Jailed museum director's death linked to infection

An Asian-antiquities dealer arrested in Seattle on wire-fraud charges died in federal custody from infection and inflammation caused by a perforated gastric ulcer, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

The autopsy determined Roxanna Brown's death early Wednesday at the federal Detention Center in SeaTac was natural, the medical examiner's office said.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons is investigating the death of Brown, 62, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand. Officials at the detention center refused to release any details about her death or medical treatment she received while in custody.

Brown had been arrested a week ago by federal agents on an grand-jury indictment in Los Angeles. She was charged with wire fraud and was a key figure — and the first arrest — in a long-running investigation into alleged Asian-antiquities smuggling and fraud, according to court papers.

Brown was in Seattle to speak at an Asian-art symposium at the University of Washington.

Maggie Ogden, an attorney and spokeswoman for the FDC, would say only that Brown was screened by medical personnel when she was booked into the facility following her arrest Friday.

The U.S. attorney's office said Brown was also seen by center medical staff Monday after her initial appearance in court was postponed because she was suffering from flulike symptoms and was vomiting. She made a brief court appearance Tuesday.

Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are common symptoms of peritonitis, an infection and inflammation of the lining of the stomach and intestines, according to the National Institutes of Health online medical dictionary.

Brown died in the FDC about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. Ogden said the detention center does not have any medical staff on duty overnight. She would not say whether Brown was treated or whether outside help was called.

Brown, who lived in Bangkok, was indicted on a single count of wire fraud for allegedly allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms of items donated to museums.

Those appraisals, according to court documents, were inflated so that the donors could claim fraudulent tax deductions.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com