The sadness of losing movie and TV star David Carradine was quickly swept away by a frenzy of conflicting stories and bizarre theories. Last week the actor, known recently for his titular role in Kill Bill, was found dead in his hotel room in Thailand during the filming of his new movie, Stretch. Almost instantly the reports said that it was suicide, claiming that the actor hung himself. Then, it was reported that Carradine died from a session of autoerotic asphyxiation that went horribly wrong.

Such a humiliating way to leave the world is bad enough, but this week saw an even stranger proclamation made. Carradine’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, is now claiming that it is possible that Carradine was actually murdered, and made to look like it was a failed sexual experiment. Who would do this? According to Geragos, Carradine was investigating the world of underground martial arts groups and one group of assassins may have committed the murder. It would be pretty strange for a 72 year old actor, famous for TV roles like the lead in Kung Fu, or in Tarantino’s two-part cult flick, to be attempting to infiltrate such an underworld, but the worst part is that this only further ignores the tragedy of the actor’s death, regardless of the circumstances.