IMO, ME was leaving it up to LE to determine "Manner of death".
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
In many legal
jurisdictions, the
manner of death is a determination, typically made by the
coroner,
medical examiner,
police, or similar officials, and
recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinction is made between the
cause of death, which is a specific disease or injury,
versus manner of death, which is primarily a
legal determination versus the mechanism of death (also called the mode of death) which does not explain why the person died or the underlying cause of death and can include cardiac arrest or exsanguination. Different categories are used in different jurisdictions, but manner of death determinations include everything from very broad categories like "natural" and "homicide" to specific manners like "traffic accident" or "gunshot wound". In some cases an
autopsy is performed, either due to general legal requirements, because the medical cause of death is uncertain, upon the request of family members or guardians, or because the circumstances of death were suspicious.