Coroner: Doctor died of asphyxia in chimney | News

The doctor whose body was found stuck in a chimney over the weekend died of mechanical asphyxia.

The autopsy results were released Tuesday by the Kern County coroner's office.

It's still unknown if Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, was drunk when she apparently tried to force her way into her boyfriend's home by sliding down the chimney, but Bakersfield police Sgt. Mary DeGeare said Kotarac had been drinking earlier that evening at Cafe Med Restaurant on Stockdale Highway.

Police said Kotarac first tried to get into the house last Wednesday night with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue.

While she was trying to break in, her boyfriend, 58-year-old William Moodie, escaped unnoticed from another exit "to avoid a confrontation," authorities said.

"She made an unbelievable error in judgment and nobody understands why, and unfortunately she's passed away," Moodie told The Associated Press. "She had her issues - she had her demons - but I never lost my respect for her."

Local chimney sweep David Bonner told Eyewitness News on Tuesday that Kotarac would have been so compressed in the chimney that she wouldn't have been able to yell for help.

The chimney opening on the house next door, which Bonner said should be similar to the one Kotarac went down, was only 14½ inches by 10½ inches.

Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a stench and fluids coming from the fireplace Saturday, according to police. The house-sitter and her son investigated with a flashlight and found Kotarac dead, wedged about 2 feet above the top of the interior fireplace opening.

Firefighters spent five hours late Saturday dismantling the chimney and flue from outside the home to extract Kotarac's body, DeGeare said.

Reached by telephone by The Associated Press, Moodie did not dispute the police's characterization that his relationship with Kotarac was "on-again, off-again." He would not comment on the circumstances that led to her death, saying it was more important to focus on the good she did in life.

Moodie, who runs an engineering consulting firm, said Kotarac was a superb internist who often provided service and medication free of charge to her patients.

Officials said Kotarac's office staff reported her missing two days prior when she failed to show for work. Her car and belongings remained near the man's house.

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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.