PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Investigators have concluded that the death of Providence Journal-Bulletin publisher Michael P. Metcalf in a fall from his bicycle last summer was an accident.
'Foul play was ruled out only after interviews with dozens of individuals, painstaking reviews of the evidence and evaluation of every possible cause-and-effect relationshiip in this case were completed,' Bristol County (Mass.) District Attorney Ronald Pina said Friday.
The investigation concluded that Metcalf, 54, died of injuries suffered when he fell from his bicycle in September near his summer home in Westport, Mass.
Metcalf was chief executive officer and chairman of the Providence Journal Co., which publishes The Providence Journal, The Evening Bulletin and The Sunday Journal.
Stephen Hamblett, company chairman and publisher, asked Pina's office to investigate after Westport police quickly concluded Metcalf's fall was probably an accident.
Hamblett thanked Pina for investigating the case, but questioned whether the full story will ever be known.
'It may have been an accident, albeit a very unusual one,' Hamblett said. 'However, we cannot forget that Mr. Metcalf was publisher of newspapers known for their investigative stories and editorials on crime.'
'This fact, coupled with the unique circumstances surrounding his death, make it impossible for us to rule out foul play,' he said.
Metcalf was found about 8 a.m., Sept. 13, unconscious and bleeding from the head, along a road through a wooded area in Westport. He suffered a fractured skull and brain damage and died after a week in a coma.
'As with a great number of accidents, it's very difficult to speculate as to why Mr. Metcalf fell from the bicycle,' Pina said. 'Our belief, at this time, is that a physical or environmental factor caused him to lose control of the bicycle.'
Hamblett said there were no marks or injuries to indicate Metcalf tried to break his fall.
