The forum confuses me, I don't know where to post things, but I am sure this has been answered...is the ME who handled R's case the ME for San Diego County? Or someplace else? And isn't it up to him/her to determine manner of death, rather than LE? Are people who believe R was murdered thinking that the ME was pressured by LE to declare this a suicide, or that he/she was "in" on the "cover-up"? I am just wondering about this...as far as I know, the ME always has the final say on manner of death.
I have posted a link to a case in which a young woman was murdered (by strangulation) and the murder was staged as suicide by a man who apparently believed that young woman was pregnant and did not want to have the responsibility. The case was ruled suicide and closed. He then went to the police and confessed describing how he did it. He then plead guilty to murder. So obviously there was no problem in changing the cause of death from suicide to murder, otherwise how he could have plead guilty?
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Killer-s-Passion-confession-I-was-like-a-1957898.php