Bloody LES Death May Have Been Freak Accident

Woman, 29, was found in the first-floor stairwell of 191 Orchard Street with a wound to her neck

Police are still looking into a whether a crime was committed when a 29-year-old woman died after being found in a pool of blood in a Lower East Side apartment building Monday, but all signs indicate her death was the result of a freak accident, sources say. 

UPDATE: Bloody LES Death Ruled Accidental: ME

Carlisle Brigham was found laying face down with blood near her face and neck at the bottom of the first-floor stairwell of 191 Orchard St. Monday morning, police said. A 19-year-old neighbor who found Brigham tried to adminster CPR on her. 

"From the looks of it, it looked like she tripped, " said Mizanur Raham. "Her bags were just scattered on one corner. She was face-down, like she banged up her head. So it did look like she tripped." 

Brigham, who had worked at the Museum of Natural History, was transported to Beth Israel Hospital and later pronounced dead, authorities said. 

Sources later told NBC 4 New York Brigham may have fallen down a flight of stairs and sliced her chin and neck open. Officials said the laceration to her chin was bone-deep.

A man in his late 20s or early 30s could be seen inside the police tape sobbing. Brigham's roommate was questioned, but he’s not considered a suspect, police said.

Police will also question Brigham's ex-husband, who is currently in England, but they don’t believe he had anything to do with her death, sources said.

Brigham's roommate told detectives he spoke with Brigham this morning and she said she was not happy with her life. Sources say there’s no indication this was a suicide.  With no blood trail or any other immediate sign of criminality, there's no indication this was a killing, either. 

The medical examiner will need to do some work to figure out exactly what happened, law enforcement sources said. 

According to a law enforcement official, friends told police that Brigham was at a wedding Sunday and had been drinking heavily, and that she continued to drink with friends when she returned to New York City. 

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