Coroners in Ohio have determined that exotic animal owner Sam Mazzola's recent death was an accidental choking, during a consensual sexual act. He was found dead with "an object in his throat," and a "leather mask with the eyes and mouth zipped shut and a two-piece metal sphere covering his head" while "handcuffed to chains that were attached to the bed and the floor." There were padlocks in the mix, too.
He owned a black bear that mauled a 24-year-old woman to death last year at "Mazzola's World Animal Studios." The bear was then put to death.
Mazzola had been making headlines for years for mistreating the wild creatures he kept captive: in 2009, the USDA fined him more than $13,000 and permanently cancelled his federal license to sell or exhibit exotic animals.
Morningjournal.com and Cleveland P-D, via MSNBC.
