Christian Brando to Be Autopsied

The death of Christian Brando is officially a Los Angeles County Coroner's case. According to sources, the coroner's office took possession of the 49-year-old troubled son of actor Marlon Brando earlier today after Brando's mother called for a full-investigation into his death, citing “suspicious circumstances.”

Brando was found unconscious at his Hollywood home and was transported to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center where he died several days later on January 26. He apparently died from complications from pneumonia according to a family attorney interviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

According to sources, Brando's mother, Anna Kashfi, contacted the coroner's office at 11:17 a.m. this morning, asking why Brando's body had been transported to a local mortuary and not to the coroner's office for a full investigation into his death. In response, the coroner's office picked up the body a few hours ago and plans to conduct an autopsy sometime this week. It is still unclear what the “suspicious circumstances” are.

Brando served about five years in the California Mens Colony at San Luis Obispo for the shooting death of his sister's lover Dag Drollet in 1990 at Marlon Brando's hilltop estate in Hollywood. Brando, then 32, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. His sister, Cheyenne, later committed suicide over Drollet's death.

Christian Brando made headlines a few years ago after he testified in the trial of Robert Blake who was accused of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Bakley was linked romantically to Brando, who for a time believed that her small daughter was his child. DNA tests later proved the child was Blake's.