The actor who suffered fatal head injuries after falling from a balcony at a 2006 party attended by rocker Pete Doherty was probably dropped, forensics experts told BBC’s Newsnight programme.
Experts said that CCTV footage of the street outside the flat where the party was held suggests Mark Blanco was carried and dropped over the balcony edge, and had not jumped or slipped.
A coroner ruled out suicide, but three police investigations have failed to uncover the events leading up to the death.
Leading US video forensics analyst Grant Fredericks told the programme that footage of Blanco coming off the balcony was “very consistent with a person being carried and literally dropped over the edge of the balcony”.
Fellow expert John Kennedy added: “There’s no defensive movement whatsoever. It’s literally a drop from outside the rail.
“The only explanation I can think of is that somebody might have dropped him off the balcony. He doesn’t climb over the railing himself. He doesn’t jump. He just suddenly appears outside the railing and falls.”
The CCTV camera later captured Doherty emerging from the building, examining Blanco’s body, and running away.
Doherty’s minder, Johnny Jeannevol, once admitted to killing Blanco but later retracted the claim, saying he had been under stress.
In May the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with either murder or manslaughter in relation to Blanco’s death.
Doherty party-death actor 'was probably dropped'
