Russian tycoon’s death unsettled

LONDON - Boris Berezovsky’s death remains unexplained, a British coroner said Thursday, saying it wasn’t possible to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt whether the self-exiled Russian tycoon and opponent of President Vladimir Putin was killed or committed suicide.

The Berezovsky, 67, was found on a bathroom floor of his ex-wife’s home in southern England in March 2013. A scarf was around his neck.

Coroner Peter Bedford recorded an “open,” or inconclusive, verdict.

“I am not saying Mr.Berezovsky took his own life. I am not saying Mr. Berezovsky was unlawfully killed,” Bedford said at the Guildhall in Windsor, west of London. “What I am saying is that the burden of proof sets such a high standard it is impossible for me to say.”

Inquests are held in Britain to determine the facts in all cases of violent or unexplained death. Employees and associates said at the two-day inquest that Berezovsky had become severely depressed and spoke of suicide after he lost a multibillion-dollar legal battle in 2012 with billionaire Roman Abramovich over shares in a Russian oil company.

A forensic scientist testified that toxicology tests found traces of prescription medicines, including drugs for insomnia and depression in Berezovsky’s body, but no sign of anything that might have contributed to his death.

But Bernd Brinkmann, an expert on hanging and asphyxiation, gave a contrary opinion, saying he thought Berezovsky had been strangled by someone who then made it look like a hanging.