Man Found Hanging With Window Cleaning Equipment

Firefighters recover the body of a man who was found hanging by a rope from the edge of a balcony of a downtown building at 12th and J Streets Monday morning April 1, 2013, in Sacramento, Calif. Officials said they believe the death was accidental.

Dead man is found dangling from downtown Sacramento high-rise: Sacramento authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found dangling outside a downtown building. At some point Monday morning, it appears the man tied a rope around himself, authorities said. However, he was tied in seated position like a rappeller. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer.

Around 7:45 a.m., a person in another building reported seeing the man hanging near 12th and K streets. Rescuers soon reached the man, took him down, and confirmed that he was dead. The man was at least nine stories above the ground. The Sacramento Bee reported that the man had two pieces of rope looped around his body in a style used by rock climbers. Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja told the Bee the department had no reason to believe the man's death was a suicide. "It looks like accidental more than anything else," said Bentovoja.

Man found hanging from Sacramento high-rise: SACRAMENTO - There was a spray can and an etching tool found on the roof where a man was found hanging from a window-washing hook high above downtown Sacramento Monday morning, police said. The dead man may possibly have been a graffiti "tagger", according to police officer Michelle Gigante.

Police and firefighters were called to the building at 1201 K Street after employees in an adjacent building spotted the man hanging around 7:45 a.m. Firefighters brought in a tactical rope team for a possible rescue, but quickly determined the man was dead.

Rescue workers were able to retrieve the man's body and determine his death had likely been accidental. "The rope was clover-leafed around his body, it's a common knot that we use, and it tends to be self-cinching, the knot is, and with his body weight hanging on the rope, it looks like that might have been what tightened the rope up on him," said Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja. According to Bentovoja, responders believed the man had anchored himself to a window-washer's hook on the 17th floor and then rappeled over the edge. Investigators were examining evidence to determine why the man was rappeling in the first place.

Man found hanged from downtown building identified by coroner: The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of the man whose body was discovered Monday morning hanging from rope outside the 16th floor of a downtown building. He was identified as Craig Michael Fugate, 30, of Vancouver, Wash. The coroner's website lists the cause of death as undetermined. Sacramento police spokeswoman Michele Gigante said Fugate apparently died accidentally while trying to vandalize the building's exterior.

Battalion Chief Craig Wiedenhoeft, of the Sacramento Fire Department, said Fugate accidentally asphyxiated himself. Wiedenhoeft said the rope that looped around his chest and legs had constricted him. "He got pulled into a fetal position when the rope cinched up on him," he said. It wasn't known Monday how Fugate reached the top of the high-rise, known locally as the "Ban Roll-on building," 1201 K St.

According to the Wiedenhoeft, the man used an antiquated mountaineering technique to begin his descent. He used a rope left by window washers to descend to a landing on the 17th floor. Then, after retying the rope, he descended to the 16th floor, Wiedenhoeft said. Local climbing experts said the "classic rappel" technique is seldom practiced. It uses friction from the rope against the body at various points to slow the descent. The victim was noticed at 7:50 a.m., and firefighters recovered the body. Gigante said markers, glass etching tools that could be used to deface glass, and spray paint were found at the scene.