When “America’s Dad” Bob Saget was found dead in a hotel room in January, the whole country was seemingly caught off guard. But those who remembered an episode of his podcast three months earlier may have had a different feeling.
According to Inside Edition, Saget and his wife Kelly Rizzo were discussing their favorite movies in an October episode of Saget’s podcast, “Bob Saget’s Here for You.”
Rizzo said hers included “The Godfather,” “Scarface,” “Casino” and “Goodfellas.”
As a career comedian, Saget has made his fortune off of his quick wit and dry humor. As such, he quickly gave a response to the realization that all of his wife’s favorite movies were crime-related.
“So, I don’t have long to live if these are your favorites,” Saget said. “I’m going to be found dead in bed.”
Three months after this comment, Saget was found dead in an Orlando, Florida, hotel room on Jan. 9. According to The New York Times, an autopsy suggested Saget died from a fall.
“It is most probable that the decedent suffered an unwitnessed fall backwards and struck the posterior aspect of his head,” Florida medical examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany wrote.
With that said, other details in the autopsy raised more questions as to the cause of Saget’s death.
The Times reported Saget suffered significant trauma to his head that resulted in several fractures to his skull and multiple brain bleeds.
University of Rochester Medical Center concussion expert Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian said it is possible that a fall could lead to such extensive damage, especially if Saget was unable to catch himself.
“It’s like an egg cracking,” Bazarian said. “You hit it in one spot, and it can crack from the back to the front.”
Other doctors, including Houston Methodist neurosurgery chair Dr. Gavin Britz, were not convinced this injury could occur from a fall in a hotel room.
“This is significant trauma,” Britz said. “This is something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head, or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet.”
Given the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, Saget’s comments that were seemingly made in jest in October now feel much more eerie.
For Rizzo’s part, she is not helping the public learn more about her husband’s death. According to Inside Edition, Rizzo and Saget’s three daughters filed a lawsuit against the medical examiner’s office and the Orange County, Florida, sheriff in an attempt to keep Saget’s medical records from the public, ABC reported.
“Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress if Defendants release the Records in response to public records requests or otherwise disseminate the Records for any other reason or purpose,” the lawsuit said.
A Florida judge blocked any media recordings or information about Saget’s cause of death through a temporary injunction on Wednesday, Inside Edition reported. Orange County Sheriff John Mina intends to go to court and fight the lawsuit. The injunction will remain in place until a decision is made in court.