Bob Saget dead at 65 -- hours after performing live

[BeginnerSleuther]

Umm. His heart condition is a very very common one and he was not evidently being treated for it. Without a prior history of syncopal episodes or arrythmias, I don't think this is a likely cause of a fall.

I'm talking about cardiomegaly and 95% blockage. While I'm not saying that's definitely what happened, it certainly is possible. The fact that he wasn't being treated for it is why I said he likely didn't even know.

 

[Herat]

This is some of the first information that was reported about his death.

1. It was room 962 at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando
2. The room was dark, with the lights out
3. The room did not appear to show signs of a disturbance
4. He was found face up, lying in bed with his left arm over his chest and his right arm exended onto the bed
5. He had no apparent signs of trauma when found
6. He was cold and clammy when found.
7. The room was tidy and orderly.
8. Items were found on the nightstand, the countertop, in the closet, and in the bathroom.

Interesting the lights were out. I wonder if the bathroom lights automatically go off or if he was in the bathroom (where all the hard surfaces are) without the light on.

It would seem he had likely been dead for hours, being cold and clammy to the touch.

It doesn't appear as though he was dishheveled, or had to pull the sheets to get into the bed, or had vomiting, or an agonal or seizure event forceful enough to disrupt the bedding or his position.

Bathroom in typical hotel room in the hotel. Toilet is behind the louvered door.

If he had fallen in the bathroom with the lights on, would he have been able to get up to a standing position to turn them off before getting into bed?

 

[happyday]

While possible, benzo withdrawal with Klonopin severe enough to cause a seizure is VERY unlikely. This is because Klonopin is long acting and, in a sense, self tapering. The reason benzos can cause withdrawal is because they have a similar effect as alcohol. The short-acting ones, like Xanax, are the most dangerous because they hit a peak and quickly leave the body. The way to insure a safe discontinuation of meds like Xanax is by slowly tapering and cutting the dose very, very slowly so the body adjusts as the dose gets smaller. Because Klonopin is so long acting, it leaves the body slowly on its own so while withdrawal would be possible, the type of withdrawal that would lead to seizures would be extremely unlikely, probably way more unlikely than any other mechanism of fall.

Could he have had a seizure in general? Sure, it's possible. But highly doubtful it was from Klonopin.

That makes sense, thank you. My friend’s seizure was caused by Xanax.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Didn't Billy Mays died this way? Like he hit his head on a plane and died hours later.

Billy Mays died of heart disease, but actress Natasha Richardson died of a head injury.
Billy Mays: Autopsy Says Heart Disease Killed TV Pitchman

I personally knew a very muscular, athletic, young man that slipped off a ladder, hit his head and didn't think anything of it. He died the next day from brain trauma.
Saget might have always slept with all the lights off, but also if his head was hurting, any light may have been painful to his eyes.

 

[IceIce9]

Everyone seems to be leaving out that he also had a severe heart condition (likely unknown). This means he was extremely vulnerable to arrhythmia and syncopal episodes (meaning fainting). If he fainted, he could have hit his head.

An enlarged heart is very common in adults and many/most times causes no symptoms.
Bob Saget’s Autopsy Report Describes Severe Skull Fractures

The report noted that Mr. Saget had an enlarged heart, but did not suggest any link to his death

 

[IceIce9]

My conclusions:

1. There is more to the story than has been released.

2. The family knows more details and has chosen not to release more to the public.

3. Speculation will continue because further information will not be released.

YMMV MOO

 

[happyday]

An enlarged heart is very common in adults and many/most times causes no symptoms.
Bob Saget’s Autopsy Report Describes Severe Skull Fractures

A dr on CNN said heart disease ran in his family so maybe he was on baby aspirin like so many people are. That would have made the bleeding worse. But he said the enlarged heart probably didn’t cause him to fall or anything.

 

[happyday]

My conclusions:

1. There is more to the story than has been released.

2. The family knows more details and has chosen not to release more to the public.

3. Speculation will continue because further information will not be released.

YMMV MOO

I totally agree with this.

 

[jjenny]

I just don’t see him being murdered and tucked into bed. Also there are cameras in a Ritz Carlton, and they would have seen someone entering his room, or at least some where in the vicinity late that night. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out if some came in and killed him.
I lean more toward although it was an accident, it didn’t exactly happen how they’re saying, but the family knows and wants to keep it private. That makes more sense to me.

How would the family know? He died alone in a hotel room. How would the family acquire this supposed knowledge?

 

[jjenny]

A dr on CNN said heart disease ran in his family so maybe he was on baby aspirin like so many people are. That would have made the bleeding worse. But he said the enlarged heart probably didn’t cause him to fall or anything.

He also had covid. Covid can cause blood clots, so he could have been taking something to prevent that. But presumably the tox screen would have shown that.

 

[Herat]

How would the family know? He died alone in a hotel room. How would the family acquire this supposed knowledge?

