Autopsy unclear on Swiss man found dead in Hong Kong love hotel

14 March 2008

Hong Kong – An autopsy on a Swiss karate champion and former bodyguard to Hollywood celebrities found dead in a Hong Kong love hotel has failed to come up with a cause of death, a news report said Friday.

Pierre Ingrassia, 45, was found alone in a hotel in the city’s Wan Chai nightclub district where he booked a room for three hours on Sunday.

Police say the death was not suspicious and that the karate and Thai boxing expert could have died of a heart attack, however a postmortem examination has failed to give a conclusive reason.

They are now waiting for the results of toxicology tests, said the report in the South China Morning Post.

Friends say superfit Ingrassia, who ran two gyms in Hong Kong, was a household name in martial arts circles and his gym website describes him as a former bodyguard to Hollywood stars including Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise.

His death follows a number of high-profile incidents involving expatriates found dead after evenings out in the Wan Chai nightclub district of Hong Kong.

Last October, two American businessmen were found dead in a room of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wan Chai after returning with two women and reportedly taking drugs.

In 2003, a senior Finnish policeman died of a heart attack in Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-la hotel after being administered with the "date rape" drug flunitrazepam, or Rohypnol.