SINGAPORE — The State Coroner ruled yesterday that evidence presented during the 10-day inquiry into the death of American researcher Shane Todd was “inconsistent with the possibility” that foul play was involved.

Instead, there had been “overwhelming evidence” that Todd had “entertained suicidal ideations”, which increased in severity over the months leading up to his death, said State Coroner Chay Yuen Fatt.

The evidence included the fact that Todd had visited suicide-related websites on 19 days between March 10 and June 23 last year. “The evidence before me instead compels me to find, beyond reasonable doubt, that the deceased had committed suicide by hanging himself,” said Mr Chay, a District Judge, in his 145-page grounds of decision.

Todd, 31, was found hanged in his apartment in Chinatown on June 24 last year. His family believe he was murdered over sensitive research done at the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) where he worked. The case attracted international attention when the Financial Times newspaper ran an extensive report on their claims.

Yesterday’s ruling concluded the inquiry into Todd’s death, which saw 73 witnesses called, with 44 taking the stand. In a statement, the United States Embassy in Singapore said the inquiry was “comprehensive, fair and transparent”. Todd’s family members were not present at the verdict but had on Friday instructed their former lawyers to attend court on their behalf.

The State Coroner said he found no reason to doubt the authenticity of a suicide note found on Todd’s laptop at the scene of death, even though Mary, the deceased’s mother, pointed out grammatical and spelling mistakes. “Even though the evidence showed that the deceased had prepared the notes sometime before his death, it was not inconsistent for the suicide notes to not be absolutely perfect in terms of grammar and spelling,” added Mr Chay.

He also said there was no evidence to suggest that Todd had been involved in any sensitive research as part of his work at the IME.

Midway through the inquiry in May, the Todd family walked out of the court and discharged their lawyers after a request for more time to examine evidence by Dr Luis Alejandro Andro Montes — who is said to have seen Todd the day before he was found hanged — was rejected. Todd’s parents claimed neither they nor their son’s girlfriend recognise Dr Montes, even though he testified that he had met them last year when they arrived in Singapore following their son’s death.

The State Coroner said he “rejected” the evidence given by Dr Edward Adelstein, a medical examiner from the US engaged by the Todd family, as it was “unsupported” and “at times contradicted” the relevant pathological findings and medical literature presented in court.

Dr Adelstein, who gave evidence that Todd had been garrotted, later recanted his statement in open court. “Dr Adelstein’s evidence went beyond the scope of his role as a pathologist, was nothing sort of bizarre and extremely unhelpful in the way that it detracted from the critical pathological issues before the court,” Mr Chay said.

The family had also claimed that they were unable to obtain certain evidence to assert foul play because the police here did not take DNA swabs or dust for fingerprints at the scene and claimed that the police had altered the scene by moving a wooden chair and accessing Dr Todd’s laptop.

The State Coroner said while he accepted that the police officers had exercised their discretion to make certain “judgment calls” in this case, more guidelines could be in place and enforced to govern “such exercise of discretion”. The officers involved in the case had also said in court that they had followed the standard operating procedures.

Meanwhile, Todd’s parents told Channel NewsAsia that they intend to continue to prove their case that he was murdered, and to get American public opinion on their side. The couple has promised to reveal more from Todd’s external hard drive which they took back home. “The rest of the story will be told because there is a lot on that computer proving what we are contending here,” said Mrs Mary Todd.