I would believe the medical examiner / coroner had some other details about the death that were shared with the family, but are not going to be released to the public.

 

[happyday]

How would the family know? He died alone in a hotel room. How would the family acquire this supposed knowledge?

I mean that LE has told them everything, and the family is only telling the public part of it. Who knows, but I can see that if there was something embarrassing or just something they didn’t think he’d want everyone to know. That would account for the injuries not quite seeming to line up with just a slip and fall and then back to bed. OR it happened how they’ve said, and it really was just a freak fall in the room, and it took a while to incapacitate him and ultimately kill him. The amount of fractures in various locations does give me pause, but it definitely can happen.

 

[jjenny]

I would believe the medical examiner / coroner had some other details about the death that were shared with the family, but are not going to be released to the public.

I very much doubt it. Police seemed to have come up with the accidental death and I presume that's what they told the family as well.

 

[jjenny]

Ok then we have to ask, what would be the motives in harming him?

- Personal
- Opportunistic crime
- Misadventure?

One would think there should be a video of him going to his hotel room, considering hotels have cameras. One would hope police looked at that. His head injury appears to be pretty severe so not sure how he could have sustained it in an orderly hotel room and then gone to bed without calling for help.

 

[happyday]

His whole autopsy is released. What other results cold there possibly be to be shared with family but not in the autopsy?

It mentioned something about “the circumstances” but doesn’t explain. Maybe it’s the circumstances that are being withheld? Also, I think only some of the report was released. Someone said that upthread.

 

[happyday]

I very much doubt it. Police seemed to have come up with the accidental death and I presume that's what they told the family as well.

I believe that it was accidental, but I think some people just wonder if there’s more to it than they’re saying due to the massive head trauma.

 

[IceIce9]

I very much doubt it. Police seemed to have come up with the accidental death and I presume that's what they told the family as well.

The circumstances could have been shared with the family and they are choosing to keep private.

 

[jjenny]

The circumstances could have been shared with the family and they are choosing to keep private.

Well, anything could have happened.
I can't argue with that.

 

[Herat]

My take on the autopsy report:

1. The fractures extend from the base of the head to the orbits. That's a really big fracture, without displacement and the shearing damage from the impact tearing of the veins would cause the subdural hemorrhage. Bruising of frontal brain tissue from the contre-coup effect. Some brain tissue damage appears in the region of the cerebellum, which controls coordination of movements. ( As someone else pointed out - somewhat similar to the Natasha Richardson death from a head impact while skiing - she was well enough to get back to her room on her own power, but decompensated quickly and with enough damage that she couldn't be revived and died within 2 days, from an epidural hematoma. Her injury was in a different area and technically a different type, that is more rapidly fatal, but the general idea of being able to talk and ambulate after the injury only to succumb hours later.)

2. The left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis is high-grade, but focal. He has a right coronary artery dominant system with little plaque at all. There is no plaque hemorrhage or rupture and the stenosis is likely minimally symptomatic, and also not likely to cause significant cardiac dysfunction as he has a very healthy right-dominant system that maintains cardiac perfusion.

3. No soft tissue hemorrhage in the face or neck, so there is no evidence that there was a second "blow" to this region - ie: didnt also fall forward and hit something else.

4. No blood in mouth or abrasions/lacerations that would have suggested a seizure or frontal trauma.

5. No aspiration, no vomiting, no food in the stomach, no pulmonary blood clots or evidence of COVID-related lung disease.

6. Toxicology is straightforward. Two prescribed drugs are present in therapeutic levels.

Basically looks like a reasonably healthy 65 year old who suffered a catastrophic fatal traumatic head injury, with only one impact.

 

[Herat]

I found this brief interesting discussion about epidural ( and subdural) hematomas in a discussion about Natasha Richardson's death.

"Talk and Die Syndrome
Symptoms don't always emerge right away after an injury like Richardson's—sometimes called "Talk and Die Syndrome"—making it difficult to determine the right response. "'Talk and Die Syndrome' refers to a lucid interval before a person begins to lose consciousness after a brain injury," says Douglas I. Katz, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and medical director of the brain injury programs at Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital in Braintree, MA. "The person may appear fine initially because the mass of blood in the head is expanding and there isn't too much pressure on the brain yet," he says.

If the bleeding continues, the amount of blood may become large enough to put pressure on the brain, according to Rolland S. Parker, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist in private practice in New York, NY, and adjunct professor of clinical neurology at New York University School of Medicine. "Eventually the blood clot may be large enough to interfere with oxygen entering the brain, pressing upon areas that create heartbeats and breathing," Dr. Parker explains."

We still don't know when and how the impact occurred in Mr. Sagert's case, but this Talk and Die Syndrome interval does make sense to how he was found, perhaps 12 hours after the accident. And he either didn't think it was serious enough to call for help, or was rapidly obtunded from the increased intracranial pressure.