The family of a US financier found hanging in a Bermuda guest apartment must wait until next week for a coroner's verdict on whether he committed suicide or died by accident.

Two theories have been raised about the death of Peter Dimitri Pappas — that he was the victim of a sexual self-strangulation experiment that went fatally wrong, or that he committed suicide after the woman he loved spurned his marriage proposal.

His father, Jack Pappas, told the inquest he was certain the 35-year-old, known as Dimitri, would not have committed suicide.

He said after the hearing concluded yesterday that he hopes to gain some closure when coroner Juan Wolffe rules on how his only son met his death.

He added: "Of course I'm interested in the outcome, but it's almost irrelevant because I don't believe Dimitri committed suicide and that's the end of it."

Mr. Pappas Sr., of Solomans, Maryland, attended the hearings this week with his wife, Sonia. His trip to Bermuda was his first since his son was found dead at Brightside Guest Apartments in July 2005.

He said this was tough and it was "very difficult" to sit through the inquest — especially when he caught sight for the first time of Police photographs of his son's body.

However, Mr. Pappas, 69, said the inquest process also helped him "move on" in the grieving process and "everybody from the media to the Police and people in general (in Bermuda) have been very warm, friendly and supportive".

The coroner has retired to consider evidence from top US pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who was hired by the Pappas family to examine the body. He concluded that Mr. Pappas died by accident. Dr. Baden said Mr. Pappas probably used padding in the noose that killed him because he was engaged in "some sort of experimentation" and did not want people to see marks on his neck later.

Another pathologist, Dr. Vernon Bowes, who examined the body at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, explained that some people use a form of self-strangulation called auto-erotic asphyxia to achieve a sexual climax. The person is supposed to stop the strangulation before they pass out, but sometimes this goes wrong and they die by accident. However, Dr. Bowes said his opinion was that it is "highly probable" Mr. Pappas committed suicide.

The coroner is also considering evidence from the dead man's ex-girlfriend, Anya McHale, who told how he wanted to rekindle their relationship and spoke of killing himself if she would not marry him. Ms McHale, a forensic psychologist with the Department of Court Services in Bermuda, said she did not believe he really intended to commit suicide, and was using the threat as emotional blackmail.

During his evidence, Mr. Pappas Sr. described his son as "a very determined person who thoroughly enjoyed life, good, bad or indifferent." He also referred to his son's Greek Orthodox faith, which does not permit suicide, and bans those who take their own lives from being buried in a Greek Orthodox cemetery. He told the coroner the idea his son killed himself was so inconceivable he groped for other possible explanations, including murder.

However, speaking after the hearing yesterday, he said the fact murder was ruled out by both pathologists, because there was no evidence, put his mind at rest and he was now "95 to 97 percent" sure his son had not been killed.

Mr. Pappas, who is divorced from Dimitri's mother, Sue Kongsli, also addressed media speculation that a life insurance claim rested on proving that his son did not commit suicide.

"Whatever he (Dimitri) has as far as I'm aware all goes to his mother...I have been made aware of that. I have not pursued it, it's not an issue as far as I'm concerned," he said.

Ms Kongsli did not attend the inquest, having previously told this newspaper; "I cannot withstand the pain of being there and knowing what happened to my beloved son."