An inquest heard yesterday that a 39-year-old man died from complications after suffering a badly broken arm most likely caused by a heavy fall, a coroner's court was told yesterday.
Timothy Keane (39), a writer, was found dead in his flat in the Harold's Cross area of Dublin on Friday, July 9th, 2004. He was last seen five days previously.
His body was discovered lying face upwards halfway between the bedroom and kitchen, dressed in boxer shorts.
City coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded an open verdict. He said Mr Keane had most likely died two days before he was found.
The cause of death was a fatal fat embolisation which meant the arm was so badly broken that particles of bone marrow fat got into the circulation, blocking his lungs and kidneys and depriving them of blood and oxygen.
Dr Farrell said: "He most likely sustained a heavy fall. It isn't evidence, it's reconstruction based on the evidence we have. It appears he may have been in the process of getting out of bed. This is purely speculative but it may have aggravated the fracture and resulted in the fatal fat embolisation which occurs 12 to 24 hours after an injury."
Attending the inquest were Mr Keane's parents, the former chief justice Ronan Keane and journalist Terry Keane, and his sisters Jane, Madeline and Justine.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said she felt Mr Keane may have died on July 7th, two days before he was found. The fall could have been a day or two before that as the fat embolisation would take 12 to 24 hours.
She said when Mr Keane sustained the fracture which fragmented the bone of his upper left arm, he did not go for medical attention.
He would not have thought it to be life-threatening, she said. It would have been very painful and he would have been nauseous.
"He would not have thought it was severe other than it was painful because he did not go for medical attention or maybe he felt it would be fine in the morning.
"If he had been drinking, for example, he would not have felt the pain so much," she said.
She said there was bruising to his left arm, chest, hip and knee and some abrasions on his face. There was separate bruising on his right knuckle.
On the upper left arm there was a circular puncture wound caused by the bone which had fractured into small pieces, breaking through the skin, she said. She could not exclude the possibility of a minor assault arising from the right-hand abrasions, but it did not relate to the death. Dr Cassidy said that 12 to 24 hours after the injury was sustained he would have collapsed.
She speculated: "It looks to me as if he had gone to bed and then woke up and realised it was not getting better. It was an unstable fracture and, as soon as he stood up, he would have been disorientated, dizzy and then collapsed and would have been unconscious until his death," she said.
She added that the movement of getting out of bed would have contributed to the embolisation.
Judge Keane had made a statement that he last communicated with his son at the end of May or early June 2004 when he left a message on his voicemail. He identified his son's body on July 9th. At yesterday's hearing he simply confirmed details of the statement which was read out.
Det Sgt Joseph Molloy said a full investigation was carried out. There was no sign of a struggle in the flat or of a robbery.
"We found nothing at all to suggest anything to substantiate the view that there could have been an assault," he said.
Dr Farrell added that there was evidence of alcohol and a prescription sedative in the urine but not in the blood.