Maryland Man Who Owned Over 100 Snakes Declared Dead From Venomous Snake Bite
A Maryland man that was found dead in his home with his 124 caged snakes was confirmed to have died from a venomous snake bite.
David Riston, 49, lived in Pomfret and was found dead on Jan. 19. He died of “snake envenomation,” the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland officially declared on Wednesday. It was also declared by officials that his death was accidental, NBC News confirmed.
The existence of the snakes first became known at the same time that Riston was discovered dead. Some of the snakes that Riston owned were exotic and illegal. They included rattlesnakes, cobras, black mambas and a 14-foot-long Burmese python.
“Our chief animal control officer said in his more than 30 years of experience, he had not encountered this kind of thing before," county spokeswoman Jennifer Harris told NBC Washington at the time.
The snakes were collected by animal control officials. The snakes were split up into non-venomous and venomous and taken to licensed handlers.
Harris did mention that the snakes were found “properly secured" and "meticulously cared for" in cages stacked throughout the Pomfret home.
“They were all very properly secured. They were racked. He did not keep a lot of furniture inside the home, so there was no place if a snake, for example, were to escape, where it could hide or harm anybody," Harris said.
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