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>That Mr. Cotten did indeed die is a certainty among police and medical professionals in India, and The Globe reviewed hotel, hospital and embalming records tha

>That Mr. Cotten did indeed die is a certainty among police and medical professionals in India, and The Globe reviewed hotel, hospital and embalming records that give no suggestion of anything abnormal. Each record contains images of Mr. Cotten’s passport. Jayant Sharma, the doctor who treated him and produced a medical report about his death, confirmed that the man he saw matched photos of Mr. Cotten. It seems like they saw apparently valid records and a doctor confirmed that he witnessed Cotten die. That doesn't seem especially compelling - what else would the doctor say? "No, I lied and forged his death certificates in exchange for money. Please end my medical career and send me to prison."

virtualwhys 8y ago
> That doesn't seem especially compelling What is compelling is that the 5-star hotel where Cotton and his wife were staying, the hospital where he was treated, 2 members of the police department that reviewed the case, and the mortuary where he was embalmed, all confirm Cotton's death. That would be a pretty elaborate staged death -- not impossible, but still the evidence provided in the article clearly points to Cotton having died suddenly and unexpectedly in India.
dnbgfher 8y ago
I'm not sure why you think the only option here is that the doctor was in on it. He could have treated a man with fake papers identifying him as Mr. Cotten. By asking the doctor to compare with known-valid photos you can eliminate the possibility that the doctor was unintentionally mistaken about the identity of the man he treated.
- virtualwhys 8y ago
  > He could have treated a man with fake papers identifying him as Mr. Cotten So what you're saying is that this "Mr. Cotten" (almost certainly not Indian given the surname), magically appears on death's doorstep at the hospital and promptly dies the next day. It's so far outside the realm of possiblity, but perhaps Cotton and his wife went to a local cafe frequented by tourists; found a similarly baby faced looking Northern European male with light colored hair and blue eyes; offered him a large sum of cash to "drink this potion that will make you temporarily ill, but only for 24 hours, trust us". Together they walk to the local fake ID shop and do the necessary; then "Cotton" and his "wife" check in at the 5-star hotel and proceed with the plan (drink potion, get sick, go to hospital, but oh noes, "Cotton" dies!). The real Cotton then visits a local plastic surgeon to get that Brad Pitt look he's always wanted, and slips off to a remote tropical island to lay low until his wife can extricate herself from all the unwanted attention she's getting back home -- when the dust settles she rejoins him in their happily ever after, lifestyles of the rich but not famous, world travels. ...More likely, Cotton is simply stone cold dead.
  - dnbgfher 8y ago
    You misunderstand me. I agree Cotton is almost certainly dead. I was responding to the statement that questioning the doctor was essentially useless when looking into the possiblity that Cotton faked his death, as either he did indeed die or the doctor was part of the scheme. I was pointing out that there is value in talking to the doctor, as there are possiblities that don't require the doctor to be complicit. If you've decided investigating the matter is worth your time, you may as well do it properly is all. Doesn't mean I think it's what likely happened.

virtualwhys 8y ago

> That doesn't seem especially compelling What is compelling is that the 5-star hotel where Cotton and his wife were staying, the hospital where he was treated, 2 members of the police department that reviewed the case, and the mortuary where he was embalmed, all confirm Cotton's death. That would be a pretty elaborate staged death -- not impossible, but still the evidence provided in the article clearly points to Cotton having died suddenly and unexpectedly in India.

dnbgfher 8y ago

I'm not sure why you think the only option here is that the doctor was in on it. He could have treated a man with fake papers identifying him as Mr. Cotten. By asking the doctor to compare with known-valid photos you can eliminate the possibility that the doctor was unintentionally mistaken about the identity of the man he treated.

virtualwhys 8y ago
> He could have treated a man with fake papers identifying him as Mr. Cotten So what you're saying is that this "Mr. Cotten" (almost certainly not Indian given the surname), magically appears on death's doorstep at the hospital and promptly dies the next day. It's so far outside the realm of possiblity, but perhaps Cotton and his wife went to a local cafe frequented by tourists; found a similarly baby faced looking Northern European male with light colored hair and blue eyes; offered him a large sum of cash to "drink this potion that will make you temporarily ill, but only for 24 hours, trust us". Together they walk to the local fake ID shop and do the necessary; then "Cotton" and his "wife" check in at the 5-star hotel and proceed with the plan (drink potion, get sick, go to hospital, but oh noes, "Cotton" dies!). The real Cotton then visits a local plastic surgeon to get that Brad Pitt look he's always wanted, and slips off to a remote tropical island to lay low until his wife can extricate herself from all the unwanted attention she's getting back home -- when the dust settles she rejoins him in their happily ever after, lifestyles of the rich but not famous, world travels. ...More likely, Cotton is simply stone cold dead.
- dnbgfher 8y ago
  You misunderstand me. I agree Cotton is almost certainly dead. I was responding to the statement that questioning the doctor was essentially useless when looking into the possiblity that Cotton faked his death, as either he did indeed die or the doctor was part of the scheme. I was pointing out that there is value in talking to the doctor, as there are possiblities that don't require the doctor to be complicit. If you've decided investigating the matter is worth your time, you may as well do it properly is all. Doesn't mean I think it's what likely happened.