a Coroner determined yesterday.

Coroner the Wor. Charles-Etta Simmons heard Gary Alexander Smith, of Horseshoe Road, committed suicide by hanging himself from a bathroom door in a Pembroke apartment in the early hours of October 11 last year.

Close friend Elmo Fox testified that he discovered Smith hanging at Fox's North Shore Road apartment at about 5.00 a.m. Fox told the court that he tried to open the door, but it was difficult to budge. When he managed to move the door, he found Smith hanging by an electrical cord, with an overturned bucket at his feet.

Fox was unable to revive Smith, and could find no pulse. He also told the court that Smith looked well before he died and had given no indication that he wanted to commit suicide.

Pathologist Dr. Noel Padley read the autopsy report prepared by Dr. John Winwick, which determined that Smith had died from strangulation. There was no indication of drugs or alcohol in his blood.

The indentations on Smith's neck indicated that he had strangled himself with an electrical cord, padded with an flannel-type material. Smith had been found with an electrical cord around his neck with a hand towel wrapped around it.

Wendell Simmons, who lives with Fox, also testified that he saw Smith writing in Simmons' notebook. When Simmons asked what he was doing, Smith told him he was writing job bills.

Simmons also said he later found out that Smith had been using the notebook to write a suicide note, which was later found on Smith under his wristwatch.

Police Sgt. Mr. Kendrick Lewis said he went to Fox's home at 5:29 that morning, and saw Smith hanging in the bathroom. Sgt. Lewis said that Smith had been an outpatient at the St. Brendan's Hospital since 1976, and had been depressed after his wife Jean's death in January 1993. Smith had also been unable to maintain steady employment, and could only secure odd jobs.

Ms Simmons extended the court's condolences to Smith's family and recorded a verdict of suicide by strangulation.