No foul play in the death of American CEO, who had researched suicide methods prior to death

Mr Daniel Pohlod, the boyfriend of Ms Autumn Radtke, chief executive of First Meta, was the last person to see her alive. He arrived at the coroner's inquiry on Sept 15, 2014. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Mr Daniel Pohlod, the boyfriend of Ms Autumn Radtke, chief executive of First Meta, was the last person to see her alive. He arrived at the coroner's inquiry on Sept 15, 2014. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

SINGAPORE - A coroner's inquiry found no foul play in the death Ms Autumn Radtke, chief executive of First Meta, a Singapore-based virtual currency exchange platform.

Even though the 28-year-old American had a piece of paper stained with cocaine on her, "it was inconclusive whether Ms Radtke had consumed controlled drugs shortly before her demise", said State Coroner Janet Wang on Monday.

Coroner Wang found that Ms Radtke had intended to end her life with a fall from the 16th floor of Block 8 Cantonment Close. Multiple injuries had caused her death.

At about 7.05am on Feb 26, Ms Radtke was found unresponsive and bleeding on the second floor of the block. She was pronounced dead by paramedics at 7.20am.

Police investigations showed that Ms Radtke had been looking into suicide methods on Feb 24, two days before hrer death.

No cocaine was detected in her urine sample.

Before she died, Ms Radtke had confided in her friends, co-workers and business associates on being stressed over money issues relating to her company and her lease. She also told some of them she had suicidal thoughts.

"Her state of stress and anxiety was corroborated by independent observations of her weight loss, loss of appetite, depression and anxiety. According to friends, this was a departure from her usual cheerful disposition," said Coroner Wang.

Ms Radtke's boyfriend, Mr Daniel Pohlod, 30, who was the last person to see Ms Radtke alive, was present at the inquiry on Monday. He declined to be interviewed.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.