Prince death: "we can't conclude it is suicide, sheriff says

There is "no reason to believe" that Prince's death was
suicide, the sheriff of the Minnesota county where the singer
had his home has said after a post-mortem examination.
There was no sign of trauma on the body, Sheriff Jim Olson
said, suggesting the singer had died alone.
Prince, 57, was found dead in a lift on his Paisley Park estate
on Thursday.
Fans have been wearing purple, the colour associated with the
musician who sold more than 100m records.
His innovative music spanned rock, funk and jazz. He was at
his peak in the 1980s with albums like Dirty Mind, 1999 and
Sign O' The Times.
The sheriff warned that full results from the post-mortem
could take several weeks, and the incident was still under
investigation.
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Mr Olson said it was not unusual for there to be no one in the
residence except Prince.
The singer was last seen at about 20:00 on Wednesday night
(01:00 GMT on Thursday) and was found unconscious by
some of his staff at about 09:30 the next morning.
Prince had been rushed to hospital in Illinois six days earlier,
while flying home from a concert in Georgia, but was treated
and released a few hours later.
Quoting unnamed sources, US entertainment news site TMZ
reports that Prince was treated in Illinois for an overdose of
the painkiller drug Percocet .
Declining to give details of the preliminary findings, medical
examiner spokesperson Martha Weaver said a full set of tests
would be done on the body, involving tissue and blood
samples.
Earlier, she announced that the body would be released to the
family on Friday.
Sheriff Olson confirmed police were in contact with Prince's
family.
"We have no reason to believe at this point that this was a
suicide," he said, then added, "but again, this is early on in the
investigation and we're continuing to investigate."
He spoke of Prince as a good member of the community and
said he had been a "friend to [his staff] as well as being an
employer".
Fans have set up impromptu memorials in his home town
Minneapolis and in New York.
In London, US President Barack Obama said he and the US
ambassador began the day by listening to Prince's hit Purple
Rain and Delirious before attending bilateral meetings.
Prince had spoken about struggling with childhood epilepsy,
the Associated Press reports, and friends say he had hip
trouble.
His former percussionist, Sheila E, told the news agency
Prince had suffered the effects of years of jumping off risers
and speakers on stage while wearing high heels.
"There was always something kind of bothering him, as it does
all of us," she said. "I hurt every single day. You know we're
like athletes, we train, and we get hurt all the time. We have so
many injuries."
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Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, he was a prolific writer
and performer from a young age - reportedly writing his first
song when he was seven.
He was also an arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and
recorded more than 30 albums. Hits included Let's Go Crazy
and When Doves Cry.
In 1984, he won an Oscar for the score to Purple Rain, a film
in which he also starred.
Throughout his career he had a reputation for secrecy and
eccentricity, once changing his name to an unpronounceable
symbol.
Prince's latest album, HITnRUN Phase Two, was released last
year and he had been touring as recently as last week.