count of murder against her.

The "choking game," a type of asphyxiation practiced by children and adolescents seeking a euphoric rush, has killed at least 82 children since 1995, according to the first U.S. government study to quantify the deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scoured news reports to tally deaths from the game -- also known as the "pass-out game" or "space monkey" -- because no official, nationwide records exist. The first report came in 1995, with three or fewer deaths annually until 2004.

The body of the asphyxiated man was discovered in the backwoods of Clay County, Ky., near an old family cemetery. A rope around his neck was tied to a tree. He was a 51-year-old part-time teacher and a former Boy Scout employee -- a gentle man who, one relative said, never caused any trouble. That would be mystery enough. But the dead man, William E. "Bill" Sparkman, was also a part-time employee of the U.S. Census Bureau. He was found with the word "FED" written across his chest in what appeared to be a felt-tip marker, according to Jim Trosper, the county coroner.

Yale graduate student Annie Le died from traumatic asphyxiation due to neck compression, the office of Connecticut's chief medical examiner said today. Le's body was found Sunday in a university research building, five days after she disappeared. Raymond Clark III, whom police have described as a "person of interest" in Le's death, left the New Haven police department around 3 a.m. today, just hours after police with a search warrant took him from his Middletown apartment. "We took him into custody to gather evidence from his body and his person," Police Chief James Lewis said at a press conference.

Police are speculating that accidental suffocation, not suicide, may have caused the death of American cult actor David Carradine, whose body was found in a hotel closet in the Thai capital with a rope tied to his neck, wrist and genitals. Celebrity blogs and social networking Web sites were abuzz with news of the death of Carradine -- best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu." The circumstances under which he died have led to speculation that the 72-year-old actor may have been engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.

The "choking game," a type of asphyxiation practiced by children and adolescents seeking a euphoric rush, has killed at least 82 children since 1995, according to the first U.S. government study to quantify the deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scoured news reports to tally deaths from the game -- also known as the "pass-out game" or "space monkey" -- because no official, nationwide records exist. The first report came in 1995, with three or fewer deaths annually until 2004.

Confronted by an Oriental hornet, hundreds of Cyprian honeybees swarm their archenemy -- and smother it to death. Writing in the journal Current Biology this week, a research team led by Alexandros Papachristoforou of Aristotle University in Greece reported on the honeybees, the first insect known to employ such a defense. The hornet, which feasts on honeybee larvae, is well equipped for battle.

The infant found dead last fall in a trash bin near USC was the victim of a homicide and may have been intentionally asphyxiated, according to a final autopsy report issued Tuesday by the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Deputy Medical Examiner David B. Whiteman concluded that the baby boy had been born alive, after a 32-week pregnancy, and Whiteman said his homicide finding was based on "caretaker neglect."

State regulators have fined a Tarzana firm $153,720 for an accident that killed two workers at its metallurgical plant in May. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it cited Bodycote Thermal Processing for eight violations, including a $70,000 fine for willfully failing to protect employees from potential asphyxiation from argon and nitrogen gases. Steven Horan, 36, and Dwayne Pesicka, 43, both of Burbank, died May 17 in a furnace at Bodycote's plant in Tarzana.

Families of the 12 people who died in a spiritualist prayer meeting gone awry held wakes for their dead Saturday, disbelieving and angry at the official finding that the victims died of accidental asphyxiation brought on by a malfunctioning butane lantern. "Put down that justice needs to be done here, that someone is to blame and that somehow those of us who did not die will find an answer," said Fidel Mondragon, 61, of East Los Angeles, whose daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren died.

"Mommy! ... MOMMY!" The cry had the kind of blood-curdling edge that tells a mother something is horribly wrong. It shook Kamelia Sepasi from the camaraderie of friends, sent her rushing upstairs to her daughter's room. There, 13-year-old Sunny stood frozen in place, staring toward the open door of her sister's closet. "Sasha's not moving," she shouted. "Sasha isn't moving, Mommy!"

Billy Coleman tried to play by the rules. As Hurricane Rita lumbered toward Texas, he heeded calls to evacuate and fled to Mississippi in a three-car convoy -- 14 men, women, children, stepchildren, boyfriends, girlfriends, cousins. They planned to stay away from Beaumont, in the southeast corner of the state, until authorities gave the all-clear. But things went wrong in a hurry. Unable to find a public shelter, they had to sleep in their cars the first night.