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Preliminary Investigation Shows Robin Williams Died Of 'Asphyxia Due To Hanging'

SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) -- Actor and comedian Robin Williams died after hanging himself with a belt in his unincorporated Tiburon home , according to a preliminary investigation by the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Lt. Keith Boyd detailed Tuesday morning the death of Williams' who was found unresponsive Monday around 12 p.m. Boyd did not discuss whether or not Williams left a note.

The 63-year-old was last seen alive by his wife at about 10:30 p.m. on August 10 when she retired for the evening in another room of the house they shared together. It's unknown at this time when Williams' retired for the evening. His wife left the home the next morning believing he was still asleep, Boyd said.

Williams' personal assistant became concerned an hour later when he failed to respond to knocks on his bedroom door. She eventually gained access and entered the bedroom to find Williams  "clothed in a seated position, unresponsive, and with a belt secured around his neck with the other end of the belt wedged between the closet door and door frame," Boyd said.

"(He) was cool to the touch with rigor mortis present," Boyd said, adding that the inside of his left wrist also had several acute superficial cuts. A pocket knife with a closed blade was located nearby his body.

The preliminary investigation did not reveal Williams had been in a physical altercation.

Boyd said Williams had been seeking treatment recently for depression and that an official cause of death will be pending toxicology tests in several weeks.

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