Fresh scrutiny of records surrounding the death of Suchir Balaji, the 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher who died on Nov. 26, 2024, is cutting through months of online speculation. Newly reviewed video, building logs and official documents are tightening the timeline and undercutting some of the most explosive claims about what happened inside his San Francisco apartment.
Today's investigation by The San Francisco Standard reviewed police body-camera footage, key-fob records and interviews. The outlet reported that several widely shared allegations of a staged killing are not supported by the underlying documents.
Blood at the scene was largely confined to the bathroom, and surveillance plus key-fob data show no indication that anyone else entered Balaji’s unit during the critical window. Those details conflict with parts of the family’s public narrative and with theories that have raced around the internet.
In February, the city’s chief medical examiner released a final autopsy concluding that Balaji died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. Toxicology results showed alcohol and GHB in his system. A joint letter from the medical examiner and the San Francisco Police Department to the family’s attorneys stated that the apartment was deadbolted from the inside, key-fob and video logs showed no other entrants, and ballistics linked the recovered Glock to the fatal shot, according to The Mercury News.
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