Lets not forget, since it was known he had a weak
heart, he could of simply gotten a shot of Adrenalin from
the attacker. All it would of taken to put him in the red.
The adrenalin would not show up on any test.
edit on 2-3-2012 by popsmayhem because: (no reason given)
Given the half life of epinephrine, you're right that it would most likely not be detected. However, any coroner worth their salt would discover the site of injection, mostly likely parenteral (intravenously/IV). This would not be as simple as people think. Though epinephrine is a potent adrenergic stimulant, because of its short half life, large quantities would be required to actually kill someone. Don't forget that epinephrine is also an endogenous sympathetic catecholamine and everyone has naturally ocurring levels normally. Epinephrine and norepinephrine is utilized under stress conditions, or during fight or flight responses. So to inject someone with enough epi to kill them you would need to restrain them long enough to inject them with enough epi to kill them. In addition to the injection marks, there would most likely be other signs of a struggle, such as bruising and echymosis, etc.
