The Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office has concluded that the death of MIT sophomore Elizabeth Shin on April 14, four days after she suffered extensive burns, was a suicide. The immediate cause of death was a stroke and the effect of third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, the medical examiner's office reported Tuesday.
Cambridge Fire Department Acting Chief Gerald Reardon said Tuesday his department had conducted extensive tests which concluded that the April 10 fire was caused by Ms. Shin deliberately igniting her clothing in her locked dormitory room. Chief Reardon said no accelerant was used in the fire.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 31, 2000.
