Mystery Still Clouds Death of Yale Professor in Police Custody

Dec. 5, 2013— -- Trauma did not play a role in the jailhouse death of a Yale professor who got into a scuffle with cops during a domestic dispute arrest in November, according to New Haven, Conn., authorities.

Samuel See, 34, a popular English professor at the Ivy League school, mysteriously died in jail just hours after his arrest -- a fact that police did not disclose to the public for three days, though law enforcement typically makes the announcement the day of a death.

Police said Wednesday that preliminary findings from the medical examiner in New Haven, found that neither trauma nor suicide appeared to be a factor in See's death.

Authorities are awaiting toxicology reports to try and determine what caused the professor's death while in custody.

See was arrested on Nov. 23, after police were called to his home for a report of a domestic dispute. There, they found See and his estranged husband, Saunder Ganglani, who were both in violation of protective orders against one another, according to New Haven police.

See resisted arrest, struggled with officers and fell to the ground, police said, cutting his face above his left eye. He was treated by paramedics, transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was treated and released back to police custody at 9:10 p.m. that same day, police said.

By 6 a.m. the next day, See was dead, police said.

"State Marshals reported that they routinely checked Mr. See, who was alone in his cell, throughout the night," New Haven police said in a statement today. "They reported speaking with Mr. See and making eye contact with him during these routine checks."

"At 6:00 a.m., on Sunday, November 24, while making a routine check and delivering breakfast to the detainees, they found Mr. See to be unresponsive," police said.

Though See had an injury to his face on Nov. 23, the medical examiner said today that trauma did not play a role in the death.

See's family did not respond to calls from ABC News for comment. Nor did Ganglani.

See was pronounced dead on Sunday, Nov. 24, but police did not make his death public until Wednesday, Nov. 27. Police told the New Haven Register that it was an "oversight."

The dispute between the couple started when Ganglani, who was living in New York, went to See's home in New Haven to retrieve his belongings, according to the Register. An argument ensued, and See's sister, who was out of state at the time, called police about the argument. It is unclear how she knew about the fight.