Mexican official: Signs of asphyxiation, head trauma on body of wife of Hollywood producer

Producer detained after death of wife in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — The body of “Pimp My Ride” and former “Survivor” producer Bruce Beresford-Redman’s wife had scratches on the neck, and signs of asphyxiation and a heavy blow to the right temple, authorities said.

The 38-year-old producer was detained as a suspect Thursday after Monica Beresford-Redman was found dead in a sewer at Cancun’s swanky Moon Palace resort where the family was on vacation, two days after he reported her missing. The couple were at the resort with their two children.

Francisco Alor, attorney general for Quintana Roo state where Cancun is located, attributed Monica Beresford-Redman’s death to asphyxiation and a blow to the head. He said she was hit hard on her right temple and had scratches on her neck.

“What we need to determine is whether that blow was from falling into the sewer,” Alor said, adding that she died Monday night.

Her husband had scratches on his face and arms, he said.

Alor said several guests heard an argument in the couple’s room Monday night and Beresford-Redman told a hotel employee sent to check that they were fighting over their two children.

“He’s the initial focus of the investigation based on their alleged turbulent relationship,” Alor said by phone from the state capital of Chetumal.

The producer told police Tuesday that his wife left the hotel to go shopping the previous day and never returned. A lawyer for Bruce Beresford-Redman could not be located.

Earlier Thursday, then-state Attorney General Bello Rodriguez said a security guard at the hotel saw the couple arguing Monday night and Beresford-Redman tried to hit her. Coincidentally, Thursday was the day Rodriguez stepped down as Quintana Roo’s attorney general and was replaced by Alor.

In Los Angeles, friends gathered at the Zabumba bikini bar and restaurant that Monica Beresford-Redman owned and managed, saying they hoped her death was an accident and not murder.

“She’s going to be very missed,” said friend Mariza Alyrio. “I can’t believe it’s her. I hope he didn’t do that. I don’t want to believe it. He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy.”

Monica Beresford-Redman would have turned 42 on Thursday.

Brazilian media reported that she was born in Rio de Janeiro and her parents still live in the South American country.

“They weren’t lovey-dovey, at least when I saw them, and they didn’t smile a lot,” said Ratana Necth, 36, a nanny for a family in the Palos Verdes, California neighborhood where the Beresford-Redmans and their two children resided. Necth described the couple as nice and said they always seemed “on the go.”

Bruce Beresford-Redman was a producer for several episodes of the Emmy-nominated CBS reality show “Survivor,” including “The Amazon” and “Marquesas” seasons, but was not currently working with the program, according to his profile on IMDb.com.

The Internet Movie Database also names him as the co-creator of “Pimp My Ride,” a popular MTV car makeover show, and as an executive producer for “Crash Course,” a driving game show produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions that aired on ABC last summer.

Beresford-Redman was nominated for three Emmys for his work on “Survivor,” the long-running reality TV competition that strands tribes of strangers in remote locales to outwit, outplay and outlast each other for a $1 million prize.

Bruce Beresford-Redman worked for reality TV giant Mark Burnett, who produces “Survivor” and is currently producing Sarah Palin’s eight-part series about her home state of Alaska.

Associated Press video journalist John Mone contributed to this report.