US man 'commits suicide' in court after being jailed for burning down $3.5mln mansion

Washington, June 30 (ANI): The United States police is investigating whether a man, who collapsed in court and died after being convicted for burning down his mansion, may have taken a suicide pill.

Michael Marin was jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of deliberately burning his 3.5 million dollars Phoenix, Arizona, mansion.

Maricopa County police is now investigating whether the 53-year-old had put something in his mouth that led to his death after the verdict was read out.

"We will have to wait until we get toxicology reports from the medical examiner until we can confirm if he did and what the substance was," Sky News quoted police spokesman Jeff Sprong, as saying.

According to the report, video from inside the courtroom showed Marin putting his hands over his eyes after the verdict was read and then covering his mouth with both hands.

Marin's face suddenly turned red and he began to make throat-clearing noises before he collapsed to the floor.

Prosecutors claimed Marin set fire to his mansion in July 2009 after failing to sell it at a charity auction.

The court heard Marin could not afford the monthly mortgage of 17,500 dollars and was due to make a payment of 2.3 million dollars. (ANI)