Tourist death attributed to carbon monoxide

An official conclusion has been reached in the death of a tourist last week in Placencia. According to Police Pathologist Dr. Mario Estradabran, thirty-one year old Christian McCathern died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Although early speculation focused on decompression sickness from SCUBA diving or a possible drug overdose, Estradabran has ruled out both scenarios. He based his decision on tests conducted by the toxicology department of the medical examiner’s office in Miami, which found abnormally high levels of carbon monoxide in McCathern’s blood. As to what caused that abnormality, Estradabran said that the police are investigating, but are looking closely at a gas hot water heater in the dead man’s hotel room. McCathern and his wife Courtney, New Yorkers on their honeymoon in Belize, were found by a housekeeper on the morning of December fourth in the bathtub of their room at the Rum Point Inn. While Christian was dead, Courtney was still alive, though unconscious. She was placed in a decompression chamber in San Pedro on suspicion of dive related injuries and then flown back to the States where she is said to be recovering. Although police are pursuing the theory of a faulty water heater, News 5 has learned from people first on the scene that both the bathroom door and window were open and that the heater in question, a type used by dozens of resorts nationwide, was properly ventilated and functioning normally.