A porn film director who made headlines in October after he was found dead in a Morgan Hill motel room apparently committed suicide, according to authorities.
Inkyo Volt Hwang, 38, died of acute methadone intoxication and the method of death was listed as suicide, according to the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office report.
Hwang, who made adult films, was found Sept. 29 in his room at the Economy Inn on Monterey Road after the manager of the motel was unable to get a response from him.
Morgan Hill police officers found his body half-in and half-out of the bed. No one else was in the room or registered to the room, and police officials said his death was not considered suspicious.
Luke Ford, a journalist who until six months ago covered porn and has published an in-depth look at the industry, said Monday he was not surprised at the findings in the coroner’s report.
“This was a man who talked freely and coldly about death, about killing himself and others, so it seems sadly inevitable,” he said. “When I interviewed him several years ago, he told me that if I ever told his mother about his working in the porn industry, he would kill me. This is a theme that was ever-present in his life.”
More questions revolved around the manner of Hwang’s death than that of his girlfriend, Miriam “Haley” Paige, who Hwang married in Las Vegas in August, according to Clark County, Nev., records and who Hwang is suspected of killing.
Before reaching Morgan Hill, Hwang, who was then accompanied by Paige, was in King City. Police have verified that Hwang is “implicated” in her death, though they will not elaborate. His death, according to Sgt. Steve Miller, did not change that fact. A call to Miller to discover the status of the investigation was not returned by press time.
Ford, who said he “walked away” from writing about the porn industry last October, said unfortunately Hwang’s death is probably largely forgotten among his peers.
“The product is pretty disposable, the people who are making the product usually understand that this is the way it is,” he said. “It desensitizes people to each other and to the value of life. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there mourning his death, probably more mourning her death, but this is a brutal, desensitizing industry, a meat grinder. It’s not an industry that inculcates tenderness, love and kindness and compassion for others.”
According to information from an on-line biography, Hwang was an aspiring attorney before entering the porn industry. He reportedly graduated with honors from UCLA and holds a masters degree from the university.
