[An American In Dairyland]

Her brain was deprived of oxygen for a reason. What was the reason?

Apparently unless Michael tells, we will never know what happened. My guess is that she was suffocated with a pillow or a large hand over her nose and mouth while she was asleep. That method usually leaves little evidence outside of possible mouth wounds and/or inhaled pillow fibers. Since the original event was not treated as a crime scene, this sort of evidence wouldn't have been noticed much less followed up on.

[veronica]

I do believe she was very concerned with staying thin and as result could have suffered a severe loss of potassium. That's fairly common among thin-at-all-cost dieters.

[Sioux-san]

Michael is a huge guy -- all he needed to do was put his forearm across her throat and push until she couldn't breathe any more. No finger prints, no bruises. But there was a bone scan done, and the doc noted a fractured neck (C-3?). Why didn't the ME reference that report?

[Sabatier]

Smothering is one possibility. Poisoning by plants called cardiac glycosides is another. Included are oleander, foxglove, and lily of the valley. When ingested they cause potassium levels to drop and "Various dysrhythmias may alternate or progress rapidly into life-threatening rhythms, such as ventricular tachycardia." For more info, see here. The ME hasn't been able to say what caused the collapse of an otherwise healthy young woman, but I wonder if he has any hunches he can't include in an official report.