Mystery still surrounds Otto Warmbier’s cause of death following parents’ accusation of North Korean torture

NORTH Korea has called Trump an “old lunatic” for supposedly exploiting the death of a US student as the coroner breaks her silence on the subject.

NORTH Korea has blasted US President Trump as and “old lunatic” for “exploiting” the death of Otto Warmbier and denied he was tortured in custody.

A statement from North Korea’s news agency accused the US of “luring and pushing” the University of Virginia student into breaking laws on a criminal “mission”.

“Trump and his clique, for their anti-DPRK propaganda, are again exploiting the death of Otto Warmbier,” it said.

They accused the US of “employing even a dead person for the conspiracy campaign to fuel the international atmosphere of putting pressure on the DPRK.”

Trump said Warmbier was “tortured beyond belief” by North Korea following an emotional interview from his parents on US television on Tuesday, in which they said their son was “destroyed.”

Fred Warmbier said “his bottom teeth looked like they had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged them.”

“They kidnapped Otto, they tortured him, they intentionally injured him,” he said.

That interview prompted the Hamilton County Coroner’s office to speak out about the fact there were no broken bones and “no trauma to the teeth” found during the medical examination in June.

“Based on medical imaging there is no trauma to the teeth or mandible,” a spokeswoman for the Coroner’s office told news.com.au.

Dr Lakshmi Sammarco said “we don’t have enough information about what happened to Otto at that initial result to draw any concrete conclusions” about the 22-year-old’s death.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier were distraught over their son’s death and claim he was tortured in North Korea, however the coroner said it was impossible to speculate about the reason behind it.

Dr Sammarco said it was impossible to determine what happened to Warmbier’s brain that cause the injury that led to his death.

“They’re grieving parents. I can’t really make comments on their perceptions,” she said. “But we here in his office, we depend on science for our conclusions. If we don’t have the science, we don’t conjecture.”

“The family is looking for answers that at this point, we’re never going to know.”

“His body was in excellent condition. His skin was in excellent condition. There was no evidence of bedsores. … I’m sure he had to have round-the-clock care to be able to maintain the skin in the condition it was in.”

The family refused a request for a full autopsy to be carried out, however the Hamilton County Coroner’s completed an examination of Otto Warmbier after his death.

“His body was found to be that of a “well-developed, well-nourished adult man” with several identifying marks and scars and some evidence of medical therapy, such as a catheter and a scar consistent with that of a tracheostomy. It also notes a “large pigmented scar” on the right foot.

The examination, carried out by coroner Dr Gretel Stephens, lists the cause of death as brain damage from a lack of oxygen from an injury “more than a year prior to death.” The manner of death is written as “undetermined.”

The document also notes “the teeth are natural and in good repair” while eyes and nose show no signs of “remarkable alteration”.

American student Otto Warmbier was found to have suffered the same kind of brain damage that occurs after a heart attack, according to a Coroner. Picture: AP/Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File.

The University of Virginia student died in June, six days after returning from North Korea with severe brain damage. He had been sentenced to 15 years hard labour after travelling in January 2016 and allegedly stealing a propaganda poster.

On Tuesday, his parents broke their silence on their son’s tragic death, saying he was subject to “inhuman” suffering from the “terrorist” nation.

“We’re here to tell you North Korea is not a victim, they’re terrorists,” Otto’s father Fred Warmbier said. “They kidnapped Otto, they tortured him, they intentionally injured him.”

Mr Warmbier said the first time they saw Otto after he arrived back in the US their son was making a “howling involuntary, inhuman sound”.

“We weren’t really certain what it was. We climbed to the top of the steps, we looked in and Otto was on the stretcher across the plane and he was jerking violently making these inhuman sounds.

“Cindy and Greta ran off the plane. Austin and I walked over to Otto. He had a shaved head, he had a feeding tube coming out of his nose. He was staring blankly into space, jerking violently. He was blind, he was deaf. As we looked at him and tried to comfort him.”

The couple also shared their story with CNN, saying “his bottom teeth looked like they had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged them.”

“That’s why they released him, they didn’t want him to die on their soil,” Cindy Warmbier said.

"We hear this loud, guttural, howling, inhuman sound" Otto Warmbier's dad on meeting his son upon N. Korea return https://t.co/eYwwkFcZRJ

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) September 26, 2017

Otto’s parents claim their son was subject to ‘inhuman’ suffering in the state. Picture: KCNA VIA KNS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier watch as the casket for their son Otto is placed in a hearse after his funeral in Wyoming, Ohio. Picture: Photo/Bryan Woolston, File.

The appearance led to President Trump tweeting that “Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea” amid a critical point in relations between the two countries.

The coroner’s findings are consistent with remarks made by Cincinnati doctors in June, who found no evidence of trauma or fractures after examining Warmbier immediately after he arrived in the US. He was found to have extensive brain damage similar to that shown when people suffer a heart attack that cuts of blood supply to the brain.

At the time, Dr Daniel Kanter said Warmbier’s condition was stable on arrival with no signs of “infection or dysfunction of major non-neurological organs”.

“His neurological condition can be best described as a state of ‘unresponsive wakefulness’,” he said. “He has spontaneous eye-opening and blinking, however he shows no signs of understanding language, understanding verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings. He has not spoken. He has not engaged in any purposeful movements or behaviours.”

Doctors said the most important diagnostic test was a brain scan that showed “extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain”, but admitted they had no certainty about how it occurred.

“We have no certain or verifiable knowledge of the cause or circumstances of his neurological injury. This pattern of brain injury however is usually seen as a result of cardiopulmonary arrest where the blood supply to the brain is inadequate ... resulting in the death of brain tissue.”

North Korea have denied mistreating Warmbier, claiming he suffered from botulism, a rare condition where bacteria attacks vital organs. Doctors found no signs this was the case.