A wealthy US financier found hanging in a Bermuda guest apartment in 2005 committed suicide, a coroner has ruled.

An inquest earlier this month into the death of Peter Dimitri Pappas heard two theories — that he was the victim of a sexual self-strangulation experiment that went fatally wrong, or he committed suicide after an ex-girlfriend 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, describing him as “a very determined person who thoroughly enjoyed life, good, bad or indifferent.”

Mr. Pappas Sr. also referred to his son’s Greek Orthodox faith, which does not permit suicide, telling the coroner the idea his son killed himself was so inconceivable that he initially groped for other possible explanations, including murder. He later satisfied himself that this was unlikely after two pathologists found no evidence.

Top US pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, hired by Mr. Pappas Sr. to examine his son’s body, concluded that he died by accident. Dr. Baden said Mr. Pappas Jr. 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 in Bermuda, 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.

Coroner Juan Wolffe also considered evidence from the dead man’s ex-girlfriend, Anya McHale, who told how she turned down the latest in a string of marriage proposals from him hours before his death.

Ms McHale told the inquest she broke off a two-year relationship with Mr. Pappas in 2003, but in the months leading up to his death he wanted to rekindle the romance despite her wishing to remain friends, speaking of killing himself if she would not marry him.

Ms McHale, a British-born forensic psychologist with the Department of Court Services in Bermuda, said she did not believe her former boyfriend really intended to commit suicide, and was using the threat as emotional blackmail.

Mr. Pappas, who was based in the Cayman Islands, paid visits to Bermuda in June and July of 2005. The night before he was found dead, Ms McHale told the inquest, “Dimitri said this would be our last night together but I kept telling him I would see him the following day.”

Mr. Pappas returned to Brightside Guest Apartments in Flatts Village in the early hours of July 20, 2005, and his corpse was found suspended by two belts from a rail in the closet of his room later that day.

Announcing the suicide verdict yesterday, Mr. Wolffe said Mr. Pappas demonstrated “determined and obsessive words and behaviour” towards Ms McHale prior to his death, pointing to the quote about “the last night” as evidence directly pointing to suicide. He said that in his view, Mr. Pappas finally came to the conclusion in the hours before his death that she did not want to marry him and “his expectations were effectively crushed”.

Mr. Pappas Sr., 69, of Solomans, Maryland, attended the earlier inquest hearings with his wife, Sonia, but did not travel back to Bermuda for the result. He could not be reached for comment last night, but previously told this newspaper: “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, who is divorced from Dimitri’s mother, Sue Kongsli, addressed at that time 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.

During the inquest, he thanked Bermuda Police Service for their support, in an unexpected move after earlier heavy criticism of their handling of the investigation.