Russian media mogul Mikhail Lesin died of ‘blunt-force trauma’
Mr Lesin, who once headed state-controlled Gazprom-Media, also had blunt-force injuries to the neck, torso, arms, and legs, said the US capital’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Metropolitan Police Department in a brief statement.
The findings contradict Russian state media reports, which said the former minister of media affairs died of a heart attack.
According to a police incident report, Mr Lesin, who was president Vladimir Putin’s press minister from 1999 to 2004, was found unconscious on November 5 on the floor of his room in the Doyle Washington Hotel. The hotel is also known as the Dupont Circle Hotel.
An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Russia’s RT television quoted family members at the time as saying he had died of a heart attack.
A US law enforcement source said the investigation into Mr Lesin’s death was being led by Washington DC police.
The investigation was focused on the death, but that did not rule out a possible change to a murder probe, said the source, who declined to be identified.
The source said when police first investigated the hotel room where Mr Lesin’s body was found, they did not find any damage or evidence indicating foul play.
A spokesman for the Russian embassy in the US said their officials for the past several months have requested through diplomatic channels information regarding the progress of the investigation.
“No substantial information has been provided. With regard to the document that has been released to the public today, we expect the American side to provide us with relevant official explanation,” press secretary Yury Melnik said.
ABC News has said Mr Lesin had been accused of censoring Russia’s independent media. He became head of Gazprom-Media Holding in 2013 but resigned the following year.
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