Missing body parts victim Norman Palmer died of natural causes contributed to by self-neglect, a coroner ruled this morning.

Khamisi Tokunbo said the 57-year-old, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 last year of respiratory failure caused mainly by asthma-related mucous blocking his airways and a thickening of the tissue in his larynx.

Mr. Palmer’s sister Marion Bishop, of Paget, gasped as the verdict was given and left Magistrates’ Court immediately. Mr. Palmer’s widow Kathleen is in England.

The family has severely criticised the emergency care he received from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital when he got into breathing difficulties.

But Mr. Tokunbo said: “On or by April 12, 2008, the deceased’s condition had deteriorated to a stage which rendered emergency medical treatment to save his life hopeless, given the history of a gun shot wound to his neck and the distorted anatomy/extensive fibrosis of the larynx. On that day, time was of no consequence to the outcome.”

He said Mr. Palmer made a decision on April 6 not to be admitted to hospital when he was advised to do so by an emergency room doctor and did not visit ER again for care before his death. That, said the Coroner, amounted to a “gross failure to obtain basic medical attention”.

Allan Doughty, lawyer for Bermuda Hospitals Board, said outside court: “What happened to Norman Palmer is an absolute tragedy but at the same time, after the result of a thorough and official investigation, we think the Coroner reached the correct conclusion.”

* Read the full story in tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette.