Quite surprisingly, a series of six different causes of Fuddy's death were put forward. These were put forward in the following order:
1) Fuddy's Deputy (who stayed near her): she looked stressed, went limp,
closed her eyes, was no longer breathing
2) USCG Rescue Swimmer: Fuddy sustained severe internal injuries
3) Maui Police Lt./Coroner: cardiac arrhythmia
4) Maui County Police Spokesman and Honolulu Deput Fire Chief:
Fuddy's body was trapped in the plane's fuselage, which then sank
5) Medical Examiner: drowning (pending toxicology report)
6) Medical Examiner: arrhythmia from stress, fear and hyperventilation
The autopsy report took the Medical Examiner a month to deliver. Its conclusions were based not on things observed while viewing the ostensible body, but on later, supposedly-observed-representations of the decedent's co-passengers, even as those later representations took 180-degree turns from witness reports within the first hours of the event. Those statements went toward Fuddy's presumed emotional and mental state, which were after-the-fact, without direct witness, deemed to have been stressful, causing hyperventilation that purportedly gave rise to an acute heart arrhythmia, even though Fuddy had no known history of a heart condition. An arrhythmia not contemporaneously observed by medically trained personnel cannot be known to have transpired, as arrhythmia leaves no markers or tell-tale signs of its occurrence.
Although the USCG Commander's log indicates the commander ordered the FBI to be contacted, our FOIA to FBI found no responsive documents, which should likely be interpreted as purposeful bureaucratic malfeasance, as we know there should be many documents and records of communication concerning the purported death of a high state official in international waters.
It’s astounding that in an operation of that complexity that no one would have thought to get the story straight on cause of death. All the conflicting reports make it look extra suspicious. Or do you suppose that was deliberate? That way if there were ever a flaw pointed out in one version, they could immediately drop it and go to a different version.